Monday was a pretty
standard Monday. Another cold, dreadful day. But, another friend of mine had a
baby today, making it very exciting! She was exactly a week overdue (seems to
be a trend so far this year), and had a little girl (also seems to be a trend).
So fun! I can’t wait until she’s home and settled in so I can swing by for some
more baby cuddles. I also talked to my friend Gini today, and it sounds like
she and our friend Michelle are going to throw me a baby shower in the spring.
I know it’s not super traditional, but it’s going to be so fun to spend some
time with all of my friends and get spoiled a little bit! We probably won’t be
doing it until late April, so I’ll be pretty miserable, it will be a welcomed
distraction. The work day went pretty well. Christian is officially caught up
on his leave time, and pretty much won’t have any time off until the baby is
born. The girls were off to school, and have been doing really well again. I
have to say, whenever Olivia acts up at school, and we have a conversation
about it, she really whips back into shape. Amelia is still a handful, but her
teacher (while tough) loves it. After work, I picked them up and we made our
way home for a pretty typical evening. However, I did have Olivia fill out her
Valentine’s Cards tonight, and help me put them together. I gave her the class
list so she could use that to help her write out the names, and she actually
did a REALLY good job. She was so proud of herself. It was really cool seeing
her work so hard on it. Definitely growing up! Once the girls were in bed, it
was The Walking Dead night for us…it’s finally back from the mid-season break,
and it seemed like it took FOREVER!
Filling out her Valentines. Big Girl!
Tuesday was a baby
day! I dropped the girls off and I was off to spend the morning at the clinic.
First up, the dreaded glucose test (to check for gestational diabetes). I
passed it no problem with both girls, so I was hoping the same for this time…I
don’t think I could handle the 3-hour test! Luckily, I got my results by
lunchtime and I passed, with basically the same level as each of the girls,
coming in at 97 (out of a “normal” range of 70-129). So, YAY! But, the drink
definitely makes me a little dizzy (and, of course, is gross!), and blood draws
are never too fun. Next up, I was off to my check-up. I always get nervous
about my weight, like I’m going to get in trouble or something, but she
actually commented that she was satisfied with my gain to date. So, that made
me feel better. We didn’t really go over too much…she’ll be looking into if I
need to fill out any paperwork and/or have an OB consult for the VBAC again.
Hopefully since I’ve already had one, I can skip all that. My blood pressure is
creeping up on me again, just like the other two. I normally do have a little
higher blood pressure (always the top number, my bottom is always normal), but
it was up to 139 this time, the highest yet this pregnancy. I’m starting to
think there is a good chance I’ll end up on partial bedrest by the end of this
pregnancy again, which, honestly, I’m more than OK with. Luckily I have a very
flexible work, and they are OK with me working from home when needed. She also
mentioned she’ll be ordering me an ultrasound for 32 weeks, to check baby’s
size and position (basically a VBAC requirement). I’m so excited to see baby
again, but anxious about having to stay strong through another scan! Next up,
heartbeat time! Man, hearing that little pounding heart just never gets old.
It’s so amazing. It was a strong 147, which it’s been pretty much all along,
and I’m measuring on point. She things the baby is head down…while there is certainly
plenty of time for all kinds of flipping around to happen, it’s at least a good
sign. Finally, I had to get my TDap vaccination. OUCH! They used to do it after
each birth (for the whopping cough aspect), but recently changed the
recommendation to do it in late pregnancy, in hopes of passing some of the
immunity off to the baby. With the crazy whopping cough outbreaks over the last
few years, I didn’t question it one bit. And, with that, I was off to work. The
day went pretty quickly…it was our last FREEZING day, hopefully of the year, so
that was pretty exciting. The day went pretty quickly, thanks to the late start.
I picked the girls up and we made our way home for some dinner, movie time and
playing. Once the girls were in bed, we watched a little of the Olympics, until
Christian passed out and I became too obsessed with the new “Guess the 90’s”
game I started playing, before passing out myself. Seriously, just what I need,
another obsession! Good Lord.
I started Wednesday
off very annoyed. We got a coating of snow overnight, but the traffic folks on
the morning news made it sound like everything was moving along fine. Well,
that was most definitely NOT the case. Again, took me an extra hour to get to
work. I can’t even explain how beyond over this I am. Then, I get to the
parking lot, and of course it’s like a jigsaw puzzle put together by
morons…which is pathetic in itself, but when you can actually SEE half of the
parking spots/lines, there is no excuse for it. OMG, Spring, please come ANY
time now. The rest of the day went pretty well. I wasn’t feeling too hot…I had
a hard time getting up this morning, and just felt sluggish and uncomfortable
all day. Not sure if it’s from the test and shot yesterday, or just one of
those days. I picked the girls up after work and we were off to meet Christian
at the elementary school, for Olivia’s kindergarten registration. She was SO
excited, even though all we did was fill out some paperwork. We’re still hoping
she gets into the Magnet school, but still had to go through the normal
registration process, just in case. Once I finished up, we made our way home.
Olivia has been doing great at school, but she’s been driving us CRAZY at home.
She’s become obsessed with the animals, especially the cats. She locks them in
her room, sometimes in her closet, because she wants them to sleep in there
with her (even though she doesn’t even sleep in there, LOL). So, every day, as
soon as we get home, I tell her to leave the animals alone. By the time
Christian gets home (while I’m picking up, making dinner, etc.), she has at
least one of them in her room, and gets in trouble, so then chaos just ensues
the rest of the night with drama and whining and I’m SO over that too. They did
finally calm down, and watched a movie on the iPad for a while, while Christian
and I relaxed and watched American Idol. We’ve been having a great time
watching this year…not just because the judges/show itself are so much better,
but the girls have really gotten into it, and like to make their own guesses on
who gets a “card” and who won’t. They didn’t watch much of it tonight, just
chimed in once in a while. It was a pretty early night for us, as we pretty
much went to bed along with the girls. We’re over the hump now, the weekend is
in sight!
Heading in for Kindergarten registration. Crazy!
Thursday was a bit
of a hectic day. For a change, Olivia jumped right out of bed to get ready when
I reminded her that her Valentine’s Party was today. She got ready, and was so
excited to bring her treats to school. Of course, Amelia was very upset that
her party wasn’t today…the concept of tomorrow is just too much for them to
grasp yet. But, she eventually got over it. Work was pretty standard, until
this afternoon. Our office was scheduled for a meeting with one of the big
wigs, as “Thank You”…mainly for a specific
program a few people helped put in place (not me, for a change), but really for
everything we do. They had a little speech and brought cake, YUM, but also
surprised all of us with some recognition awards. They are called “Above and
Beyond” awards…for, well, going above and beyond your normal “call of duty”.
With them, you can either get a nice plaque, or a $50 meal voucher. These
awards are fairly rare…this is my third, in my 12.5 years here, and that’s
actually pretty impressive, so it really means a ton when you get them. That
was a fun surprise. I will be getting a plaque…the meal is temporary, the
plaque is a permanent reminder, and I think they’re really cool (picture of my
current ones below). After that, we were all in a bit of a sugar coma, and
excited about everything, so the afternoon wasn’t super productive. After work,
I stopped at Target quick…I’ve been debating it, but I finally decided to do
little teacher gifts for the girls to bring tomorrow, and I need some stuff to
make dinner tonight, and a couple other things. I picked the girls up, and
Olivia couldn’t wait to show me all of her Valentine’s (seriously, there are 20
kids in her class, and I’m pretty sure every single one participated this year,
so she has LOTS of goodies). I’m jealous of how creative some parents are!
Meanwhile, Christian had to stop at his parents’ house to install Amelia’s
carseat for them (they are taking the girls tomorrow!). The girls and I made
our way home, and I had a list of things to do, but didn’t make a ton of
headway on it. I started dinner and did some dishes while the girls watched a
movie. While we ate, I addressed Amelia’s Valentine’s cards, and put together
the teacher gifts. The girls decorated the teachers boxes while I packed up
dinner and got everything picked up. Finally, I painted their nails, and my
own, red so we’re ready to go! They were off to bed as soon as they dried, and
I was exhausted. Christian and I watched some Olympics, until we passed out.
I’ll have a busy morning making sure the girls are ready for school and packing
up their stuff for their overnight…and I’ve decided we’ll just do our
Valentine’s with them on Saturday…baking brownies and giving them their “Love
Buckets”. Just never enough time in the day! Ugh.
Ready for her big Valentines party at school!
My award at work. Yay!
Tonight, I watched my little family, laughing and playing and cuddling, and I was reminded of how blessed I am.
Friday started off
pretty standard. Amelia was SO excited to “finally” have her party at school.
We packed up her Valentine’s and she was ready to go. I’m glad I held off on
the teacher’s gifts until today, so Olivia had something to bring as well (one
day of a disappointed “left out” child was enough drama for me!). Olivia’s day
was pretty standard…her teacher brought the kids little gifts today, and a few
kids that were gone yesterday brought stuff, so that worked out. Amelia’s class
had a party, with cupcakes and all! So, she loved it. Work was pretty standard
for us. I was going to stay an hour late today (since I typically get off an
hour earlier on my working Friday), but it was pretty quiet and I was just too
exhausted I couldn’t do it. My in-laws picked the girls up from school for
their big overnight, so, I just made my way straight home. Christian arrived
home, surprising me with some roses and chocolates (awwww!) and we started
getting ready for a night out. He received a gift card from work to a big
family-owned steakhouse place in St. Paul…their reservations were booked, but
we decided to just risk the wait…which, luckily was just about 30 minutes in
the end. Steak isn’t really my thing, but it was good (and, free). We ended up
meeting our friends Nate & Gini at the Mall of America after dinner to hang
out for a bit. They grabbed a drink and we ended up bowling a couple games. I
did not do well at all, and two games of bowling pretty much took it all out of
me! Ay. By the time we left it was around 12:00, which is WAY too late for me…I
was ready to pass out as soon as I got home, that’s for sure.
My favorite Valentines!
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My beautiful flowers!
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Ready to head out with my honey
On Saturday, I
couldn’t really sleep, so I was up fairly early, spending some time with Netflix,
relaxing in bed (I honestly don’t know how I survived a TV-less bedroom for so
long!). I finally got Christian up so he could head into work, and slowly got
myself ready…feeling pretty exhausted and stuffed up, with a headache that just
got worse throughout the day, that wasn’t easy. My in-laws arrived at the house
around 10:30 to drop off all of the girls’ stuff, then ended up following me to
swim class to watch the girls in action. My mom also came today, to bring the
girls some Valentine’s gifts and take us to lunch. When we arrived at class,
the weather wasn’t doing anything…by the time I got them changed, and headed
out to the observation balcony, it was an all-out blizzard outside, I couldn’t
believe it! The girls were so excited to see so many people there to watch
them, it was really cute. My in-laws gave the girls each a new pair of shoes
(which were MUCH needed) and an outfit for Valentine’s Day – they are too
spoiled, I swear! – so they loved showing off their new shoes. Today was the
halfway mark of the session, and I’m anxious to see how they’re doing. Olivia
seems to be the most advanced in her class, and was close to passing Level 2
last session, so I’m hoping she can move up after this one. Amelia doesn’t
really have many skills down yet, but she definitely has NO fear of the water….the
teachers seriously have to watch her non-stop. After class, the girls and I
were off to Noodles & Company with my mom…it was FREEZING out with the
crazy wind, and we couldn’t see more than a couple cars in front of us with the
blowing snow. Haven’t had a snow like that in quite some time; by the time we
arrived home, we had a good couple of inches. The girls were off for their
naps, and I actually settled in to my bed with Olivia I was watching a little
TV, but passed out myself. I still wasn’t feeling well, and was getting some
bad leg cramps again, so it was a fairly miserable day. Christian didn’t get off
work until around 4:00, then plowed the driveway, so he had a pretty busy day.
We had some dinner, relaxed for a while, the girls went to bed and Christian
went out for a couple drinks with Lorenzo. I watched a little TV and planned on
going to bed early, but I think with my nap I just couldn’t fall asleep. I
finally turned the TV off around 12:00 and tossed and turned for a while.
Olivia woke up around 1:00 coughing like crazy, and I became an emotional wreck.
Christian had to bring her to her room to calm down and sleep in there…at that
point, I just couldn’t take it. I was pregnancy, sick, exhausted, miserable,
and all I needed was a decent nights’ sleep. I felt so bad for “kicking” Olivia
out of the room, but I was literally a basket-case at that point. Major sleep
deprivation going on here!
Sunday was a pretty
busy day around the house. The girls were up bright and early, and I started on
my chores right away. Got the laundry going, picked up the bedrooms, bathroom,
living room, cleaned the entry. The usual. Christian spent much of the day
dealing with the girls…breakfast, lunch, even napped with Olivia (taking a cue
from me yesterday I guess…). I took a break during naps to watch some Netflix,
but, other than the kitchen, managed to get everything picked up and in order
throughout the day. Tomorrow is a holiday, so it was a much better Sunday as
usual! It is my last holiday before baby comes though, that’s pretty crazy!
8 Weeks (2 months) to 28 Weeks (7 months). Growing away!
Until Next Week! XOXO
