Exploring My Fears

Here I am, 34 weeks pregnant with my third child.  You'd think I'd be an old pro at this by now, having gone through 3 pregnancies in 5 years.  But I find there are fears each time you go through this.  They are different with each baby, but the fears are there nonetheless. I've learned that if I give voice to those fears, type them out or say them out loud it takes away their power.  I can talk myself through them and view them more rationally.

This baby is not coming when we had planned for her.  After Jason was born, I said I wanted to wait until he turned 3 before trying to get pregnant again.  I struggle so much with morning sickness and not only is it incredibly draining on myself and my husband, but I saw the toll it took on Jilly.  There were mornings where all I could do was to lift her out of bed and hand her a cup of juice, before collapsing on the couch and barely moving for the next couple hours, except to throw up.  I couldn't really care for her very well for weeks.  That was probably the (emotionally) hardest part of his pregnancy.  Because of that experience, I knew I wanted him and Jilly to both be older and more self-sufficient before we went through that again.  But as I have learned, my plans don't always work out.  Jason was 15 months old, so much a baby, still nursing frequently and not quite walking when I got pregnant.  Jilly wasn't quite 4 and still not potty-trained.  Steve had been out of work for almost a year at that point.  HOLY COW.  I spent that first night panicking.  "What am I going to do?  How am I going to handle two little babies and my preschooler who still needs so much?  How are we going to afford this?  How am I going to fit all three in our apartment or our car?  Three is such a huge number!!!"  My husband gave me the most hope.  He was not just calm, but reassuring and excited.  He told me he wasn't scared, things would work out, and how lucky were we for getting to have another baby?  I put my faith in him and in my Heavenly Father, that this baby wouldn't have come unless it was for both her and our benefit.

The first trimester was predictably horrendous.  I was sick so often, lost weight and all around was no fun to be with.  But it was easier this time.  You'd think that my husband being out of work would be a huge stress, but it ended up being a wonderful blessing.  He was home full time.  He could do everything that needed to be done: taking care of the kids 100% (well, 98%- I still would do Jilly's hair for school most of the time ;-)), cooking, cleaning, running to the store to get my prescription at  11pm on Friday night so I'd have it for work tomorrow, he took the kids to the Trunk or Treat because I couldn't get off the couch, etc.  He is AMAZING.  It not only made things easier on me, because I didn't have to be responsible for those things, but it also made things easier on me emotionally, because I could see that my kids were still being taken care of, just as they were used to.  What a comfort that was!!  Jason weaned himself only a couple weeks after I found out I was pregnant.  I was a little sad about it, because I wanted to nurse until he was 2, but I was mostly relieved that I wouldn't be trying to breastfeed, grow a baby, and survive myself.  I was still scared, because it was so physically taxing, especially with work (I was working three 12 hour shifts a week).  But we made it through.

Once the morning sickness lifted, it was much easier to get excited.  At the end of January, we found out Jilly was right all along; the baby is a girl!  At the beginning of the pregnancy, we'd told Jilly we were having a new baby and she seemed to understand right away.  The baby was in Mama's tummy and when asked if it was a boy or girl, she was adamant the baby was a girl.  We even asked her what we should name the baby and she responded, "Ducky.  Baby Duck."  Which, of course, was adorable, so the nickname stuck and Ducky has been a much talked about person in our family.  We also decided to plan for another out-of-hospital birth, but this time we decided to plan on the birth center in Kirkland.  It's a little farther from our house, but not much.  We toured it the other day and it is a beautiful place to birth our little girl.

Of course, now that the birth is looming before us, there is a new set of fears creeping up.  I've been dealing with this awful hip pain during the whole pregnancy.  It's been getting worse and sometimes gets down into my leg and knee, the joints/bones as well as the muscles.  It has certainly made getting around even harder and I have to be careful about how much walking I do in a day, lest I really exacerbate it.  The last few weeks have been the worst, and even driving hurts it (its my right hip/leg).  I kept thinking that delivery would be the solution; as soon as the baby is off my pelvis and the bulk of the extra weight is off, it will be way less painful.  That will definitely help.  But it recently occurred to me that this might affect me while in labor.  What if the baby settles into a position that puts a lot of pressure on my hip and I have to deal with awful pain there on top of contractions?  What if I can't handle it and I feel forced into transferring to the hospital and getting an epidural?  And worst of all, what if my pelvis is twisted enough that it won't allow her through/ into a position where she can get out, and I have to not only transfer, but have a C-section- just because of this hip?  I'm not irrational about this; I recognize that these things may come to pass and if they do, they will be to appropriate choices.  But they're not what I want and I worry about what that will do to me, not only physically, but emotionally.  Recovering from a C-section will be a much different, and likely much more difficult, experience than I have gone through before.  To do with when three small kids will be even harder.  There's a whole host of risks that go along with any interventions and being forced into using them, means that the benefits outweigh the risks or that the risks of not intervening are higher.  I loathe the idea that my baby might be in danger; who would like that?!

I hadn't mentioned these fears to anyone for a few days, then shared them with some friends and Steve and my midwife.  I hadn't told her much about the hip pain until really recently (not sure why, I just hadn't), so I explained the pain and then told her about my concerns with the implications for the birth.  She was really reassuring and reminded me about all the options I have before we get to those decisions. Both she and the apprentice midwife working with her, reminded me how soothing and pain-relieving water can be.  I know that it can help with labor contractions (hence why I had Jason in a bathtub), but I hadn't considered what it might be able to do for the hip pain, especially if it's affecting my muscles.  We discussed the other possibilities for transfer and how we would go about doing so, which hospital we would go to, method of transport, etc.  And she told me something really important, in that they have to transfer multiparas (women who have given birth at least once) very rarely, around twice a year.  It was so reassuring!  We toured the birth center as well the other day and it beautiful.  A very relaxing and soothing place, perfect for a birth.

Now that I've explored my fears, I'm feeling a lot better about the impending birth.  There is still so much I don't know and can't control about how it will unfold.  I'm just 3 weeks from being considered "full term" and it being okay for Ducky to come out.  All the important things are figured out.  Her car seat is in the car, clothes are gathered, childcare for the older two is set up, even bought newborn diapers and we've gone over plans with the birth center and midwives.  There are   still plenty of things to do, like pack our bags for the birth, wash her clothes and get a piece of furniture to store them in, reorganize my bedroom a little bit to fit her in easier, etc.  But really and truly, if we didn't do anything more to prepare that just pack bags for labor (which will be minimal anyway), she would be just fine, it would just give us more to do after she was born.

Giving voice to my fears was the most important thing I could have done for them.  By articulating them and sharing them with someone else, they have less mysterious power over me.  I have talked through them and gotten reassurance about not only what to do if they come to fruition, but also had them put in perspective about how likely they are and what it really means in the end.  I feel so much more at peace/ Now I can just focus on getting through these last few weeks and preparing to meet my Duckling.  I can enjoy it, even.  Before we know it, I will be back to having a newborn and adjusting to being the mother of three!!  It's still daunting, but not paralyzing or terrifying.  Now it's just an exciting challenge I want to meet.

One-Sided Sensitivity

There's something that's been on my mind for a couple years now and I've wanted to ruminate on it, but haven't yet taken the time to formally write it out. It surfaced again today, so I decided to take advantage of a quiet morning at work (thus far) to finally get it articulated.

I've been reading a couple blogs by LDS women about their struggles with infertility. I sympathize with them greatly. Infertility hasn't been an issue for me, but I can imagine the heartache that they feel and my soul yearns to comfort them somehow. However, there is this very common attitude that it's not fair for any woman to complain about pregnancy, because these women can't/haven't experienced it. That really rubs me the wrong way. We all should be compassionate and sensitive about someone's trials and no pregnant woman needs to drone on incessantly for hours about every single ache and pain (which I am guilty of-I am not pleasant when pregnant). But the pains and discomforts of pregnancy are real, and it's insensitive to discount someone's suffering, whatever it may be.

I don't mean to single out infertile women; I have encountered it also from women who have had miscarriages and/or premature babies. In a group of friends, whenever a lady in the late stages of pregnancy would vent about her ever-increasing discomfort and/or a seemingly minor worry about her child (if the baby had a cold, for example), one particular woman would always seem to comment, "Well I had my baby at 25 weeks and he barely survived and has all the long-term medical complications, so I don't know what you're complaining about." I find that attitude repulsive. To me the underlying sentiment was, "You don't know real suffering, and your fears are worthless because I have gone through so much worse." Perhaps I am interpreting the intention wrong, but that is how I perceive it.

I haven't endured the pain of not being able to have children, but I have endured a major loss. My father died when I was 18. I was there, performed CPR and called 911, answered all the paramedics' questions and then was told that all efforts had failed and my dad was dead. I was barely out of high school and was living with him at the time. In one night my life changed forever. Suddenly, I was the “next of kin” ; I had to be the one in charge of picking up his autopsy report and helping make funeral arrangements. I am forever grateful that my mom took on the bulk of the responsibilities, even though my parents had been divorced for 5+ years and his family lived across the country. But I still had to experience hardships that most college freshman do not. I was left without my father, just as I was really getting to know him for who he was, not just as my dad. I lost the one person in my immediate family who shared my religious beliefs, and I suddenly didn't have that “backup” anymore. I shut it out. I carried on. I didn't let myself feel that grief at the time. It's only been over the 7 years since that I have let that grief out, in small doses. It is especially difficult at major milestones in my life: my wedding, the births of my children, their blessings and other moments of great importance.

Why do I bring this up? Not just to show that I, too, have suffered and grieved, but to use it to illustrate my point. I don't have my dad in my life. I know I'll see him again after this life, and that he is watching over me, but it doesn't change the fact or take away the pain that I can't see him or talk to him or hug him now. I can't watch him play with my kids, or watch sports with my husband, or talk to me about the Gospel. That's just how it is. But I don't begrudge anyone else their relationship with their father, just because I can't enjoy mine right now. If a friend is telling me about an argument she had with her dad, I don't reply "Well, at least your dad is alive! You can talk to him so why are you complaining?!" I realize that my loss doesn't invalidate their suffering. Whether or not their problem is big to me, it's big to them and worthy of my sympathy.

I'm learning the lesson that just because someone has something I don't have, doesn't mean they are taking it away from me. I used to get jealous and angry when I'd hear that about a woman who had no morning sickness during her pregnancies. I thought, "That's not fair! I'm so miserable and sick and suffer so much!" But then I realized that I should be glad for someone who doesn't have to suffer like I do. Just because a friend gets to enjoy her pregnancy without throwing up constantly, doesn't make me throw up more. Right now I live in an apartment, we have only one car, and a lot of my furniture needs to be replaced. I have friends who have houses, two or more cars, nice furniture, and plenty of money. They have been blessed and I am happy for them. I wish I could have it too, but they haven't taken those things away from me.

My point isn't to beat up on these women, but rather to point out the insensitivity in this attitude. There are so many insensitive, rude and very hurtful things said to women when it comes to the subject of childbearing and -raising. Comments like "If you had enough faith, you'd get pregnant," or "What?! Another kid?! Can you afford the ones you have now?" are awful and terribly hurtful, even if they weren't intended to be. We all have our trials and struggles and pain. Each of us also has been given talents and gifts and blessings. Not two people have been given the same lot in life. We need to make sure that we are not discounting or invalidating someone's feelings just because we don't experience what they do. It would be horribly rude for me to say to a woman yearning for a child, "Well, at least you get to sleep through the night/eat without throwing up/not be thrown up on or peed on constantly." I just ask for the same respect. I invite you to share with me your struggles and feelings about trials you have to endure. We can build understanding even through our differing challenges and being dismissive of each other's circumstances will only erect barriers between us.

Comparison

These first pictures are of my daughter's birth. It was a 14-hour, fairly uneventful labor, augmented with pitocin and AROM (despite going into labor spontaneously and contracting regularly), followed by an epidural and vacuum delivery.

I had an IV with continuous fluids and was confined to bed.

I look puffy and exhausted. Happy, but not elated. And that was how I felt. Drained, tired, beleaguered and glad it was over and I had my baby.


These pictures are from my son's birth. I was even more sleep deprived by the time he was born, having been through 6-8 hours of early but normal labor, 18 hours of prodromal labor, and 2 hours of very intense, active labor. It was all spontaneous and intervention free. It was the most difficult physical work I have ever endured.

But I look ecstatic, wide awake and very connected with what had just happened.


Both times I had greasy hair and no makeup, very unglamorous. But yet, I see the victory in the second set.

Shouldn't every woman feel like that?

Nursing in Church

This post from Rixa got me thinking the other day. The post brings up the topic of breastfeeding in church. Rixa is also LDS so our frames of references are the same/similar. I was going to just comment, but before I knew it, my comment was turning into an essay. So I decided it was something worthy of a post.

Most mothers I know, go in to the Mothers Lounge to nurse and change their babies. I have only seen a mother nurse outside the Mothers Room a couple times. In our ward, we typically have several babies at any given time and there has been more than one occasion where I have been one of four or five women in the room, where there are only two chairs. Even though there is a speaker that enables us to hear the talks from Sacrament Meeting, it doesn't mean we will hear, either because we are chatting or there is a crying baby or whatever.

I always nursed Jilly in the Mothers Room. Always. Toward the end of our nursing relationship, I thought about nursing her in Relief Society, but never did because I felt a little uncomfortable with it myself and didn't want to offend any one else. But I have learned and grown a lot since then. Toward the end with Jilly, I started getting lazy and it was easier to hand her a bottle that she could feed herself, than to sit down and nurse her. She accepted either one just fine, so it didn't matter too much. When I was pregnant with Jason, I knew I wanted to be more dedicated to the nursing relationship. I want to nurse him longer (ideally 15-18 months, maybe more) and give him less formula overall. Because I already know how to nurse and am comfortable with doing it around others, I knew I didn't want to sequester myself while nursing the same way. Plus, let's face it. With your second child, you learn to multi-task while taking care of the baby, rather than stopping and taking time out to nurse or soothe your first baby.

I serve in the Primary organization. So for almost 2 hours, I am helping with the kids, conducting, leading music, teaching, and quieting wiggly ones. I often keep Jason with me, unless I am teaching. He usually nurses during Sacrament Meeting and again during the third hour of Church. If he wants to be fed during Primary, I usually just nurse him right there, with my nursing cover. It makes it so much easier for me. I can still be present in what is going on, answer questions, even give stern looks and instructions to settle down. ;-) I don't conduct or lead the music while I am nursing, not because any worry about exposure, but more out of comfort, because my arms get sore holding him without support! If I was in Sunday School or Relief Society, or serving in Young Women, I think I would do the same. Sacrament Meeting is the one place I don't regularly nurse in.

I have nursed once or twice in the chapel, during Sacrament Meeting. But I usually go to the Mothers Room. My husband and I have differing opinions on nursing during Sacrament Meeting. I want to do it, he thinks I shouldn't. He is in total agreement that it is quite appropriate to nourish my baby, the way Heavenly Father designed. His argument is that other people may be offended by me doing so, and even though I may be 'right', if I do something deliberately knowing that it may cause offense or distract them from their worship, then that is wrong and that sin is on me. I feel that I am magnifying the divine body that Heavenly Father gave me. He designed my body this way and intended for babies to nurse. I feel like that is glorifying my spirit, rather than doing something wrong or dirty. If I am doing what He intended, then I feel it is completely appropriate to do so during Sacrament Meeting, in the chapel. There are probably people in our ward (I'm assuming older folks) who would be shocked and possibly offended, but I don't care too much. That sounds awful and quite callous of me. I feel like I am justified spiritually in doing so, and if someone is appalled or offended then it is their problem to sort out and I would be happy to have a constructive conversation with them about it.

Another of the reasons I would prefer to nurse in the chapel is that I tend to lose out on the spiritual 'meat' of the meeting when I am in the Mothers Room. Just the disruption of getting up, gathering the diaper bag, walking out of the chapel, then coming back and doing it all again, takes away from my focus, as well as those around me. By nursing right there in the pew, there is minimal distraction and upheaval for myself, my baby (he often nurses to sleep, so the less movement, the more likely he is to sleep better), my family (Jilly won't freak out when I walk away, Steve doesn't have to be climbed over), and everyone else in the chapel. Since I am in Primary, and we are teaching young kids, I don't always get spiritually fed with more grown-up doctrine. Sacrament Meeting is my place for that nourishment.

I have a feeling that if someone was to notice and have a problem with that it would mostly come from a place of ignorance- it's just something they haven't seen much of. And just because someone hasn't seen something before, is not a good reason for me to not do it. In fact, it's a good opportunity for education; an example to children and youth about how to feed a baby, the way God intended. I am quite careful to be discreet and not flashing my breast for everyone to see. With the way the pews are set up in the chapel, most people wouldn't be able to see what exactly I was doing anyway. I think I will just do it from now on. If someone has a problem with it, they can speak with me, and I would love to talk about it. I feel the same way about this, that I do about being asked to nurse in a restroom at a restaurant. I believe it is not only okay, but should be encouraged. After all, I nurse at home with no problems, and we have been told that our homes are second only to temples in sacredness.

My Birth Dream

Yesterday my friend Stephenie gave birth to her second child, a daughter named Eden, at her home. Within hours of the birth, she was online posting her birth story. What an amazing story it was! She had endured a long, traumatic and dramatic birth with her first child in a hospital. This birth took less than 1/10 of the time of her son Keagan's. After reading Eden's birth story and being inspired by it, I had a dream about the upcoming birth of my second child. I often dream about giving birth and breastfeeding, but it usually happens with no warning (I don't previously realize I'm pregnant or in labor) and I never feel a connection to the baby once it's born. This dream was much different. Here is what I remember about it:

I think I was in a hospital setting, it was definitely not my home or my family's (where I do plan to give birth). My mom, sister and step-dad were all there, but my husband was not. I'm not sure if Jilly was around or not. In the dream, I was laboring, with an understanding of what was going on. The midwife or nurse checked my progress and told me I was 6cm dilated. Almost immediately after that, I got up from the couch, and my water broke. As soon as that happened, I felt a great deal of pressure; there was no longer a cushion of the amniotic sac. I started saying, "Ow! Ow!" My mom understood what I was feeling since she had given birth three times, but Katie and Paul were confused. In an effort to explain the feeling to them, I said, "It's like a watermelon sitting on top of a Dixie Cup, trying to come through. In fact it's almost exactly like that, in terms of size." My mom then ammended my statement slightly, "Yes, but in this case the Dixie cup stretches to accomodate the watermelon." Very shortly after that, I was sitting on the toilet, urinating, or so I thought, when I got this feeling that I needed to reach down and check on the baby. Sure enough, my hand felt a head coming out and with that realization, the baby came slipping out right into my arms. I pulled the baby right up to my chest, utterly astounded at what had just happened! Once the baby started coming out, I didn't feel any pain, but I could feel the baby coming out of my body. Someone then reminded me to look to see if it was a boy or girl (because we still don't know). I looked between the legs to find, I had another little girl! I was surprised but overcome with love for this daughter who was just born into my arms. We all took a few minutes and then I realized, with a shock, that Steve was still at work and had missed the birth of his daughter! I quickly called him and told him he needed to come see his daughter. He said, "Yeah I know Jilly wants to see me, but I'm busy. I'll be there soon." "No, not Jilly. She's fine. I mean your other daughter. She just arrived!" His reaction surprised me, first he was really angry that we hadn't called him earlier, but I tried to explain to him that it happened really fast and we didn't have time. I was unsure whether or not he was being sarcastic; he does that sometimes. But after a couple minutes, he calmed down and said he'd be there shortly. I went back to looking at my baby. She was really really skinny and all wrinkled. Her eyes were very big and she, honestly, wasn't that cute. It dawned on me that the reason she looked that way was because she was a preemie (she had a classic preemie look); I had just given birth at like 26 weeks or so. The midwife I wanted to have at the birth hadn't been there either. I got really worried about the baby, but she was apparently doing fine. Later in the dream, I came to get the baby from another room and she had plumped out all sweetly and was much cuter. There was more to the dream, but after this it went off in a strange direction.

Soon after that part of the dream, Jilly woke me up. She had ending up in bed with me this morning, and was doing her best to make sure I was aware it was daytime. But all I wanted to do was escape back to the dream, so I could see and be with my baby girl. I was still in awe of what I had just dreamed. Now, most of the details of the dream were directly lifted from Stephenie's story, so I don't take them to mean anything in particular. But what surprised me then and continues to do so now are the feelings that I had during the dream. I was so in love with this baby and completely at peace with my decision to birth that way. I felt inspired and connected, not only to the baby, but spiritually as well. I never have strong feelings like that in a dream, so it was quite different. Also, in my dreams about childbirth, I never know who the baby is. It isn't quite my child, I don't feel a connection to it. But in this one, I knew it was my daughter and I was so thrilled to have her there.

I don't know if this is a sign that this labor will be short and I will have a girl, but I do feel so much more secure with my decision to have a home birth. I can't say that I've felt any promptings against this decision, but the feelings I felt during this dream were more of a confirmation. My mind has worked itself through a labor and delivery (at least in part) and I feel like I have a better idea of what to expect. I know, it sounds farfetched to take all that from a dream. But why not? It's not the dream itself, it's the feelings. Like I keep saying, it wasn't one of my normal dreams. This was different. And I have to assume it was different for a reason. Now I am so anxious for this baby to arrive! I am excited to go through labor, not just as a means to an end, but I want to experience the process in a more first hand way this time. I have been fairly sure that we are having a boy, but after this dream, having a girl seems right too. I want to know if Wildcat will be a son or a daughter.

Planning a trip!

The past week or so, I've been trying to plan ahead for a trip we're taking in May. My sister Katie is graduating from WSU (hooray for graduating, even if it is from WSU) on May 9th and we're all going over to Pullman for the ceremony. It's funny. I don't typically think of our family being that big, but it has definitely grown in the last 4 years! Instead of it being just my mom and us three kids, we now have added Steve, Paul, Juliet and Jilly. Also, my Auntie Karen comes down from Edmonton, Alberta for these graduation-y events. So total, there will be 9 of us! That's a lot, especially considering Katie will be moving home (at least for a few months) right after the ceremony. So there will be 8 of us traveling for the weekend, then Katieand all her gear coming home on Saturday. Quite the caravan load coming across the state.

I've been stressing a bit about such a long road trip for our family (it's typically a 5-6 hour drive, but add in graduation/weekend traffic plus our issues and it could easily be more). Normally, I enjoy road trips and wouldn't mind this at all. BUT it seems each one of the three of us (Halls) have some issue that will contribute to making it a little more difficult. Steve hates being in the car, pretty much any time, but especially for long periods of time. Poor guy gets a bit claustorphobic and thus likes to stop every hour to get out and walk around. Me, I will be 7 months pregnant at the time and my bladder will be at less than normal capacity. Plus, sitting for that long can get quite uncomfortable with all the added weight and pressure. And Jilly? Well, she'll be 2 1/2. I think that's all I need to explain for that one. ;-)

But there are a few bright points that will make the trip easier. We're going to try and leave around Noon on Friday, so we don't get to Pullman too late. Steve normally gets off work at 2:30pm, so I'm hoping that he can get off just a couple hours early without having to take any vacation time. Next, we have great Air Conditioning in our car. Jilly gets really upset in the car if she is too hot, so the A/C will help keep her comfortable. Really, I am so grateful that we have a very good, reliable car, that I don't have to worry about taking over the mountains and completely across the state. We get great gas mileage too. Another thing, we'll be traveling during nap time. I think our loyal friend, Mr. Benadryl, will make an appearance and help coax the Beanie Beast into peaceful slumber at least half the way (hey- I can dream, right?). I was talking to some friends about the trip and Heidi asked if we had a portable DVD player. I said, "No, but I wanted to ask around and borrow one if I could." Well, she has one and offered to let us borrow it for the trip. Hooray! I think that will make things easier on Jilly too. Granted, she is only 2 and sometimes a movie can't hold her interest for the entire length. But stuck in a car with no other options, I think it will help a lot. We'll surely be filling our cooler with lots of snacks and drinks for all of us.

And the best part is on Saturday, we'll probably be caravan-ing it back. There will be three cars and 9 people total, eight of them being adult drivers. That means there will be lots of people willing to come and sit with Jilly for a spell, or better yet, take her in their car and let her parents be alone. ;-) It also means that we can stop occasionally and switch around, so no one has to drive the entire time. I think it will be quite manageable with all the (abundantly willing) help. It's lucky Jilly is as cute and adorable as she is. Everyone always wants to be with her, which makes things so easy on us as her parents. Since Katie's ceremony is at 8 or 9 that morning, we'll probably be leaving Pullman around 12 which will give us plenty of time to get home at a leisurely pace.

I have to say I am really looking forward to this trip. It'll be fun to get out of town and see the place where Katie's been going to school for 2 1/2 years. I've never been to Pullman, so that should be interesting. And the part I am really looking foward to is that it will be May in Eastern Washington, which means it should be sunny and warm! Wahoo!! Ultimately of course, this is a great thing for Katie and something that deserves a lot of celebration! Hooray!!! She actually beat me to a Bachelor's degree. Congrats to her for sure.

I think I've thought this out fairly well and will continue to do so. But if anyone has any awesome suggestions for me, I'd love to hear them!! :-)

Movie Survey

Apparently, if you've seen more than 85 of these movies, then you have no life. I guess I really have no life...

(X) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(X) Fight Club
(X) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
( ) Airplane
Total: 7

(X) The Princess Bride
( ) AnchorMan
(X)Napoleon Dynamite
( )Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( )Anger Management
(X)50 First Dates
(X) The Princess Diaries
(X) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 12

(X) Scream
(X) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
(X) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(X) American Pie
(X) American Pie 2
(X) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 18

(X) Harry Potter 1
(X) Harry Potter 2
(X) Harry Potter 3
(X) Harry Potter 4
(X) Harry Potter 5
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(X) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
(X) The Village
(X) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 26

(X) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
(X) Signs
(X) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
(X) 13 Going on 30
(X) I, Robot
( ) Robots
Total so far: 31

( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(X) Along Came Polly
(X) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
(X) Never Been Kissed
(X) Meet The Parents
( ) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
(X) Joe Dirt
( ) KING KONG
Total so far: 36

( ) A Cinderella Story
(X) The Terminal
(X) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(X) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
(X) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
(X) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
(X) Flubber
Total so far: 42

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(X) Practical Magic
(X) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 44

(X) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(X) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
(X) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
(X) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 49

( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Seven
(X) Ocean's Eleven
(X) Ocean's Twelve
(X) Bourne Identity
(X) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
(X) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
(X) The Fog
( ) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 55

(X) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(X) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(X) Maid in Manhattan
( ) War of the Worlds
(X) Rush Hour
(X) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 60

( ) Best Bet
(X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(X) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(X) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator
(X) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 67

(X) X-Men
(X) X-2
(X) X-3
(X) Spider-Man
(X) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(X) Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
(X) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
(X) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
(X) Shrek 2
Total so far: 78

(X) Swimfan
(X) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
(X) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
(X) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 82

(X ) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(X) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(X) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 88

( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(X) Elf
( ) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far : 89

( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
(X) Titanic
(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 92

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
(X) Chronicles Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
Total so far: 94

( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
(X) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) The Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
(X) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 96

(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(X) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X)Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 102

(X) The Matrix
(X) The Matrix Reloaded
(X) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
(X) Evil Dead
(X) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
(X) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
Total so far: 108

Not to mention there are at least 10-15 more that I have seen lots of parts of, but never all the way through. I've seen a lot of movies. But I bet my sister has seen (i.e. owns) more. ;-)