Through the past few months, I have had several of these sleepless nights. Last night was one of them. The kind where I fall asleep and then I wake up moments later with my legs bothering me. During pregnancy I suffer with Restless Leg Syndrome. Needless to say, it is NOT FUN!

A friend said to me today, “You would think your body would know you are about to have sleepless nights with a newborn and let you rest up before then.” You’re not kidding! These sleepless nights are an all too familiar reminder of what is to come. Please pray that they will be minimal, if not completely at bay, until the baby comes!

Well, our little guy did indeed come up with that scheme and play it out. I did make a secret mark on his diaper, and yes we did find it very FULL in the trash the next morning. So, we walked into his room and right away I could see him get uneasy. But then he piped right up and told us how he stayed dry. He was so excited. The best part was when he said, “My jammies are wet. I don’t know how they got wet, but my diaper is dry (his diaper often leaks and makes his jammies wet).”

We continued to check with him and ask him if that was his diaper from last night and that he kept it dry. We even said, “Are you sure you want to stick to that story?” And yes he did! He was dry, by golly!

So, we walked him to the trash can and showed him the diaper. Poor guy knew he was busted! He just wanted that BIG prize so badly.

Nicholas is still needing to wear a diaper to bed at night. Last night, he was all about not wearing diapers anymore. So, we told him he needed to show us that he could stay dry. We even told him that if he did stay dry for 2 weeks that he could pick out a really big toy and we would buy it for him.

This morning he comes in our room and Jason asks him if his diaper was dry. And he says YES! So, we make this big deal of it and tell him how proud we are of him etc. And he was so excited!

So, tonight I made him a chart where we could keep track of it to see when he could get his big prize. He is all excited. We put the sticker on it for staying dry last night. And then I get him ready for bed. I reminded him about staying dry. All the sudden he starts saying, “Yea, and you don’t want to pee in your diaper and then get a dry diaper and put it on. And then tell mommy and daddy that you stayed dry, because that would be lying. And that would be bad.” I say, “yea, then mommy and daddy wouldn’t be able to trust you.”

Then it hits me…oh, my goodness, where did he come up with that idea! Did he just do that this morning?! Put on a dry diaper and lie to us? I recalled how later in the morning today, I did see a very full diaper in the trash. And I remember thinking to myself…where did that come from? But then I thought, well, maybe it was from yesterday. (it’s not unusual for him to take his diaper off and leave it out somewhere, so maybe it was an old one).

I told Jason about it all, and we decided that he must have lied to us this morning. Where else would he come up with that story all on his own? And how do you explain the diaper in the trash? Jason said, “wow…there is hope for the boy yet. not that he lied, but that he was smart enough to come up with that plan.” Makes you think how much other stuff is he really comprehending?

So, tonight we thought we would take the diapers out of his room and beat him at his game. But then we realized we really should catch him in this lie, so we can appropriately deal with it. We don’t want the boy to start out at age 5 realizing he can be sneaky and get away with a lie. So, we are leaving the diapers out, and we are going to place a secret mark on the one he has on to check it in the morning.

Wow! Scary glimpse into a sneaky, lying teenager.

We finally were able to celebrate Nick’s Birthday yesterday. Poor guys was sick on his actual Birthday and all last week. We took some friends with us to the T-Rex restaurant at Downtown Disney. The kids got to Build-A-Dino, dig for fossils, and eat dino chicken nuggets. We even took a visit to the Lego Store. It was a great time.

I can’t believe Nicholas is 5 now! Amazing how the time flies. Next year he will be in Kindergarten (and Natalie will be in 1st grade)! And then we’ll also have a newborn! WOW! Bizarre!

Here are some pics from the Celebration:

This week has been a challenging one, to say the least. I forgot how hard it is to take care of a child who is ill and totally dependent on you. Poor Nick has pretty much laid around all day for a week, whining and coughing continuously. I love him and feel bad for him, but there was one day that when Jason got home, I had to go sit outside in the quiet and escape from the constant noise.

One day this week, I was so overwhelmed with my inability to care for him and keep up with everything in the house and life, and our daughter. I just cried because I couldn’t imagine how I am possibly going to survive and manage it all with a 3rd child coming into the picture in 3 months.

Then the next morning I was bonked on the head by what I read in my devotional “Jesus Calling” (which I love, by the way). It is written as if Jesus were speaking to you, and here is what it said:

“When I gave you My Spirit, I empowered you to live beyond your natural ability and strength. That’s why it is so wrong to measure your energy level against the challenges ahead of you. The issue is not your strength, but Mine, which is limitless. By walking closely to Me, you can accomplish My purposes in My strength.”

Wow! That is what I am totally doing…looking at the circumstances and freaking out about how I am going to do it all in my strength. Thank goodness I don’t have to do it all in my strength, but that I can rely on Him to help me through!

“To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me.” (Col. 1:29)

I haven’t written on here in a while. I think mostly because there is so much going on in life all around me, that most of the time I get “stuck”. It’s bizarre. Because there are days where I want to conquer and complete something like crazy, and then other days where it all looks so daunting, that I just get stuck. You add to that sleepless nights, and I become even more fogged.

I have struggled a lot lately with Restless Leg Syndrome, which wakes me up every night. I had this issue when I was pregnant with Nick, too, but this time around seems more intense. Then, to add to the sleepless nights, Nicholas has been sick for the past week. Poor guy has had a fever and has been coughing like crazy. I have taken him to the chiro 3 times, tried all kinds of cough meds and natural remedies, and then took him to a new-to-us pediatrician yesterday. She was so great! They are traditional medical doctors but also practice a lot of natural and homeopathic remedies. And she was so informative in explaining the process of what is happening with this virus in Nick’s body (which I love!). They did a strep test, and he didn’t have it (thank God, bc we certainly don’t need that around our house). So, we are hoping he will get better in the next couple of days.

So, that is the long and short of where we are right now. I have more things to write, but I’ll save it for another post.

My friend Liz put this on her blog, and I just thought it was so funny, esp considering we are about to have number 3. And I must say, it definitely holds true for baby #1 and baby #2 in our house. Can’t wait to see what happens with #3!

General Rules: Difference between first and third born children!!!?
Being a parent changes everything. But being a parent also changes with each baby. Here are some of the ways having a second and third child is different from having your first.

Your Clothes
1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.
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Preparing for the Birth
1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don’t bother practicing because you remember that last time, breathing didn’t do a thing.
3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your 8th month.
————————————–…
The Layette
1st baby: You pre-wash your newborns clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby’s little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can’t they?

Worries
1st baby: At the first sign of distress – a whimper, a frown-you pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your 3-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.
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Pacifier
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby’s bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.
————————————–…
Diapering
1st baby: You change your baby’s diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper every 2 to 3 hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.
————————————–…
Activities
1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.
————————————–…
Going Out
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home 5 times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.
————————————–…
At Home
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn’t squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.
—————————————-…

Cereal – lots and lots of cereal – Rice Krispies, Rainbow Rings, Cocoa Puffs, Peanut Butter Pows
Monkey Brains Raspberry Oatmeal
Amigo’s Mexican Restaurant
The Thai House
Pei Wei
Starbuck’s Soy Hot Chocolate
Pringle’s
Olive Garden’s Pasta Fagioli Soup
Five Guys Burger and Fries with Cajun seasonings (That should have been listed first!)
Macaroni Grill

Notice most of these are restaurants. Not a good thing when finances are tight. If only….

Bummers -
Throwing up. (had to put that first. not as bad as I was, but still happens every few days)
Restless Legs (it’s back again this pregnancy and wakes me up in the middle of the night)
Being tired.
Not being able to decide what sounds good to eat.
Having your tendons and ligaments stretched (esp the ones you didn’t even realize you had)
Pain when you sneeze from above mentioned sore ligaments.
Back aches.
Heartburn.

Not So Bummers –
No Ladies Days (that’s what we call it) for 9 months!
Getting to wear new-to-me clothes (thanks to those who let me borrow maternity clothes!)
Having an excuse to take naps.
Feeling the little thing move around inside you (although sometimes this can be a bummer)
Eating snacks at 11:00 at night (yet, I was known to do this before pregnancy, but now it is more excusable)
Realizing I am going to have another cute Nat or Nicko!

SO, apparently I am of advanced age with this third pregnancy. I know, right?! I knew there were a few additional things that they might test for, but man…they have a whole rigmarole to take you through. In fact, with the hospital set-up that I am on, they just make your appts without consulting you first and then mail you a letter or call you with a recorded message telling you when your appt is (and you just hope it works out). There are more ultrasounds, blood work, and tests. Today I just learned that I have an appt for genetic counseling. But when I found out, I questioned what that was for anyway.

Apparently it is all optional, so I opted out of the genetic counseling. Here is my philosophy that I explained to the lady – I just turned 35 like 3 months ago. I don’t really think my genes have depleted so quickly in just a few months. I mean, if I were a few months earlier and was still 34, they wouldn’t have me go through all of this. And plus, even if we did go through with all the testing, the results or assessment of probability would just freak me out. And it’s not like we would abort or anything anyway. Plus I feel like it is an unnecessary process for someone like me to charge my insurance for and thus contributing to the rise in insurance rates. Especially with the fact that most of these tests just tell you “your chances” for birth defects and they are very known for false-negatives. I wonder how many other people out there opt out of the extra testing?

Signed,
The Lady of Advance Age