Birthday Boy

Today is Caleb's 5th birthday! I can't believe how quickly the time has flown. It seems like just yesterday he was my sweet newborn baby. Every stage has been so much fun and such a learning experience. I can't wait to see what the next few years have in store for us! I love my stinker!!!!!!

Broken Nose

Well my stinker butt broke his nose at school on Thursday. I get a call around lunch time from my husband who says, "Can you call Caleb's doctor. I just got a call from the school and apparently Caleb fell on the playground. He was fine until about an hour after the fall when it seems his head is swelling and he is complaining of a bad headache." That's all he says! I, of course, begin freaking out like most mothers would when they hear words like head swelling, bad headache... so I call his doctor and they immediately let me speak with a nurse. She asks me questions such as where is the swelling, what's hurting? I have no answers so I call the school nurse. As soon as I'm paged through and say who I am she tells me that Caleb was playing on the playground and fell somehow. On his way down he hit his nose. It bled a little and so she fixed him up and sent him to class. Apparently an hour or so later it started swelling and he was complaining of a headache (turns out it was hurting ON his nose, not his head but hey, he's only 4). After speaking with her, our doctors nurse and an emergency room nurse we decide not to take Caleb into the ER at this time. His nose is too swollen for them to do anything anyway and the first thing he asks when Seth picks him up is whether or not he can play in the playset at McDonalds. I think he's fine...

We still haven't taken him to the doctor. He has his five year check up in a week so I figure I'll let them look at it then but we're about 95% sure it's broken and he had such a cute little nose :(

I'm not sure why God decided to give me two boys! Already Caleb has broken his arm in two places and now his nose. AND he's a good kid! He's not a wild child and he's not extremely physical. He just seems to be a klutz. :) I am not looking forward to little E becoming mobile if this is what it leads too...Oh well, I suppose things could be MUCH worse!

Birthdays!!

In two weeks both of my boys will hit new milestones...so sad :( Caleb will turn 5 YEARS OLD!!! We've already told him he's not allowed to turn 6, ha ha ha! He says, "Yes I will mom!" He's such a big boy. He is at the local elementary school in the Georgia PreK program. He loves his school and his teachers. If you ask him if he likes it he says, "I wish I was there right now!"

Elijah will be 6 months four days before Caleb's birthday. He is such a chunker and a sweet boy. Somehow we got blessed with two awesome boys. Eli is definitely a little more high maintenance than Caleb was but still nowhere near what I've seen from some babies. He's learning how to sit up by himself although he weighs so much that it is very difficult for him to fully support his head quite yet. He's learning. He also scoots on the floor. I think crawling will come very soon.

One of the issues that we're dealing with right now is the Swine Flu or H1N1. I'm not 100% sold on the vaccine yet. Caleb and I both got the regular flu vaccination and Eli will too but as for the H1N1 vaccine...I just don't know. I'm still debating. Right now we're doing everything that we can to keep ourselves healthy. Each of us are taking vitamins (except for Eli) as well as veggie/fruit supplements. Here are also some good to know health tips.

Prevent Swine Flu - Good Advice
Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital , Bombay Hospital , Saifee Hospital , Tata Memorial etc.. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W).

The following message given by him, I feel makes a lot of sense and is important for all to know.

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).
2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat or bathe).
3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.
4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. *Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but *blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*
5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.
6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm and Vitamin D

I suggest you pass this on to your entire e-list. You never know 20 who might pay attention to it - and STAY ALIVE because of it.

So what are you doing about the vaccine??? ~ Charity

Kraft

I LOVE the Kraft foods website. If you don't already have this link as one of your favorites, you absolutely need to! It has all kinds of recipes, budget ideas, menus, cooking videos and the list could go on and on. One of my favorite things on this website is the meal finder. You enter 3 ingredients that you have or would like to use and they find you a recipe using those ingredients! Genius right?!?! I know!!!! I also love their 1 bag, 5 dinners recipes. With this feature you are given a shopping list...enough to fill one bag but enough to create five dinners to use throughout the week. Here is an example:

New Bag - Healthy Living
Dinner Shopping List for 1 week
Spaghetti with Zesty Bolognese
Cheesy Chicken & Veggie Mac
Easy Slow-Cooker Beef Stew
Skillet Chicken & Vegetables Parmesan
DIGIORNO - Pizza - Harvest Wheat Rising Crust Four Cheese

Anyway, check back for more recipes and some of my favorite websites!
~Charity

My Eventful Pregnancy

Monday Morning:

So it looks like my drs and I will be getting to know each other quite well between now and when I have Eli. From now on I will be seeing them every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. On Monday's I will go and be hooked up the monitor to monitor contractions. I will also be meeting with the dr. On Wednesday's I go in for blood work and to turn in my 24 hour urine test that I have to do once every week until I deliver. On Thursday's I will have ultrasounds to measure Eli's growth, blood flow and fluid levels. They'll also be checking my cervix. Today I went and had several big contractions and have dilated to 2 cm so they've put me on procardia to stop contractions. The contractions were not consistent but they kept me hooked up for 2 hours to monitor them and said I had too many this early on in the game. Right now they are letting me stay at home on bedrest instead of going into the hospital again. I am feeling the contractions which is a little scary since I didn't feel any with Caleb until I was 7 cm dilated. I'm hoping the procardia helps. Anyway, they are trying to keep Eli in there at least until I am 35 weeks. She said most likely I'll go in to the hospital next week to have a steriod shot if something doesn't happen between then and now. We'll see.....

Monday evening:
Okay so I took my procardia at 5 and the contractions got worse, not better. I called dr around 7 just to see when meds should start kicking in. She sent me to labor and delivery where they hooked me up and found I was still contracting. So they gave me more procardia and made me wait. Turns out I was dehydrated and they are now thinking I have gestational diabetes on top of everything else that I have wrong with me. Last week when I was in the hospital they mentioned that I had sugar spilling over into my urine but didn't act like it was a big deal. Tonight though she said I need to let my dr know so that they can start monitoring my sugar. I thought they would tell the dr?!??! They finally let me go home with an upped dose of procardia. I now have to take it every four hours as opposed to every six. I'll do my 24 urine test tomorrow, blood work Wednesday and then thursday ultrasound and dr appointment. Anyone else finished being pregnant!?!?!? I'm just done with everything. I really think I have had almost every pregnancy issue there is and I'm just tired!!!!!!! I know he needs to hang in there a couple of more weeks but I am so miserable.

Doctors Appointment Yesterday

So I went yesterday for my 31 week appointment and the BIG ultrasound. I almost cried when I first got there because the lady that made my appointment two weeks ago at my last appointment, didn't enter my appointment in correctly and it was showing that I didn't have an appointment yesterday. Luckily they were able to get me in anyway.

Turns out baby Eli is a big boy! He's already measuring over 4lbs and has a head full of hair! We could see it on the ultrasound :) Dr says Eli is between the 65th percentile and 70th. My belly and ultrasound said that I am measuring at 32 weeks but dr is not changing the due date because he feels like Eli will come on his own time anyway. That's okay with me. He said I only have to take two more 7p shots so I'm thrilled with that!

They did see something on my ultrasound and compared with some pain I've been having, they are sending me to have a gall bladder ultrasound next Wednesday. Dr says it's a possibility that I will have my gall bladder taken out right after having Eli. We'll see. My appointment is at 8 am Wednesday morning and I'm not allowed to eat for 8 hours before the appointment!!! Crazy, telling a pregnant woman that she can't eat! The night before I am not allowed to have anything fried or greasy. Should be interesting... :)

Anyway, overall it was a pretty positive appointment. Cervix is closed and looks great, even with a big boy!!!!! Elijah kept sticking his tongue out at us during the ultrasound...OH! and he has TURNED!!!!! YAY! He's head down, butt up but had one foot stuck in his mouth :) I thought yesterday that he was doing some crazy acrobatics...turns out I was right!!! Well just thought I'd share my lovely day yesterday!

Not My Baby Anymore

So I realized the other day that my sweet boogers will not be my baby anymore once Eli comes. So sad! I have enjoyed literally every stage that he has gone through, even the trantrums and talking back! :) Seth is so not a cuddler and God knew that I needed a little man to cuddle with. Caleb has been that for me. He will sit on the couch with me for hours, just hugging me. If I am sick, he is so sympathetic and loving. He'll come to me at random times through out the day just to tell me that he loves me. His new nickname for me is "your highness". :) It cracks me up! He has everyone, and I mean EVERYONE wrapped around his finger. People at church go out of their way to bring him gifts. One of his favorite gifts is sugar free gum! One lady in our church left church Sunday just to run to the gas station to get gum for him! No wonder Pastor's kids turn out the way they do!!!! ha ha! Seth and I think of vacations for just he and I and then during planning, we start talking about how Caleb would love to do this or that. We then realize that we're not going anywhere without him...we would miss his reactions too much. We're already planning our next Disney vacation!!! After having my sweet baby, I truly understand God's love for us. I would lay down my life in a heartbeat for that blonde haired, blue eyed boy. He is one of the most loving boys in the entire world and I know one day he'll make some woman completely happy.

Fire Proof

Sunday night we had a movie night at the church. We showed the movie Fire Proof. If you haven't seen the movie, you definitely need to. I had heard several things about it...one being how much of a low budget movie it was. That didn't even cross my mind as I watched the movie unfold. Instead I was focused on the storyline and how every married couple or couple thinking about getting married, should be watching this movie.

Seth and I have been married for almost eight years (June 16, 2001). I married a minister so I assumed everything would always be perfect with our marriage. One thing I learned pretty early on is that ministers and their families struggle just like the average person. I am so independent and have always been. I prided myself on that fact. I can support our family myself if the need be and I have pushed myself further and further in school to prove it. I earned my bachelor degree in one year, my master's in one and my specialist in one and a half years, all by the age of 27. (Okay technically I finished my course work for my specialist at 27 but I didn't turn everything in until after I had turned 28 :) ) I probably would have finished them at an earlier age if I hadn't of gotten pregnant at 23 after three years of marriage. SURPRISE!!! :)

Seth was so focused on ministry and I was so focused on my academic career that we hardly spent time together and the time that we did spend together was focused on ministry. We were just two people who got to live together and sleep together without sinning! :) Only just in the past couple of years have I realized that we need to be a family and not two individuals living under the same roof. Even the best marriages struggle and unless we are unified, we'll never withstand temptations.

I've come to realize just how important my man is to me. What a good husband I have, what an awesome father. I know I am extremely lucky and I had NOTHING to do with it! I look back on our eight years together as man and wife and I see how much we have grown. I now understand what people mean when they say, "I love this person more today than I did the day we got married." When I look at my sweet baby Caleb, I fall more in love with Seth because he gave me that beautiful baby. I love the fact that he can take care of Caleb just as well as I can. I know that Caleb is learning how to be a father, from his fathers example and that in turn teaches him about God the Father. I love that for some stupid reason, I really think he thinks I am Mrs. America. :) and you should see me when I wake up in the morning! Scary....

Most of all though, I love that my man first has a relationship with God. It is evident in everything that he does. I know that he can demonstrate love to Caleb and I because of the love and relationship with God that he nurtures on a daily basis. I am learning that the dishes and laundry can wait if it means more time spent together as a family. I am learning to show love and encouragement instead of negativity. I used to think that if I nagged enough or showed displeasure, Seth would get the idea and things would miraculously change. I still find myself falling back into those patterns especially when I am stressed but I am trying to love by example and not by pure expectation. I know that I will never be the perfect spouse and I know that we have MANY trials ahead of us but I am confident that as long as we continue to put God first (and by God, I mean GOD and not ministry) and as long as we continue to work at our marriage, God will lead me and guide me.

New Resolve

I have decided that I am actually going to try to update this blog regularly now :) Today there is nothing exciting going on...just hanging out during my planning period. I am planned up for the end of the school year because I am worried I won't make it to the end of the school year.....so I have literally nothing to do right now. I've packed up most of my school stuff already, just need to box some books. I have so many books! The Kinneer family definitely loves books.

Tomorrow is my big ultrasound appointment!!!! So excited! I'm hoping they are going to tell me that I am farther along than they originally thought...pray!!! I'm so ready to have this little booger. I'm starting to swell in my hands and feet but other than that, for once I am actually able to enjoy this pregnancy! I haven't posted maternity pictures so here are some...

I found out a couple of weeks ago that I am having a church shower. I'm so excited! Wasn't planning on getting a shower since I am having another little boy. I cleaned out all of Caleb's things from the basement and finally washed all of his little clothes that I had kept. I ended up with two huge tupperware boxes full. I can't believe I kept that much! Eli really won't need any new clothes! He does need a car seat, stroller and some other big things.

well the bell is about to ring, I will post some more in a second when my kiddos are working on researching for their research papers!!!!

Nursery Pictures

I know it's been awhile since I last blogged...okay almost a year... so I decided to update this. In September of 2008 we found out we are expecting baby number two :) After over two years of trying and making adoption plans, God answered our prayer and allowed me to get pregnant. We were taking Caleb to Disney for fall break and I had a horrible sinus infection. I decided to go to the walk-in clinic and while there found out not only did I have a sinus infection but I also had a baby in the belly! It has been not the best of pregnancies but it has so been worth it. In November we found out we are having another boy!! Elijah James Kinneer. Just last week we found out that my original due date of May 21st may be wrong and instead I might be due May 7th or earlier!!! (either that or he is just a big boy!) I go next week (March 18th) for a big ultrasound where they will measure he and I and figure out his gestational age! I sure hope I am farther along than they originally thought! I'm so ready!! :)

Well, I have definitely been nesting so I thought I would include some pictures of his nursery so far. I am almost completely finished!