...again. Went to bed at 11pm... it's now 2:25. I've been up since 2. Got something to eat thinking maybe that'll help ... but that'll probably just give me heartburn when I lie down again. So tired and not looking forward to a full day of work ahead of me. Maybe I'll be able to cut out at 2:30? That'd be nice.
Current ails:
My hips are sore - feels like the insides of my hips (where my legs meet my torso) are going to stretch and fall apart evertime I stand up, so I end up walking hunched over until that feeling passes after taking a few steps.
Heartburn. I didn't get much of any early on in this pregnancy, but I've sure got it now. Kind of makes me wonder how low this guy is - is he really dropped into my pelvis yet? Or - is he just huge and he actually already has dropped in there?
Sinus headaches. My nose has been stuffy and I keep getting headaches. I've been spot checking my BP and all is good there - right around 130/70. That's what makes me believe they're sinus headaches.
Cankles. Check! Still there.
Swollen hands that hurt... makes doing paperwork (Writing anyways) difficult at work. At least it does not hurt to type! Most of my hand written work (at work) is complete now.
Chills.... not sure what that's about but for 2-3 days I keep alternating between getting all over chills and then sweating... I know I'm not running a fever so I'm not sure what to think of that.
Braxton Hicks - they keep coming, but I'm not sure if they're doing anything other than making me have to run to the bathroom nearly every time I get one. They have slowed considerably since a week ago though. Last Friday/saturday I was getting upwards of 4-5 per hour and now it's down to maybe 1-2 per hour? Either that - or I'm getting used to them and just kind of ignoring them now? I'm waiting for one of them to hurt so I can go "oooh... is that a real contraction?"
Friday, January 29, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Breaking Tradition!
Today is January 27th. If I were to follow tradition, I'd be having this baby today.
Cousin Hunter was born February 27th.
Cousin Mason was born June 27th.
Laura was born September 27th.
Makes it very easy to remember all the Clark baby birthdays.
This baby does not appear like he'll be making his entrance today... and he certainly will not be hanging out in there for another 31 days to get to February 27th. Sorry, ain't happening! :P
I am 37 weeks today (by ultrasound calculations).
I am 2 days shy of 38 weeks by my calculations.
I had Laura at 38 weeks 3 days... come on baby! We're ready for you! (Well, not really - my bag, his bag and Laura's bags are still not packed...)
I did wash the car seat cover last night so that we can install the infant seat anytime.
Tonight we'll be doing a bit more organizing in the baby's room and some vacuuming - then his room should be ready to go.
Cousin Hunter was born February 27th.
Cousin Mason was born June 27th.
Laura was born September 27th.
Makes it very easy to remember all the Clark baby birthdays.
This baby does not appear like he'll be making his entrance today... and he certainly will not be hanging out in there for another 31 days to get to February 27th. Sorry, ain't happening! :P
I am 37 weeks today (by ultrasound calculations).
I am 2 days shy of 38 weeks by my calculations.
I had Laura at 38 weeks 3 days... come on baby! We're ready for you! (Well, not really - my bag, his bag and Laura's bags are still not packed...)
I did wash the car seat cover last night so that we can install the infant seat anytime.
Tonight we'll be doing a bit more organizing in the baby's room and some vacuuming - then his room should be ready to go.
Monday, January 25, 2010
36 or 37 week appointment.
Had my first "weekly" appointment today. By their records, I'll be 37 weeks on Wednesday, but they still called this my 36 week appointment. By my records, I was 37 weeks on Friday. Not that in the grand scheme of things it really matters though - baby will be here whenever he decides - and they told me today that I'm to the point that when labor starts, they won't stop it. Like they think I'd LET them stop it at this point!?! Ha!
I saw Kate. Hadn't seen her since really early on. I've seen Molly mostly with this pregnancy. Had my GBS screening done. She checked me - cervix is soft, fingertip open... but that still is really no indication as to when labor will start - but at least the "soft" part tells me things are getting ready to go! I've been having BH contractions pretty frequently since Friday morning...sometimes upwards of 5 an hour - and I was hoping they were doing something. I've also started taking EPO (evening primrose oil) to help get things going... not sure if it's doing anything, but it can't hurt!
Last week I was absolutely miserable at work - just tired and it hurts to move. Maybe TMI ahead - but whenever I stand up, I feel like my groin is ripping in 2... and my hips feel like I'm going to fall over. I know it's just things relaxing to get loosened up for delivery - but I fell last week and twisted my ankle and my knee - luckily that only hurt for a few hours and then felt better.
I tried the compression stockings last week - they're a bear to get on and didn't really help much... so for the past few days I decided to not wear them.
Starting yesterday, my right hand has been hurting. My hands have been really swollen for weeks (months?) but now they're starting to hurt - and I can't hold onto things well... I dropped Laura's fish for lunch today on the floor, and then dropped her apple - twice. I just can't hold onto things well. We'll see how the paperwork at work goes - I've got my "to do before I can go on leave" list started and was able to cross a bunch off last week, but still have a bunch left to do.
Oh, the rest of today's info...
Weight: 185#
Baby's HR: 160's (she checked it after she'd poked him in the head!)
He's head down, butt on left, feet on upper right.
My belly is measuring between 35-36 weeks.
Next appointment - next Monday morning!
I saw Kate. Hadn't seen her since really early on. I've seen Molly mostly with this pregnancy. Had my GBS screening done. She checked me - cervix is soft, fingertip open... but that still is really no indication as to when labor will start - but at least the "soft" part tells me things are getting ready to go! I've been having BH contractions pretty frequently since Friday morning...sometimes upwards of 5 an hour - and I was hoping they were doing something. I've also started taking EPO (evening primrose oil) to help get things going... not sure if it's doing anything, but it can't hurt!
Last week I was absolutely miserable at work - just tired and it hurts to move. Maybe TMI ahead - but whenever I stand up, I feel like my groin is ripping in 2... and my hips feel like I'm going to fall over. I know it's just things relaxing to get loosened up for delivery - but I fell last week and twisted my ankle and my knee - luckily that only hurt for a few hours and then felt better.
I tried the compression stockings last week - they're a bear to get on and didn't really help much... so for the past few days I decided to not wear them.
Starting yesterday, my right hand has been hurting. My hands have been really swollen for weeks (months?) but now they're starting to hurt - and I can't hold onto things well... I dropped Laura's fish for lunch today on the floor, and then dropped her apple - twice. I just can't hold onto things well. We'll see how the paperwork at work goes - I've got my "to do before I can go on leave" list started and was able to cross a bunch off last week, but still have a bunch left to do.
Oh, the rest of today's info...
Weight: 185#
Baby's HR: 160's (she checked it after she'd poked him in the head!)
He's head down, butt on left, feet on upper right.
My belly is measuring between 35-36 weeks.
Next appointment - next Monday morning!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Freezer is FULL!
Goal MET! I wanted to have at least 30 complete meals in the freezer before this little guy arrives - I now have 39 meals ready to keep us fed in the next few months!
Saturday I spent the morning shopping at Aldi's and Price Chopper stocking up on lots of fresh veggies and ground beef. I upped my grocery budget for this month by $100 so I could stock up and get these meals under way. Hopefully I can cut the grocery budget by a bit over the next 3 or so months because of all the hard work up until this point!
My parents came to visit yesterday and my mom and I had a plan... we had to defrost the freezer so we'd have room to fill it back up. We took everything out and put it into totes and lugged them out into the snowbank. Defrosted the upright freezer and Richie helped a lot with chipping off the ice blocks and getting it all drained out. We also went through and cleaned out the freezer in the kitchen - tossed the freezer burned/half used bags of veggies and tater tots. While Richie was working on finishing up the freezer defrosting and Laura was sleeping and the turkey was cooking in the oven and dad was catching up on his ebay auctions - Mom and I headed to Joann Fabrics for a couple things and then hit up Old Navy's 50% off clearance sale. I had a $10/$50 coupon begging to be used! We walked out with two huge bags of clothes - 2 shirts and 2 PJ's for Laura, a TON of clothes including 2 pants, 5 shirts, 1 onsie, 1 winter jacket for next year, 5 sweatshirts for this little guy, and a bunch of LONG shirts to get me through the next few weeks. I couldn't belive that XL regular cut shirts fit me better than L size maternity shirts. This season it seems long is in, I guess I'm lucky it's not a season for crop top shirts! I think I got 2 tanktops and about 5 long sleeve shirts.
Got home and served up a nice turkey dinner for all of us plus Richie's parents.
Up and early this morning at 6:20 so I could get Laura's lunch packed and a bath for her - and Richie got himself ready for work. The two of them were out the door by 7:30 and my mom and dad and I had a quick breakfast before the long day got started. Dad left shortly after breakfast and at 9am mom and I started in... cutting, chopping, peeling, crying (from the onions!)... we got all the veggies prepared at the beginning of the day. Then we browned up the ground meats and started assembling all the meals. I wish I'd taken pictures as it was quite a sight seeing all the veggies cut up waiting in bowls on the table, the PILES of dishes, the stovetop filled with pans cooking everything from beef to onions to mushrooms to boiling pastas. We set big pots of food out onto the porch to cool before divying up into dinner size containers. By 12:20 we were both ready for lunch and a rest. We headed downtown and grabbed a quick lunch at the Queen Diner. Home a little after 1 and started right where we'd left off. By 4:40pm, we had the following meals cooked and packaged up for the freezer (each portioned to feed Richie, Laura and I one meal and possibly a lunch for one of us):
3 meals of stuffed peppers
2 lasagnas
1 stuffed shells
3 cheeseburger soups
3 cabbage kielbasa soups
5 mushroom turkey tetrazzini's
2 meat loafs
3 sloppy joes
1 turkey/gravy
1 turkey/mashed potatoes/gravy
That's 24 meals in one day! ... sadly, as I was taking one of the cheeseburger soups downstairs tonight, it fell and spilled so I only have 2.5 meals of that in the freezer now (so 2 meals plus a lunch or 2)...
That brings my total for the freezer to 39 complete meals!! We should be set for a few months!
This is what's been in there since tbe chicken cooking spree a couple weeks ago:
1 Chunky Tomato Pasta Bake (12/30)
2 batches Chicken-n-bisquits (minus the bisquits) (1/2)
4 Chicken and Rice Casseroles (1/5)
2 Italian Chicken Spaghetti (1/6)
1 Chicken Paprikash (1/9)
2 Apple Onion Chicken (1/10)
And here's what my mom and sister have contributed :) THANKS!
1 Ziti (my sister made)
1 Italian Wedding Soup (my sister made)
1 Ruben Soup (mom made)
1 stroganoff soup (mom made)
Tips for mass cooking:
Choose 1 type of meat to work with for the day. Today's theme was ground beef. Made everything go together much quicker than if we'd been using 1 chicken meal and 1 turkey meal and 1 beef meal etc. The turkey was precooked (as of yesterday) so at least today we weren't dealing with raw poultry. Had to defrost/cook that "poor turkey" as Laura referred to him - so that we'd have more space in the freezer.
Do all vegetable prep for all recipes first so the rest of the day is just assembly line style.
Wash all the dishes as you go along - we had a constant wash/drip dry going on - once we had a few dirty dishes we'd wash them up so they'd be ready to go and we never had a sink full of dirty dishes staring at us. By the end of the afternoon, we didn't have to wash a whole bunch of stuff because we did it all as we went along. :)
Ice water and Oreo cookies will keep you going.
Crocs are your friend for a long day like this.
Have the following supplies on hand:
2 stock pots
2 3qt pots
2 deep 2 handled "fry" pans
(We only had 1 of each of these and we found we could have gone quicker if we had more to shuffle around)
Lots of 8x8 aluminum pans (for freezing casseroles) - if doing this often - I'd probalby look into getting some cheap reusable pans or dishes.
Lots of foil to cover meals with
Cling wrap to put between tomato sauce meals and the foil on top
1 gallon ziplocks to store casseroles in and also meals like sloppy joe, chicken/gravy, meatloaf
2 gallon ziplocks for taller meals like stuffed peppers
pen and paper to label meals with date/item/cooking directions
Saturday I spent the morning shopping at Aldi's and Price Chopper stocking up on lots of fresh veggies and ground beef. I upped my grocery budget for this month by $100 so I could stock up and get these meals under way. Hopefully I can cut the grocery budget by a bit over the next 3 or so months because of all the hard work up until this point!
My parents came to visit yesterday and my mom and I had a plan... we had to defrost the freezer so we'd have room to fill it back up. We took everything out and put it into totes and lugged them out into the snowbank. Defrosted the upright freezer and Richie helped a lot with chipping off the ice blocks and getting it all drained out. We also went through and cleaned out the freezer in the kitchen - tossed the freezer burned/half used bags of veggies and tater tots. While Richie was working on finishing up the freezer defrosting and Laura was sleeping and the turkey was cooking in the oven and dad was catching up on his ebay auctions - Mom and I headed to Joann Fabrics for a couple things and then hit up Old Navy's 50% off clearance sale. I had a $10/$50 coupon begging to be used! We walked out with two huge bags of clothes - 2 shirts and 2 PJ's for Laura, a TON of clothes including 2 pants, 5 shirts, 1 onsie, 1 winter jacket for next year, 5 sweatshirts for this little guy, and a bunch of LONG shirts to get me through the next few weeks. I couldn't belive that XL regular cut shirts fit me better than L size maternity shirts. This season it seems long is in, I guess I'm lucky it's not a season for crop top shirts! I think I got 2 tanktops and about 5 long sleeve shirts.
Got home and served up a nice turkey dinner for all of us plus Richie's parents.
Up and early this morning at 6:20 so I could get Laura's lunch packed and a bath for her - and Richie got himself ready for work. The two of them were out the door by 7:30 and my mom and dad and I had a quick breakfast before the long day got started. Dad left shortly after breakfast and at 9am mom and I started in... cutting, chopping, peeling, crying (from the onions!)... we got all the veggies prepared at the beginning of the day. Then we browned up the ground meats and started assembling all the meals. I wish I'd taken pictures as it was quite a sight seeing all the veggies cut up waiting in bowls on the table, the PILES of dishes, the stovetop filled with pans cooking everything from beef to onions to mushrooms to boiling pastas. We set big pots of food out onto the porch to cool before divying up into dinner size containers. By 12:20 we were both ready for lunch and a rest. We headed downtown and grabbed a quick lunch at the Queen Diner. Home a little after 1 and started right where we'd left off. By 4:40pm, we had the following meals cooked and packaged up for the freezer (each portioned to feed Richie, Laura and I one meal and possibly a lunch for one of us):
3 meals of stuffed peppers
2 lasagnas
1 stuffed shells
3 cheeseburger soups
3 cabbage kielbasa soups
5 mushroom turkey tetrazzini's
2 meat loafs
3 sloppy joes
1 turkey/gravy
1 turkey/mashed potatoes/gravy
That's 24 meals in one day! ... sadly, as I was taking one of the cheeseburger soups downstairs tonight, it fell and spilled so I only have 2.5 meals of that in the freezer now (so 2 meals plus a lunch or 2)...
That brings my total for the freezer to 39 complete meals!! We should be set for a few months!
This is what's been in there since tbe chicken cooking spree a couple weeks ago:
1 Chunky Tomato Pasta Bake (12/30)
2 batches Chicken-n-bisquits (minus the bisquits) (1/2)
4 Chicken and Rice Casseroles (1/5)
2 Italian Chicken Spaghetti (1/6)
1 Chicken Paprikash (1/9)
2 Apple Onion Chicken (1/10)
And here's what my mom and sister have contributed :) THANKS!
1 Ziti (my sister made)
1 Italian Wedding Soup (my sister made)
1 Ruben Soup (mom made)
1 stroganoff soup (mom made)
Tips for mass cooking:
Choose 1 type of meat to work with for the day. Today's theme was ground beef. Made everything go together much quicker than if we'd been using 1 chicken meal and 1 turkey meal and 1 beef meal etc. The turkey was precooked (as of yesterday) so at least today we weren't dealing with raw poultry. Had to defrost/cook that "poor turkey" as Laura referred to him - so that we'd have more space in the freezer.
Do all vegetable prep for all recipes first so the rest of the day is just assembly line style.
Wash all the dishes as you go along - we had a constant wash/drip dry going on - once we had a few dirty dishes we'd wash them up so they'd be ready to go and we never had a sink full of dirty dishes staring at us. By the end of the afternoon, we didn't have to wash a whole bunch of stuff because we did it all as we went along. :)
Ice water and Oreo cookies will keep you going.
Crocs are your friend for a long day like this.
Have the following supplies on hand:
2 stock pots
2 3qt pots
2 deep 2 handled "fry" pans
(We only had 1 of each of these and we found we could have gone quicker if we had more to shuffle around)
Lots of 8x8 aluminum pans (for freezing casseroles) - if doing this often - I'd probalby look into getting some cheap reusable pans or dishes.
Lots of foil to cover meals with
Cling wrap to put between tomato sauce meals and the foil on top
1 gallon ziplocks to store casseroles in and also meals like sloppy joe, chicken/gravy, meatloaf
2 gallon ziplocks for taller meals like stuffed peppers
pen and paper to label meals with date/item/cooking directions
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Online shopping at 3am.
Usually this is probably not a good thing... but it may be okay (for my wallet) today. I was lying in bed not sleeping - so I figured I'd get up and try to sleep later... ugh - why is it when sleep is what my body craves, it is the one thing my mind/body resists? ... and don't feed me the line of "it's just natures way of getting me used to being up all night with a newborn"... I don't buy it! :P
Anyways - I checked my email and I had a new one from www.thecouponclippers.com ... have you checked them out? GREAT place to buy coupons! I just placed an order - spent just over $7 on coupons. Now, you may think that's nuts to BUY coupons to save money, but if you know what to look for - you can get great deals!
This week's haul of "purchased" coupons.... (I say "purchased" because it's illegal to sell coupons - the money spent is paying for the person's time to collect and clip and sort and mail those coupons). Have to get all technical in the wording!
So -
50cent off birdseye steamfresh veggies <--doubled and paired with a 10/$10 sale - this will be free food.
$1 off 1 can of campbell's soup at hand <-- can often find for $1 each so free again
75cents off mission tortillas <--often on sale for around $2. Doubled and these will be really cheap.
75cents off fruit simple drink (single bottle) <--doubled, this has to be free or pennies, but I'm not really sure. I took a gamble and paid $1 for 10 of these coupons.
75cent off ronzoni smart taste pasta <-- again, paired with rougly a $1.50 sale and doubled - these will be some cheap healthy pasta.
I always heard the line "coupons are all for prepackaged junk food". Not true. Just have to know where to find the good ones.
Oh, and my ebay order this week was $5 for 20 $1/1 chobani yogurt coupons. These typically go on sale at Price Chopper for around $1 each - so by the time you figure in the cost of the coupons - they'll be just 25cents each! That's cheaper than you can get dannon or yoplait for (even with good coupons matched with sales).
Anyways - I checked my email and I had a new one from www.thecouponclippers.com ... have you checked them out? GREAT place to buy coupons! I just placed an order - spent just over $7 on coupons. Now, you may think that's nuts to BUY coupons to save money, but if you know what to look for - you can get great deals!
This week's haul of "purchased" coupons.... (I say "purchased" because it's illegal to sell coupons - the money spent is paying for the person's time to collect and clip and sort and mail those coupons). Have to get all technical in the wording!
So -
50cent off birdseye steamfresh veggies <--doubled and paired with a 10/$10 sale - this will be free food.
$1 off 1 can of campbell's soup at hand <-- can often find for $1 each so free again
75cents off mission tortillas <--often on sale for around $2. Doubled and these will be really cheap.
75cents off fruit simple drink (single bottle) <--doubled, this has to be free or pennies, but I'm not really sure. I took a gamble and paid $1 for 10 of these coupons.
75cent off ronzoni smart taste pasta <-- again, paired with rougly a $1.50 sale and doubled - these will be some cheap healthy pasta.
I always heard the line "coupons are all for prepackaged junk food". Not true. Just have to know where to find the good ones.
Oh, and my ebay order this week was $5 for 20 $1/1 chobani yogurt coupons. These typically go on sale at Price Chopper for around $1 each - so by the time you figure in the cost of the coupons - they'll be just 25cents each! That's cheaper than you can get dannon or yoplait for (even with good coupons matched with sales).
Friday, January 15, 2010
The day in review.
It was not a pretty sight this morning when I tried putting these super tight stockings on - I can barely get my own socks and shoes on, let alone a pair of long tight stockings! But, I got them on and they felt pretty good.
I actually have ankles this evening! My calves are big and fat and I can still squish my finger into my leg and leave large pits, but they're doing something good - my legs don't hurt as bad and like I said, I actually have ankles!
Now - I ask the question I was wondering about last night - do they make these things for hands? My hands hurt and they're so FAT!
Got a lot done in the little guy's room this evening - cleaned off the shelf and moved all the bigger kid books into Laura's room and left the board books on that shelf. Dusted the whole thing off. Removed cobwebs from along the ceiling, vacuumed the room and dusted the baseboard and chair rail. Richie reassembled the crib (from it's toddler bed state) and we moved the furniture around. Still have to move some things on the walls and take down Laura's curtain, but we're getting there!
I actually have ankles this evening! My calves are big and fat and I can still squish my finger into my leg and leave large pits, but they're doing something good - my legs don't hurt as bad and like I said, I actually have ankles!
Now - I ask the question I was wondering about last night - do they make these things for hands? My hands hurt and they're so FAT!
Got a lot done in the little guy's room this evening - cleaned off the shelf and moved all the bigger kid books into Laura's room and left the board books on that shelf. Dusted the whole thing off. Removed cobwebs from along the ceiling, vacuumed the room and dusted the baseboard and chair rail. Richie reassembled the crib (from it's toddler bed state) and we moved the furniture around. Still have to move some things on the walls and take down Laura's curtain, but we're getting there!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
hopeful relief.
I'll spare you the gross pictures of my legs this time... they are swollen and my hands seem worse to me this time around than last time. SO tight it's very uncomfortable. My knuckles are white and the rest of my hands are pinkish/red. Anyways - the pitting edema is here to stay in my legs, ankles, feet .... yep, the cankles. You can scroll back to my posts from summer 2007 if you want to see pictures... but I didn't take any this time around of that.
Tomorrow I'm going to be sporting these sexy anti embolism compression stockings! I really hope they help me feel better. I couldn't wear them last time - as it was summer and hot and all I was wearing was shorts and croc flip flops... but this time, being winter - I'll give it a shot!
Do they make them for hands I wonder? My hands are more uncomfortable than my legs...
Tomorrow I'm going to be sporting these sexy anti embolism compression stockings! I really hope they help me feel better. I couldn't wear them last time - as it was summer and hot and all I was wearing was shorts and croc flip flops... but this time, being winter - I'll give it a shot!
Do they make them for hands I wonder? My hands are more uncomfortable than my legs...
Monday, January 11, 2010
34.5 weeks.
Had an ultrasound today to see if my placenta has moved up to allow for a natural delivery... good news! It did move so full steam ahead for a natural delivery...and by natural - I mean I want to try with no meds again. I plan to tell the nurses not to offer me anything and I have let Richie know that I want him to support him in my decision to go natural again. Maybe I'm nuts. Maybe I'm cheap. But I did it once, I think I can do it again. I read something the other day that I need to remember when I get to that "can't stand the pain anymore" part... once the pain gets as bad as you can imagine... it won't get any worse. The worst is the worst... nothing is worse than that. Hopefully that's motivating when the time comes!
Anyways - so, got the ultrasound today. Everything is still looking perfectly healthy. We got a really cute picture of his face in 3D and he's certainly plumped up since the 20 week view. Both Richie and I were able to tell that he has a cute plump nose! I can't wait to meet our little man! We were told he is measuring in at 5 pounds 15 ounces as of today. I still have 5 weeks to go and at the rate of baby gaining roughly 1/2 pound per week from here on out, I'm looking at another 8-9 pound (maybe more) baby.
I had a headache when we got to the office - first one since last week when I posted that my BP was a little up. After the ultrasound, I got weighed and my BP checked.
Weight: 180 pounds. Up 6 pounds in the past 2.5 weeks - for a total of 47 pounds! I'm just 4 pounds under the weight I was when I delivered Laura. Kind of depressing knowing only about 6 pounds of that is actually baby! ha ha!
BP: 140/63
When I told Molly that I had a headache last week with a similar BP result, she checked my urine and found it to be negative for protein. If it had been positive she was going to have me do a 24 hour urine catch. She rechecked my BP and it was back within normal at 124/66.
I go back 2 weeks from today and I'll have my strep test done. Really hope it's negative so I won't have to have IV antibiotics during delivery. After that appointment, it's one week visits until the end.
I got a script for compression stockings - I'll get that filled this week and hopefully it'll help me feel better in the evenings. My fingers and legs and ankles are so swollen it's just very uncomfortable.
I'm snoring at night now. That isn't making Richie very happy - I keep waking him up. He slept on the couch 2 times this past week. At this point when I was pregnant with Laura - I was the one sleeping on the couch since I couldn't get comfortable in bed. I'm still plenty comfortable sleeping in bed - it's just a heck of a tough job rolling over!
Anyways - so, got the ultrasound today. Everything is still looking perfectly healthy. We got a really cute picture of his face in 3D and he's certainly plumped up since the 20 week view. Both Richie and I were able to tell that he has a cute plump nose! I can't wait to meet our little man! We were told he is measuring in at 5 pounds 15 ounces as of today. I still have 5 weeks to go and at the rate of baby gaining roughly 1/2 pound per week from here on out, I'm looking at another 8-9 pound (maybe more) baby.
I had a headache when we got to the office - first one since last week when I posted that my BP was a little up. After the ultrasound, I got weighed and my BP checked.
Weight: 180 pounds. Up 6 pounds in the past 2.5 weeks - for a total of 47 pounds! I'm just 4 pounds under the weight I was when I delivered Laura. Kind of depressing knowing only about 6 pounds of that is actually baby! ha ha!
BP: 140/63
When I told Molly that I had a headache last week with a similar BP result, she checked my urine and found it to be negative for protein. If it had been positive she was going to have me do a 24 hour urine catch. She rechecked my BP and it was back within normal at 124/66.
I go back 2 weeks from today and I'll have my strep test done. Really hope it's negative so I won't have to have IV antibiotics during delivery. After that appointment, it's one week visits until the end.
I got a script for compression stockings - I'll get that filled this week and hopefully it'll help me feel better in the evenings. My fingers and legs and ankles are so swollen it's just very uncomfortable.
I'm snoring at night now. That isn't making Richie very happy - I keep waking him up. He slept on the couch 2 times this past week. At this point when I was pregnant with Laura - I was the one sleeping on the couch since I couldn't get comfortable in bed. I'm still plenty comfortable sleeping in bed - it's just a heck of a tough job rolling over!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Stocking the Freezer!
My goal is at least 30 meals. So far... I'm on track to reach that goal. I figure we will have some days we aren't eating at home - and other days we'll fill in with less time intensive dinners (like breakfast for dinner!). This should last us a couple/few months... if I'm lucky, it'll last the full 12 weeks I'm off!
I've had a lot of requests for recipes so I'll post them here as I do them...
Apple and Onion Chicken (Jen's recipe)
3 medium/large apples - cut up with skins on
2 large onion - cut up or sliced thin
2 tablespoons butter
6 blsl chicken breasts (about 5 oz each)
S&P to taste
2 cups shredded swiss cheese
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesean cheese
1/2 teaspoon fresh minced thyme
1 box unsweetened apple juice
Sautee apples and onions in butter about 10 minuts until tender. Spread in bottom of 9x13 pan. Lay chicken breasts on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix cheeses with breadcrumbs and thyme. Spread over top of chicken. Drizzle with apple juice. Bake at 350 degrees uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until chicken is done.
**Variation: I split this into two 8x8 foil pans and baked them and then covered with foil and stuck them in the freezer.
I haven't tasted this yet, but it came with great reviews :)
Chunky Tomato Pasta Bake
1 pound ground beef browned and drained
6 oz pasta (spirals or tube) cooked and drained
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can condenced cr. of mushroom soup
1 1/2 cups shredded mozarella cheese
Combine cooked meat and cooked pasta with the soup and tomatoes in 2 quart casserole dish. Cover and bake 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Uncover and top with cheese. Bake 3-5 more minutes until cheese melted.
Chicken Paprikash (from Rachel)
2 cups chicken broth
3 pounds cooked cubed boneless chicken
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium chopped onion
2 heaping teaspoons paprika
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons flour mixed with a little bit of water
Brown chicken in butter, remove from pan and set aside. Add onion to butter and cook until tender. Add paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Return chicken to skillet and add broth. Cover and simmer 20-30 minutes. Blend flour with a little water then blend into chicken. Add sour cream to paprikash and heat until warmed through. Serve over noodles or dumplings.
*I made this last night and we had half of it for dinner, the other half went into a gallon size ziplock bag and into the freezer.
Chicken and Rice Casserole - the ultimate comfort food! (Rachel's recipe)
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion chopped
3 cups diced cooked chicken
2 14 oz cans green beans drained and rinsed
1 8oz can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1 4oz can pimentos cut up
2 10oz cans cream of celery or cream of chicken soup
1 cup mayonaise
1 6oz box long grain wild rice (COOKED) or 2 4.5 oz boxes carolina long grain and wild rice
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
Saute onions in butter until tender. Remove and transfer to large bowl. Add all other ingredients to bowl and mix. Pour into 3 quart casserold dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
*For freezing this, I just put it into the 8x8 foil pans and then covered with foil and bagged in 1 gallon freezer bag and right into the freezer.
Chicken and Bisquits
4 blsl chicken breasts
4 cans cream of chicken soup
Cook on low all day in crockpot. Then remove chicken and shred. Return to crockpot and add 1 cup sour cream and a handful of shredded cheddar cheese.
*I split this into 2 meals and froze them in gallon size ziplock bags. Will just have to make biscuits for it when we pull it out to eat.
Italian Chicken Spaghetti
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) chicken broth
1 can (6 oz.) Italian-style tomato paste
3/4 lb. (12 oz.) Velveeta Cheese, cut up
12 oz. spaghetti, broken in half, cooked and drained
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
Spray Dutch oven with cooking spray. Add onion and green pepper; cook and stir on medium-high heat 3 to 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Stir in tomatoes, broth and tomato paste until well blended.
Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 10 minutes. Add cheese; cook 1 minute or until cheese is completely melted, stirring frequently.
Stir in spaghetti and chicken; cook 2 to 3 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally.
***I didn't have italian seasoned tomatoes or paste - so I just used regular and added italian seasonings from the cupboard.
See the repeating theme here? Boneless Skinless chicken breasts have been on sale for the past 2 weeks for $1.79/pound! I got 16 pounds last weekend (that made most of these meals) and just yesterday got another 15 pounds that are in the freezer for future use. Next week's theme will be ground beef... but sadly, I have yet to see a great deal on that - so I'll probably be paying good for it. Cost for this months groceries are up a bit, but it should even out over Feb/Mar/Apr when we're mostly eating out of the freezer for dinners :)
I've had a lot of requests for recipes so I'll post them here as I do them...
Apple and Onion Chicken (Jen's recipe)
3 medium/large apples - cut up with skins on
2 large onion - cut up or sliced thin
2 tablespoons butter
6 blsl chicken breasts (about 5 oz each)
S&P to taste
2 cups shredded swiss cheese
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesean cheese
1/2 teaspoon fresh minced thyme
1 box unsweetened apple juice
Sautee apples and onions in butter about 10 minuts until tender. Spread in bottom of 9x13 pan. Lay chicken breasts on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix cheeses with breadcrumbs and thyme. Spread over top of chicken. Drizzle with apple juice. Bake at 350 degrees uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until chicken is done.
**Variation: I split this into two 8x8 foil pans and baked them and then covered with foil and stuck them in the freezer.
I haven't tasted this yet, but it came with great reviews :)
Chunky Tomato Pasta Bake
1 pound ground beef browned and drained
6 oz pasta (spirals or tube) cooked and drained
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can condenced cr. of mushroom soup
1 1/2 cups shredded mozarella cheese
Combine cooked meat and cooked pasta with the soup and tomatoes in 2 quart casserole dish. Cover and bake 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Uncover and top with cheese. Bake 3-5 more minutes until cheese melted.
Chicken Paprikash (from Rachel)
2 cups chicken broth
3 pounds cooked cubed boneless chicken
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium chopped onion
2 heaping teaspoons paprika
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons flour mixed with a little bit of water
Brown chicken in butter, remove from pan and set aside. Add onion to butter and cook until tender. Add paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Return chicken to skillet and add broth. Cover and simmer 20-30 minutes. Blend flour with a little water then blend into chicken. Add sour cream to paprikash and heat until warmed through. Serve over noodles or dumplings.
*I made this last night and we had half of it for dinner, the other half went into a gallon size ziplock bag and into the freezer.
Chicken and Rice Casserole - the ultimate comfort food! (Rachel's recipe)
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion chopped
3 cups diced cooked chicken
2 14 oz cans green beans drained and rinsed
1 8oz can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1 4oz can pimentos cut up
2 10oz cans cream of celery or cream of chicken soup
1 cup mayonaise
1 6oz box long grain wild rice (COOKED) or 2 4.5 oz boxes carolina long grain and wild rice
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
Saute onions in butter until tender. Remove and transfer to large bowl. Add all other ingredients to bowl and mix. Pour into 3 quart casserold dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
*For freezing this, I just put it into the 8x8 foil pans and then covered with foil and bagged in 1 gallon freezer bag and right into the freezer.
Chicken and Bisquits
4 blsl chicken breasts
4 cans cream of chicken soup
Cook on low all day in crockpot. Then remove chicken and shred. Return to crockpot and add 1 cup sour cream and a handful of shredded cheddar cheese.
*I split this into 2 meals and froze them in gallon size ziplock bags. Will just have to make biscuits for it when we pull it out to eat.
Italian Chicken Spaghetti
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) chicken broth
1 can (6 oz.) Italian-style tomato paste
3/4 lb. (12 oz.) Velveeta Cheese, cut up
12 oz. spaghetti, broken in half, cooked and drained
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
Spray Dutch oven with cooking spray. Add onion and green pepper; cook and stir on medium-high heat 3 to 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Stir in tomatoes, broth and tomato paste until well blended.
Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 10 minutes. Add cheese; cook 1 minute or until cheese is completely melted, stirring frequently.
Stir in spaghetti and chicken; cook 2 to 3 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally.
***I didn't have italian seasoned tomatoes or paste - so I just used regular and added italian seasonings from the cupboard.
See the repeating theme here? Boneless Skinless chicken breasts have been on sale for the past 2 weeks for $1.79/pound! I got 16 pounds last weekend (that made most of these meals) and just yesterday got another 15 pounds that are in the freezer for future use. Next week's theme will be ground beef... but sadly, I have yet to see a great deal on that - so I'll probably be paying good for it. Cost for this months groceries are up a bit, but it should even out over Feb/Mar/Apr when we're mostly eating out of the freezer for dinners :)
Friday, January 8, 2010
She's getting to be so big!
Had Laura at the doctor's the week before Christmas. She weighed in at an even 30 pounds. She was treated for an ear infection, upper respiratory infection, and conjunctivitis. Yuck. She's all better now though :)
She's had a total of 3 overnight diapers DRY in the past few weeks. 2 of them were this week! For the past 3 nights, she's woken up and asked to use the potty... two times at 11ish and last night at around 3am. This morning and yesterday morning she was dry. Maybe the 6 packs of huggies overnight diapers I have stocked in her closet at the moment will be the last for her? Wishful thinking! I guess I have to find her some two piece pj's - she still wears the footed zip up fleecey things and they're a pain to get on/off in the middle of the night.
Last night was also another milestone for our big girl - her first night in her new room - in her new big girl bed! We have had the bed in there for a few weeks - set up (just the mattresses at this point) and she's loved playing on it and we lay there to read books. Last weekend, she wanted to take her nap there - so we tried. She cried and didn't like it. Kept saying "warwa real tears" with big crocodile tears in her eyes. So she napped in her toddler bed in her old room last week. This week, we got the delivery we were waiting for from amazon - her side rail. She still scootches up into the top/side corner of her little bed so I thought she'd probalby do the same in a bigger bed. Richie assembled the rail Wednesday evening and we all snuggled together in there when it was Laura's bedtime. She wouldn't settle down. Huge tears again saying "warwa real tears"... so off she went into her little bed in the room next door. Now, she does realize the new room is hers - her toys are in there, her night time dipes, all her clothes etc....and when we ask her to get something out of her room, that's the room she goes to (has for over a week or so now). Well, last night we tried the new bed again. We took a cup of milk in there - laid her down with all 5! of her buddies (yes, they're multiplying!) and her 2 favorite blankets. Richie lay on one side of her and I laid on the other - she was quite wound up and took awhile to settle in, but all three of us ended up falling asleep for about 15 minutes before Rich and I got up and left her there snoozing. I dreaded that it might be a long night... .... .... .... but it wasn't! She woke up around 3am...called for mommy. When I got in there, her first word was "tears". But when i asked if she slept good in her new bed, she gave me a perky "yeah!" and then said "potty". She was dry - took her in, she went - and I told her to go back to her room and get ready for her diaper - I followed her and she had crawled right back into her new bed and was lying on her diaper. I tucked her in, gave her a kiss - and we didn't hear another word all night. She woke up happy this morning. Here's to hoping tonight and all following nights go the same!
***Excuse the lack of pictures... When we started the room re-do for Laura - we had to move the desktop computer downstairs. The cords don't reach for the internet, so we're still not connected - and that's the computer all the pictures and my editing program is on... so until we get a wireless card for it, I'm pictureless...
She's had a total of 3 overnight diapers DRY in the past few weeks. 2 of them were this week! For the past 3 nights, she's woken up and asked to use the potty... two times at 11ish and last night at around 3am. This morning and yesterday morning she was dry. Maybe the 6 packs of huggies overnight diapers I have stocked in her closet at the moment will be the last for her? Wishful thinking! I guess I have to find her some two piece pj's - she still wears the footed zip up fleecey things and they're a pain to get on/off in the middle of the night.
Last night was also another milestone for our big girl - her first night in her new room - in her new big girl bed! We have had the bed in there for a few weeks - set up (just the mattresses at this point) and she's loved playing on it and we lay there to read books. Last weekend, she wanted to take her nap there - so we tried. She cried and didn't like it. Kept saying "warwa real tears" with big crocodile tears in her eyes. So she napped in her toddler bed in her old room last week. This week, we got the delivery we were waiting for from amazon - her side rail. She still scootches up into the top/side corner of her little bed so I thought she'd probalby do the same in a bigger bed. Richie assembled the rail Wednesday evening and we all snuggled together in there when it was Laura's bedtime. She wouldn't settle down. Huge tears again saying "warwa real tears"... so off she went into her little bed in the room next door. Now, she does realize the new room is hers - her toys are in there, her night time dipes, all her clothes etc....and when we ask her to get something out of her room, that's the room she goes to (has for over a week or so now). Well, last night we tried the new bed again. We took a cup of milk in there - laid her down with all 5! of her buddies (yes, they're multiplying!) and her 2 favorite blankets. Richie lay on one side of her and I laid on the other - she was quite wound up and took awhile to settle in, but all three of us ended up falling asleep for about 15 minutes before Rich and I got up and left her there snoozing. I dreaded that it might be a long night... .... .... .... but it wasn't! She woke up around 3am...called for mommy. When I got in there, her first word was "tears". But when i asked if she slept good in her new bed, she gave me a perky "yeah!" and then said "potty". She was dry - took her in, she went - and I told her to go back to her room and get ready for her diaper - I followed her and she had crawled right back into her new bed and was lying on her diaper. I tucked her in, gave her a kiss - and we didn't hear another word all night. She woke up happy this morning. Here's to hoping tonight and all following nights go the same!
***Excuse the lack of pictures... When we started the room re-do for Laura - we had to move the desktop computer downstairs. The cords don't reach for the internet, so we're still not connected - and that's the computer all the pictures and my editing program is on... so until we get a wireless card for it, I'm pictureless...
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Here we go again...
140/73
Headache.
... I think this is about when it (higher BP) started last time too... I'll be 34 weeks tomorrow.
Headache.
... I think this is about when it (higher BP) started last time too... I'll be 34 weeks tomorrow.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
So long 2009... Bring it on 2010!
We had some dreams come true in 2009. Back when Richie and I got married in 2003, we went on our honeymoon to a local/affordable place just a few hours from home. We said at that time, that we'd take a cruise for our 5 year anniversary. At that time, I almost didn't belive we actually would do it, but we did! We saved and saved and saved (all my mileage reimbursement checks from work) and we finally had enough money to pay for our whole trip... We set sail on our 10 night exotic southern caribbean cruise one year ago tomorrow. We originally didn't plan to have a toddler in tow (when we started planning in 2003), but we took Laura along, and I wouldn't have done it differently looking back now. We had such a great time! ...and how many kids can say they traveled by sea at 15 months old?
We got to meet baby Neleh June who came just late enough for us to see her as a fresh newborn. She was due while we were away, but she made her mommy wait until we were back before she decided to come out. Laura loves her new baby cousin "Ella June" as she now calls her.
In February we met a great man. His name is Dave Ramsey. No, we didn't meet him personally, but we signed up for his "Financial Peace University" to try to get our financial life on track better. It hit me that we have (had?) no plan for college savings for Laura and that the way we were "doing our budget" (Who am I kidding? WHAT BUDGET?) ... there was no spare room for college savings. We had too much debt. Heck, at that point we couldn't even see a plan for how we would ever afford to have 2 kids in daycare...
Speaking of which - we'd already started trying to get pregnant with baby #2 at that point...
In March we did our first written budget and lived by it. We started paying cash for things like groceries, household repairs/improvements, clothing, gifts, medical copays etc... I refused to use cash for paying for gas though because it's rediculous to not use pay-at-the-pump when you have a toddler in a carseat.
We paid off our van. All $4,700 that was left of it.
18 month old Laura got her first haircut.
April - Laura stopped using a bottle :) That sure simplified life! Laura started learning her body parts and was getting a lot more vocal.
May was not a good month. I cried a lot.
My grandma Brown passed away.
Richie had a nasty case of painful shingles.
The external hard drive crashed taking with it all of our photos since 2005. Ugh. My heart aches for those photos. I have managed to gather a few from friends and family and what was posted her on the blog and the few that I had saved to cd (like Laura's birth!). Now we save onto 4gb jump drives so if one goes bad - we'll only lose a couple months, not a ton... anyone have a better solution?
June - Richie and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. That morning, Richie saw a (postive) pregnancy test lying on the bathroom counter. Baby #2 due February 2010! Only took 5 months to get pregnant this time instead of the 8 like it did with Laura.
We (Richie!) put an addition on the house. The rickety old covered porch off the dining room got a facelift with windows all around. That closed in porch has seen more use since it got a facelift than it did in the previous 6 years we've lived here!
Jenna left daycare. Laura was super duper sad.
We planted trees to replace some of the 18 or so trees that have been removed from our property since we bought the place. We put in 3 cherry trees and a maple. Now we're just waiting for them to grow up so we can harvest some cherries and have pie.
We threw snowballs. Lots of snowballs. (Dave Ramsey speak for throwing extra money at debt).
July - Laura first started showing interest in using the potty. We had a couple weeks towards the end of the month where she did really well, then we had a weekend away from home (picnics) and she lost all interest.
We learned that our good friends Rachel and Eric were expecting another baby too... in January! Laura and Logan are close, and hopefully these 2 new kidlets will be too.
I was feeling the effects of the first trimester - tired all the time, but not as easy to nap this time around as Laura wanted me up and playing when I wanted to be down resting.
August we transitioned Laura to the toddler bed because my growing belly was getting squished getting her in the crib.
I had a scare and thought I lost this baby on August 13th. Ultrasound proved otherwise and baby was just fine! I felt the new baby moving for the first time later that week.
September
Laura turned 2! So many changes in the past 2 years.
We found out we're having a boy. Laura wants to name him Towel. We have no other names in the running yet.
Still throwing snowballs and using coupons to lower our grocery bill. Sticking to our budget and saying "no" to stuff we don't need. Purging the house of "stuff"... including Laura's eight tubs of outgrown clothing!
Laura has her first crush. Bill. He's our neighbor. Married, father of 4 kids and all Laura can talk about is Bill Bill Bill.
October
Laura sits forward facing in her carseat now.
Jenna is back at daycare. Laura is happy.
Richie did some remodeling in the basement... tore down all the old dark brown paneling and sheetrocked the walls and ceilings. Everything looks fresh and new and bright down there now!
I pinched a nerve or something in my lower back and have been dealing with pain for roughly a month. Not sure if it's from carrying Laura or not, but it hurt.
November
I'm swelling already. People told me it'd be different this time around since I'm not pregnant during the summer. People were wrong.
Laura started showing more interest in potty learning again...
December
Busy doing up a new room for Laura - painting and cleaning/clearing out. Purging yet more stuff.
Laura is in awe of the lights of the season.
I feel safe to say that Laura is potty trained (for #1 anyways).
We met our end of the year financial goal ... won't go into specifics, but we paid off a 15 year 2nd mortgage (that we've had for 3 years), our van, and a school loan. Now we can afford to have 2 kids in daycare.
Here's to 2010...!
We got to meet baby Neleh June who came just late enough for us to see her as a fresh newborn. She was due while we were away, but she made her mommy wait until we were back before she decided to come out. Laura loves her new baby cousin "Ella June" as she now calls her.
In February we met a great man. His name is Dave Ramsey. No, we didn't meet him personally, but we signed up for his "Financial Peace University" to try to get our financial life on track better. It hit me that we have (had?) no plan for college savings for Laura and that the way we were "doing our budget" (Who am I kidding? WHAT BUDGET?) ... there was no spare room for college savings. We had too much debt. Heck, at that point we couldn't even see a plan for how we would ever afford to have 2 kids in daycare...
Speaking of which - we'd already started trying to get pregnant with baby #2 at that point...
In March we did our first written budget and lived by it. We started paying cash for things like groceries, household repairs/improvements, clothing, gifts, medical copays etc... I refused to use cash for paying for gas though because it's rediculous to not use pay-at-the-pump when you have a toddler in a carseat.
We paid off our van. All $4,700 that was left of it.
18 month old Laura got her first haircut.
April - Laura stopped using a bottle :) That sure simplified life! Laura started learning her body parts and was getting a lot more vocal.
May was not a good month. I cried a lot.
My grandma Brown passed away.
Richie had a nasty case of painful shingles.
The external hard drive crashed taking with it all of our photos since 2005. Ugh. My heart aches for those photos. I have managed to gather a few from friends and family and what was posted her on the blog and the few that I had saved to cd (like Laura's birth!). Now we save onto 4gb jump drives so if one goes bad - we'll only lose a couple months, not a ton... anyone have a better solution?
June - Richie and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. That morning, Richie saw a (postive) pregnancy test lying on the bathroom counter. Baby #2 due February 2010! Only took 5 months to get pregnant this time instead of the 8 like it did with Laura.
We (Richie!) put an addition on the house. The rickety old covered porch off the dining room got a facelift with windows all around. That closed in porch has seen more use since it got a facelift than it did in the previous 6 years we've lived here!
Jenna left daycare. Laura was super duper sad.
We planted trees to replace some of the 18 or so trees that have been removed from our property since we bought the place. We put in 3 cherry trees and a maple. Now we're just waiting for them to grow up so we can harvest some cherries and have pie.
We threw snowballs. Lots of snowballs. (Dave Ramsey speak for throwing extra money at debt).
July - Laura first started showing interest in using the potty. We had a couple weeks towards the end of the month where she did really well, then we had a weekend away from home (picnics) and she lost all interest.
We learned that our good friends Rachel and Eric were expecting another baby too... in January! Laura and Logan are close, and hopefully these 2 new kidlets will be too.
I was feeling the effects of the first trimester - tired all the time, but not as easy to nap this time around as Laura wanted me up and playing when I wanted to be down resting.
August we transitioned Laura to the toddler bed because my growing belly was getting squished getting her in the crib.
I had a scare and thought I lost this baby on August 13th. Ultrasound proved otherwise and baby was just fine! I felt the new baby moving for the first time later that week.
September
Laura turned 2! So many changes in the past 2 years.
We found out we're having a boy. Laura wants to name him Towel. We have no other names in the running yet.
Still throwing snowballs and using coupons to lower our grocery bill. Sticking to our budget and saying "no" to stuff we don't need. Purging the house of "stuff"... including Laura's eight tubs of outgrown clothing!
Laura has her first crush. Bill. He's our neighbor. Married, father of 4 kids and all Laura can talk about is Bill Bill Bill.
October
Laura sits forward facing in her carseat now.
Jenna is back at daycare. Laura is happy.
Richie did some remodeling in the basement... tore down all the old dark brown paneling and sheetrocked the walls and ceilings. Everything looks fresh and new and bright down there now!
I pinched a nerve or something in my lower back and have been dealing with pain for roughly a month. Not sure if it's from carrying Laura or not, but it hurt.
November
I'm swelling already. People told me it'd be different this time around since I'm not pregnant during the summer. People were wrong.
Laura started showing more interest in potty learning again...
December
Busy doing up a new room for Laura - painting and cleaning/clearing out. Purging yet more stuff.
Laura is in awe of the lights of the season.
I feel safe to say that Laura is potty trained (for #1 anyways).
We met our end of the year financial goal ... won't go into specifics, but we paid off a 15 year 2nd mortgage (that we've had for 3 years), our van, and a school loan. Now we can afford to have 2 kids in daycare.
Here's to 2010...!
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