The time is getting near.... Yay!!

I am officially all caught up on my blog reading!! I spent part of yesterday and all morning reading everything I had missed in the past week or so. Jeez.... when you get behind its really really hard to catch up again!!

I am planning on having a very chill and relaxing weekend. We have some friends coming over for dinner. I am not cooking... we are ordering pizza. Tomorrow we have nothing planned at all. I am very excited about this. Sunday I am going to a baby shower for my sister-in-law. Other then that, Sunday is a blank slate as well.

My ultrasound on Wednesday went very well. I am not posting pictures, because there is nothing really to see. She doesn't have much room left in there, and because her hand and the placenta were sitting on top of her face, there wasn't anyway to get a good shot of her. She's right on track to be of a normal weight. I was seriously worried I was going to have a HUGE baby. She feels so big, I look so big, and my husband is 6'3" and was a ginormous baby himself. You can imagine my relief when the nurse told me she was going to be a perfect size. She has moved out of breech and is now planning her escape route. Her head is far down and the nurse said she even felt her head when giving the exam! So everything is on schedule, going well and I am pretty happy about that.

Five more weeks till my due date!! I can't believe the time is almost finally here. I am just so excited to meet her.

After our two baby showers and lots of online shopping on my part, we have almost everything ready for her arrival. I am going to pack my hospital bag, along with a bag for the munchkin, over the weekend so we can be ready. We are planning on going by the firehouse very soon too so they can help us install the car seat.

I have her Birth Announcements all designed and ready to go. All I need is pictures of her to drop in and all her birth info.

I have been reading alot about breastfeeding this week. I plan on breastfeeding exclusively for the first 6 weeks and then will slowly start to pump and introduce a bottle of breastmilk to prepare her for the babysitter (which will start around 12 weeks), or with time home alone with her daddy. This is our plan... we will have to wait and see how things will turn out.

I am stocking up on paper plates and things for less dishes the first few weeks. I am going to prepare some meals to be cooked and frozen ahead of time so that we can simply pop them in the oven to heat them up. Who knows what I will feel like doing as far as dinners and cooking the first couple of weeks. The less I have to worry about the better. Joe makes fun of me (good-naturedly ofcourse) saying I need to relax. I am a planner. It is my nature. Just waiting for this to happen and not knowing for sure what is going to go down is not easy for me. So these things help me cope, I guess. They help me feel like I am getting as prepared as I can.

Emotionally and physically, I am ready. I am so excited to meet her. My heart swells with love every time I look down and rub my belly. I am ready to move past the pregnancy stage and onto the next. So we are in the final stretch... not too much longer!

I am throwing in a couple more maternity pictures.... I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Walmart Adventures, Baby Shower and Some Maternity Pics

I went to see my doctor on Friday and turns out I have a sinus infection (probably), but he said that drainage was causing my sore through. He prescribed me some antibiotics and some nose spray. He also said I needed to put a humidifier in my room to help with my soar throat. I went home and took a really really long nap. I took all of his advice, but decided to hold off on the antibiotics. I just don't want to take any more unless I absolutely have to. I have already taken them 2 different times for both kidney stones and I am really nervous about taking too many meds while pregnant. It's now Monday and I am already feeling alot better so I am really glad I decided to not take them.

Friday night we went to visit Joe's mom and sister & brother in-law. We had a yummy steak dinner at their house and visited for a while. Then his sister and brother in-law came over to our house to help Joe with some issues with the water heater and some plumbing. That took forever and since we really needed to go to Walmart to get a humidifier, we ended up going at 1:00 am. Late night trips to Walmart are always so interesting. This one wasn't any different.

I was walking around the produce department when this very odd woman came up to me and shouted "Hi!". She worked there and was stocking the fruit. And yes, she really was shouting at me. Something was really "off" about her. I knew she was disabled in some way, ofcourse that didn't bother me, it was where she took the conversation that started to put up a red flag. She started with asking me when my baby was due... then what was the sex... then what was her name... then where I would be delivering at... My answer to the last one was "I don't know yet." She was standing super close to me and talking in an extremely elevated voice. Maybe she wasn't aware of my personal space and maybe she just wasn't sure about what was appropriate banter for 1:30 am conversations with strangers, but I couldn't help but wonder if she was plotting to come and steal my baby. I guess she took the hint when I didn't really answer her last question and my demeanor shifted from friendly to guarded. At this point, Joe had also just walked up to join me. Without another word, she turned around and walked away. Wierd.

My baby shower on Saturday was so much fun! We got all kinds of wonderful gifts. Yay!! I was so impressed with what a good job my sisters and mom, and our friend Michele did. They worked really hard and everything turned out so nice. And just look at the pics of the food...

My sister went a little crazy with the menu. It was so delicious though and I had lots of leftovers to bring home to eat too!


Anna brought Isaac! I am so glad he is just about back to his normal happy self.

Here's some of the presents we got! Amy and Erin made tie dye onesies for the munchkin in a few different sizes. They were so cute.

Here's some of the people that came. I am in the middle with my two sisters to the right of me and my mom and my niece in front of us.


On Sunday we finally got our maternity pics taken. I would liked to have gotten them done sooner before I was so big and puffy, but I am still really happy with how they turned out. Our friend, Scott, did such a good job taking them! We took all the pics in the nursery and outside on our front porch, in our front yard and on the side of our house.



The one below is my favorite. I even remember while we were taking this one how much love I could feel between us. It was a wonderful feeling.


This tree is on the side of our house right outside the nursery window.



I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! My last ultrasound is wednesday morning.. I am really excited about seeing her! I will post the pic once we get it.

I really am still alive!

I haven't blogged in quite a while. I have been trying to keep up with the blogs I follow, but even that has been slacking as well. It's been a very busy last couple of weeks. I will try to catch you up to speed on the highlights and also try to avoid making this the longest blog entry ever in the process.

July 11th was my first baby shower. My very dear friends Anna and Toni hosted it for me. It was held in a really nice room at the community center near Anna's house. The food was fantastic and my friend Sarah made the cake. It was beautiful... and so delicious! We were given some amazing gifts for the little munchkin!

Here's me.... sporting my HUGE preggo belly!


My friend Anna, who did most of the planning, was not able to attend. Her son BBZ was in the hospital and had to undergo emergency surgery the day before. It was so scary, but thank goodness he was doing better and was in recovery at the time of my shower. Her wonderful mother was in town and she helped out with the shower while Anna was at the hospital. To hear BBZ's story, you can read all about it here. It was really sad to not have her there, but I was so happy that everything was turning out okay for little BBZ!

So then Tuesday (the 14th) I woke up feeling like I had a bladder infection. Uh oh. I went to my OB and sure enough there was some blood in my urine. She put me on some more antibiotics. That night I started having horrible pain in my lower back. Right away I knew. Another f-ing kidney stone! Yep. Joe took me to the emergency room. They gave me some pain killers (have I mentioned how much I hate taking any meds while I am pregnant?). But then they sent me home. The Dr. said he wasn't sure if it really was a stone. I knew better. He sent me home with a Rx for percocet. As soon as I got home, I went to the bathroom and sure enough, out came a stone. That's 2 in a month! And this one was almost twice as big as my last one! Jeez.

July 17th we went to our friend's daughter's 10th birthday party. We had unusually nice weather, so it was actually nice to sit outside and hang out. It was a luau theme in their backyard. Ofcourse, after a couple of hours I started to get really tired. It's just alot to work from 7am in the morning and then go out on a friday night these days!


Saturday, July 18th was our family reunion. This is my dad's mother's side of the family. We had relatives coming in from all over, some that I hadn't seen in years. It was held at a local state park and the temperature was around 72 degrees! I was happy! Seriously, as soon as it gets above 80 outside (which 90+ is the average right now), then I start swelling up like a puffy marshmallow woman. I had been telling everyone that if it was anywhere 90 I wouldn't be attending. The middle of July, in the midwest, with temperatures at 90+ in a park, far from air conditioning, is no place for a 8+ mos pregnant woman. So I was really excited as the day grew closer and the weather was looking so nice.

My grandmother was one of 5 kids. This group of folks is her and my grandpas kids, along with their kids and then their kids. So man several generations. Oh and a dog.


Not sure what is going on here, but this is me and my two sisters.


The reunion was a great time. Next year it will be even more fun with even more little ones running around.

I have been working really hard to get everything done that needs to be done before the munchkin arrives. So that has been keeping me really busy. On monday, we had a consultation with a pediatrician. He came highly recommended from my good bud Gina. We loved him and will most likely go with him. He answered all my questions with flying colors and his office passed almost everything on my wish list. We have one more consultation next week before we make our final decision.

Last night I finally got to use the gift certificate that my mom's friend gave me as a thank you for designing everything for her daughter's wedding (invitations, programs, thank you's, etc.). It was a spa package that included a prenatal massage, facial and pedicure. I think my favorite part was being able to lay on my stomach during the massage. They had this awesome pillow that had a spot in the middle to put your belly and chest. It was heavenly to be able to lay in that position. I never wanted to get up.

My throat started to feel sore last night and this morning I woke up to it feeling even worse. I hardly got any sleep last night, as I had a hard time being able to breathe. I have a doc appt today at 11:30 so hopefully he will be able to fix me up.

Tonight we are having dinner over at Joe's mom's house. Tomorrow is my 2nd and final baby shower. This one is for my family and some of my friends that couldn't make it to my previous shower. I am so excited! Sunday we are having my maternity photo shoot, so that should be alot of fun as well.

Hopefully Monday I will be able to post some pictures from this weekend and start to get back into the groove of things as far as my blog goes. There's just been so much going on... but I feel bad for not keeping things up to date.

Have a great weekend everyone!

I took someone's virginity last night...

Their sushi virginity!! I finally convinced Gina to let me stuff her face with sushi..... and she loved every minute of it. Okay so she hasn't eaten anything with raw fish in it yet, but it's a start. And since I am pregnant, that's easier for me anyway. I don't have to watch her eat the spicy tuna or the philadelphia and drool with jealousy all over my crunchy shrimp. We ordered 6 rolls and Gina totally kept up with me. They brought it out on a boat. It was glorious. Mmmmm....

Here's Gina loving on the sushi and eating it with her training chop sticks.

Since Gina couldn't make it to my baby shower this weekend, she gave me my present early. It was a handmade dress she had ordered with the little munchkin's name across the bottom. I have covered that part up, as I am not giving up her name just yet, but you can tell by the ribbon at the top that her name starts with an A. Isn't it adorable? I can't wait to put it on her! We'll have to wait till she's about 6 months. but I am pretty sure we'll get a ton of use out of this little number. It's just so damn cute.


So thanks Gina for taking me out to dinner and getting this adorably cute dress for my little munchkin! You are awesome.

The Le Leche meeting went pretty good. I got to meet Jillian's baby, Emerson, who is so sweet. There were only 4 of us at the meeting, including the leader, so it was very laid back. We mostly discussed breastfeeding and pumping while going back to work. The other 2 girls had their 4 and 5 week old babies so they had lots of questions. I am not sure what to ask yet, so I mostly sat back and listened. There was alot of new info to digest and the leader gave me some good book recommendations. I feel better knowing there is support out there if I run into any problems.

This morning I was spotting a little. It wasn't much and it's already stopped, but I am going to call my doc when they open just to see what they say. The little munchkin didn't move one single bit till I got to work (she's usually very active in the car on the way here), so that made me nervous. Once I was in my chair though, she started moving around. She picked a fine morning to freak me out. I am sure everything is fine... but better safe then sorry. I will keep you posted.

What's a holiday weekend without an exciting car accident?

I haven't blogged much.... I have been slacking in that department. I have been getting really tired lately and my brain feels like mush half the time. Not very conducive to interesting blogging. I will catch you up to speed....

Last Thursday I was in a car accident. I am okay... but what a pain in the ass. I was on my way home form work and there was alot of traffic. I was actually just sitting in the fast lane, not moving at all, when all of a sudden I heard the loud screeching of breaks. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw a black bronco (what is it with me and broncos?) coming towards me. I braced myself as I knew he was going to slam into the back of me. Sure enough, he did, and he forced my Santa Fe into the car in front of me. I immediately freaked out. I am 31 weeks pregnant... so obviously the first thing on my mind is my baby and if she is okay. Everything seemed fine, but my emotions started going crazy and I started sobbing uncontrollably. I am sure it freaked out the guy who hit me even more. Good. What the hell was he doing anyway? We waited for what seemed like an eternity for the police to arrive. Once there, they stopped the cars are on the highway (traffic was really backed up at this point), so that the cars involved in the accident could move to the other side of the highway. They got statements and all that jazz, then the cute fireman took my blook pressure. He seemed impressed when he said it was excellent, even better then his. Finally we could leave. I called my doctor, who insisted I go to the hospital to get additional tests done to make sure everything was okay. I went home and then my husband took me to the hospital. We left my car in the driveway for a tow truck to come and pick up and take it to the body shop.

We checked into labor and delivery and they set us up in a room just like I would deliver in. It was actually pretty cool to get a sneak peak of things and see just what the room would look like when the big day finally came. We listened to her heartbeat for about 30 minutes and they checked me for contractions. The nurse said the baby had no idea anything had happened and she seemed as happy as could be. The house doctor came in, checked me over, consulted with my doctor, and then gave the thumbs up for me to go home.

All and all, I felt very lucky. Things could have been much worse. It just sucks that my new car has already been in an accident. But it's crash test ratings really proved true. It took the hit like a champ. It is in the shop and I am having to drive around in a rental. I am hoping that the guys-who-hit-me's insurance acts quickly and we can get going on this. I really can't wait to get my own car back.

So my plans for dinner that night with my gal Gina fell through since I had to go to the hospital... my heart was set on sushi so I was pretty bummed. By the time I got home, Gina had already eaten. Luckily my friend Jessica was eager to go in her place. That really helped to cheer my up.... funny how sushi can make almost anything better. I inhaled 3 rolls... apparantly being in an accident makes you hungry! Who am I kidding? I can always eat atleast 3 rolls (2 for me, one for the baby).

Friday, me and Joe were both off work. We woke up early to go pick up a rental car from the shop where my car was being worked on. They gave me a hyandai accent. It's like a go cart and it sucks. Mainly because I don't feel safe in it, not while I am pregnant after just being in an accident. I went by a friends to pick up some maternity clothes, then back home. Joe mowed the lawn while I took care of some things around the house. We took a nice nap and then started getting ready to go out to a friend's 30th birthday party. It was alot of fun. I was able to see some people I haven't seen in quite a while. And I loved all the preggo attention. Everyone kept asking me if I needed anything and everyone was rubbing my belly and asking how things had been. It was very sweet. It will be nice to be able to have a drink again though.

Then there was Saturday, the 4th of July. I wish I could say we did something exciting, but we really didn't do anything at all. I went shopping for some new clothes, as I was having my maternity pictures taken the next day. We took another nap. We let my parents dogs out (because they did have exciting plans). We watched a movie. That was about it. It was nice though. It's been so crazy and busy lately... it was good to just take some time to relax and not do much of anything. The weather was pretty bad anyway, and there was thundering and lightning about the time they were shooting off fireworks anywhere anyway, so we didn't miss out on much.

Sunday our photoshoot was cancelled. So we ended up having another lazy day.

And there was my exciting holiday weekend. Atleast I got caught up on sleep and was able to do some of relaxing. Something I have been really needing lately.

Monday I traded in the hyundai accent for a PT Cruiser. I am not a big fan of PT Cruisers and this one has the very strong scent of cigarettes. I could be driving the rental for up to 2 weeks. But atleast it's bigger then the accent and I have some baby stuff to transport... so I am gonna need as much room as I can get.

Tonight is my rescheduled dinner date with Gina... Yay for more sushi! Then I am going to a Le Leche Meeting. This is a support group for breastfeeding moms. I am hoping to have some meetings under my belt and some resources lined up before the munchkin is here. I am determined to breastfeed for atleast the first year, no matter what difficulties I may have (I have alot of friends who gave up pretty quickly after having trouble), and I think having alot of support will help with that. I have very few friends who have chosen to breastfeed and stuck with it, so I am seeking support in other areas. I am hoping it will be a breeze though (I could get lucky, ya never know... ya right). I have heard some stories though about them being breastfeeding nazis at these meetings, so I talked my friend Jillian (who is a breastfeeding mamma) into going with me. She has a cute new baby named Emerson and I am hoping I will get to meet her tonight!

Okay... back to work!

Words of Life

I have alot to learn about parenting... but I think I will start here.

Words of Life

You can speak to your children of life,
but your words are not life itself.
You can show them what you see,
but your showing and their seeing
are forever different things.

You cannot speak to them of Divinity itself.
But you can share with them
the millions of manifestations of this Reality
arrayed before them every moment.
Since these manifestations have their origin in the Tao,
the visible will reveal the invisible to them.

Don’t mistake your desire to talk for their
readiness to listen.
Far more important are the wordless truths they
learn from you.
If you take delight in the ordinary wonders of
life,
they will feel the depth of your pleasure
and learn to experience joy.
If you walk with them in the darkness of life’s
mysteries
you will open the gate of understanding.


~ William Martin (The Parent's Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents)

I am going to frame this poem and put it on the wall in the little munchkin's room.