Blog Upkeep

So, as you all probably noticed, I changed the layout a bit.  I'm hoping it will make it easier to read.

Also, some people have had trouble commenting.  That is now fixed.  I didn't realize it wasn't allowing 'anonymous' comments, so I changed that setting.  You can now comment without having to have a Blogger account.

Just little stuff!

And soon we shall be 4...

So, for those who know, this is just an update.

For those that don't...

We're having another baby!

Maguire Baby #2 will (hopefully) make its appearance December 24 (due date).

We had an ultrasound a month ago to get an official due date.  So, here is our baby:

The large blob on the right is the head.  The two little blobs under the head are the arms.  The medium sized blob is the body.  And, the two little blobs sticking off to the left are the legs.

The ultrasound was taken at 9w(eeks)6d(ays).

According to Baby Center, this is what the baby looked like:

Now I am 14w3d.  Which means the baby now looks like this:

As you can see, much less blob-like.  Unfortunately, the 9w6d ultrasound might be all we get.  Our insurance only pays for an ultrasound if there is a medical reason.  So, I'm looking at the bright side and going with our not getting another ultrasound as a good thing.  I mean, to get one something would have to be going wrong, and I'd rather not deal with that.  So here's to only one blob picture!

Of course, at blob stage it is impossible to figure out the sex, so once again we will be surprised at delivery.  (But, should we get a second ultrasound for some reason... we will attempt to find out the sex.)

As for me, I currently look like this:

(And, yes, I am actually sucking in as much as I can)

I heard the baby's heartbeat at my second OB/GYN appointment on June 16.  But, Dr. Bad didn't tell me how fast it was. 

Luckily, I had a mole removed yesterday at the base clinic and they had to check the baby beforehand.  They found the baby pretty easily and the heartbeat was 156!  (Unfortunately, so far Brian hasn't been able to be with me for either, so hopefully he will make the next appointment in July)

********

On a fun side note:

We have started a baby pool at www.expectnet.com.

Enter 'MagsTake2' in the upper left corner under 'Invited Guests'.

Grandma McColley won McColley's baby pool, so let's see if she can keep her crown or if another will take the championship!

And, if you really enjoy our game, I have a second one for you!

For those of you that know Renee and Layne, they are expecting their first little one on December 7th.  You can join in their pool by putting in the game name 'LilGood'.

Enjoy playing!

Yard Suckage

So, I am succumbing to peer pressure.

I am attempting to garden.

Don't worry.  I'm doing a pretty bad job, but the fact that I am even attempting is telling.

But, Brian is in charge of watering everything with McColley assistance.

On May 3rd our development managers had a plant giveaway.  Brian went and picked out two free plants.

The plants then sat in our garage for three weeks.

We finally decided to plant them, but only took out a spade.  After digging through four inches of bark, we hit the plastic weed guard.  

I made the brilliant decision to not cut through the weed guard.

This is how the plants responded:

I think they are actually supposed to have flowers at this point... instead they are valiantly clinging to life.

As we walked through the neighborhood to get our mail, I realized where our yard rated on the street's Garden List.

The spectrum:

Here's the house with no one living in it:

Here is our neighbor's house (you know, the people on the other half of our duplex):

(Note that there are actual blooming flowers, pots and A TABLE WITH CHAIRS!)

This is our house:

Pretty much the only difference between us and the vacant house is that we have a hose.

We are clearly underneath the street's gardening bar.  And our street is pretty low on the development's Garden List.  We are at the bottom of the bottom... at least we half-heartedly water our yard sometimes.

But the peer pressure got to me... so after getting the mail, I broke out the spade again and the kitchen sheers and CUT THROUGH THE WEED GUARD!!!

I'm hoping our two free plants now have a chance.

********

McColley actually loved being outside.  So much in fact, that he threw a fit when we made him come inside.  So, it's a little after 8pm and Brian and McColley are outside doing something in our miniscule backyard.

But, here are a few cute pictures of McColley with the plants:

I'm hoping he actually enjoys being outside and dealing with plants/bugs/dirt... so that when he's like 10 or so I can convince him to do all the outdoorsy stuff for me.

Not that I won't supervise (from inside the house behind a screen...)

Six Random Pictures

OK, I was tagged by Christel to tell everyone six random things about myself.  However, I am not that interesting... so instead I am going to post six (plus) random pictures of 'Life with McColley'.

#1:  Going to the Beach

Basically, Brian loves to build sand castles.  McColley loves to help him build sand castles.

Then McColley likes to destroy sand castles.  Complete and total destruction.  It's hysterical.

Also, Brian has the uncanny ability of hitting pockets of horseshoe crab eggs.  So far, he's hit at least one pocket each time we go to the beach.  Yeah, he's that good.

#2  Taking pictures and The Sink

The picture encompasses two of McColley's favorite things: taking pictures and playing in the sink.  

The camera he is holding in this picture is out of film, but sometimes he gets his hands on the digital camera...the pictures are always, um, interesting.

He also loves to play in the sink.  Unfortunately, about a week ago he figured out how to use the spray nozzle.  Now the kitchen is no longer safe.  His sink time is also limited.

On a similar note: McColley can unlock the deadbolts.  So, our mission this weekend is to upgrade our door locks, or at least put a lock up higher.

#3  Coloring and the High Chair

So, McColley likes to color in his high chair, no big deal, right?

The funny thing about this is that McColley climbs into the high chair by himself (or he did before he hurt his toe).

Once he is sitting in the chair, he calls for us to come and put his 'seat belt' on.  Then we are allowed to put on the tray and he colors for a bit.

He even eats dinner in it sometimes!

And sometimes he just likes to climb in, have us click the belt on, wait just long enough for us to sit down again, and then scream that he's 'stuck'.  We unclick the belt, take him out, sit down... and he's climbed back in and is asking for his 'seat belt' again.  Now repeat until Mom or Dad are insane.

#4  Stroller Love

During our trip to DC with Arianna, McColley fell into Stroller Love.  Here it is, folded up in our hotel room... and he's ready to go.  We told him we were about to leave, so he climbed in and is trying to put his belt on.  Unfortunately, the stroller was not as ready as McColley.

McColley was not pleased to be taken out of the stroller.

But he spent plenty of time in the stroller later as he slept through our tour of the Capitol building.

See, totally out:

#5  Uncomfortable Positions

Arianna visited us for a week.  McColley thinks she is awesome.  

We took her for the weekend to DC and finished off with a trip to Mt. Vernon.  We had to wait in line for an hour to tour the mansion, so Arianna and Brian took turns entertaining McColley during the wait.  

I have pictures of McColley playing with Brian, but the ones with Arianna are much funnier.

And you will see what the title is referring to (Arianna's going to hate me for this):

#6  Bubbles!

This is at the National Aquarium at Baltimore.  They have tubes of bubbles and McColley couldn't help but hug them.

About two months ago, I bought McColley a 24-pack of wedding bubbles.  He loved blowing them, having me blow them, pouring them into the sink, and drinking water out of the empty bottles.  Unfortunately, sometimes empty and full got mixed up, and he drank bubble mixture more than once.

But, the bubble fascination lives on!

Bonus #7  Copycat

McColley likes to do everything that Mommy and Daddy do.  He pretends to shave his head like Daddy, puts on makeup with Mommy, tries to put on Daddy's boots... all the usual stuff.

But in this case, he wanted a pony tail like Mommy.  And I was able to get a picture of it.  

I kinda think it's cute.

And just in case you were curious:  The Toe

Yes, this is after it was bandaged.  There are no pictures pre-bandage... I enjoyed my lunch too much.

Medical Follow-Up

Well, we ended up having to force McColley to take more Tylenol at 4am.  His fever was up to a little over 101.

However, he didn't wake up until 7am.  We checked his temperature at that point and it was down to 99.

So, it was time to try and collect that urine again.  Brian swore that McColley always pees when he gets put in the bath.  So, we ran a bath.  No urine.

The decision was made to follow Grandma's advice and tape the bag on and put a diaper over it.  We found some medical tape and Brian held McColley down while I taped the bag on.  For those who were curious, here is the bag we had use:

Interestingly enough, once we got it on, McColley refused to let us take it off.  Unfortunately, as we were getting the bag on, McColley kicked Brian with his injured toe and made it bleed again.

Brian left and did the monthly Warrior Run.  When he got back McColley had urinated into the bag.  We got the bag off and McColley and I left to go back to the clinic.  Today I packed a book for myself... just to be safe.

When we got to the clinic we handed the sample to the receptionist.  And, probably because McColley's toe was still bleeding, we got in to see the same PA right away.

Turns out there was nothing in the urine, other than a little dehydration.  So, as long as the fever keeps going away it's nothing to worry about.  However, if it comes back... we have to head back into the clinic for a new round of testing.

As for the toe, when McColley kicked Brian it lifted the edge of the nail.  The good part is that the bleeding probably relieved the pressure under the nail.  The bad part is that, obviously, his nail is now partially off.  The nurse wrapped up the toe to protect it.  We have to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get infected.

But, because it was injured again, the PA told us to go in and get it x-rayed.  At our hospital x-rays are just walk-in appointments!

So, after only a half an hour at Hell (Thank you Jesus!) we went over to the hospital.  From first sign in to exit was an hour!

It took three radiology techs to get the x-rays done, but that was because one had to hold his foot in place and the other one tried to entertain him so he'd stay still.  The third one actually took the x-ray.

My untrained eye couldn't see anything, but we'll see what the doctor says.

All-in-all, it was a pretty good morning.  McColley got a band-aid, six stickers, and a Happy Meal out of the deal.  And, we were home by noon!

Hopefully we are now done with the doctor.  (Although I go in on Friday to have a mole removed... here's hoping that goes smoothly!)

Update:  The PA called around 4pm to let us know that McColley's toe is not broken in any way.  It's just a bad bruise.  So, we just need to keep an eye on it.  

Also, McColley still has a bit of a temperature, but his attitude has improved to the point that he is acting like himself.

I think we're out of the woods.

Broken nail polish...Smashed toe...5 hour doctor visit.

So, it all started yesterday.  I opened the medicine cabinet door and out feel the clear nail polish.  I blame it on Brian actually cleaning our bathroom.  It taunted the messiness gods.

And, yes, it is really difficult to clean up spilled clear nail polish without your glasses on.  And, with no nail polish remover.  And then having to take a shower with half-dried nail polish all over your hands.

But, that was just the beginning.  After my shower, McColley came into the bathroom and managed to find a basket.  Inside the basket was just random nicknacks, and a silver heart-shaped candy dish... with sharp edges.  McColley, of course, drops the sharp edge of the candy dish on his toe.  It lands right on the middle of his right big toe nail.  And it starts to bleed under the nail.

He was not happy.

It took a good hour before he stopped crying.  And Brian and I forcing a dose of Tylenol down his throat.  McColley REALLY hates Children's Tylenol.  

We went grocery shopping in the afternoon, but generally just chilled.  Due to the toe smashing, McColley chose to not take a nap.  However, he did fall asleep in my lap at 8pm.

Brian took him into his bedroom, where he woke up a bit.  Usually Brian can just lay next to him on the floor until he falls asleep again, but McColley could not fall asleep.  I went in after 9 and McColley just could not get comfortable.  

He seemed hot, so we took his temperature.  It was over 102.

At 10 we forced him to take some more Tylenol.  At least he was polite as he screamed, 'No Thanks!  No Thanks!' and tried to shove his hands in his mouth so we couldn't give him the medicine.

Finally we all got to sleep.  In the morning we took his temperature again... back at 102.

I called the base clinic, but there were no appointments with any doctors.  So, I got a referral to the Walk-In Clinic.  From now on it shall be known as 'Hell'.

I called Hell at 10am and was told the wait to get in was 1 hour.  Both McColley and I still needed to get ready, but I was hopeful that we could go quickly and beat the rush.  McColley took his bath with no problem but refused to put on clothes.  I took a shower with no problem, but McColley still refused to put on his clothes.

All attempts to put his clothes on resulted in a temper tantrum, so I set him on our bed and said I would go put on my makeup.  When I walked back out two minutes later, McColley was asleep on the bed.

He woke up a little after 11am.  I called Brian at 11:30 and asked him to come home because I couldn't get any pants on McColley.

This was a bigger issue than it should be because by this point McColley's big toe nail was black.  Therefore I didn't want to cause further injury by forcing him into his pants (not that I hadn't already tried to do that while working around his toe.  This proved to be impossible for one person.)

By the time Brian got home McColley was worn out and let Brian put on his shorts with no problem.

We finally got to Hell at 11:42am.  Brian waited with us until 12:40.  We finally got into an exam room at 1:20.

The nurse took the basic vitals and then told us the doctor would be with us soon.  This included McColley's temperature hovering near 104.

I read McColley five books, including two with some 'reading comprehension' to kill time.  We sat in three different chairs.  Finally I convinced him to lay down with me on the exam table and we took a nap.

At some point the doctor came in.  She was actually a PA, but she was more worried about the fever than the toe.  

For the toe:  Watch it for a couple days, see if he starts refusing to walk on it.  If that happens, she gave us a referral to go get an x-ray.

For the fever:  Still have no idea what caused it.  One ear had a little redness and his tonsils were swollen.  A throat swab revealed that there was nothing in his throat.  The nurse came back in and helped me get McColley to take a dose of Tylenol (which brought his fever down to around 99).  But, then there was some confusion about an urine sample.

The nurse asked me if I wanted to do the sample at the office or at home.  Based on the earlier pants experience, I told him I wanted to do it at home.  He brought the bag in for me, and then told me I just had to wait for discharge orders.  This was like 3:30.

At 4:20 (while McColley took another nap on the exam table) I hunted the nurse down and asked how long it was going to take to get those discharge orders.  He said just another couple minutes.  And then comes in a few minutes later and tells me that THE PA CAN'T WRITE DISCHARGE ORDERS UNTIL WE GET A URINE SAMPLE!  So, we should just go home.

We finally left Hell at 4:30.  We stopped for fries on the way home.

At 5:15 the PA actually called me at home and asked 'All that time and you couldn't get a sample?'  (in a very sympathetic tone).  My response 'I didn't even try.  I told the nurse that I wanted to get the sample at home.  I had some trouble getting his pants on this morning and didn't want to try again at the office.'  She was really understanding, and I think our extra long stay can be attributed to miscommunication with the nurse.

But, we have to watch McColley's fever.  The PA is going to call again in the morning to see how McColley is doing.  

And, no, we weren't able to get the urine sample tonight.  So we'll try again in the morning.  Let's just say that McColley's enthusiasm for putting a plastic bag over his penis mirrored his love of taking Tylenol.

And at 8pm McColley's fever was back up to 103... so Brian and I had the joy of forcing more Tylenol down his throat.  

Here's to a fun night!

A New Blog!

Well, everyone else I know is blogging about their lives and families.  Since we've moved so far from ours, I figured I should join in.  

Look for updates!