The strength of my love for you...

For Matthew and Gracie...

"Sugar and spice and everything nice...

That's what little girls are made of."  And that is surely the truth with you.  You are SO beautiful already.

I watch your Daddy during the ultrasounds and tears stream down his face every time he sees you.  I have never seen him so happily emotional about anything.  I also catch him staring at your ultrasound pictures over and over again and his eyes brimming over with tears.

Even though I already know that it is completely possible and effortlessly easy, it still amazes me how much we all love you even though we have not officially met you yet.

Yesterday was my last day with the Maternal Fetal Specialist.  Both Daddy and I were a little sad because we LOVE her and everyone in her office.  I have NEVER been to any medical office where every single person on the staff was so wonderful and caring and sincere.  They will all be missed dearly.

We went to get an echo cardiogram on your little heart.  You didn't feel like cooperating so all they could really tell is that the VSD is still there and you weigh a whopping 3 pounds and 2 ounces already!  I was THRILLED to hear that.  I have been so sick with bronchitis that I just knew it was affecting you.  However, just like always, you are thriving in spite of everything else.  I love you so much my precious daughter.

We are now waiting for a call back from a pediatric cardiologist at a hospital downtown.  They are going to have a go at your heart to see if you are in a more cooperating mood.  I sure hope you are.  I would like to stop worrying!

Here are your latest ultrasound pictures dating at 28 weeks and 3 days.  You are quite the looker, and you are still looking more and more like your big brother.  He is SOOOOO happy about that.  He calls you "his baby" and just cannot wait for you to get here.

Were you yawning, or singing?  :)

Ready for your closeup :)

Here are your latest ultrasound pictures.  Taken of you at 26 weeks and a few days.

You are so adorable!!!  You were playing with your umbilical cord in this picture and then you started to chew on it.  You had the doctor and me cracking up.

I guess you were done being stared at because you covered yourself up and refused to cooperate any further.  I love your spunk!

And WOW!  Look at you and your brother when he was a baby.  I thought you were all Daddy but I don't know.  Apparently those McLeroy genetics run deep.  You are beginning to look more and more like Big Brother, Matthew.  I couldn't be happier!

Good News/Bad News

The good news is that after going to the specialist yesterday, my cervix is NOT 3.6cm, but instead a VERY healthy 4.7cm.  I could NOT be happier.


Okay, now the bad news.  You still have a congenital heart defect that is not going anywhere.  On November 29th, I am going to be getting a detailed EKG of your heart.  The doctor wouldn't tell me exactly why they are deciding to do that now, and I'm hoping it is just to rule inconsequential things out, but you just never know.


They still don't know why I've been bleeding so often lately and they are definitely keeping an eye on it.  I think they are afraid of what's called Placental Abruption.  It is kind of scary.  Your Daddy, of course, ever the optimist, is completely confident that no matter what, you are going to be fine.  Your Mommy, of course, the eternal worrier, is scared to death to move too fast in one direction or you might fall out.  ;)  You would think that I wouldn't worry so much.  You are my second baby but what can I say?  I have lived my life in such a way as to not have anything to lose and that has been very true up until Matthew came along and now I have another little person that I will not be able to live without.


It absolutely amazes and shocks me how I can love the two of you so entirely.  I was so worried with having a second baby and wondering how it was going to be possible but just like everyone said, you just do.  One day, you look at your life and realize that there are two very important people in your life now instead of just the one.  It's really a very awesome and wonderful thing.

Some people have a lot of "gall"

Mommy probably won't be that person for very much longer though.  :(


Last night, Daddy and Mattie had to take me to the hospital.  I was really hurting and could hardly sit up straight.  We got to the hospital and they sent us to Labor and Delivery.  I was scared to death that I was going into early labor with you.  The pain was that bad.


Once we got there and had you on a monitor and Mommy on a monitor, it showed that I was NOT having contractions.  They kept telling me that it was probably my gallbladder and if it turns out to be that, I will have to have my gallbladder removed.  Maybe even before you get here.  Which is really scary.  I do NOT want an organ removed from my body that I could potentially need at a later date!


Your Gigi was out with a friend so poor Mattie had to stay at the hospital with me and Daddy.  It was all good though as he never goes anywhere with his cash stach and his box full of Star Wars action figures.


Finally, the hospital got in touch with our doctor and she said to go ahead and get blood and give me some pain medicine.  The nurse put an IV in and got my fluids going and then told me they were going to give me some medicine called Stadol.  WHEW!  I went to ask how long it would take to start working and got to exactly, "How long does iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...." and apparently my eyes started rolling back in my head.


Gigi took this awesome moment in time to get home and call us back.  Daddy swears I talked to her, but I have no recollection of it.  Daddy then left me to snore happily pain free while he ran Mattie over to Gigi's house to spend the night.


When Daddy come back, I was VERY, VERY woozy and he was really happy about that as I didn't care that he switched the TV from my DIY channel to a sports channel and watched some type of football game.  :)  (I DO remember that!  LOL)


A few hours later, the nurse came back, said that after my blood work came back, they do think it's probably my gallbladder and we could go on home so we could both rest comfortably. 

You were pretty quiet in there after they gave me those pain meds but around 4am, you woke up with a vengence!  It was like you were in there stomping your feet saying, "Mommy!  Don't you ever drug me again!  That was horrible!"  I'm sorry, but I had to laugh.  You are a spunky little thing!  I LOVE it!
I did okay through the night but started throwing everything up this morning.  I don't know if it was a side effect of that pain medicine, my gallbladder, or I may even have stomach flu.  Either way, I'm feeling puny and I cried to Daddy about how tired I was of feeling sick.  :(  He just held me for a little while and then started saying silly things that made me laugh.  He's a good guy.


I go back to my doctor on Thursday for an ultrasound of my gallbladder.  Hopefully, they will let me have a little peek at you, too.  I love watching you play in my belly.  It is the most wonderful and amazing feeling.  It never gets old!


On the same day as that doctor's appoointment, Daddy and I are going to pre-register at the hospital for your arrival.  YAY!  We are SOOOOO excited.


As per your usual, you are just kicking up a storm in my belly!  I complain about all that activity sometimes, but yesterday when I was so sick and I couldn't feel you moving or even get you to move, I was petrified.  Later in the night when I finally started feeling your little kicks again was like feeling God hand me a gift directly from Heaven.


I love you so much, my little girl.  We all do.

Gracie, Gracie, Gracie...

Well, it's just you and me right now, kiddo.  Daddy is in the shower.  Mattie is in his room watching...I have no idea...but it sounds like a silly cartoon to me.

And you and I are sitting here.  Correction...I am sitting here.  You are apparently practicing water ballet with some acrobatic maneuvers thrown in for good measure.

We went to the doctor today.  You, me, Daddy and Mattie.  Only to find out that the appointment wasn't until NEXT Thursday.  Brain cells...dwindling.  I miss my razor sharp intelligence.  I'll be glad when I can remember something more than just breathe in-breathe out.

I'm kind of afraid that my doctor is about to put me on medical bed rest with you.  Apparently, the outside world seems very interesting to you because you are trying to get here a little too soon.  Just about 100 more days to go.  Hang in there, precious girl of mine.

You really are such a dream come true for all of us.  Matthew so desparately wanted a sibling and Daddy and I had no idea how much we wanted another baby.  But not one of us can even imagine our lives without you in it now.  You really are completing our family.  I can't wait to meet you.  Let's just make it a LOT closer to February, deal?

Letter from Daddy

Dear Gracie Girl,

When mommy first called me to tell me that she was pregnant, I was on my way to a job in Deer Park.  She called and said “We need to talk”, I immediately thought something was wrong.  I asked what was going on and she kept saying we need to talk.  At this point, she was crying and she said that she was pregnant.  Wow, as Matthew would say, “didn’t see that one coming”.  I remember the first thought that ran thru my mind was how incredibly happy that made me; I immediately started to cry (happy tears).  What an incredible thing to have happen to us at this point in our lives.  I remember mommy being scared and me reassuring her that everything was going to be alright.  We talked for a while we both went to our jobs. After gathering myself and my thoughts together I continued driving towards my job.  I was just about there when mommy called again and she that she just talked to her obionekanobe dr and said that she had high levels of something (I don’t remember the hormone) and that she was on her way to the dr at that moment to do additional tests and that the dr said to come right away, there was a chance she would miscarry.  I tried my best to reassure her and tell her to be calm and everything would work out, I just had a feeling that it would.  Well, she went to the dr, I went to my job, I could hardly concentrate, I was scared for her and for you.  I said some prayers, did my job and waited for what seemed like an eternity for her to call.  When she did finally call, she said that the dr told her that there were originally 5 babies and that only one(You) survived, the dr was very discouraging and said that most likely this would not end well.  Mommy and I were very upset with this news, I just kept reassuring her and telling her that you are the “little bean that could”.  I just refused to believe what the dr was saying.  When I got home from work, she showed me the ultrasound picture of you, WOW, that’s our little baby in there! I was so excited, I cried then too.  I also saw the other sacs that were no longer alive, that was very difficult, but at the same time, you were there all along and you made it! I was so proud then and so happy.  I did my best to reassure your mom that this is what God wanted for us. 

The first few months were really scary and very stressful, we had multiple tests to make sure that you were alright, thankfully all came back well.  I have made it to all the dr appointments except one (I let your GIGI go to see you  and you played peekaboo with them)! Now here we are at 23 weeks and all appears well. I cannot  wait to see you and hold you my precious daughter.   

Love always, Daddy

Daddy's Girl :)

If you have ever met Gracie's Daddy, you would know that she is already a "Daddy's Girl."  He talks and she just dances in my belly.  In fact, there have been times when I was worried because I hadn't felt her move in a while and he talked to her and she just started to wiggle away.

And trust me when I tell you that the adoration is mutual.  He cannot even bring up Gracie without tears flowing down his face.  He is simply in awe of this little girl growing in my belly.  I will catch him staring at my belly as if he is waiting for her to do something extraordinary!  Or I will hear him talking to someone about her and there is such love and pride in his voice.  It's truly such a sweet thing how much he already loves his little girl.

It is such a double love I have for this child because I love her Daddy so much and then I love her so much already.  But then you add how completely in love he is with her, who is growing inside of me, and it just makes it even more special.

And to top it all off, she is apparently his little Mini-Me.  At first I was a little disappointed.  I wanted her to look like me.  This is my first little girl, after all.  But I do already have one little Mini-Me in Matthew.  Now that I have gotten used to the fact that she is simply going to be all Daddy and all ABOUT Daddy, I'm kind of liking it.

Here are the latest ultrasound pictures of our little Gracie Ruth aka Daddy's Girl.  Isn't she beautiful?

I'm okay, You're okay

Been awhile since I updated.  Things are crazy over here.  I'm in school full time.  Matthew is in school full time.  (Hey, don't underestimate - first grade is no punk!)  Darrell is remodeling the house in preparation for our little Gracie Ruth.  And life doesn't slow down for you - even when you need it most.

So, the updates are as follows:

1. September 12th - Got the amnio results - Gracie is good to go.  No chormosonal abnormalities - YAY!
2. September 22nd - Got a new doctor that is not related to a rattlesnake
3. October 6th - Took Mom with me for the 20 week ultrasound.  Gracie yawned at us and peeked at us through her legs!  She's a real character.  Such a personality already.
4. October 19th - Went to the maternal fetal specialist for a routine anatomy exam.  It didn't turn out to be so routine.  We found out that our little girl has a hole in her heart.  It's a 2mm gap called VDS.  The doctor told us that there was a possibility that it could close up on its own and not to worry just yet.  However, I have another appointment to see her for a follow up in 5 weeks.
5. Same day - As I was leaving the doctor's office, I went to make a pit stop in the little girls room and there was blood.  There was a lot of blood.  I ran to Darrell and told him that something was wrong.  We went back to the doctor's office and she did an exam and said that she didn't see any active bleeding but if I started to cramp or bleed more heavily, to go straight to L&D (Labor and Delivery).  Sigh.
6. October 20th - There was still some bleeding.  My Ob. Gyn. put me on bedrest for the weekend.  Awesome.  (Not)
7. October 21st - Went to see my cardiologist.  All looks acceptable.  He wants me to come back on November 11th for an ultrasound of my heart to make sure I am not having heart failure again.  I am a lot more nervous than I am letting Darrell know.

Okay, so that's pretty much all the updates so far.  Gracie is kicking the you-know-what out of me now.  She's VERY active.  Which is uncomfortable but makes me happy to know that she's there.

This child has been through so much and she isn't even born yet.  She has survived where 4 of her siblings did not.  She has hung in there through all of the scares and the insistence of Dr. Rattlesnake that I should go ahead and get "used to the idea that this baby will not thrive."  She has shown same Dr. Rattlesnake that she can spout "1 in 5 chance of having Down's" and "these are the worst numbers we have ever seen in this office" that she is better than a percentage.  And now she is thriving even though she has a congenital heart defect.  She just never gives up.  It's like she wants to prove to all the nay sayers that not only are they wrong, but they are BIG TIME wrong.

I LOVE that about her!  I hope she is always like that.  I hope she always finds her own path and takes it no matter what anyone says.  I hope she always remembers that just because someone says something or tells her she can't, they don't know HER and she should try anyway. 

I see how other girls act and I hope that Gracie doesn't get caught up in "her"self.  I hope she can always see the big picture and see outside of herself.  I hope she will always be cognizant of the fact that her problems are so small compared to the rest of the world.  I hope if her problems turn out to be larger than most of the rest of the world, that she understands that this is just a passing phase and she doesn't dwell on them but instead goes about making plans for when things get better again - because she is teaching me that a little at a time - no matter how bad things appear to be, no matter how bleak the future looks; everything can change in one moment and don't ever give up.  I hope that she DOES see how big the world is though and she sets about on a journey to take it over.  I hope, just as she is doing before she is even born, that she keeps going long after anyone thinks she can.

I cannot even describe in human words the respect and admiration I have for my daughter already.

If I were a betting Mom...

Got our first trimester screening results back.  They included a blood test, a nuchal translucency ultrasound and my age and weight (both more than they should be to begin with!).

After all of that number crunching and measurement taking...my odds are:

1 in 5 of having a baby with Down's Syndrome.

I am a little numb.  I am a little anxious.  I am deeply depressed.

This Wednesday, August 17th, we are going to a Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist and they are going to be doing a Level II ultrasound.  Hopefully, they will be able to verify one way or the other.  Otherwise, I will have to go for an Amnio in a few short weeks and then wait the additional two weeks to get the test results back.  I guess we will just go from there after that.

I'm worried about a lot of things.  Obviously, I don't want my unborn child to have birth defects.  I want my child to be perfect and to come into this world with every possible benefit that it can have.

I'm also worried about the family that I already have.  What is my son going to think?  Will he be embarassed?  Will my husband's first children (who are now teenagers) not love the baby as much?  Will THEY be embarassed?  Will my husband be embarassed?  Will everyone blame me for this?  Hell, will I blame myself?  Do you have guilt about something like this?

So many questions...so few answers.  I don't know what is worse than waiting.

In the meantime, I sent my husband a text message.  It simply said, "I am really feeling blue today."

He wrote back, "Don't worry about this.  This is OUR little miracle that God sent to US to take care of.  No matter what happens. I love that baby already.  This will work itself out."

I wish I was as brave as he is.  I just feel really small and fragile and sad and afraid right now.

Hamburgers and Hot Dogs

You may think this is a pregnant post about food cravings...but oh no, no, no.  You would be wrong!

We had our 12 week ultrasound yesterday and lo and behold...the baby positioned itself just so and I *think* I can tell if it's a boy or a girl.

But I will let you be the judge.

What do you see?  A hot dog or a hamburger???

What is normal?

I went to the doctor again yesterday.  I swear I don't even have to tell them who I am when I check in anymore.  Seriously.  They all greet me by first name now and I am only 10 weeks along.  We will be hanging out at each other's houses by the time I have this baby!

But I digress...

I went to the doctor yesterday and thought I was going to be getting another ultrasound but I didn't.  I was a little bummed.  Instead, I got a VERY thorough exam (I feel so violated and vulnerable *ha!*).

Apparently, everything is normal.  You know, with the exception that I originally had 5 babies inside me at the beginning of this pregnancy.

"Morning sickness" has come on with a full blown vengence this week.  Not sure if that is good or not.  I can tell you personally, that it's AWFUL.  But it might be a good thing in that it indicates that the baby is sticking.  And I don't know who named it "morning" sickness, but it starts sometime in the afternoon for me and culminates in me losing whatever I've eaten that evening right around 9pm.  Awesome.

I don't have to go back to the doctor next week (Thank you, God!) but I do go back the week after on August 4th.  At that time they will begin a series of tests to determine if the baby has birth defects, including a nuchal translucency ultrasound.  I'm nervous.  I'm not going to lie.  We all want perfect little Gerber babies and I'm no different.  But for whatever reason, this little baby is hanging on and thriving while 4 of his or her siblings did not and think for that reason alone, he/she deserves the best shot I can possibly give them.

If it is going to happen...it is going to happen to me.

In case you were wondering...I'm Chris.  Christine if you're being formal.

I'm married to Darrell and have a ridiculously wonderful 6 year old son.  I was never supposed to be able to even get pregnant, so he is my little Wonder Child. 

Yes, here he is...the King!

Recently, we found out that I was pregnant - again.  Which, in and of itself, is a fairly remarkable announcement.  You see, I am almost 41 and went to the doctor because I was just about positive that I was in pre-menopause.  Lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice, right? 

Imagine my surprise as the nurse called to give me my blood work results.  The phone call went a little something like this:

Nurse: "Yes, is this Christine?"

Me: "Yes, it is.  Is this the doctor's office?"

Nurse: "Yes, I am doctor so-and-so's nurse.  I was calling with your blood test results."

Me: "Awesome.  So, how bad it is?  I am in menopause, right?"

Nurse: "No...uh, no, you are not..."

Me: "Oh, great!  That's so good to hear."

Nurse: "Uhm, ma'am, your hcg test result came back positive."

Me: "What?"

Nurse: "Your pregnancy test that we took to rule out pregnancy came back positive."

Me: "What do you mean?"

Nurse: "Your pregnancy test is positive."

Me: "Positive?"

Nurse: "Yes. ma'am.  Positive."

Me: "Okay, just to make sure we are both talking about the same thing.  What does that mean, 'positive'?"

Nurse: "You are pregnant."

...

...

...

...

...

Nurse: "Hello?  Are you still there?"

...

...

Me: "Yes."

Nurse: "Are you okay?"

Me: "Yes...

...

...

...

Me: Alrighty then, I guess I should call my ob. gyn. then, huh?"

Nurse: "Yes, ma'am.  And something else, your levels were a bit off, so if you could call your ob. gyn. as soon as possible, that would be ideal."

Actually, that was EXACTLY how the conversation went.

Well, quite obviously, I did NOT call my ob. gyn. next.  I called my husband.  If I had to be mortified and terrified and a whole lot of other words that ended with 'fied,' then he did, too.

Here is how that conversation went:

Hubby: "Hello."

Me: "Hey.  Uhm, I just got a call from the doctor.  I'm not in menopause.  I'm pregnant."

Hubby: "What?"

Me: "I'm pregnant."

Hubby: "You're pregnant?"

Me: "Yes."

...

...

...

Me: "Hello?  Are you still there?"

Hubby: "Yes."

...

...

...

Hubby: "So, you're kidding right?  This is a joke."

Me: "Nope.  I am pregnant."

Hubby: "Okay, well...that's...that's...wow...that's amazing...it's...wow...well, it's wonderful, really.  How are you?"

Me: "Scared.  Darrell, I am so scared."

He went on to console me, to agree that he was scared, too.  Then we both agreed that I would call my doctor, children are blessings and I would keep him posted.

I call my doctor, who I hadn't seen since my LAST exam last June, and tell them my test results and they say that I need to come in immediately.  Apparently, my numbers were really bad.

I go in and wait in the waiting room for what seemed like hours (yeah, it actually was) and finally they take me straight in to ultrasound.  I begin talking with the ultrasound nurse and she asks me questions about my last menstrual period, general health, all the regular stuff you get asked every time you go to one of these offices.  Then she says she has to leave and she will be right back.

A different ultrasound nurse comes in and tells me that I am only 3 weeks along and there will be nothing to see so I might as well not even HAVE an ultrasound.

"Oh, contraire!"  I tell her.  "I am MUCH farther along than a mere three weeks."

"We must go by your LMP and that says you are three weeks along."

"Okay, little Miss...this is MY body and I am telling you that I am further along.  You better do this ultrasound."

She sighs.  "Fine, but we won't be able to see anything."

"Humor me," I say.

As the "humoring" begins, little Miss Hoity Toity gets really quiet.  Too quiet.  Eerily quiet.  I keep seeing a little round sac and as far as I can tell, they look exactly like what they are supposed to at this stage of the pregnancy.  All the while, of course, I am chattering away (because I chatter when I'm nervous).

"Is that my baby?  What about THAT?  Is THAT the baby?"

And suddenly, a little bean looking thing magically appears and it is pulsating - a heartbeat!  It wasn't just round like whatever it was that she was seeing before.  I recognize that as I have seen it before with my son.  Oh my gosh!  That's MY baby!  I really am pregnant!

Triumphantly, and with NO hidden attitude, I tap her on her arm and say, "See?  NOW aren't you glad I insisted?  I thought you said you wouldn't be able to see anything!"

Her reply was a very cryptic, "You are apparently farther along than we thought and I am VERY glad I did this ultrasound."

I go back to the waiting room and wait for another few hours and FINALLY see the doctor.  She comes in and is very stoic.  I asked her about my numbers and what they mean and about the baby.  She then tells me that she has some questions for me first.  She goes about asking me all about if I have been taking any fertility drugs or if multiple births run in my family, and other things that made me start thinking that this may not be any ordinary pregnancy.

All my replies were pretty similar to, "Are you kidding me?  NO!  I have not taken ANY fertility drugs.  I don't have the money for that stuff.  And even if I did, I wouldn't spend it on getting pregnant.  I want a boat, and a jet ski, and a new car, and I want to put a really cool looking metal fence around our yard.  I want another Bullmastiff puppy.  I want a four wheeler..."

"Okay," she says. "Well, apparently, when you became pregnant, five eggs were dropped and they were all fertilized.  I need you to come back next week and do another ultrasound because I am thinking that what has happened is that you have a molar pregnancy."


[A molar pregnancy can have serious complications — including a rare form of cancer — and requires early treatment.]

"A what?"

"It is a very rare occurence that happens in 1 in about 1,000 pregnancies.  It is very rare."

Oh, lovely.  Because as you know, if it is going to happen...it is going to happen to ME.  I was not reassured.

They then sent me to the lab and drew even more blood and I sat in the lab chair, shaking and sobbing. Not only was I pregnant, but I had been pregnant with five babies and four of them had already died. And by the sound of it, the one that I did still have wasn't going to make it either.

I walked to my car openly crying.  I could have cared less who saw me.  I had to keep wiping the tears from my face.  When I got in the car, I called my husband.  He was extremely upset.  I could tell that he was only holding it together for me.

I tried to calm down but just did not have it in me.  I finally tried to drive the short distance to my mother's house.  She had been watching my son all day.  I pulled it together enough to tell my son that I would give him five dollars if he would stay in the den while I talked to "Gigi."  He happily agreed and finished watching his cartoon on the TV.

When we got to my Mom's room, I fell on her bed and laid my head in her lap and just sobbed.  It was several minutes before I could tell her what was even wrong.  I showed her the ultrasound and she just kept telling me how sorry she was.  Finally, I was okay enough to be around my son.  We all agreed not to tell him until we knew something positive or negative definitively.

When we got home, I showed my husband and we cried together and decided that we would just take this one test at a time and hope for the best.  I was told to take it easy and not do anything strenuous.

All week, I kept wondering when I was going to miscarry the last of my babies.  It wasn't a great week for me.  I was in a LOT of pain and felt very nauseous.

At my next ultrasound, there my little baby was.  It had grown accordingly and was now measuring at 7 weeks.  The other now empty sacs were still there though.  They were still not sure what was going on.

I was given the same instructions and I came back the following week.  Again, the little baby had grown a week's worth and I was showing at a little over 8 weeks.  Even one of the empty sacs was getting smaller.  I was no longer in pain and I didn't feel too sick most of the time.

At that visit, I was told that this was looking like a perfectly normal multiple pregnancy.  I really must have gotten pregnant with multiples and only one had survived.

And while I am certainly not out of the woods yet, and all of the problems with the other babies make the chances of the baby that is hanging in there more likely to have birth defects, I am feeling better.

I'm okay with a child with birth defects.  I'm really okay with whatever happens.  The one thing I have learned in my lifetime is that everything truly does happen for a reason.  God picked my husband and I out to be THIS babies parents and I am hoping for the best.

Here I sit, writing this blog, and now over 9 weeks pregnant.  I think I may name this baby "The Little Bean That Could."  I will keep updating.

And this is what this blog is about.  The chaos and all the fun that goes along with being Chris and then some...