Harriet Marie Chapman

The Chapmans finally have some big news to share. After about 350 years, the Chapman clan has returned to its roots in Massachussets. On April 26, at 3:55 PM our little Boston baked bean, Harriet Marie Chapman finally decided to join our family.

After our experience Friday night at Emerson Hospital we knew that Harriet was going to be joining us soon. When Michelle subsequently saw the doctor on Tuesday they scheduled an inducement for May 2. However, Harriet had other designs. At 4:30 Tuesday afternoon Michelle called me and said that I needed to get home as she had been contracting regularly for several hours. I rushed home and things continued into the night. She called her doctor's office, but the physician on call was from another practice and did not know Michelle's history. She told Michelle to wait until the morning when her doctor would be on call and they could make a decision.

The contractions eased up for some of the night, but at 3:00 AM they started again. At 7:30 AM Michelle called and spoke with her doctor who told her to come in. We arranged for Grace to go over to our neighbors and off we went to the hospital. Things went slowly until about 3 PM. Harriet was being a stubborn Chapman and was still going to come on her time schedule that day not ours. Michelle was starting to get a little impatient as Grace start to finish once at the hospital was only 6 hours. However, at 3 PM the contractions starting picking up. Hard labor was very short, but intense. Michelle went from a 6 to giving birth in 30 minutes. With only 15 minutes of pushing. Harriet was resisting with her little arm up against her face making things more difficult, but finally she relented.

Harriet Marie Chapman was born at 3:55 PM on April 26 weighing a healthy 7 pounds 9 ounces and coming in at 20 inches in length. Not too bad for a 37 week baby. Mom and baby are doing great as are dad and Grace. Check out Harriet's webpage for some more pictures (click on Harriet Marie Chapman up at the top).

Ask not what your country can do for you...

As if being pregnant and soon to have a breast-feeding newborn isn't enough, Michelle is now being asked to perform her civic duty. I have to admit that I only feel half sorry for her as I had jury duty 2 years ago and ended up being chosen to serve on a jury for a DUI case. Plus I missed my friends dissertation defense. Anyone else feeling sorry for her?

What were you doing at 3:40:10 EDT?

Last night we thought that Harriet would soon be joining us. At around 8:00 PM Michelle starting having contractions every 15 minutes. This lasted for 4 hours until they went to every 8-10 minutes. With Michelle's history, her doctor told her to go to the hospital after an hour at that frequency. So at 1:15 AM we woke up Grace and loaded up the car to go to the hospital in Concord. Long story short, after 3 hours at the hospital and a shot of Michelle's favorite drug, terbutylene (sp?) we ended being sent home at 4:30 AM. Harriet will have to wait for another day, although Michelle is getting to the point that she wishes it was over. At least Grace had a good time being a kangaroo and eating crackers and drinking apple juice. But, will she sleep tonight?

There is light at the end of the tunnel...

There is light at the end of the tunnel...

Literally, for Harriet, this is true! I went to the doctor yesterday for my last ultrasound. This little girl is ready to rock and roll. She's already 7 lbs 12 oz and there are still 4 weeks left to her due date. I didn't think that either David or I had the genes for such a big baby (Grace was 7 lbs 4 oz at birth and has hovered around the 10-25th percentile her whole life.) Harriet's current weight is in the 97th percentile! The only time we've ever seen the 97th percentile was on our grade school SAT scores. Apparently staying home all winter provided me lots of opportunity to eat very well. I'm 2 pounds shy of the weight I was when I delivered Grace, so I told Harriet that neither one of us is allowed to gain more than 2 pounds before she is born. I would prefer that she keep her gain to under a pound!

I think the 9th month of pregnancy was invented so that women would be willing to do anything (namely go through labor, delivery, and having a newborn) in order to stop being pregnant. That is the point I'm to. I can't imagine this belly getting much bigger or me getting much more uncomfortable and unable to do things.

Fortunately, my doctor is not going to make me wait 4 more weeks. If Harriet doesn't show up on her own by May 2nd, she will be forced to come out. So, the next time you see a picture of Harriet on our blog, it will be in full color and she will have clothes on!

On with the nesting...

Yea Gracie!!!

After talking to Jared the other night, I realized I should update everyone and tell Gracie's big news - that she has mastered the potty! After a few days of fighting with her to sit down and try and a very few accidents, she has now gone 10 days without an accident and has stayed dry all night in her pull-up. She still feels more secure when we leave the house if she has a pull-up on, but she always asks to go potty when she needs to or waits until she gets home. She is really awesome and I'm so proud of her.

Her Daddy did come through on his big treat. She wanted a big piece of "equipment" for her train set, namely Cranky the Crane. David ordered it and it was delivered and sat on top of our fridge for about a week while we waited for Grace to quit having accidents and to initiate sitting on the potty herself. She was finally rewarded with him last week and she hasn't put him down since. So, there's my little girl with her industrial toy that she loves as dearly as any other girl loves her dolly.

I do have to mention, though, that yesterday we went to Emerson Hospital so that Grace could have a tour of the maternity ward and learn about being a big sister. She was given some diapers and a warming hat to take home and "practice" on her own baby with. She came straight home and got out the Cabbage Patch baby that she got for Christmas 2 years ago and has never touched. She's been trying to be a good mommy to it and I think she will make a fabulous big sister. In spite of herself, she already really loves Harriet and really does want her to come to our house.

So, our big-girl days are finally here! She's also finally saying that she's a big girl. Up until a few days ago, she still wanted to be the baby, but she has realized that she's not a baby anymore and it's probably more fun that way.

One Year in Massachusetts

One Year in Massachusetts

We are "celebrating" our first anniversary for our move to Massachusetts. One year ago this week-end, we closed on and moved into our house. Some things are much better now, some things are much worse. Maybe we'll do a little top 10 for the good and the bad...

Top 10 great things about our move and the last year (in no particular order):

1- David got his first "REAL" job and Michelle quit all her real jobs.
2- we bought a house that is big enough to raise a small family
3- we bought a very cute house that needed little work done to it and which we love calling home
4- we live in the country and love our surroundings and neighbors
5- we met Rita McConnon and Michelle now has her dream job and a new best friend
6- Michelle got pregnant with our second child (owing to the fact she was able to quit working full time and we have real health insurance again) which will mean a baby sister for Grace this spring
7- we are able to skip some of those pesky family functions that we really didn't want to go to without making up a fake excuse
8- we have made tons of new friends and have learned to rely on them in times of crisis
9- David has seen the Boston Red Sox play at Fenway park
10-Massachusetts is a hotbed for cycling activity and David is in heaven

Top 10 worst things about our move (aka what we miss about living in Utah)
1- the humidity here stinks
2- the bugs, in-particular the ticks and mosquitos, are horrible here
3- the dogs require much more maintenance and are much more expensive to care for here
4- we live much too far away from our family and miss them terribly and worry constantly that our kids will not have close relationships with their grandparents at such a distance
5- we have to think up something for dinner for 7 nights a week because we can't go to dinner at the Chapman's or the Mitchell's anymore (and still can't afford to eat out much)
6- driving and shopping here are a real chore
7- there are no mountains here and way too many trees
8- we spend a lot at the post office (and so does everyone we left in Utah)
9- we spend a lot of money on plane tickets to "exotic" places, like Utah
10-curb and gutter-what's that???

At the very least, we are grateful to be much better off at this time this year than at this time last year. We aren't finishing mountains of paper-work to buy a house, we aren't in the middle making big life-changing decisions, we aren't living with our parents anymore, we finally have everything put away from the move (at least everything important) and have finished furnishing the house and making it our own, we aren't wondering how it is all going to work out and wondering if we made the right decision. Now, even though it is sometimes hard, we know we made the right move and we know we've been extremely blessed this past year. We finally have a little bit of security to our lives and can enjoy what we have without so much worry about what is going to happen next year. Of course, every time you say something like that, you are given something to worry about, so scratch that last part...

Livin' in the country...

For as much complaining as I do about having to drive so far to shop for this or that, I really do love living in the "country." We really do live in a pretty rural setting. We live at the corner of 2 dirt roads across the street from a big river. We pass huge farms of all types whenever we drive anywhere. Fruit orchards, vegetable farms, horse barns, and sheep farms are all commonplace within walking distance or a 2 minute drive from our house. We can shop at farmstands to our hearts content and see just about any domestic animal you can think of.

Today, Grace and I vistited Pilot Grove Farm which is a very short drive from our house. It's a HUGE farm that was built in 1783 and has acres and acres of rolling green pastures around it. It's gorgeous. David and I want to take some really nice photographs of it when things get green and the weather gets nice. We don't know the owners, but a friend from our ward, and fellow riding instructor at Hybid farm boards her sheep there. She shows sheep in 4H competitions and raises lambs each spring. She invited Grace to come and see her lambies today.

Grace, of course, has a blast with any animal and loves farm animals in-particular. We can't wait until the weather warms up (and Harriet is born) so we can use our membership at Drumlin Farm and go see all the animals there on a regular basis.

We've been sort of keeping track of all the wild animals that are in our yard or in our immediate neighborhood - including the river which is literally a stone's throw away. So far, we've shared our breathing space with:
ducks, Canada geese, swan, woodpeckers, cardinals, all sorts of finches and other birds, frogs of several types, a turtle, a mother fox and her babies, a beaver, a blue heron, rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few.

My favorite thing to do in the morning is open my south-facing window shades to see what is swimming on the river. The part of the river that is just across from us looks almost like a pond. It is wide and often looks very smooth and we see the swan and geese several times a week. We also see the wake of the beaver a couple of times a day. We can't see him, but we can see the wide V he makes in the water as he swims up and down the river and David and the dogs hear his big flat tail splashing the water when they go for their evening walk.

Potty Time!

It's time to party again at our house. Grace's 3rd birthday was a great party, but so was today! She actually used her potty chair today for the use it was intended for the very first time. David and I really began to wonder if it would ever happen. I bought the potty chair almost a year ago, just after we moved in and got settled. I thought 2 years old was a great time to start, but I wanted to wait until she felt secure and comfortable again after months of uncertainty and moving around. The potty chair has graced our bathroom for the past year being used mostly as a step-stool. In hind-sight, it was a good thing I bought the one that matched the bathroom and that also could be used for something else, because it has been in there much much longer than I ever planned.

Grace, for all her intelligence and physical abilities, has absolutely, completely resisted anything to do with the potty. We have tried every trick from threats to massive bribery to pretty panties to "waiting for her to be ready on her own." Nothing has made a difference to her. Every article and book I read on the subject emphasizes "DON'T FORCE THEM!!" So, I've backed off each time she's resisted. The only difference to me now, is that I'm desperate! I have a baby coming in less than 2 months and I really really don't want to buy 2 sizes of diapers and change a large child next to my tiny infant for the next year. I know that once Harriet arrives, I will be too busy and Grace will have too much adjusting to do for either of us to have what it takes to do the task. So, I made an executive decision today. With 4 diapers left and a half package of pull-ups, I resisted the temptation to buy the size 4 diapers that were conveniently on sale at the pharmacy. Instead I bought a package of newborn diapers for Harriet and came home and just put panties on my little darling.

To Grace's credit, she has come a long way in the last few weeks on her quest to become a big girl. She's been working really hard at just sitting down on the potty (something she would throw tantrums over before) and she has risen to the occasion of sleeping in her new big-girl bed and giving up her toddler crib.

David made a pretty big promise to her if she learned to use the potty. Immediatly after her victory in the bathroom today, she asked when he was going to come through on it. He really meant that he would treat her when the potty training was all done, but to her, today was a big enough day to deserve it. So, he's coming through with his treat in the hopes that she will continue her trend this week and be absolutely diaper free very soon.

If nothing else, we are learning to be less judgemental of the parenting skills of others. David and I use to cringe at people who were still changing the diapers of their 3 year-old kids and vowed to never have anything like that happen in our family. Yet, here we are with our 3-year-old. We realize we still have lots to do to finish the potty party, but we are definitely basking in Grace's golden moment of the day for now.

Yay Grace!!!! Go Gracie, go Gracie!!!!

My own personal hell

Between all the revelation and grey hairs my friends write about, it is a wonder I even bother to blog. But every once in a while, events occur which force my hand. This last Saturday was one such event.

Saturdays are precious. Indeed, Saturdays may just be sacred. More than any other day I value my Saturdays. It is the one day I have where I can do things at my own leisure, and I hate when Saturdays are wasted. This last Saturday Michelle, Grace, and I drove to Framingham to the nearest REI to buy an item. Unfortunately, we ended up getting lost. We have now lived here for almost 1 year and there is a reason we don't often head south of our place. Framingham and Natick are like the Sandy of Salt Lake City. Crazy roads that are nearly impossible to navigate and very easy to lose one's way even with the help of a GPS. We shun the communities to the south, not so much for snobbery but for sanity.

Too make a long story short, what should have been a 20-25 minute drive turned into a 90 minute drive. To add insult to injury, the item we wanted was not in stock at the store. Add in the return trip (thankfully we didn't get lost) and it turned into a 3 hour misadventure. This whole adventure started with me wanting to save $8 dollars on shipping. But I have come to the conclusion that life is too short to waste time driving in Framingham over a mere $8. From now on it is www.rei.com!

Party like it's your birthday!

Well, normally, I would just have a small simple family party for a 3 year old. However, our nearest relatives are a 10+ hour drive away and most aren't even in the next time zone, we decided to have some friends over to celebrate Grace's big day. I always feel like her birthday is a bit of an anniversary for me too. As any first-time mom can say, my life changed quite a bit on the day she was born and I feel the need to be celebratory for myself a little too. Having said that, the birthday party was all about Grace for sure...

Grace's favorite people here in Massachusetts are by far the Whatcott and McConnon families. She bonded to the Whatcotts really tightly when we house-sat and nannied for them last fall. She has also bonded (as have I) to the McConnon family as we have spent a large chunk of the last year at Rita's barn and in turn with her sons. 14 year old Coleman is a special pal of Grace's and is so cute with her. There aren't many junior high boys that would be willing to go to a party for a 3 year old girl, but he is a really great kid and genuinely likes spending time with Grace. We are so lucky to know such awesome people.

Outside of people, Grace's favorite things are trains, specifically Thomas the Tank Engine trains. So, we had a themed party for her complete with a few new engines, Thomas videos, a Thomas cake, and all the accessories. We also had everyone over for dinner before-hand and had a candle-light dinner in the dining room. Grace loves candle-light dinners. As seems to be tradition, I hand-decorated a cake for her. So far, I've done Elmo and Winnie the Pooh. Thomas proved to be a bit harder than the last two to make, but Grace seemed to think he turned out ok, so that's all that matters.

Everyone we invited is quite a bit older than she is, but she loves all of them so much and they are all so good to her. They played trains with her and brought her really nice and very thoughtful gifts. They really made her day. She said several times "oh, I'm so happy!" and "I am so lucky!" She knows she's blessed and I'm glad she doesn't take anything for granted. She is very good at saying thank you and I know she feels true gratitude for her friends and for the things she has.

She continues to be utterly spoiled by family members as well. You would have thought it was Christmas at our house with the pile of packages that we collected from the mailbox each day. We are so grateful for everyone who remembered her and who put so much thought into making sure she had a great birthday.

Happy Birthday Grace!

Today is Grace's 3rd birthday. Every parent always says this, but it's hard to believe how fast time flies. David and I seriously can't believe that it has been 3 years since she came into our lives and yet, we can't really remember what life was like without her (ok - we can remember the times when we use to set our own schedules, and go to a movie on a whim, but it seems like she's always been with us and now life without her would be unimaginable.)

Just in the last year, she has grown up so much. She celebrated her 2nd birthday just a couple of weeks before moving to Massachusetts. When we left Utah, she had a small vocabulary, couldn't say the names of very many relatives, but could put a few words together in sentences, knew most of her ABC's, liked to pretend to type on the computer keyboard, couldn't quite reach the pedals on her new trike, liked to sit on a horse and go for a pony ride, was still small enough for me to carry around for subsantial periods of time (like when I would hold her on my hip in the middle of the ring while teaching a riding lesson!) and was still fairly dependent on me to decide what to do with her day. Her world was very much centered in our family and she didn't perceive that there were lots of other people in the world who might be friends, who might be happy or sad, or who might live close or far away.

Now, she has a vocabulary that is amazing, puts together very long sentences, can spell quite a few things and recognize the shapes of many words so that appears that she can read them, can use the computer better than some adults I've known at work, can type her name out and send e-mails, can fully reach the pedals on her trike, can sit on and steer a horse all by herself, is much too big to carry far (even if I weren't pregnant), and is very much in charge of deciding what she wants to do all day including what she wants to eat, wear, play with, watch on TV, and listen to in the car. She is very affectionate when she wants to be and frequently hugs me, David, the dogs, Tinkerbell, and her friends and says "oh, I love you so much." She tells me at least 5 times a day that I am her best friend. I hope she still says that in 10 years.

Grace is now starting to understand that she lives in a big big world and knows that she lives a long way away from family. She knows that (almost) everyone in the world is someone she might want to have as a friend, and she has empathy for people who are in need. She watched a special on TV with me about Hurricane Katrina victims last week. I told her that those people didn't have houses anymore because their houses got ruined, but that other people were trying to help them find and build new houses. She has talked about it quite a bit since then that those poor people who don't have a house are so sad. I also loaded up several bags of clothes to donate to charity a few weeks ago. At first, she was upset that I was giving our stuff away, but when I told her that some people don't have lots of clothes and might only have one shirt, she immediately changed her tune. She questioningly looked at me and said "they only have one shirt?" She had never considered an idea like that before.

Our little girl is still quite a little girl, but definitely not a baby anymore (you wouldn't be able to tell it by the diapers she still wears, much to our dismay, though!!!) All we know is that we are so happy and lucky to have such a fabulous little daughter and overwhelmed at the idea that we are responsible for how her little life will turn out.

At the risk that no one will read a blog entry this long or one even longer to talk about birthday celebrations, I'm going to make 2 separate entries!

On the subject of Harriet...

Yesterday, I went in for my 3rd ultrasound on Harriet. We found out lots of things about her. Some we already knew. She's stubborn for one. She also moves around a lot and her head is very low and ready to go. She's a big baby apparently. They estimated her weight at 3 pounds which is the 92nd percentile for her gestational age (at 28 weeks the average weight is a little over 2 pounds.) I'm thinking this could be good or bad. If she ends up delivering early, she will have enough weight on her that she'll probably be healthy. If I carry her to term and she keeps growing at this rate, I'm going to have a very large newborn to deliver! I'm just glad she's ok and she's going to stay in for the time being - I'm not in pre-term labor at this point. Yea!

Our lives are currently shaped and focused on Harriet's arrival. Even Grace is starting to realize that it's all about the baby - especially now that I've been pretty "disabled" and can't do the things she would like me to as much. She is getting nicer when we talk about it and even asked if she could go to the doctor with me to "listen to Harriet." However, she maintains a certain level of being spoiled and is sticking to her guns as the current only child. We've been setting up bedroom #3 for Grace so that Harriet can move into the nursery. Grace is reluctant to share with Harriet, but she is excited about her new room and especially her new big-girl bed. We don't have anything else done in the room, but her bed has been set up for 4 days now and she has slept in it every night without complaint.

Having no one conveniently around who can help move furniture, David boldly took on the task of doing a lot of it himself. We will get some help with a couple of big heavy dressers, but he single-handedly moved the queen bed out of the room and downstairs to the den. (we'll leave it there for the summer until the Harriet visitors have come and gone.) He also moved the big couch from the den to the basement by himself. Then, for dessert, he got underneath our over-sized computer desk like a turtle and moved it down the wall for the new arrangement. He's also been tasked with painting and putting new hardware on the bedroom set I've had since I was 4 years old for Grace. It actually looks really good and I'm so excited to get it moved into her room. Usually, painting, moving furniture, and the likes can cause lots of marital stress - especially when one spouse isn't doing what the other wishes they would do. But, since I'm totally worthless to help paint or move anything, we have been fight free!

So, for our friends and family out there, we thought we should start taking a little poll. If you want to log in and comment with your answer, that would be great!
1- what do you think will be Harriet's day of arrival?
2- how much will she weigh?
3- what do you like better as a middle name?
Our options so far are: Anne, Ann, Marie, and May (assuming she's born in May!)

We'll figure out a prize for the winner of the predictions.

Buhler??? Buhler???

Elder Buhler and Elder Peterson were our friendly local missionaries for the past several months until Elder Peterson made his last transfer to go home to a small rural town in southern Utah. Mission well served! Elder Buhler who is still here has a connection with us here in Massachusetts. He actually was in Mr. Covili's English class at Hunter High. Does he look familiar Jared? He claims that Mr. Covili was a great teacher. Too bad no one else will ever find that out. Now Mr. Covili gets paid to geocache (and do a few other things I'm sure).

Grace loves having the missionaries over (and just about anyone for that matter) and one of the advantages of living in Massachusetts is the fact that Mormons are few in number so you get to interact with the missionaries quite a bit. While neither Michelle nor I are great reference machines we at least do our part to put weight on our missionaries with some good food.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!

Well after several days of enjoyment it is finally time to post about the Super Bowl. I have waited 26 years for this to happen and all I can say is let's get going on the second hand. I know that some people have been saying the Super Bowl was rather boring this year, but I actually thought it was a good game. Neither team was dominant and it was a hard fought close game with the game not decided until the fourth quarter. You have to like that. It will be interesting to see how this team responds next year. They will have a few things to work on like pass defense and while Willie Parker had a nice year I don't know that he is the answer for the running game in the long term. I just can't believe that there will be no football for 7 months. Is that legal?

BTW--Pittsburgh 5 rings, Cleveland?

Happy Ground Hog Day!

Well, ground hog day is just as exciting a holiday for me to celebrate as any. I was talking to Jared about why I don't do blog entries as often as he does. I told him that most days are very much the same for me and who wants to hear about our same boring routine? He said "your life is ground-hog day!" He's totally right. You could just put a looping video tape in for what we do most of the time. Since I have been really pregnant, Grace and I are late late risers. We get out of bed around 9 or 10. Grace watches some morning PBS shows while I check e-mail and shower. Then we have lunch (usually consisting of Grace's favorite - Ramen "doodles") and play for a bit before she takes her afternoon nap. I cook dinner while she is asleep and we wait for David to come home. Rita keeps telling me that if I don't feel up to it, I don't have to feel obligated to work for her. I told her that I wasn't quitting until a doctor tells me I have to. My Tuesday/Thursday afternoon job at her barn is the only reason I put on shoes and start my car twice a week! That's not entirely true, but very very close.

So what if every day is ground-hog day around here. Grace and I are pretty happy with it. We have lots of time to spend together which is exactly what I wanted to do when I quit my full-time job teaching. I love being able to mold my day around what she wants to do (most of the time) and letting her learn about how to do things from watching me do them.

So, now that we're home from Utah and we'll be here for many months... Happy Ground-Hog Day to us!

More Family Time

Like I said, the last half of our trip was really spent with family. We did visit a few friends from our old ward as well as Jared and Tara and Kennedy. I have a hard time choosing who to see when I go back. There are scores of people who I miss and who I'd love to stay in touch with, but it is really hard to keep close connections with lots and lots of people. I do my very best to stay in touch and I hope that no one gets offended when I don't visit them. There's only so much you can do in 2 weeks and I did all I could...

Anyway, we really did have a great time with our family. Here are a few more pics of the family fun:

walking to church with mo'Debbie... having a bath with baby Sean... hanging out with Grandpa Lyle... reading a story with Grandma and Grandpa Chapman and Aunt Christine...

We'll see you all again this spring or summer! Thanks so much to everyone for everything you did for us to help us visit and have fun. We love you!!!! We had a really hard time leaving this time. Usually, Grace helps me when I start crying about it and tells me that everything is going to be ok and "don't worry mom." This time, she was just as sad as I was which made it even harder for me and everyone else to say good-bye. Is there any way we can visit next time without having to do the good-bye part? Can we some how skip over that last day and instantly arrive on the plane? Well, it's still worth it to visit even if the end is sad and it is good that everyone cares so much that we all cry when it is over.

Gracie's first Dentist Apppointment

Grace got to go see her Uncle Randy for her first trip to the Dentist. She wasn't too sure at first, but the hygenist was very cute with her and made her feel very comfortable and secure. By the time she left, she was more than happy to be there. Her Uncle Randy counted her teeth (10 on top and 10 on bottom.) She reports that she has 50 teeth. She is also, thankfully, cavity free. Now she really thinks that Uncle Rand is cool and is so excited about the new fun toothbrush she got and the prize they gave her. I hope she has her Daddy's teeth and won't need lots of fillings or braces like her Mommy has had.

No photos, please...

Thankfully, we didn't document this part of our trip with a photo. Apparently, I have made a habit out of checking myself into the hospital when I travel. 2 trips ago, I thought I had a blood clot in my leg from flying, so I went to the emergency room in the middle of the night for an ultrasound. It turned out to be just a really bad broken blood vessel that had gotten all knotted up, but it did happen on the plane. Now, I'm paranoid about it when I fly. This trip, I ended up checking myself into the Labor and Delivery unit of the hospital. After being in Utah for about 8 days, I started getting very tired - more than normal and my pulse just kept going up. After 3 days of it with a pulse of 133 and a very limited ability to breathe, I called several health-care people for advice. They all told me to go straight to the hospital, which I did. I spent most of a day hooked up to the monitors and getting blood work done. It turns out, I had some sort of altitude sickness as well as anemia. After living at sea level for almost a year, I've apparently got fewer red blood cells than I need to supply me and a second person inside with oxygen. After being on bed-rest and an iron treatment for the week-end, I started to feel better. However, I'm still on "watch." I followed up with my doctor when I got back to Massachusetts and they are putting me on a lay-low system for a couple of weeks. I'm hoping I can go back to normal soon and that I can keep working at the barn a little longer. But, I'll do whatever it takes to avoid having a preemie in the NICU. I stink at being pregnant! I'm just glad that I got to do most of what I wanted on my trip before it all happened because the rest of the trip was pretty low-key...

Grandpa Earl's Birthday

We got to help Grandpa Earl celebrate his birthday on our trip. It was actually on February 1st, but we had an early birthday party on January 27th for him. Grace absolutely loves birthday parties - especially the "happy cake" that gets served. She is anxiously planning her own 3rd birthday party coming up soon. We really love Grandpa Earl and we were so glad to get to spend some time with him and bring him a birthday present. Grandma Barbara, of course, fixed us a great dinner too. We really miss being able to eat dinner with our families on a regular basis. We miss them so much and we miss the night off from cooking too!

Riding at Shupe Acres

After a few days spent with family and getting to know everyone again, Grace and I made our quarterly visit to Shupe Acres. My friend Jaimy owns and runs the barn there. She and I rode together when we were teen-agers and got hooked up again about 5 or 6 years ago when she came to look at my horse to buy for a student. I ended up not selling my horse, but just moving him to her barn and we picked up right where we left off as riding buddies. Only, this time, we were both on the verge of becoming mommies. Her little girl, Reese, is a year younger than Grace and they are becoming riding buddies as well. Jaimy and Reese are always so nice to let us keep coming to Shupe Acres to ride when we're in Utah and Reese is usually a gracious host to Grace in sharing her pony, Tucker. She wasn't as happy this time to share as most 2-year-olds don't like sharing at all. Still, she was very nice and let Grace ride her pony and they had many turns together. I did bring Grace's own helmet from Massachusetts with us this time. Everyone thought I was nuts to cart it all the way to Utah for just one pony ride, but it was a very good thing that each girl had her own helmet - sharing the pony was quite enough! Jaimy and I only wish that we could ride together more often than every 3 or 4 months and that Grace and Reese could grow up together a little more closely. Maybe Grace and Reese can go to Hybid Farm's summer pony camp together when they are a little older.