3/30/10 - Tuesday!! That's it...

The weather keeps getting better and better, and it's so exciting!! We were in the 70's today...in MARCH! It's crazy. We're coming to a close on our first snowless March here in Minnesota, pretty much ever. I'm worried that means we're in for a brutal summer, and I'm NOT looking forward to being 9 months pregnant, in July, the hottest month around here, especially if it's going to be that bad. Tonight we took a little walk when Christian got home, and stopped at the store to pick up some milk for Olivia (she loves her milk!). Then it was home for dinner and some American Idol (which I've just about given up on completely at this point). Olivia was in a much better mood tonight...full of laughs, smiles and energy. YAY, I love when my sweet girl is back! And, she is still in the putting herself to bed mode, which is wonderful!

3/29/10 - Happy Birthday Grandma Renny!

Today is my stepmom's birthday....HAPPY BIRTHDAY :) It's hard to coordinate time with her being right around Christian's birthday (especially with his actually being on the weekend), so we didn't get a chance to do anything this year. I decided today was a good day to leave work a little early...I wasn't feeling too hot, and was just a little overwhelmed, so I stopped over to my dad's to drop off a little gift and visit for a little bit. Then I was homeward bound.

The evening was very uneventful. Olivia had another tough evening, so she wasn't too happy. Poor thing. We just ate dinner, played (tried to anyway), and it was bedtime. A good, new development is that Olivia has decided she is a big girl, and does not need help going to sleep anymore. YAY! So, we get her ready, we each say our goodnights (I cuddle for a couple minutes...) and down she goes. It's a huge relief, and I'm surprised even with the teething madness she's up for it, but I'll take it!

I thought tonight would be a good night to showcase our other babies! Our cats, the poor cats, who no longer get much of our attention. It's funny...they were TOTALLY our babies, for years...I remember when we went on a week long trip to Utah a few years back, I was seriously emotional about being away from the cats for so long! Now, I don't even know where they are half the time. They will always be our "other babies", but the poor things have definitely taken a back seat.

This is Chloe....she's a minx (she doesn't have a tail). She's short and fat, and I love it! She will be 8 years old in September. She is very much a loner, and just likes to be left alone...yet, she feels the need to sleep with us still (which I love). She won't even be in the same room as Olivia, and she sleeps ALL day long. I think she's beautiful :)

This is Rico...he's a farm cat we got from my supervisor. He's the BIGGEST baby you've ever met. He follows us around, he sleeps between my legs all night, he comes to greet us when we get home...he just loves us to death. He is also the only cat that will let Olivia get near him...but I don't think he's particularly happy about it. He's actually the perfect cat...the kind just about anybody would want, and he's our little sweetheart. He will be 7 years old on the 4th of July!

Finally, this is Frank...old Blue Eyes :) He's our baby of the bunch...and we think he's a little mental. He's scared of everything....EVERYTHING. He'll cuddle with us here and there, but for the most part, hangs out on his own or tortures the other cats. Poor Frank has heart problems...they knew immediately that he has a pretty serious murmur, but we haven't been able to afford an echo on him to find out exactly what's wrong. He's very active, and seems happy, so hopefully he's not in any pain or anything. They don't expect him to live quite as full of a life as most cats, but we'll just have to see what happens. Frank just turned 2 in February, and he is CRAZY!

3/28/10 - Easter & Birthday Celebration

We headed to the Mall of America to visit the Easter Bunny. We went there last year, and it's a little spendy to buy their photos (which you don't have to actually buy), and after seeing bunny pictures from other places...there's no way we'd go anywhere else. They have the best bunny for sure! The line wasn't too long at all, which was great. As soon as Olivia spotted the bunny, she got so excited and wanted to get over to him right away....waiting in line became very hard.

Then, as soon as we got over to the bunny, she was so amazed by him, she wouldn't cooperate for pictures :) She kept staring at him like he was just so mesmerizing. We finally got her to look at the camera, but she really just wanted to look at him, so she wasn't having much to do with pictures. We snapped a couple, but didn't get a chance to get a picture. Hey, I'll take interested over freaking out any day though!

Since we got done so quickly, we headed to an Easter party at the "American Legion"...my in-law's go there once in a while, and told us about the party. Since it was free, and we had some time to kill, we met my sister in laws and her girls there. We did some face painting...the painter was amazed by Olivia's cooperation! One of the great things about Olivia is that even though she's a total energizer bunny, when something new is going on (like the bunny, and now face painting), she becomes so interested in it, she just kind of turns into a statue to see what's going to happen. Luckily she lasted long enough to get her little flower done! After that, we finished up lunch then headed outside for some pony rides! Then grabbed our treat bag and were off to the in-laws for Christian's BBQ dinner.

Dinner was YUMMY...chicken mole, rice, beans and BBQ ribs (kind of an odd combo...). The girls ran around and played the whole time...Olivia cannot get enough of her cousins! Then we finally headed back home. Olivia was exhausted, napped for a bit, ate a little dinner, then was PASSED out. Luckily the molar teething hasn't been keeping her up at night, so we've actually been getting some sleep, which is so GREAT!

Now, I just can't believe the weekend is OVER, and Monday is so close! Back to work we go!

3/27/10 - Party Day

Today was GREAT!! We spent the morning/afternoon just relaxing and hanging out at home. Then, it was time to go out!! Going out, two weekend in a row, WOW, that's weird! My mom was on babysitting duty, so we dropped Olivia off over there. With her newest teeth, we were a little nervous for my mom all night, but it sounds like everything went OK!

We met up with our friends at Buca's for dinner. YUM YUM!!! We got a bunch of different stuff and just had a big ol' buffet of food, and everything was so good! It was so much fun to be out and just have fun with our friends. It's so rare to get together, and we always have so much fun, so it was long overdue! After dinner, we went over to a friends house for the evening...chatted, had a bonfire, and just hung out. It was nice :)

Unfortunately, on the way home, I got pulled over! Cops, in any circumstance, scare the crap out of me....really bad. I'm kind of a speeder, it's a bad habit of mine...."luckily" I wasn't going as fast as I usually do, since it was night and you never know what kind of crazies are on the road at that time anyway! But, a trooper got me! Came up to the window, and asked "what's your hurry". I didn't really respond to that. As I was getting my license out, he proceeded to ask me how much I'd had to drink :) I assured him I was 5+ months pregnant, and had NOT had anything to drink. He went to do his thing, came back and THANK GOD just gave me a warning. Maybe because I have a clean record...maybe because I was honest about my speeding and didn't try to lie my way out of it...maybe because I'm so darn cute...I have no idea. But, I'm SO grateful! I thought I was going to have a heart attack the whole time, and baby was not enjoying my stress level at all. Poor thing. I was happy to get on my way again, and happier when I was safe and sound at home!

Here are some pics from dinner...our wonderful friends!! First: the birthday boy; Next: me and my BFF, Kari: Next, Dan and Skaar; Next: The Madrids; Next: Nate and Gini; Next: John and Michelle; Finally, a Group Shot! YAY.

3/26/10 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY Christian (and Ultrasound Day)

Well, today is Christian's birthday...the big 2-6...his GOLDEN birthday :) I already gave him his present last week (the George Lopez tickets), but of course Olivia had to give him something! He had the day off work, so we left him his cards and a couple new shirts to open when he got up. Friday's are tough trying to get everybody together, so tonight was pretty low key as far as birthday celebrating goes. We had the ultrasound at 4:00, stopped for dinner on the way home, then just hung out together at home for the night. Pretty boring for him I'm sure!

As far as the ultrasound....it was not 100% successful. Right away when the exam started, the tech says "uh oh, baby is sideways right under your belly button". There was a shadow from my belly button going right down to baby, right at baby's heart. She went on with the exam, hoping baby would move at some point. She measured the head, the organs, the bones and spine...everything was perfect and right on track for 22-23 weeks. YAY! Then it came time to check the heart. Baby still hadn't moved, so they were only able to get 2 of the 4 heart views needed. The doctor came in and said we would have to come back in a few weeks to finish the exam. The tech did a quick check for a gender view, but we weren't able to get one. On top of being sideways, baby had it's legs tightly together, and feet up over it's head, and there was NO budging. So, it was impossible. Therefore, we'll be remaining on Team Green, at least for a few more weeks. I'm not happy about it! The heart thing of course makes me nervous on top of everything. I have a heart murmur and heart disease, and Olivia's murmur STILL hasn't gone away, so not having the all clear on baby's heart leaves me feeling pretty anxious. I'll be happy when I can get the next ultrasound scheduled, and get in there again!

Here are a couple good pics from the ultrasound. First, baby's position. Baby's head is on the bottom right, and legs are up over the head. It is a pretty talented baby, that's for sure!! Second is a face shot. In this one, the head is on the left side, and you can see the nose and two eyes (black spots) looking right at the "camera". So cute :)

3/25/10 - Random Thursday

It's just another random Thursday. Nothing new or exciting. Well, except for Olivia FINALLY has her two first molars popping through. Ugh, I didn't think it would ever happen. Let's just hope they come through all the way quickly, otherwise we're probably in for some crabby days (and, unfortunately, nights).

Christian went out with a work friend after work tonight to celebrate his birthday, so it was just me and Olivia for the evening. We gave her a little piece of chocolate tonight...against my wishes of course! Not even that cheered her up! Poor thing. She went around collecting all of her cups, that didn't seem to cheer her up either! And, when she couldn't get her little play purse open, that was the last straw! Hopefully we'll get our happy baby back soon!

3/24/10 - 22 Weeks

Yippie, it's the 22 week mark! Very exciting! Still feeling well, and my weight gain is still very low, so I'm really happy about that! If I go these last +/-18 weeks gaining a pound a week (which is more than I have been), I'll be right at my goal, so that would be FANTASTIC! Baby is getting more and more active. I think, if we timed it right, Christian could actually feel baby now. Most of the time the kicks are still just inside, but once in a while I get a good one and see my belly move. So amazing, the movements never get old for me. I can't wait to just lay back and watch my belly move all around all alien like again :)

We've been doing some serious debating about the whole finding out the sex thing. It doesn't get any easier...no matter how many people we talk to, or how many times we discuss it, we just keep flipping back and forth. 95% of the time I want to know...I want to pick a name out, I want to buy some clothes and bedding, I want to make sure the room is all ready for both of the kids when we bring baby home, I want to KNOW so bad. But them the other 5% of the time, I just think how amazing it would be to find out right there, on the spot, on D-Day...how exciting and special it would be. Ugh, I just don't know!!

I think we've decided that if we do find out, we're going to have the ultrasound tech write it down for us so we can look at it and find out together, by ourselves. Maybe go out to dinner and make it a little extra special. With our luck, we'll decide to find out, and baby won't cooperate anyway! We'll see...two more days to decide!! In the end, I just can't wait to see this little one and spend some QT watching him/her!!

3/23/10 - Nothing Clever...

I have nothing clever for today! It was just a pretty normal day. We cooked up our first of the Let's Dish meals tonight for dinner..and YUM, it was super good. Chicken Cordon Bleu...was very tasty, and Olivia enjoyed it a ton as well.

Last night was the most amazing night ever...Olivia slept, all night. It was wonderful! It's funny though...it was harder for me to get up this morning, after a full night of sleep, than it has been after being up half of the night. Guess my body just isn't used to getting sleep anymore...and I suppose it better not get used to it any time soon! I really hope we've made the turn to sleeping all night again...fingers crossed! The down side to this...she didn't really nap well today, so Christian's mom had her hands full all day long! I guess there is never really a perfect scenario!

I have some bath pics to share tonight...she's decided she can wash herself now, so that's fun. And, she was sporting a little whale fin mohawk :) Love em'!

3/22/10 - Shopping Spree

OK, not really a "spree", but close enough in our terms! After work today, we headed to the Mall of America for some shopping. I needed a few maternity clothing essentials, and we needed to get Olivia her Easter Dress. We walked into the mall, and were immediately detoured into a toy store. We picked up a couple cheap toys for her...you can never have enough toys!! Then, we were off to the food court for some quick dinner. Olivia greatly enjoyed her chicken taco bits from me, and a little Chinese from dad :) And, she washed it down with a little of my Orange Julius...mmmm, I love Orange Julius!

After dinner, we were finally off on our mission. First, to Carter's. We found the perfect Easter dress! It's SOOOO cute, I can't wait for her to wear it! And, of course, picked up a few other items. I swear, I'd love to have one of everything in that store. I'm an addict for sure...Finally, we were off to Motherhood Maternity. I found a couple pairs of jeans (in my opinion, their jeans are the only ones worth buying), and they were on sale...Bonus! They also had a few cute shirts on sale, so I had to grab a couple. This is one reason having babies in opposite seasons is NOT cool...all of my late pregnancy maternity clothes are winter clothes...now I need summer clothes! It's never ending. Unfortunately, for him, we didn't get time to go jean shopping for Christian. Oops, maybe next time :)

3/21/10 - Ah, Sunday

It's Sunday...another packed one on top of that! But, it was a really fun day. We were up bright and early, playing and all that normal stuff. Christian got up, broke out the griddle and whipped us up some breakfast...a REAL breakfast. YUM. Then, it was time for me to jump in the shower and get ready. I was invited to join the BFF and a group of people at a Let's Dish party. I'd never done it before, and of course was nervous (new=scary). Basically, every month this place has a menu with tons of dishes to choose from. You pick the dishes you want to make, and go in where they have everything set up. They have stations where you make everything, and each station has all of the ingredients you need. You pack everything up, then take it home and freeze it for future cooking. Each dish serves 6-8 people, and they have a great variety of dishes to choose from. It was actually a lot of fun. The prices seem overwhelming at first, but when you see the food, see what you get, it's totally worth it. I'm thinking we'll need to set up a big party in the future! I didn't have my camera with me, so I'm really hoping the pictures are posted soon so I can steal them and post them!

We were there for about 2 hours, then were on our way home. My dad and stepmom ended up coming down and taking us to dinner, which was a nice surprise. We headed over to Applebee's, and Olivia had a very good time. She played hide and seek with the people in the booth behind us the whole time, so she was plenty entertained :)

After dinner, we went home and finished up some chores. I was on laundry duty the rest of the night, and Christian was responsible for Olivia entertainment. The night went well. Now, let's see if we can get another night of good sleep in!! Fingers crossed!