2014 - Week 7

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!

My beautiful flowers!

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!

Speaking of which, today marks 28 weeks! According to statistics, baby is approximately 2.25lbs and 14.8” long – that’s a pretty hefty size! Valentine’s celebrations (and all of the treats it brings along) were not kind to me this week. But, I’m still on track to stay at/under the 35lb mark I made for myself, so I’m OK with that. Not to mention I’ve been feeling so crappy, grocery shopping has been the LAST thing on my mind, so we’ve had to make due and eat out quite a bit these last few weeks. The baby is getting more and more active of course, and more powerful with each week. By all accounts, I am officially in my 3^rd trimester now, which just seems so crazy. Less than 3 months to go before we meet his little one and life gets turned upside down all over again! Per my usual, overly-laid back approach to this pregnancy, we still have yet to talk about names or do any preparing for baby’s arrival. However, it is starting to set in that we should probably start doing SOMETHING. I’m watching the sales for my in-laws, for the new infant carseat, so hopefully within the next couple weeks we’ll have that. We’re not getting a crib until long after the baby is born, and we start shuffling the kids around, so I’m not worried about that. If the arm’s reach my cousin offered us doesn’t work, we’ll just co-sleep/use the bassinet we already have, so again, not worried about that. Other than a coming home outfit for each sex, and maybe some gender neutral onesies, we won’t be investing in any clothes until after the arrival. We have bottles, pacifiers, and all of those little extras already…we really just need diapers and bath supplies. A couple friends have offered to throw a little shower, so I’ll probably get most of those general necessities and some gender neutral stuff there. All I’m really DYING to get is a Moby wrap, so I’ve been stalking the baby deal sites waiting for one to pop up. Fingers crossed! So, in conclusion, I just don’t really feel like there’s much TO do. Well, other than pick some names of course. Yeah, that, we should get on…

8 Weeks (2 months) to 28 Weeks (7 months). Growing away!

Until Next Week! XOXO

2014 - Week 6

Monday was a pretty busy day. Back to reality…well, for the girls and me, and I was feeling a TAD better. They were off to school, I was off to work. Luckily, the day went fairly fast. And, I found out we won the new born photography session, and am BEYOND excited for that. It’s a free session, plus we get a CD with 15 edited photos, and copyrights. We weren’t really going to be able to afford a photo session for the baby….and even though my friend Dawn will be coming, and will take some, she won’t have her props and stuff with her, so I’m excited we get this chance. So awesome! Meanwhile, Christian had the day off…along with this upcoming Friday, the last of his using up his leave time (which, I thought was strange, since it’s February now, but whatever). He spent most of the day working on the car. He got the censor replaced, the “check engine” light is gone, so hopefully that will cover us for a while now. I’m so grateful that he’s so willing to figure out how to fix stuff like that…he had to pay $60.00 for the part, and that’s it. I can’t imagine how much it would cost to have gotten it done in a shop. I left work a tad early, stopped at Target for a few things, picked up the girls, and we were FINALLY off to visit my BFF, Kari and her new baby, Addison. I’ve been dying, being so sick and not able to visit them, I was so excited to finally get to see them and hold her. She’s just the littlest peanut; it’s so hard to remember them being that small. The girls checked her out, otherwise didn’t seem to care too much. But, later, as I was putting Amelia to bed, she tells me she doesn’t want our baby to come home. I asked her why, and she just said because. Then, she kept asking to sleep with me, and I told her “remember, we all need to work hard at sleeping in our own beds again”. She asked why, so I reminded her that the baby is coming, and the baby will need to sleep with us because it will be too small to care for itself. So, she came up with the plan that the baby can sleep in her room, with sissy, in her bed, and she’ll sleep with me. LOL – I think the true colors are starting to show as the time gets closer. I’m still not sure how she is going to adjust to the change, being such a mama’s girl. And, anxious to see how Olivia reacts this time, vs. when Amelia was born. It’s going to be interesting, that’s for sure!

I officially can't see my feet anymore! I was feeling cute today...like my belly finally popped OUT, so I had to snap a shot :)

Visiting Baby Addison

Tuesday, I continued my climb to getting better. Still coughing, but that’s about it. I can’t wait for this to be behind me! The girls did well in school – we FINALLY got our daycare tax paperwork today, and their class lists for Valentine’s Day – last year, I literally got their lists the day before Valentine’s Day, and I was NOT happy about it, so I was proactive this year about asking. So, I’ll be finishing up our taxes this week, and we’ll be doing their Valentine’s this weekend. Work went well…it was a long day, but actually quite productive. Things have been going pretty good…I haven’t been getting super overwhelmed or under water lately, so that’s a good feeling. After work, Christian was on pick-up duty, and I was off to meet my friend Gini for a quick dinner at Potbelly…more for chatting and catching up than anything. It was nice to get out for a short time, and catch up with her – doesn’t happen nearly enough, that’s for sure! I arrived home as the girls were finishing up dinner and watching some videos. I did a quick load of laundry, and I was off to relax in bed as soon as I got Amelia down. We got them both to sleep in their room again, so hopefully we’re over the hump of them wanting to sleep in our room all the time. Oh, and, we actually got a money order today from the whole Chicago taxi mix-up/scam – I did not think it would actually happen, so I’m pretty excited about that. Finally, our friends Dan and Michelle welcomed their first little one into the world today, little Brittany! I have 4 friends that were expecting this year with me, and this was baby #2 to come. So fun! I can’t wait to meet her!

Wednesday was a long day. Any time my work week is shorter, it seems to just draaaaag on forever – this week is no exception. I’ve also been battling some pretty sever leg cramps during the night, and the pain from them likes to stick around all day long, so dealing with that on top of the cold just is not fun, AT ALL! Work was pretty standard. I picked the girls up, to find out Olivia didn’t have the best day, eventually letting her temper get the best of her, throwing a toy at another kid and hitting him in the cheek. So, she was on restriction for the evening. When I asked her why she did it, she said because they were playing and he hit the toy out her hand. So, like usual, it’s just a reaction that gets the best of her, which is so frustrating. Seriously, how do you get through to them, and get them to just walk away, tell the teacher, etc.?!? I’m at a loss on that. When we arrived home, Christian was already home from work. He ran to Walmart quick to grab a few groceries while the girls and I settled in. I was feeling pretty exhausted, and my coughing fits were getting worse, so I pretty much relaxed for the night – I did manage to fold yesterday’s load of laundry, and get another load done, but that’s about it. After putting Amelia to bed, my coughing was so bad it was making me gag/throw up, which was horrible, but Olivia was so sweet and concerned about me. She rubbed my back, and then laid down on the couch with me for a while…even though she was in trouble. They definitely have a knack for comforting you when you need it the most. She had a pretty bad cough going on herself, so I’m hoping it’s not the same thing. Finally, she was off to bed, and so was I. Like every other night, just wishing I’d wake up miraculously healed…

Thursday was my Friday. As usual, I was VERY happy about that. It was also Christian’s Friday, as he’s still finishing up his leave time. We were both looking forward to a long, fairly quiet weekend, that’s for sure. Overall, the day went pretty normal. I was busy clearing out as much as I could for the end of the week. I spent my lunch break finalizing our taxes for the year. I’ve used TurboTax for years, but decided to try a couple online programs this year to see if they all came out the same. So, I tried TurboTax, TaxAct and H&R Block. Our State refund came out the same on all programs, but the Federal refund differed. TaxAct was about $200 more than TurboTax, and H&R Block was another $10 more. I’m not sure why there is a difference – seems very odd to me. I also compared the costs of each program, with TurboTax and H&R Block each costing about $68 to complete and file both returns, while TaxAct was only $18. I kept waiting for there to be a catch, but we ended up going with TaxAct, and sure enough, $18. We didn’t get back quite what I was expecting, but it wasn’t far off, and we’re still on track to have a good mini-van downpayment in April. In any event, I’m pretty excited that we don’t have to immediately turn around and spend our entire return like the last few years. It will be nice to feel like we have a little extra cash for a few months! After work, it seriously felt like death walking to the car. This deep freeze has been NO JOKE, and I’m beyond over it. A bonus on days like this is having to stop for gas. Ouch. When I picked the girls up, Olivia was sure to immediately update me, and assure me that she did NOT get in trouble today, so hopefully she’s learned her lesson, for now anyway. I arrived home to find an appointment for Amelia’s early childhood screening in the mailbox. I seriously wanted to cry…my baby, it can’t possibly be time for her kindergarten screening!! Ugh – she thought it was pretty funny that I was throwing such a fit about it, but it’s seriously just so hard to believe. First this, now next week we have Olivia’s registration. Time is moving WAY too fast! After I regrouped myself, we had some dinner and had family night at home. Christian and I watched some of the first night of Olympics after the girls went to bed. Figure skating, which I love and it always reminds me of my Grandma, and the Moguls, which I do not understand whatsoever, my knees hurt just watching them!

Olivia's Drawing from School today, I just loved it.

Our Early Childhood Screening notice for Amelia, can't believe it!

Friday started pretty busy, and it came in handy having Christian off work. We started the day off bringing the girls in for their dentist appointments. Amelia is still young enough that they really just look at them, count them and talk to us about care. Overall, they were happy and didn’t see any concerns. Olivia gets a little more of an exam, and she got her first x-rays today. And, unfortunately, it came back with FOUR cavities. All of them are on her molars, between the teeth. Apparently, her molars are all very close together, so they’re going to be really susceptible to cavities. They are going to let one go for now, but she’ll need 3 filled, at two appointments. I’m nervous…they’re going to use laughing gas to relax her, and aren’t sure yet if the area will need to be numbed. My poor baby. They also said that Amelia’s teeth are pretty much the same, so we need to really watch her. They are recommending we definitely floss every day, and we use a fluoride rinse, at least with Olivia for now, to help get between those tight teeth.  Of course, just needing to put her through that is hard enough, but then knowing we’ll have to pay for it, hurts even more. These unexpected expenses, it just never stops! After the appointment, we stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast and dropped the girls off at daycare. All of Olivia’s little friends were so happy to see her and crowded around her, which was really cute. And, they always think it’s pretty cool when both of us drop them off or pick them up, so that’s fun. Christian and I made our way home…I paid some bills and did some chores on the computer, while he hung out and relaxed. I suddenly felt exhausted, so I ended up taking a little nap. He was off to take his mom to lunch for her birthday, so I spent the rest of the day doing pretty much nothing but snooze on and off, and watch some shows. He picked the girls up on his way home, while I ran to Target to get a few things for the house and a few groceries. Of course, when he picked the girls up, they ran into Olivia’s BFF, Bella (like we often do), and, like usual, they made plans to hang out for the evening. Christian apparently doesn’t realize that is a daily conversation, and agreed to it, so he invited Sara and Bella over for dinner and to hang out for a bit. So, we suddenly had to pick up and whip dinner together quickly, unexpectedly. Men, seriously. The girls were right off to bed after our friends left, and we weren’t far behind. Christian had to be to work early in the morning, so there was no partying it up for us.

Wearing my red for Go Red for Woman!

Dentist Check-Ups

Saturday was pretty quiet for us. Christian was off to work bright and early, and worked until a little after lunch time. The girls spent the morning watching movies and playing…driving each other crazy. We had some breakfast, hung out, got ready and were off to swim class. This week went better again. The crybaby kid was back in Olivia’s class, but they handled it a lot better this time. Clearly, this boys’ parents just placed him in that class, because there’s no way he’s been through Level 1. Amelia’s class did MUCH better this week, thank god. Week 3 and we’re finally getting into some basics. After class, we made our way home for some lunch, and the girls were off for their naps. The news has been claiming these next few days will be the last of our bitter cold weather, and then we’ll be getting back into the normal range. I’ll believe it when I see it, but I’m pretty excited about it! We had a pretty lazy day around the house after that. I made some Take-Out Fake-Out tonight (sweet & sour chicken and fried rice), which we haven’t had forever, so that was delish. I was hoping for a movie night, but the girls were up a little later than usual, and we were just too tired to focus on a movie. There’s always next weekend!

Sunday was another pretty quiet end to the week for us. The girls were up bright and early, as usual. I started laundry and doing a little picking up as soon as I was up, while Christian slowly started moving about, and made us all some breakfast. We watched some movies and the girls played in their room for a while. It was a pretty uneventful morning, which is always welcomed. After lunch, we were off to meet the latest baby, little Brittany, and catch up with our friends for a bit. Christian and Dan chatted, guy stuff, while I snuggled the baby, caught up with Michelle and tried to keep the girls from destroying their house. Again, the little babe just slept the entire time I had her, peaceful as can be. Hopefully I have the same effect on our little bundle! The girls again weren’t overly interested, but they had also never been to their house before, so they were busy exploring…and annoying their cat, who HATES kids. We didn’t stay super long, knowing what those exhausted early days are like, and made our way home. I had dinner going in the crock pot, so we watched some movies together, ate dinner and had a fairly quiet evening. Back to work…a LONG 5-day week at that. Ugh – I hate those! LOL

My pretty pretty princesses!

Visiting baby Brittany

Also, today marks 27 weeks! By some accounts, entering the 3^rd trimester (some say this week, some say next…I have no idea why there would be different opinions on it). It’s so crazy...it seems like just yesterday this little one was something we were just debating. A decision we were contemplating, and questioning all day, every day. Now, I’m in the final stretch, and we’ll soon be meeting him/her. So amazing. I’m still feeling pretty good. Getting sporadic Braxton Hicks contractions, but so far only the one day that got pretty draining. Of course, more and more movement every day, and more powerful. Somehow, I didn’t gain any weight this week, so I’m still sitting at 20lbs gained. 3 months to go, and getting more anxious every day! And, just for updating sake…no, we still have not talked names at all, and we haven’t made any additional plans or purchases for the arrival yet. I feel like I’ve been body snatched or something, because that is SO not like me!

2014 - Week 5

Monday was another rough day for me health wise. Not getting any better, AT ALL. I woke up, attempted to start getting ready, and quickly gave up. I had to give in and use a day of sick leave, which kills me right now. My headache was finally gone, but I was still so stuffed up, and I didn’t want to risk passing anything on at work. Christian was also off today, still using up some leave time, so he went with me to drop the girls off. I dropped him off to plow the driveway and stopped at Walmart to get some medicine and a few groceries. I was all set to pass out, when Christian gave me a guilt trip about the basement…the internet technician was supposed to come this morning to check our outlets and figure out why the modem isn’t working. Well, one of the connections is in the toy room. So, I suffered through the exhaustion, watched some Hulu on the iPad and plowed through. Christian got everything back under the stairs, and organized, while I got the spare room, toy room, living room and princess area all back in order. I also managed to finish up our laundry and put everything away. I was beyond exhausted by the time I was finished, and I definitely should’ve just been resting, but it did feel good to have it all done. The technician was supposed to be over between 8-noon…by 1:00, nothing. Christian called the company to find out what was going on, and they gave him a new time of 2:30-3:30. We decided, no thank you. First, there’s no reason the equipment shouldn’t be working, so I’m already annoyed. On top of that, our first interaction with you is a technician that is not only late, but doesn’t even have the courtesy to call and let us know? I just cannot stand bad service, and this was a horrible start. Meanwhile, Charter may be expensive, but we’ve never had an issue with them, the speed is perfect and I just can’t give up good service to take a chance with another company. So, we ended up canceling our new account on the spot. I’m bummed because I was really looking forward to saving that money, but it just wasn’t worth it. Christian picked the girls up from school, while I did some final picking up, and started dinner. We ate, watched some TV together, the girls got a nice, much needed, bath and it was another early night for all of us.

So Cold...

Tuesday I was feeling a TAD better, but still pretty horrible. I couldn’t use another day of leave, and after two days off, I knew I had plenty to get in there and catch up on. So, I forced myself up, got ready and got the girls ready. Dropped them off and made my way to work. I caught up on e-mails, did some routing and updated some information, and I had to call it a day around 10:30. Not only because I didn’t feel well, but I don’t want to be there spreading my germs to everybody either. So, I packed up some work and brought it home with me. I had some lunch and got a couple hours of work in, while cuddled up in bed, until I just couldn’t focus anymore. I picked the girls up around the usual time, made dinner, the usual. The girls were pretty out of control tonight…fighting, screaming, just causing pure chaos. I was in no mood for any of it, so it was a pretty rough night for us. Again, bedtime couldn’t come soon enough.

A midst the chaos and frustration - they still manage to crack me up.

 Wednesday I wasn’t feeling too much better. This thing will NOT let go of me! In fact, I think I’m heading back downhill – throat on fire and out of control cough. So, it was a pretty quiet day. I left work early again, just needing to get in some rest before the girls come home. And, I was again pretty useless all evening long. Seriously, you forget how nice it is to just be healthy sometimes…I’d give just about anything to get rid of this thing!

Thursday was a pretty rough day. It was just one of those days where it felt like everything was going wrong. I woke up late, again. Slept through my alarm. This, of course, because I toss and turn, cough and blow my nose all night long, and finally fall into a good sleep about an hour before it’s time to get up. We finally hit the road, in the middle of a blizzard. It took me two hours to get to work. Again, of course, I cannot leave early because daycare only opens so early, so I have no choice but to be late. It was hell. I parked at the meters for the day, not knowing if I’d be there all day and because our parking lot was a DISASTER, and finally got to work. The day went OK. Still not feeling great, throat and cough definitely most prominent right now, and voice still pretty much gone. I was pulled into a meeting this afternoon and thought I was going to die from a coughing fit. The drive home wasn’t as bad…still a little slow, especially closer to home, but much better. I picked the girls up, both with major attitudes, and we made our way home. Got into the car after pickup, and the “Check Engine” light came on in the car. Just what we need…this does not help my case for trying to keep the car, and sell the truck, when we get the mini-van in a couple month. I STILL don’t have our tax paperwork from daycare, or from the bank (for the house), and I’m really starting to lose my patience on that. Finally home, I did the usual quick pickup, let the dog out, run to the bathroom…and within 5 minutes of getting home, Amelia got ahold of a bottle of red nailpolish, opened it, and dropped it (thankfully, on the kitchen floor)…all over the floor, all over herself. I was so done at this point. Just fuming, stressed to the max and DONE! The girls were banned to the couch for the night, but I did put on a movie to keep them relaxed for a while. I scrubbed Amelia and the floor with nailpolish remover (and, threw out the kitchen towels they decided to destroy “cleaning up” before I could catch them). I finally got them settled in with dinner, made myself some leftovers and sat down, trying to relax. In the midst of this chaos, Christian arrived home, plowed the driveway, and took the car to O’Reilly’s to run a diagnostic on it. Apparently, some heater oxygen level (or something) sensor needs to be replaced. Of course, for him, that means it needs to be done NOW (even though I’ve had tons of friends posting about car troubles and false readings this winter with the brutal cold), so he plans on replacing it this weekend. I wish he would just chill out and make sure it’s not a fluke, but whatever. I finally got Amelia to bed, which has been a battle…every night she suddenly refuses to go to bed, when she’s always been SO easy to put to bed, and is suddenly wanting to sleep in our room too. Tonight, I convinced her I’m too sick, and I don’t want her to get sick. Last night, I just moved her to her bed when I went to bed. Kids! Olivia was finally off to bed, I spent a little time winding down on the computer, and was off to bed (AKA, off to toss and turn) myself. Seriously, I can’t wait to feel better again!

One light nobody ever wants to see...

 Friday was a pretty standard day. It was my working Friday, and I actually put in an extra hour (I usually get off an hour early on my working Friday) to make up for some of my sick time off. Luckily, the day still went pretty fast. I picked up the girls after work and we made our way home. I’ve been having some Braxton Hicks contractions for the last week or two (they started earlier with Amelia, but were never SUPER strong, started later with Olivia, but again, were never super strong), and today was a pretty rough day. Not painful of course, just really uncomfortable, and way more often than usual. When Christian arrived home, we did take a family trip to eat at Davanni’s…we hadn’t eaten there FOREVER, and it’s been stuck on my mind. YUM! The rest of the evening was pretty quiet. The girls were off to bed, Christian and I watched a little TV together, but I didn’t last long, just way too tired!

Snack time...I chose a cupcake, she chose carrots. Hmmmm

Saturday was a pretty lazy day. Christian was off to work for a while, but not until mid-morning. We had some breakfast, hung out for a while, and the girls and I were off to swim class. This week went much better…they had more teachers with Amelia’s class, to handle the crying, tantrum-throwing kids, and Olivia’s class was doing some actual swimming and things they were supposed to be working on. I was relieved they actually had it together this week. My mom ended up coming to class, and offered to take the girls for the day, overnight, so I could get some [much needed] rest. I was still so stuffed up, coughing like crazy and my throat is still killing me, so it was definitely a welcomed offer. So, she took the girls with her, I made my way home to have some lunch and curl up in bed with Hulu. I caught up on most of my shows throughout the day and just relaxed, doing nothing, as much as possible. Of course, there were a million things I could’ve been doing (cleaning, laundry, some grocery shopping), but I just needed some long overdue rest! Christian had to stop at his parents’ house after work to help them with something, and arrived home around dinner time. We ate, and settled in for some movies…getting an early start, we actually watched two whole movies, AND some of Saturday Night Live – living on the edge! We watched “The Internship”…I’d heard some bad things about it, but we both thought it was actually pretty funny. We LOL’d quite a few times, so I’m not sure why it had such a bad rap. We also watched “Mud”, with Matthew McCaughey…it’s a much different movie for us…slow paced and more raw, but it was actually really good. We both liked it. So, it was a successful movie night! In the end, it was a good, relaxing day, and I was looking forward to sleeping in!

I hit double digit days to go today! WOW!

Sunday was a pretty good day. Still not feeling great, but each day is a little better. And, I was able to sleep in a bit with the girls away – although, being up on and off all night long, I don’t know that you can really say I “slept in”, LOL. Once up, and able to breathe and move, I started doing our weekly cleaning…picked up the bedrooms and bathroom, cleaned the kitchen and did the dishes, picked up the living room. Meanwhile, Christian vacuumed and cleaned up the entryway. We were just finishing up as my mom arrived home with the girls, so it was perfect timing! Shortly after, Christian showered and got ready for the day, while the girls went down for their nap, and I settled in for some rest myself. Christian was then off with his friend, Lorenzo, to get some food and snacks for the Superbowl. We don’t go anywhere, and we haven’t hosted our party in a few years now, but we still like to eat some junk food and watch the game/commercials. So, we had some pizza, some BBQ meatballs/smokies, chips…all the good stuff, watched the game and the girls played downstairs for while – AND, actually cleaned up after themselves. Hallelujah! The game wasn’t too exciting…unless you are a Seahawks fan…if was quite a blowout, so not very interesting to watch. The commercials were a bit of a letdown…although I love the “America the Beautiful” Coke commercial (which, of course, is causing all kinds of racist controversy, Ugh) and the Puppy/Horse Budweiser commercial – so cute! The Doritos commercials had us laughing, but that’s about it. The halftime show, with Bruno Mars, was super awesome! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Bruno Mars…and, I was getting so annoyed with everybody putting down his being chosen as the halftime act…that he was too boring, such a “ballad” singer, and wouldn’t be able to pull it off. Well, he more than pulled it off, and is probably the best act they’ve had in years. Loved it! The girls were off to bed shortly before the game ended, and I called it a night shortly after. Another week down!

And, of course, today also marks Week 26 for me and baby! I’m not sure why it differs, but according to some sites, entering the final week of my 2^nd trimester. Moving right along, and so exciting! Pregnancy wise, I’m still feeling good – it definitely makes it hard to deal with these illnesses, but I’m surviving. Without crossing too far into the TMI realm, let’s just say a pregnant woman should NEVER have to deal with a cough like the one I have going on. It’s so cruel, seriously. Baby has been very active, and very wiggly lately, moving all over the place. I think we’ll definitely be crossing into the alien movements here in the next few weeks. I’ve noticed this one is VERY sensitive to anything resting on my belly, so hopefully that’s not a sign of things to come. And, I feel like I’m entering into that “cute” stage…where, my belly is finally starting to grow out more, rather than being wider, but it’s not super huge yet. I love this point! All in all, things are going great! A little over a week until our next appointment, can’t wait to hear the little heartbeat again!

Until Next Week XOXO

2014 - Week 4

Week 4 - still catching up, and still sucking it up at taking photos!! Now, heading into a monster illness, I don't see either of these things changing too soon...

Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – so I was off work. The girls were off to school, Christian off to work, and I had the house to myself. LOVE IT! And, even more exciting, this week is my Friday off, so I’m heading into a 3-day work week. Definitely don’t hate that! I started the morning off pretty lazy. Catching up on some HULU (I’ve fallen quite behind while I’ve been obsessed with Netflix shows) and folding some clothes in bed. I finally did some cleaning, getting the entire main floor cleaned, picked up and organized….our bedroom, the girls’ room, the bathroom, living room, kitchen and entry. Feels good to have a clean house, especially now that all of the Christmas stuff has been put back in storage. My goal was REALLY to hit the basement, and get that picked up and back in order…but it was too scary and overwhelming. That will probably be my Friday task. I did pick the girls up a tad early, around 3:00…Olivia had just gotten up from her nap, and Amelia was finishing up snack time. We stopped over at their BFF Bella’s house so they could play for a while, before it got too late. They played, fought, watched a movie and had some snacks while Sara and I caught up. We arrived home shortly after Christian, had some dinner, watched a movie together and relaxed. Back to reality tomorrow! Olivia has had a pretty bad cough the last few days…since she still insists on sleeping in our bed, it’s made for a few sleepless nights for me. No fun!

Went into our room to pay down and rest...had to fight this gang for a spot.

Tuesday was a pretty standard day. I spent some time at work packing up my cubicle…the building has been in the process of re-carpeting for months, and our area us up this week. Luckily, I’m a neat freak and totally OCD, and, I love throwing things away, so I really don’t have much. I kind of laugh at everybody else in the office that spends days packing up all of their stuff. Pack rats, everywhere. I had to leave early for a dentist appointment, just a regular cleaning. Even though I have pretty great teeth, and rarely any issues, I still hate going to the dentist. I guess I should be thankful they don’t have to spend much time with me, because I couldn’t stand it. I was supposed to get updated x-rays today, but, of course, we skipped those until next time. While the appointment itself was quick, they were 30 minutes behind schedule, so while I should’ve arrived home early, I was actually late. What the heck! I picked the girls up, and we made our way home. Olivia had another rough day at school with this cough, and they sure make a point to point out how bad it is, so I feel like they’re trying to tell me something. I hate to keep her home for a cough (Lord knows it ain’t cheap!), but we’ll have to see how she’s doing tomorrow and contemplate it. Pregnancy cravings kicked in tonight, and Christian was stuck picking up Chipotle for dinner. YUM! I sent the girls to bed early…at 7:30. Olivia just was not feeling well, and Amelia was acting up, obviously tired, and they both passed out pretty fast. Olivia of course slept in our room again, again keeping me up most of the night with her coughing. Poor thing. Other than that, we’re in the midst of debating what to do about baby’s daycare. The girls are at the center full time now, Monday-Friday. We planned on having the baby just join them…which would mean I’m basically working to pay for daycare, which sucks. Unfortunately, we don’t have much choice in that. For many reasons, both financially and personally, I cannot quit my job and stay home, so we don’t have much option. Olivia will be starting Kindergarten shortly after I return to work…then, next fall, Amelia will start Kindergarten and the baby will move up to the toddler room, with a lower rate. We will still be paying for before and after care (which is still spendy, but…they give them breakfast, bus them to and from school, give them an afternoon snack, and help them with homework after school, so it’s understandable), but once we get to that point, things will be MUCH better. So, we really need to just push through the first year. Turns out, my mother in law has offered to watch the baby one day a week when I return to work. We had some issues with that before…her canceling last minute mainly, so I’m not SUPER into the idea, but with my mom and I still off on Friday’s and able to have the baby home, it would save us about $80 a week doing 3-days vs. full time. And, that adds up. There will be more conversation about it over the coming weeks, but, I’m guessing we’ll be going with that option. Knowing we’ll be buying a new car, and have no solid idea what the car payment and insurance rates will be, and knowing I have to take part of my leave unpaid, and not sure how much I’ll actually be getting from short-term disability, I don’t know that we can turn it down. Once the baby moves to the toddler room, s/he will start going full time though…at that point, the rate is lower, and they actually start learning and retaining more, so I’d like “him” to be in that environment more. Ahh, decisions, decisions.

Wednesday was a rough day. I suddenly came down with a HORRIBLE cold myself. Olivia had me up all night long, coughing like crazy. We decided to keep her out of school, and I left her home with Christian. He ended up talking his parents into watching her, so she spent the day with them…of course, she did not hate that one bit. Amelia was off to school, and I spent the day miserable at work. By the time I left, my head just felt like it was going to explode under so much pressure, it was pounding and I just felt so crappy. Christian and Olivia had dinner at his parents, so I whipped up something simple for Amelia and myself. They arrived home just as we were finishing. Olivia had a much better day, not as much coughing and seemed in better spirits. Maybe she really just needed some rest. I was off to bed as soon as I put Amelia down, on my nice cold bed, with an ice pack on my throbbing head. Olivia came in a bit later to sleep. I was worried I was in for another long night, but she fell asleep quickly, and slept well all night. Hopefully she’s finally on the mend! Now, I just need to kick whatever I have going on!!! I have two friends, including my BFF, that are currently overdue with their babies, and another due in a couple weeks, and I’m going to be super depressed if I miss out on newborn cuddles because I’m sick!!

Thursday was a busy day at work. My Friday, so always a lot of last minute stuff to catch up on. In addition, our side of the office is getting new carpet tonight, so I had to have my cubicle packed up and cleared out for the installation. Schools were canceled again throughout the state because of the bitter cold…we’re supposed to snap out of it tomorrow, but get snow all weekend, then plunge right back down – it sounds like Monday will be another school closure at this rate. This is SO crazy, it’s just stupid cold, ridiculous cold – cold that shouldn’t even be possible! Ugh! We had a pretty low-key night at home…I picked up the girls, Christian brought home dinner, we watched some American Idol together – Olivia is SOOOOO into it this year, after each audition, she even makes a prediction if they’ll get “card” or not. She’s so funny, it’s so amazing watching them grow and really get stuff like that. Christian and I are both off tomorrow, but it will still be an early day, so it was a pretty early night for everybody.

Friday was my day off. Christian also took the day off, so it was pretty strange being home all day together. We were still up bright and early though…Christian took Amelia to school, while I took Olivia in for her 5-year check-up. Her appointment went well. She weighs in at 37lbs, which is 29%, and up 2lbs from last year. The doctor did mention it, but said she is thin in a healthy way, so we don’t need to worry about it, or change anything in her diet. I will admit, I was a little worried by how thin she is, and the fact that she doesn’t gain much, so that was reassuring. She is 43” tall, which is 60% and she grew 2.5” over the last year. So, she’s still on the taller side. She wasn’t her usual super shy self, and did well with her eye and hearing exams, passing both perfectly. She checked out on all of her developmental skills, so the doctor didn’t have any concerns. While he did her physical exam, he did notice she still has some of her cold left…he said she does have fluid in her ears – they’re not infected, but could become infected if the water doesn’t drain soon. So, he just told us to do some kind of allergy relief for now, to get her over this cold. If she spikes a fever or complains of ear pain in the next week, he’ll prescribe an antibiotic over the phone, otherwise he wants us back in 3-4 weeks to make sure it’s cleared up on its own. Otherwise, everything looked good. He has her “diagnosed” as milk intolerant, rather than lactose intolerant. So, we’re going to try to keep her on regular dairy…yogurt, cheese sticks, etc., and just keep her on the almond milk, and see how it goes. They do have her on soy milk at school now, and she sees to be doing well, so we’ll see how it goes. She did get two big shots today…MMR and TDap. She was a little shocked by them, but she got over it quickly and did well. After her appointment, we stopped for a little donut date before I dropped her off at school. Finally, I stopped at Target quick to get some cold medicine, and a humidifier for our room. I’m feeling worse than ever, and can’t take much more of this misery. I spent the rest of the day in bed, catching up on some shows. Christian attempted to set up our new internet service, but something wasn’t working, so they’re coming out on Monday to look at it. What a pain!! Meanwhile, my BFF FINALLY went into labor, and her baby girl arrived tonight. I was so, so, SO bummed that I couldn’t be there, and I have to wait to meet her, thanks to this horrible cold, but I’m so excited for her. I’d say they definitely had her dating wrong though…she would’ve been 2 weeks late based on their information, yet baby wasn’t even 7lbs. They were going to induce her on Monday, and I’m SO glad she didn’t make it to that appointment and go through that! We spent the evening relaxing with the girls, watching some TV and playing. We were going to attempt a movie night, but were both exhausted and decided bed sounded much better. There’s always tomorrow!

He always looks so cold and sad. Poor Chuy, I think he hates this life.

Saturday was a pretty long day. I was still feeling pretty bad, so I was pretty useless most of the day. The girls did start their new session of swim classes, and Christian didn’t work today, so he was able to come with us. They were pretty excited to be back in the water, but I was pretty annoyed with the classes. Amelia’s class is WAY too big, there is no individual attention at all. And, in both classes there’s at least one kid freaking out, which drives me NUTS. Especially for Olivia’s class…I mean, to be in Level 2, you had to have passed Level 1, so swimming should not be new or scary to you. I despise anything that takes needed attention away from my little ones, so I was pretty close to losing it. I was all amped up to send an angry e-mail to the community program, but decided to give it one more week. Next week BETTER be different though. After class, we had some lunch, the girls took a nap, and we rested for a while. We had a pretty low key night…Christian made some taquitos and we watched some movies. He was off to watch a late night soccer game at a friends’, while the girls and I were off to bed. I finally got Olivia to sleep in her own bed, because I didn’t want her catching whatever I had going on. On top of the cough, sore throat, stuffy nose and headache – tonight, my eyes started acting up. I kept getting this constant discharge, and film over my eye. Overnight, they did keep crusting shut while I was sleeping – so, pink eye like symptoms, but I really don’t think it is. What next?!?

Sunday was even worse for me. Same symptoms (except my eyes were fine), but my headache was honestly one of the worst I’ve had in a LONG time. Every time I moved, it felt like I was being stabbed. No amount of Tylenol would touch it. I managed to get a few loads of laundry done, and most of it put away. I started trying to tackle the basement disaster, but it was not working…I couldn’t do it. So, again, I spent the majority of the day in bed, quarantining myself. Christian was pretty good about taking care of the girls most of the day, and all that. I know he’s not feeling 100% either (but nowhere near what I have going on), but he’s been stepping up big time this week, thankfully! The girls played pretty well together throughout the day, but they were getting pretty stir crazy…it’s been so cold, they haven’t been able to go outside at school much this winter, and then we’re stuck inside on the weekends. We got some more snow overnight, and another deep freeze hits tomorrow. Apparently this January is already officially the coldest we’ve had in over 100 years – and I believe it! Schools are already canceled for tomorrow, and most likely Tuesday, again. Seriously, completely unheard of around here, especially in the city. So crazy.

Amelia - 3.5!

Each of the girls at 3.5 - I can't believe how much taller Olivia is...and, now they look NOTHING alike!

Amelia - 1 to 3.5

In other news, I hit 25 weeks today! I did not take a picture this week, far too miserable. But, in that area I’m feeling pretty good. The baby is super active now…lots of hardy kicks and punches, some spinning around. I’m still not really uncomfortable or anything like that, so, feeling pretty good pregnancy wise. I don’t have another appointment for a couple weeks yet, so nothing really to update on that front. I’m still feeling pretty strongly that this one is a boy, so we’ll have to see if that prediction comes true. I did recently have a dream that I was at the doctor for a check-up and I was looking over my chart and it said I was having a boy…maybe a sign???

Until Next Week XOXO