Happy

I'm so happy that I'm done with the talk and that there is not a whole lot going on this week. Last week was busier than I would have liked. I finally started writing my talk at 11:00pm saturday night. I stayed up most of the night. I was a wreck by sunday morning because I was so tired. The talk went pretty well all things considered. Doss didn't have a whole lot of time to work on his talk either. He is good at public speaking though. I was shaking and Doss said that everyone behind me could see it. I've been better at controlling my voice when I speak, but I'm still not a very good public speaker. I've given countless presentations at national meetings, but it hasn't gotten easier for me. I think I'll always dread speaking in public.

Doss's parents and Granny came to visit this weekend. David and Judy, relatives of Doss's family that live here in Edmond, also came to visit. Joseph and Audrey really enjoyed playing with Great-Granny. We had a nice time visiting with everyone. Friday night Doss took us all to dinner at the Railhead BBQ restaurant. We had the whole restaurant all to ourselves which was nice. Joseph and Audrey took advantage of that fact and were all over the place. Katelyn slept most of the time.

Saturday night, Doss grilled hamburgers and sausage for everyone. Unfortunately, Doss set some of the meat down to rearrange some things on the grill and Sushi ate 1/3 of the meat. Doss was pretty upset. I was going to give Sushi some meat if she behaved herself, but I guess she just helped herself. Silly dog!

We really enjoy living here in Edmond. I must say that this place has exceeded my expectations. I've been pretty happy overall. I'm even feeling better about the sale of our house too. I was mad earlier in the week when I found out that even with the bonus, we weren't able to come out on top. It turns out that the bonus was only 5% of the net sales price and not 6% of the sales/offer price. So, it was alot less than we had anticipated plus the 5% bonus was taxed 30%. I'm just glad that it's all over with. I'm also glad that we don't have a mortgage at the moment. There were a number of layoffs at Schlumberger this week including in Doss's department...scary. Anyway, he survived this round of layoffs. We are trying to stay positive. I like where we're living, and I'm enjoying the time that I get to spend with the kids. It's taken me a long time to not be so concerned about keeping a foot in the door careerwise. I think when the time comes, I'll find something to do that I will find satisfying. Life is good.

Talk

So I should be working on my talk for sunday since the kids went to bed around 9:00pm, but I just am so unmotivated. I think I'm too tired to really think. I just updated the blog about the kids and am now updating this one.

I usually spend tons of time doing research, writing, and rewriting when I have to speak, but I don't have that kind of time. Anytime I try to get on the computer during the day, the kids come running over and crowd around me. Joseph says he wants to play games. Audrey just starts hitting random keys or pushes the green button that shuts the computer down. I was hoping that I might get some time this weekend to work on the talk, but we are all of a sudden very busy.

Tomorrow night we are going to a ward get-together for families that are new to the area. Friday my in-laws are coming. They will likely stay thru Sunday? Doss says I should not worry about the talk and get up sunday and just say something. He can do that, but I can't. Public speaking scares me and I would definitely freeze if I didn't have every single word typed out in front of me. Since I don't have time to work on the talk the rest of this week, I should be doing it now...sigh. Maybe I'll try and get up really early the next couple of days.

Tired

I didn't go to church today. I was thinking that it would probably be okay to take Katelyn to church, but I was just so very tired today. Audrey also seemed really tired and was acting like she wasn't feeling well. She had a runny diaper this morning too so I decided to keep her home with me. Doss and Joseph went to church. Of course with two kids at home, I didn't get a chance to rest at all. I'm thinking about going to bed here soon since I can probably catch an hour or two of sleep before Katelyn wakes up for a feeding.

I probably should rest more, but it's hard to do when there is so much to be done. It seems like there is a never ending pile of laundry no matter how many loads I do. I feel like I'm always cleaning too. I'm so tired of picking up toys. The kids have toys in every room and hallway and even on the stairs. I finally moved a lot of the toys upstairs. Doss moved our loveseat upstairs too and the papasan chair so that there would be a place to sit when the kids are hanging out upstairs. I swept and mopped all the floors last night. Tomorrow I'll try and clean some more.

Thank You

I tried designing a photo thank you card to send friends and family for the nice gifts that Katelyn has received. This is what I've come up with. I'll probably just run with it. Katelyn has been so fussy. She just wants to nurse constantly and/or have me hold her. If I put her down at all she cries and cries. I haven't done much all morning except one load of laundry and some finishing touches on the photo card...sigh. I do love to cuddle and hold my new baby though. I guess the house will have to stay messy for a while longer.

Baby Announcement

I've been playing around with the computer/photoshop trying to figure out what I wanted to do for a birth annoucement. This is what I have so far. I might change it...we'll see.

The labor and delivery went pretty well. It was record time for me (less than 5 hours from when I went to be induced to when Katelyn was born) as far as deliveries go. Poor Katelyn suffered some "birth injuries" as a result of the quick labor and delivery though. Her poor face was all black and blue. She also has red rings around her eyes as a result of burst blood vessels. Poor thing also has a squishy lump on her head where blood pooled under the scalp (cephalohematoma). The pediatrician said that she's healthy although some cephalohematomas leave a permanent bump on the top of the head. I guess only time will tell on that one.

I'm doing pretty good as far as recovery. Doss has part of this week off so that is nice. Plus, my friend Tania is coming with her daughter to stay for a few days to help out. It's nice to have some help with the kids so that I can tend to and enjoy bonding with Katelyn.

Ready or Not?

So, I guess baby is coming tomorrow whether we're ready or not. Today I finished getting the kids' Halloween costumes together. Audrey is going to be Minnie Mouse and Joseph wanted to be a pirate. We have a trunk or treat at the church on tuesday and then Doss said he'd take the kids trick-or-treating around the neighborhood on Halloween.

I also bought a hotsling today. I was wanting something to carry the baby in that would free up my hands so that I could still do things for Joseph and Audrey. I like the design of the hotsling better than the other carriers that are available. I do have a Baby Bjorn carrier for when the baby gets older. I loved the Baby Bjorn carrier and used it alot with Audrey. The hotsling is good til toddler age so maybe I'll keep using that...we'll see. It's nice to have options. I heard that the hard thing about having three young children is that you run out of hands. I'm hoping the sling/carrier option helps to alleviate that problem.

So the next problem I've been trying to tackle is to think of baby names. We like Katelyn Ming-Hui Barker if the baby is a girl (according to the ultrasound). I'm starting to be a little doubtful that the baby is a girl because everyone from my parents to the guy who mows the lawn insists that I'm having a boy. Doss and I are having trouble agreeing on a boy's name. We did like Stephen, but we don't like the fact that it could be pronounced like Stefan or Steven. Currently, I like Jace or Matthew and Doss likes Kevin and David. I sure hope the baby is a girl since we really like the name Katelyn and Joseph has been calling the baby "Baby Kate."

I am nervous about being induced, but hopefully things will go well. I really hate pitocin. Hopefully labor and delivery will go smoothly and fairly quickly. I am excited about the new baby, but I also feel guilty whenever I look at Audrey. She's still so little and I don't think she understands that she won't be the baby anymore. Yesterday she put her head on my belly a few times. Maybe she understands more than I think she does. Either way, she'll be a big sister tomorrow. Joseph has been excited about the new baby. He was so good with Audrey and still is. He's a great big brother.

Well, tomorrow is the big day. I'm going to get a few last things together and try and get some rest.

Baby's Coming This Week

So I had a doctor's appointment friday morning and nothing new has happened. I was hoping all those "practice" contractions were doing something because some of them were downright painful and kept coming for hours. Anyway, if I haven't had the baby by this coming wednesday, the doctor will induce on thursday morning.

The kids are back from Arlington too. Dad came back friday afternoon with the babies. I missed them sooo much. The house was just way too quiet without them. I didn't really get any extra rest because I kept waking up when the kids normally wake up plus I seemed to have a harder time sleeping without them around. I was also busy tying up loose ends before the baby comes.

I did get lots of stuff done which was good. All the baby clothes have been washed in Dreft and the house was cleaned top to bottom. I'm just planning on doing some upkeep this week. Hopefully things don't get too out of hand by the time the baby comes.

We are very excited that baby is coming. I am so happy to be having another baby, but I must confess that I dread labor and delivery. They never seem to go too well or very quickly for that matter. I always end up on pitocin and having awful contractions for a very long time. I really hate pitocin. I guess we'll see what happens this time.

Sleep

With the kids gone for a few days, you would think that I would be getting lots of sleep. I thought yesterday was wednesday and Doss reminded me that it was only tuesday. It seems like the kids have been gone forever instead of for just one day. I really miss them alot. I got up early this morning since I can't seem to sleep. I've been thinking about the kids and about how I can be a better mom and be better about teaching them gospel principles. I was looking at the suggestions on the Church website this morning. There are some really good ideas. Dad said he'll bring the kids back on friday. I called the kids yesterday, but they were excited about going to the park and didn't want to talk. Joseph did talk to me when I called monday night to make sure they made it to Arlington okay.

Yesterday morning I went visiting teaching with Jennie. Kasey is one of the sisters that works in the nursery. She said that Audrey and Joseph were really good in nursery. That was nice to hear. Afterwards Jennie and I and a couple of other sisters from chuch had lunch at Subway. That was fun. Last night Doss and I also went to a Halloween party put on by the HOA of Hunter's Ridge. We were able to meet more of our neighbors. We had a good time. The ladies in the neighborhood are so sweet. Laura and Shelley said that they would be happy to drive me to the hospital if I needed it. Lisa said that she is always up all hours of the night and would be happy to help out if we needed help in the middle of the night. Lynne said that she would organize dinners. They are all so kind.

The sisters at church are also so very sweet. So many of them have also offered to help out with whatever we need. I really resisted moving to Oklahoma, but everyone here has been so friendly and kind. The kids and I have already made new friends. It has also been so nice to live on some acreage out in the country. We have been so richly blessed.

While the kids are gone, I really need to clean the house. I'd also like to make some more activity pages/folders for the kids and get together some flannel board scripture stories for the kids. I have been reading to the kids from the Book of Mormon in the mornings during or after breakfast. I didn't really think Joseph was interested, but he has asked and made comments about the reading. We were reading about Captain Moroni recently. Joseph said he saw Moroni on top of the temple. I said that was a different Moroni, but it was really neat to see him think about the connection between what we were reading and something in real life.

Well, I will probably be tired in a little bit since I've been up for awhile. I guess I'll be able to nap whenever I feel like it. I suppose I should enjoy it while I can since sleep will soon be a scarce commodity once the baby comes.

Quiet

Dad came to visit for a few days and decided to take the kids back to Arlington for a few days. He'll be back with the kids sometime this weekend. It's so strange to be in the house alone without the kids. It's so quiet. I miss them already and they just barely took off. Joseph has been asking to go to Arlington to see Nai-Nai and Michael so he was pretty happy about going. Joseph said he would be a little sad and that he would miss me. I said I would be very sad and I would miss them alot. Joseph said I should only be a little sad. Audrey waved bye-bye to me. I think I'm going to have a hard time when they are old enough to go to school. The kids don't seem to suffer from separation anxiety. They never have had a problem with that. I'm the one with the problem. Audrey even went to nursery a few weeks ago without any crying. The kids have been pretty independent even though we rarely leave the kids with anyone. These last few months have been the longest that I've been away from the kids. Mom and Dad watched them for a few days while Doss and I did some house-hunting before the move. Then we left them in Arlington with Mom and Dad while we moved into the house in Edmond and got unpacked.

Even though they can be challenging at times, overall, I really love having the kids with me all the time.

Long Weekend

Doss has been working a new schedule where he gets every other friday off. This last weekend was a 3-day weekend since he had friday off. We took the kids to my ob appointment friday morning so Doss could meet the doctor. Looks like not much has happened since last week. I'm a little more dilated and a little more effaced, but the baby is not in labor position as of yet. Dad is going to drive up on wednesday and help out with the kids until the baby comes. Hopefully baby will come sooner rather than later since I don't want my dad to have to stay indefinitely. I'm sure he's got lots of other things to do.

This weekend was also General Conference weekend. Since we have satellite at the house, we were actually able to watch all the sessions that were broadcast. Doss went to the priesthood session at the church. I really enjoyed conference this weekend. I did get a little spacey towards the end of the sunday afternoon session, but overall, I felt like I got a lot out of the sessions. It's been a really nice weekend.

Organ

So I don't play the organ, but I got a call on tuesday from the Relief Society President at church saying that she desperately needed someone to play the organ for a funeral this morning. I said I would do it if she couldn't find anyone else even though I have never played the organ at church before. My piano teacher had taught me some organ basics back in the day, but I've never had to play before. I went to the church last night to practice. I think things went all right today. The worse thing that happened was that since I haven't attended very many funerals, I wasn't sure when I was supposed to play. I didn't realize they wanted me to play while the family was filing in and then when they left. I just thought I was supposed to play the songs that were being sung during the service. Anyway, I think it was okay. People said they didn't know I played organ. I said I didn't. They said I do now. Hopefully no one will ask me again. I was so nervous I hardly slept the night before. I'm so glad it's over.

Fun Morning

I've been in kind of a slump since we got to Edmond. I think it was just hard moving at this late stage of pregnancy. I miss my friends and the support group that I had back in Katy. Plus, the kids miss their friends. Joseph is always asking if we are going to Zoe's house or Hailey's house or to visit the cousins. It's hard to explain to Joseph that we are not anywhere close to our old stomping grounds.

This morning was fun. I went to a candle-decorating activity at Tracy's house (one of the ladies I met in the Guthrie ward). She showed us a really neat trick for decorating candles and the possibilities are endless. Her house was so tastefully decorated. She had tables and other things that she had picked up for just a few dollars at garage sales which she had transformed into amazing pieces of home decor.

One of the other ladies invited me to go with her to the Women's broadcast this weekend. This ward has been really friendly. I think Edmond is growing on me...hopefully not like a fungus...but in a good way ;)

Doss and I also joined facebook recently. We've been able to find and reconnect with a lot of our friends. The only problem is that facebook is so fun that it's been sucking away our time. We both stayed up way too late yesterday uploading pictures and looking for people we know.

Moving

So it has been a long while since my last post. It turns out that we are definitely moving to OKC area. The house has been on the market since the end of May, but we haven't had any offers so we will likely take the employee buyout option at the end of this month. Doss and I took a trip to OKC at the end of July/early August and found a rental home in the country. It's a little bigger than our current home and sits on a little less than 2 acres. As much as I hate moving, I am looking forward to living in the country. It seems so peaceful. The house is surrounded by large oak trees and has 2 storm shelters for those pesky tornadoes we keep hearing about.

Joseph is so cute. I told him that we were moving to a house a little bigger than our house now. He said that we need a big house because Daddy will not fit in a small house...ha ha. I have been trying to get Joseph used to the idea of moving. We have talked about living in a new place, having a new room, making new friends, etc. I hope that things will go smoothly with the transition. I think Audrey is too little to understand the move, but hopefully she will like her new surroundings.

I was able to locate a new obgyn. She was recommended by the local Moms club in Edmond. I hope I like her. I'll probably have the baby at Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City. It seems like that is where a lot of the moms deliver their babies.

We traded in my old Honda 18 years to the day that my parents first bought it. It had over 290,000 miles on it. We got a Mazda 5 which is essentially a "mini" minivan. It seats six and comes pretty well equipped in the base model. Apparently we bought the only manual transmission Mazda 5 in Texas.

I am ready for the move I think. It has been hard to have the house on the market. Doss spent a month in Brazil this summer too so that didn't help things. We will lose a little money on the employee buyout, but it could be worse. At least Doss's company was willing to give him an early raise to compensate. We will also have rental assistance for the next three years which is nice.

Oklahoma City, here we come!

Moving???

So last week Doss was "offered" a position in Oklahoma City. We felt pressured to take the relocation offer but are not really sure if it is the right thing to do for our family. For one, it's a terrible time to try and put a house on the market. We also really love the house and I would really miss the friends that I have made here. I joined a local mom's club last year and really enjoy the friendships that I have with the other moms. Doss has applied for a couple of positions here in Houston. We will see if they pan out. I would love to stay in Katy at least until the baby is born in October. I really like Dr. Corovessis. She delivered both Joseph and Audrey. I guess we'll see what happens in the next little while. It should be interesting.