A gloomy Saturday

I got to spend the morning with some of my lady friends.  JW, Rach and I went to the Munchkin Mart consignment deal they were having at the MN fairgrounds.  We got there not even an hour after it opened but all the "big" stuff was already gone.  Bummer.  I was going hoping to stock up on the larger items I need for the daycare.  I was able to stock up on clothes for Sir Dexter though for either next year or the next.  Depending on how tall he gets.  JW found a couple cloth diapers for me which was awesome.  It is a brand I don't have and haven't tried but hey, 2 cloth diapers for $11 brand new?  I'll take it.  They will fit baby.  Other than that I only got kiddo utensils and some kiddo plates.  Sort of disappointing but I never regret the time spent with my friends or the "me" time I get.  Dexter spent the morning with Grammy and Papa.

After Munchkin mart, we decided to stop quick at Once Upon a Child.  Not even 2 minutes of walking in that place and I found a pack and play and a double stroller.  Sheesh.  Who needs the Munchkin Mart?!  I was also able to find a booster seat for the table and a potty training seat for when that time arrives.  I made out like a bandit and I feel much better about getting what I need for the daycare set up.  I have lots of time but yet time is flying so best get things when I see them.  Plus after the baby is born things will be a lot harder to shop for. 

I put Dex down for a nap at 2 and he's still sleeping!  It's almost 6!  I guess Grammy and Papa really wore him out!  Baby and I are getting pretty stinking hungry though so hopefully he wakes up soon.  I think it's a perfect evening for grilled cheese and tomato soup.  Don't you think? 

Max has been very busy as well.  We (by we I mean he) are installing trim next weekend so this weekend he is spending painting the trim.  I can't wait for these projects to be done so that I can set up the house better.  Right now the computers are in the "daycare" room and all of the baby stuff is stuffed in the corner because there is no point to bringing it upstairs when the carpet will hopefully be installed soon and everything will just have to get hauled downstairs.  The office is emptied out but needs some touch up work and then the trim.  I need to make some shelves for the kitchen so we can get rid of the shelf that's holding some oddball stuff like the crockpot and the rice cooker.  I'd rather not have the kids be able to get at that stuff.  We are also planning on buying a flat screen TV soon so we can mount it to the wall.  Currently we have a mammoth TV that weighs quite literally 300 lbs and the way we have the house set up now it just won't work.  Plus it would be best to get the TV and the DVD player off the ground so the kids can't get at that too.   We really want our house to be not only safe but appealing for potential parents who interview for childcare. 

I need to get crack-a-lackin on the nursery too.  I have it patched up with mud but need to sand it down and the put the first coat of primer on it.  It's hard to do these things when I only get 2-3 hrs (normally) a day when Dexter is napping.  Max is a very busy fellow and rightfully is not expected to be on Dexter duty while we have all these projects going on.  Cathy, my dad's wife, is giving us a dresser that I will need to paint.  I was thinking it would be the baby's but now I'm thinking I might use it for Max and I and give the baby our dresser.  Either way, one of the dressers would need to be painted.  Another project.  I need to not work.  Think of how much stuff I would get done!   

I have no idea who reads this blog and I'm sorry this one is so boring.  I'm just trying to pass time waiting for Sir Dexter to wake up.  I know if I sit on the couch I will crash and nothing else will get done.  Writing this sorry excuse of a blog guarantees a small break but that I will get up as well. 

26 weeks

26 weeks.  6 1/2 months.  I just can't believe it.

As I get bigger I can do less and less.  I really hate that I have limitations to the things I can do around the house.  Even less this time than when I was pregnant with Dexter.  This baby is sitting much lower than Dex ever did so my back hurts so much more often and I overdo it much more quickly.  I have had to tell myself to limit it to one project a weekend which is annoying.  We have so much going on around here and its frustrating to put it on hold.  I really wish I would be able to quit work early to get stuff done! 

Baby A2 seems like s/he is still happy and healthy.  I believe baby has taken after the Arco preference for soccer.  My bladder (especially full) is his/her favorite thing to kick.  Baby is still very active and moves around a lot.  Max is surprised at how strong baby is.  He always had such a hard time feeling Dexter moving but this one?  There is no missing that solid punch.  My stomach wobbles around as baby moves and I must say it's amusing to watch.  Baby has already started hurting a bit when s/he moves around depending on what is getting hit.  I always forgive A2 though, a mothers love right?

No cravings this week.  I know I'm not drinking enough water.  I don't know what it is but water is just so unappealing to me and while I'm thirsty, I'm not thirsty... does this make sense?  I could easily go through the whole day without drinking anything.  I don't let myself obviously but that is just how I feel.  Apparently it is probably what is making me feel a bit crampy.  I am very mean and I really need to get better about it.

I can't wait to meet this little bugger and call him/her by their name.  To share our names.  I know it will be an adjustment going from just our Dexter to Dex and ? but I can't wait.  I daydream about when baby is finally out (not birth of course *shudder*) and we find out who is in there and then coming home and taking care of both my sweet little babies.  

On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves

Summary:  30 year old Anna decides to take a summer job tutoring 16 yr old T.J. Callahan who is in recovery from Hodgkins lymphoma.  His parents have rented a summer cottage in the Maldives. 

On route to the cottage, their flight crashes and Anna and T.J. find themselves lost on a deserted island.  Time goes by and they are still not found so Anna and T.J. must survive anyway they can. 

As the years progress, Anna is scared for the recurrence of T.J.'s lymphoma and the fact that he is no longer a boy but a man.

Readability: Very easy.  Nothing hard about reading this book and the author makes nothing confusing.  The chapters alternate between Anna's side and T.J.'s side.

Rating:  I LOVED this book.  LOVED it.  I could not put it down.  Max physically took my kindle from me at 1230pm so that I would go to bed.  I have read hundreds and hundreds of books and this one is definitely one of my favorites.  10 out of 10 for me. 

Recommend:  YES.  Yes, all the way.  This is exactly the type of book I love.  My friends would even like it since it's not set in the "old days" as my usual preference goes.  Yes, there are some far fetched situations in there but hey, it's fiction and who knows.  I've never been deserted on an island so maybe it could happen.

It is your fault.

You know, men always complain we have so many clothes.

I just spent 2 hours going through all of my clothes.  ALL OF THEM.  Yes, I have a lot of clothes BUT if you think about it, I have to have a lot of clothes. 

If Maxwell thinks he is going to keep getting me pregnant I need skinny clothes (to attract him of course), I need maternity clothes (result of attracting him), I need fat clothes (I just had a baby, lay off!) and I need all the seasons for all these clothes. 
I blame men.  They are the reason we have so many clothes.

The Cove by Ron Rash

The Cove by Ron Rash

Summary:  There is a dual story line but mostly its about a young woman named Laurel who lives in a cove in the Carolina's that said to be cursed.  It is set during Post WWI (I think).  She is treated like a witch in the town of Mars Hill because she has a birthmark on her shoulder.  Laurel is a lonely young woman who lives with her brother.  The only other people that talk to her are an old man that lives nearby and her best friend that she sees once a month. 
In wanders a stranger who cannot speak.  He adapts quickly to life on the cove and he and Laurel fall in love.

Did I mention this book is sad?  Well, despite the love story part, this book is sad.  Sad, sad, sad.  I had to get a hug from Max when I finished reading it.

Readability:  VERY easy.  I had this book done in one day.  An hour on lunch and 2 hours after Dexter went to bed. 

Rating: I'll say 7 out of 10.  There was the second part of the story that I didn't care for... a perspective of another character.  I'm not going to lie, I mostly skipped over his parts.  The story line was really good and I didn't want to put it down  Then again I never want to put my books down.  I wish it was longer though and went more in depth.

Recommend?  Sure, if you want a quick easy decent read this is the book for you.

*Props to Erin for the "template" so to speak for this review :)

25 weeks

If I'm feeling too lazy to even tell you how my week was does that tell you how the week has gone?  I have been pretty tired and worn out.  Baby is sucking out all of my energy but I try to stay positive.  I think I'm doing pretty well but once I get home I just want to crash.  Couch it, take a bath, read my book... anything that doesn't require too much movement.  That doesn't work out too well with an 18 month old but after bedtime, you can bet I'm relaxing.

While I have been having mild symptoms, this week has brought the MASSIVE HEARTBURN.  Man oh man.  All the time too.  When I get too hungry I get heartburn.  When I finally eat, it give me heartburn.  I wake up in the middle of the night with horrible heartburn.  Yikes.  To think I didn't even know what heartburn was until I got pregnant with Dexter.  I'm glad this is just something I get when I'm pregnant and not all the time.

Baby has been pretty active this week but laying at a very weird angle.  I think his/her feet are up by my right ribs and his/her head by my left hip?  Something like that.  And when baby kicks, s/he punches at the same time.  It equals out to a very strange feeling.

My chiro appt this week revealed that my body is probably starting to prep for delivery.  I don't remember what that hormone is that loosens up your joints is called but there was a lot going on for not hurting much. 

I'm feeling like a terrible mother because I haven't been eating much vegetables.  I am not a fruit fan so that won't change but with Dexter I ate very healthy.  With this one, not so much.  I'm afraid it's starting to show too.  My toosh and my thighs are showing the effects of my carelessness.  Although I am of the opinion that it would do this anyway.  Like I said, I ate very healthy with Dexter and I gained 60 pounds.  I've been eating whatever I want with this one and I haven't gained as much weight.  YET.  I've also been checking and no stretch marks yet!  Just the leftovers from Dexter. 

I think this weekend I might actually be able to start progress in the nursery.  We got most of our clothes out of there and I think tonight I will ignore my laziness and get the rest out of there.  If I'm really ambitious, I will stay up late and patch up the holes so I can sand them tomorrow and maybe even get the first coat of primer in there.  We'll see though.  Don't expect too much from this lazy susan over here.

Song of the Day #6

Excellent soundtrack from a musical... right up there with Moulin Rouge and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.  And all Disney movies of course :)

BIG Decision

So as you know, Max and I are happily anticipating the arrival of baby #2.  We couldn't be happier about this and are making all the preparations we can for baby. 

We have made the big decision that after the baby is born, I will be staying home.  I will also be doing in-home daycare.  We didn't come to this decision lightly but after looking over finances and attempting to budget with two children in daycare, it just didn't make sense.  I have always wanted to be home with Dexter and Max has always wanted me to be home with our kids.  Now with this little one coming we have reached the point where it makes more sense to stay home with my loves and some other parents little loves! 

Our house is buzzing with preparations for not only our fastly approaching due date, but to ready the house for daycare.  I do NOT plan on being a daycare provider that just watched kids for the money and provides no sort of care aside from the basics.  I LOVE the daycare that Dexter is at right now and I plan to model how I do things with how she does things.  We want the house to be as safe and sound as possible and as cozy and fun filled as we can get it. 

I hope to take in 2 full time kids and a part time child in addition to my own two children.  Ideally, I would love to match my own kids ages... so a 2 year old and a 3ish month old.  Then each child would have someone very close in age to play and grow with.  Obviously I am not going to reject anybody because of the age of their kids but that would be an ideal world.  I know Dexter is going to miss his buddy Sven who is 2 1/2 months younger than him.

Our baby is technically due August 1 but I am measuring at July 23 and I went 2 weeks early with Dexter.  I am guessing we will have this baby by the end of July so I would like to start taking kids at the end of September.  I am very flexible though, I will work it out with (God willing) the parents that trust me to watch their kids. 

While, no one ever comments (tsk tsk!) I know a lot of people read this blog.  Blogger offers daily statistics on site hits and I'm amazed at how many people read what I write.  Either way, if you are in my area and you or anyone you know is looking for daycare in that time frame, please give them my name.  I am too uncomfortable to put my phone number on here so if you have it, please feel free to pass it on or message me via Facebook.  I plan on other types of "advertisement" as well but I am open to any form of communication.

Thank you for any help and wish me luck in my new adventure!

18 months of my sweet, sweet Dexter

My Dexter Lincoln turned 18 months today.  I'll blame my hormones for getting all declemped about it... *sniff*  What a wonderful 18 months.

Curiousity killed the cat...

Max and I think this is a pretty close comparison.  I had tried using 28 weeks but that was definitely too small.  I'm definitely not exaggerating, this baby is going to be big!

24 weeks

We've hit 6 months!  I know I say this a lot but man alive, this was the fastest 6 months ever.  This week was a bit rougher than normal.  I woke up with a major kink in my back last week and my back hurt so badly.  I went to the chiropractor but he wasn't my normal fellow so he didn't quite get it.  I took baths almost every night to soak it but it still hurt.  Finally today I went to my normal fellow and when he adjusted me, WOW you should have heard that sucker.  I feel 15 times better already and I haven't even passed that "slightly sore" stage I always have after the chiro.  Thank goodness for chiropractors!

I have also been a bit hormonal this week.  I think that I am pretty good at determining when I am being pregnant mad and regular mad and last night I had an episode of pregnant mad.  I came home after doing Liam's newborn photos and the stinking dishes weren't done.  I have developed a habit of getting the dishes done right after dinner and even if I'm not home, the dishes should be done.  Well I got super ticked off at my hubby and went right to the sink to clean them.  And I started crying I was so mad.  Now it's kind of funny.  I think it's a good reason to be mad as far as it's not hard to do the dishes but to get crying mad?  Haha, not so much.

Baby this week has been very into kicking my bladder.  Actually, s/he must be kicking and hitting at the same time because I generally feel a lot of movement down by my bladder but at the same time I get movement at the top of my belly.  Stretches maybe?  I enjoy feeling the little bugger but sometimes s/he gets places that just weren't meant to be kicked.

While this pregnancy is a very easy pregnancy by all standards, I'm realizing that Dexter's was a cakewalk.  Seriously the easiest pregnancy in the world.  I just feel like this baby is so heavy.  I know s/he's measuring 9 days ahead but the baby feels so big!  Maybe Bug is laying further out in my stomach and enjoys the hanging sensation and doesn't like being more towards my back?  I don't know.  I'm getting that feeling of heaviness already though and I didn't hit that with Dexter until almost the end.  I plan on having the doc measure me out again to see if I'm still 9 days ahead or not at my appointment on Friday.

No cravings this week.  Just my  normal obsession with cereal.  I guess I was craving a churro and potato oles from Taco Johns yesterday.  My hubby surprised me with them at work.  What a good hubby (except when he doesn't do the dishes ;) ).  They hit the spot.  And tonight for dinner we had a pork roast which I have been craving for a very long time.  Yum.  That hit the spot as well AND I will have a fantastic lunch for tomorrow.  Double yay!

I'm a little worried on how Dex will do once the baby comes.  He enjoys his freedom but gets very possessive of me when I'm holding another baby.  He's going to have to learn really quick to share!  It was cute though when we were doing my weekly pictures he got interested in my belly :) 

Song of the Day #5

Yes I know... I'm awesome.

If you don't know this song that is probably a good thing :)



Fun hobbies that make you feel like an old lady.

Crocheting.  Yes, crocheting.  I remember my mom crocheting when I was a kid and I learned a little bit but didn't get too into it because the yarn always bothered my very sensitive skin. 

Fast forward to present time, my friend Loin (a nickname that she hates :) ) started getting into it and it got my "I can make that!" juices flowing.  So I went and got myself a couple of hooks and some extra soft yarn so it wouldn't bother my skin and started working.  I started with a blanket for my own little one and then I thought I better put my baby's blanket on the back burner for now and get going on a baby blanket for my then unknown little niece or nephew.  I didn't realize how many hours went into crocheting a blanket.  I would have started WAYYYYY earlier if I would have realized.  It was worth it though.  I finished it up two days after my nephew Liam was born and was able to give it to his momma while they were still in the hospital !

Here is my little lovebug all wrapped up in his little blanket :)  I think it turned out pretty well for my first finished blanket!

I am a beginner so I started with a very easy pattern.  I chained 175 (which was too much, next time I will do 140 or 150) and did two single rows and then one row of a double crochet skipping every third stitch which created the holes.  Made it look a bit more complex which now you know was not.  My secret is out.  Haha. 

 Then my nephew Alexander came two days later!  I won't be able to meet this new little bugger for quite some time since they live on the other side of the country but I wanted to make him something  in addition to the other homemade presents I have for him.  I've never made one before but since they seemed easy enough I whipped up a couple of hats for the little mister.  I made a smaller one and a bigger one.  I think the bigger one will fit for next winter.  (Sorry if you look at this ahead of time Kaela!  This part of the present is now spoiled but there is still more!)

Max doesn't understand this new hobby of mine.  He thinks that the yarn ends up costing as much as a blanket you'd buy and I have to put all those hours into it.  Men just don't understand the sentimentality of homemade gifts do they?  I think it's actually a pretty cheap hobby to get into! 

Tune in next time after I have my sewing day with my friend Erin!  We are going to attempt a few different things in preparation for our little ones who are due just 10 days apart :)



Song of the Day #4

Oh how I love this song :)

The Girl by City and Coulor

23 weeks

23 weeks.  First I'd like to say that I am a proud auntie again!  My nephew Liam Scott was born today and I love him so much already.  He looks like a male version of his big sister Audrey.  It made me so excited to meet my own new little one and see who has been growing in my belly.  It also made me terrified to think of caring for this teeny, tiny, fragile baby!  Even when Max was holding him he said "I guess I'm scared of holding a newborn again"!  You really do forget how tiny and fragile they are.  And he's a big baby at 9 lbs 3 oz!  I know we will get right into the swing of things and it will all come back to us.  It's always different too when it's not your baby.

Cravings this week: ummm.... cereal?  That's always.  I go through so much cereal and milk it's not even funny.  I probably top off 2 gallons of milk a week by myself.  Milk is so comforting to my stomach.  Comfort food/drink.  Baked beans are still pretty delicious.  Eh, nothing stands out.  I'm back into being not so hungry around dinner time.  I eat because I know I should but more often than not I would be just fine skipping it.

Pregnancy acne has reared its ugly  head this week.  Ugh.  I hate it.  I am already having a slightly rough time with how I look.  I just feel large and big and well, fugly.  Zits are not helping matters much.  I had pregnancy acne with Dexter too but that was right at the beginning and then my skin was great the rest of the time.  My skin has been so-so this time and awful right now.  You won't notice it in my pictures because I photoshopped those buggers RIGHT OUT.  That's right.  I feel no need  to remember how I looked when I was a pizza face.

I had a dream the other night that I gave birth to twin boys.  There are definitely not twins in there and we of course don't know the sex but pregnancy dreams are very real.  When the contractions were coming in the dream I was vaguely aware that I should wake up and see if I really was cramping up or if it was all dream.  I'm still having a tougher time at night.  I'm able to actually fall asleep right away but I'm tossing and turning all night.  Turning over has gotten a bit harder as well.  I have to grab onto something or give myself a couple of heaves before I can make it over. 

I'm excited for my 24 week appointment next week.  I feel like it's been a very long time since I've heard buggers heartbeat so I miss him/her!  I feel the baby all the time.  S/he is quite the kicker and always picks the weirdest spots to kick.  I just don't think some organs were meant to be attacked like that.  Bug gets very mad and retaliates when something is placed on my belly for a while like if I were to rest my arm on my belly while sitting.  Oh no, that doesn't fly.  S/he attacks it until you move.  Maybe Bug knows how little room s/he has already and is preparing for when there is absolutely no room!  Which, by the judge of the last 23 weeks, will basically be tomorrow.  Time never moved as fast as it does now.  Chasing after my now full time walker and growing a baby at the same time.  Oy vey.



Song of the Day #3

No lie.  Stuck in my head all morning.

 Roxanne from Moulin Rouge