2014 - Week 14

Here we are, another week. This week ends the first quarter of 2014…ALREADY! Can you believe it, 3 months down, it’s already April! I really wish there were a way to slow time down, just a tad!

Monday was not the best start to the week. I wasn’t feeling too hot this morning, but I was up and off to work, hoping once I got going I’d start feeling better. The girls were off to school, I settled in at my desk, got some breakfast and it wasn’t long before I was throwing up at my desk. Yes, literally, threw up in my trash can. That was another first for me. After that ordeal, I finished up some work that needed to get done, packed up some more work, and made my way home for the rest of the day. I was able to get quite a bit done once I was settled in at home, but never did feel super after that. However, baby did redeem him/herself though…I had another first, my first experience with baby hiccups. Maybe I’ve just never noticed them before, but as far as I know, this was the first time any of my little womb residents has had them. It was pretty cool! Christian picked the girls up on his way home, we had some dinner, and I got to work, finally going through some of our baby stuff. I pulled out all of the gender neutral blankets, bottles, etc. that we had and packed some stuff into the girls’ closet. I still have to go through the baby clothes, but we’re slowly making some progress! Once the girls were in bed, Christian and I settled in for the season finale of The Walking Dead. There were some pretty awesome parts, but I HATE the way the season ended…like I hate the way most episodes end. Always way too many unanswered questions, drives me crazy…especially because it doesn’t start back up until OCTOBER! That’s nuts. LOL

He makes it hard to work from home sometimes...

Tuesday was not the best day either. I had my bi-weekly check up. Ann, my midwife, is on vacation this week, so I visited with another midwife on the team. She was nice, but also agreed that the baby feels quite large. Ugh, so frustrating! She ordered another ultrasound for my next appointment, so they can get new measurements and compare the scans. So discouraging, I just keep hoping suddenly, somehow, the baby will be back on track. One bright spot is that she told me I look really healthy…hopefully that was a compliment anyway. The rest of the day just dragged on, and it was a long night. I kept getting very emotional over the thought of having a repeat c-section. The more I tried not to think about it, the more I thought about it. It was a vicious cycle all night. I can’t remember what brought it on, but at one point I was watching TV while the girls finished dinner and started tearing up…Amelia came over, asked me what was wrong and gave me a big, huge hug. My little best friend, trying so hard to make me feel better. Soon enough, this will all be behind me, whatever way it all plays out. I just keep reminding myself of that.

It was a full bed tonight!

Wednesday start off still a little emotional. Still trying to brush it all off and move one. Things brightened up after work though. Christian had to work late, so I decided to take the girls to Target and register for my baby shower. It was so fun looking at all of the little baby stuff and definitely helped turn things around. You forget how cute and small all of that stuff is. It just brought out a whole new level of excitement…not much longer now! The girls were actually super well behaved the whole time too, which shocked me. We started the trip off by picking up some ICEE’s and popcorn, so maybe that helped. I let them each pick something out from the dollar spot for being so well behaved, and they thought that was pretty cool. On our way home, I grabbed them some McDonalds, and we were delightfully surprised to find out their girl toys right now are My Little Ponies! Very exciting!! Christian picked up some Chipotle for us on his way home, which just topped the night off. This day definitely took a turn for the better!

Thursday was my Friday at work, and I was busy, busy, busy! The whole week actually flew by, for the most part. I spent the day tying up all of my end of the week loose ends before heading out for the weekend. FREEDOM! I also sent in my hospital pre-registration paperwork today, which is a HUGE accomplishment for me seeing that I never actually did it with my other two. Go me! The evening was pretty low key…dinner, some playtime and TV watching with the girls. The usual.

My TBT picture this week, my friend Gini and I in Vegas waaaay back in 2007. Seems like a lifetime ago!

Friday started off pretty crappy….SNOW! Like, inches of snow. It was done, and now it’s back. No Bueno. But, the plus side is that it doesn’t last too long this time of year. The girls were in utter shock when I opened up the garage this morning though, which was pretty hilarious. Christian was off to work early, I dropped Amelia off at school, and Olivia and I were off to her last dentist appointment. Today she got her last two cavities filled, and I swear it went even faster than her last appointment. Even having an idea of what was coming, she was so cooperative and good for the dentist, I’m so proud of my big girl! She earned herself two coins this time, and got a couple of toys out of the machine. In a rare turn of events, our bill was actually less than they quoted us, so that made my day! I stopped to get her some oatmeal on our way home, and she was off to school. I spent the rest of day doing pretty much nothing, and watching my shows, as the snow continued to come down throughout the day. I picked the girls up at their usual time, we had some dinner and I got some dishes done before my energy level dropped and I started feeling pretty crappy. So, off to the couch I was for the rest of the night. Christian and I did manage to watch a movie before calling it a night, American Hustle. For all of the buzz this movie got, I have to say, I don’t get it. We didn’t think it was all that great, and I honestly feel like I have no idea what the movie was even about. Lost on me.

Seriously, this is what we woke up to this morning...

Olivia counted the snowflakes while we waited for her appointment.

My trooper! She's so awesome!

Looking through our registry bag from Target, and look at this little diaper! Seriously, cutest thing ever!

34 Week Comparison, from Amelia and Baby #3. Not as different as I thought afterall...

On Saturday, the girls started their new swim classes. Olivia is in her Level 3 class now, and she did really well. Amelia is still in Level 1, but actually did much better than she had in the past…like, she was actually listening to instructor and doing what she was supposed to. Maybe she actually will be ready to move up after this! Christian had the day off, and my mom came to watch them, so it was a packed house! My mom took the girls for a few hours after class so that Christian and I could get some stuff done. First up, we took advantage of the beautiful (pretty much polar opposite from yesterday) weather and stopped to get the car washed. Once home, I cleaned it out…drawings and artwork galore from school, and lots and lots of cereal bar wrappers had taken over…and Christian vacuumed it out. It’s like a brand new car! I made my way inside after that and started working on the basement. Today, I hit up our spare room, AKA the baby/kid stuff graveyard. I went through the closet, where I store some old clothes, and filled a bag of clothes to donate; I went through the baby clothes we kept and took out all of the gender neutral stuff (which, was much less than I remember) and got the room organized and cleaned up. What a task! The girls arrived home just after I finished…I did a little picking up upstairs, and called it a night. Meanwhile, Christian’s friend Lorenzo stopped over to help him start getting the truck ready to trade-in (yes, I’m pretty sure Christian was fighting back tears the entire time). They removed the running boards and trailer hitch (to sell them separately, since they were add-ons) and started cleaning out all of the crap from inside. It’ll take another go at it before it’s done, but it’s better than nothing! They were off for dinner and a couple beers (to drown his sorrows I’m sure) while the girls and I settled in for the night.

New Swim Class!

The graveyard - organized, but still so massive!

Sunday was another busy day. I woke up around 2:30 sick to my stomach, throwing up again. Twice in one week, a little strange. It took me FOREVER to fall back asleep after that ordeal, and for the first time I was pretty bummed that we didn’t have cable because there was NOTHING on TV, and I was too lazy to go get the Apple TV from the living room. Awww, firstworldproblems! I eventually did fall back asleep, and woke up feeling a bit better. I left Christian on Dad duty for the day, and made my way to the basement. I spent the day doing laundry, and cleaning up the rest of the basement…organizing the toy room and “princess area”, picking up the living room, cleaning up the bathroom, and vacuuming. The basement is officially clean, organized and OFF LIMITS until this baby comes. I am NOT doing that again! My nesting continued into the evening. I’ve been going about things pretty laid back. Thinking, the baby is just going to be in our room, and the girls aren’t moving downstairs until later this year, so there’s not much to do. Well, I seem to have forgotten that babies need things (you know, diapers, clothes, etc.), and those things need to go somewhere. Oops! So, I started going through the girls’ room. I got all of Olivia’s 4T clothes packed up, and ready to move downstairs to storage. I bagged up any 3T stuff we don’t like and stored it under Amelia’s bed, and did some shifting around so that the baby would have one side of the closet. I cleared off their dresser, moving their stuff animals/beanie babies to the toy room, and replacing them with the changing pad. And, added a basket to organize some diapers, lotions, etc. Now it REALLY feels like I’m making some progress!! I finally settled in to watch some TV and fold/put away the HUGE mound of clothes I washed throughout the day. My back was killing me and I was beyond exhausted, but it feels good to make some progress!

All my boys, taking a little nap...

Along those lines, today marks 35 Weeks! Which means, 35 days until my due date! I’ve pretty much updated on pregnancy stats throughout the week, so there isn’t a ton more to add. As usual, getting more uncomfortable with each passing day, but trying my hardest to stay optimistic, and enjoy the last of the experience. Regardless of anything going on or how miserable I might get some days, I sure am going to miss this!

Until Next Week XOXO

2014 - Week 13

Monday was a tough day. I could not sleep last night, at all. Maybe my punishment for actually sleeping in yesterday, who knows! All I know is that I woke up around 2:30, and pretty much did not fall asleep the rest of the night. So horrible. I guess it’s time for my body to start getting used to those looooong sleepless nights we have coming! I did manage to get in to work and made it through the day. There was a freak snowstorm mid-day, but it didn’t really effect either of my drives. I kept hearing all day about a bad pile up on one of the highways all day, and eventually say a video of it online. It looked pretty scary, and I couldn’t believe everybody pretty much escaped it unharmed…and just kept thinking it was so crazy to see something like that in late March. I later came to find out one of my really good friends, Gini, was right in the middle of the whole thing. GOOD LORD, let me tell you my pregnancy hormones kicked into high gear and I got so emotional. Luckily she is OK…her car is totaled, but she is OK. I couldn’t stop from freaking out though, it was so scary.  The rest of the evening was much less eventful. I picked the girls up, we made our way home, and the evening was pretty standard…dinner, some playtime. The usual.

Tuesday was a pretty good day. Works remained pretty busy, and steady. Christian’s work seems to be picking up a little, but his OT is still down a bit – that should pick up though with Easter and summer coming up. The girls are doing well at school – we haven’t had any big issues or any big changes for quite a while, so that’s always good. I know they can’t wait for some consistently good weather though, to finally get outside and enjoy it! One exciting thing for me at work is that I’m starting to get some projects that I will definitely not be here to see through to the end. I hate the thought of dropping stuff on my co-workers, but at the same time, it’s exciting! Makes it feel like things are really starting to get real – it’s really not that much longer now. And with each passing day, maternity leave is more and more appealing. Man, I cannot wait! After work, the girls and I were off to target to pick up some birthday gifts for Christian. He never really needs anything, so he’s pretty hard to shop for. I refuse to buy him clothes, because he has enough clothes/shoes/jeans to clothe a small village, and refuses to go through any of it. And he’s just not a “stuff” kind of guy. So, I usually just bring the girls to Target and we fill up a bag of stuff…some necessities (deodorant, lotion, etc.) and some fun stuff (a fun shirt, some coffee). Olivia was pretty upset with me because she didn’t understand why Daddy didn’t need “Frozen” on DVD. Meanwhile, Amelia snuck in a bottle of bubbles that he just had to have. Ha – they crack me up. We arrived home about the same time as him, and settled in for the night. Last day of his 20’s – AHH!

Olivia's drawing today, I thought it was pretty impressive!

Wednesday was Christian’s birthday…the big 3-0!! So crazy, I can’t believe we’re officially in our 30’s! Man do the years fly by. I had the girls give him a little “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” wake up this morning, and they thought it was pretty hilarious. Him, maybe not so much. The rest of the day was pretty standard, we were off to work, the girls to school. We celebrated this evening…I made some tacos and we had some cheesecake for dessert, gave him his presents and had a great night together. So fun!

Thursday was another odd weather day. It rained pretty much all day long. Not always the best, but it took away so much of our snow, I was beyond happy to see it coming down. It did turn to snow for a short while, but nothing that stuck or caused any issues, so not too bad. I can’t wait for some good weather!! This week is spirit week at school, and today was “mismatch day”. Amelia thought it was hilarious, Olivia on the other hand, hated me for making her look silly. What a drama queen! I swear, some days I think we already have a teenager in the house! I think she was better once she got to school though and saw that it was all in good fun. Nothing too exciting happened the rest of the day – just the usual work, school and home for our nightly routine. Just how I like it!

My lovies, all cute for mismatch day!

This week's TBT was my and Christian's prom photo - well, his prom, in 2003. Crazy!

Friday FINALLY came along. Seriously these 5-day workweeks are for the birds, especially when you have to save your leave time! Ugh. We had a busy, fun weekend on tap though, so I was really looking forward to that. We made it through the day, and Christian arrived home much earlier than usual. Hopefully his OT picks up SOON! He helped get the girls fed and hung out with us for a bit, then was off to hang out with his friend Lorenzo for the night…for a late birthday celebration. What a spoiled brat! I settled in for a little “Good Luck Charlie” marathon on Netflix, as they just released the final season. Yup, that’s a Disney show. And, yup, I love it! The girls actually watched it with me for a while and found it pretty entertaining. So, at least I had some child company…until bedtime anyway. Ha.

Saturday was a pretty busy day. Christian didn’t have to work, which is pretty rare, so we spent the morning cleaning and getting some chores done around the house, and I made a quick run to the grocery store. The day is definitely much more productive when Christian is home. We had some lunch, watched a couple movies and we were off for the evening. Today, we were off to my Dad’s for a visit and dinner to celebrate Christian and my stepmom’s birthdays. We tried out a new Mexican restaurant by their house, and it was DELISH! Finally, we made our way home. My dad surprised Olivia with “Frozen”, so, of course, we had to watch that right away. It was Amelia’s first time seeing it, so she was pretty excited. We were all pretty exhausted, and didn’t make it much past the Frozen viewing.

The girls were helping my dad play a little tug-of-war with their dog - Amelia was actually helping! Maybe she's FINALLY warming up to animals!

Sunday was another busy, BUSY day. I was up and started on laundry right away, per my usual Sunday routine. We had some breakfast, another viewing of Frozen and got ready for the day. First up, a trip to the circus with the Arnesons. The girls were SO excited, they love all the different stuff that goes on. Their special activity this year was pony rides, and shockingly, Amelia actually participated. I was pretty excited. I love all the acrobatic stuff they do, the girls love the animals, it’s a good mix for all. After that excitement, we were on our way home to have a BBQ for Christian’s birthday (yes, as ridiculous as it is, he has like 50 birthday celebrations every year, and it drives me nuts). This was supposed to be dinner at his parents’ house, but the weather was so great, we wanted to BBQ (his parents rent an apartment now, so they can’t), so we offered our house and a package of Brats we had in the freezer. Outside of that, his guests were on their own. I was a little (OK, a lot) annoyed  by the fact that when we arrived home, EVERYONE was already there, settled into the garage with the grill fired up already…his parent, his friend Lorenzo, and Bella and her Dad. I mean, seriously, I was being welcomed into my own home, and I was not happy about it. Definitely had my pregnancy hormones raging on high. We ate, and not much later I was done and made my way inside. I had piles of laundry to fold and put way, The Amazing Race to watch, and I was c-r-a-b-b-y! Not long after, everybody made their way home, and Christian was actually off to watch a soccer game. The girls were off to bed, and I enjoyed a little peace and quiet before bed. These busy weekends are too much for my hormonal self!

Speaking of which, today marked 34 weeks. I’m still feeling OK, but definitely getting more uncomfortable and more exhausted with each passing day. It’s hard to believe in a few short weeks I’ll be considered full term and baby will be able to come at any time. In about a month we’ll be making the big mini-van purchase, and my friends will be hosting a little baby shower for me, which I’m super excited for! Other than that, we haven’t done a ton of planning or preparing yet, so there are definitely a few things I need to get going on. Tick Tock!!

Until Next Week XOXO

2014 - Week 12

This week just kind of sucked. Ugh!

Monday was back to reality. Back to work (though, it was sure to go fast with how little I would actually be at work), and back to school for the girls. I've still been feeling pretty numb over my grandpa's passing. It's just still so surreal to me. It helps to be busy, and distracted, but with the upcoming funeral, there's no escaping it for long. One bright spot in the day was that all of the supervisors in our office chipped in and bought the office lunch...pizza, fruit, salad, treats. Oh man, it was SOOOO good. I love little surprises like that, really boosts morale! I also scored a good deal on Circus tickets again this year...there was a Steal for $25 for $50 worth of tickets...and, I had $20 in referral cash, so I only had to pay $5 for the steal. Then, I had a $5 of each ticket code, so, we ended up with $15 tickets. With the steal, had to pay $10 out of pocket, so $15 total! Nice!! Saving money and getting a good deal always brightens my day! I picked the girls up after work and we made our way home for the usual...playtime, dinner, baths, hang out. They were actually best friends today, which is rare, but makes life SO much easier. Once they were off to bed, Christian and I settled in for a CRAZY episode of "The Walking Dead"...*spoiler alert, the one where a little girl kills her sister, and then Carol kills her. Officially, in my opinion, the craziest thing to ever happen on TWD. Whoa.

Little BFF's, for today anyway!

Tuesday was not a great day. I was off to the doctor for an ultrasound and check up. I was SOOOO excited to begin the day, I just love seeing the little peanut on that screen. However, things became very discouraging, very fast. As of today, I am 32W3D, and the baby should weigh about 3lbs12ozs. The scan started out OK...checked baby's heartrate, even got to watch baby practice breathing, which was really cool. The baby waved a bit, and nodded at us. Oh man, just melts my heart. Fluid levels were looking good, and baby was head down. Then, things started looking down. She started taking measurements...head, abdomen and femur bone, checking each a couple times. I was watching the screen, and I could see what the estimates were coming in at. While the femur bone measured almost exactly on point with my date, the head and abdomen were both measuring 35-36+ weeks, and they estimated baby's weight at 5lbs11ozs. I just couldn't believe it...basically, I'm measuring about 4 weeks ahead, which is HUGE. I followed up my scan with my check-up, which of course was pretty much geared around those results. Ann, my midwife, did not change our plans or do anything at this point, but I know, chances of letting me go late are pretty much obsolete at this point, and I'll be lucky if they let me go to term if baby keeps measuring this far ahead. Don't get me wrong, it was amazing seeing baby, hearing that little heartbeat, and I'm so grateful for this new life growing inside me, but reality of a possible repeat c-section hit me big time. I held it together until I got to the car, but then I was in tears at the thought of it. So frustrating! But, I was back to work to finish out the day. The evening was pretty much a bust as it's all I could think about. I know everything will work out and everything will be fine, but it all just consumed me at this point.

Kind of strange, but babies picture from today. The tech took a body and a head shot and merged them together for me.

Our surprise flowers!

What a perfect fortune to receive tonight...

Wednesday was definitely not much better. Christian was off work...his work actually gives them bereavement leave, so he was able to take today and tomorrow off, without using his leave time. I however, was off to work 1/2 a day...thanks to my lacking leave time balance. I left around noon, and was on my way home to have some lunch, get myself ready and gather up the girls' stuff. Christian picked the girls up, we got them ready, packed up some snacks/food for them, and we were off to my grandpa's wake. the girls did not come to my grandma's wake last summer, so I wasn't sure how they would do. The funeral home has a pretty cool program, the "star program", where they sit down with the kids, do some activities with them, and explain what's happening. Then, after the adults go in to say their goodbye's, they bring the kids in so they can also say goodbye. The girls did really well, but definitely don't quite understand yet. They were interested though, and not afraid at all. Of course, they had plenty of fun hanging out in the family room with all of the other kids all night anyway, so they were pretty distracted. We were off as soon as the wake was over, and straight to bed.

Thursday was another very tough day. I dropped the girls off at school...I figured the wake was enough for them, and there really wasn't a reason for them to go to the funeral as well. Christian and I got ready, and we were off to the church. I had actually been keeping it together pretty well, up until the service started. Just hearing stories about my grandpa and knowing that this was IT, we were officially saying goodbye, started getting to me. After the service, the church hosted a lunch for the family again, and it was nice to sit around and talk about him, even laughing and feeling almost normal for a little bit. Then, it was off to the cemetery. Again, we were heading to Fort Snelling. This time, the funeral had full military honors though, which was incredibly touching. Pulling up to see all of the service men and women on guard, the 3-volley salute, taps on the trumpet. It was all just so haunting, so emotional. I'd never been to a military funeral before, it was pretty amazing. We didn't get rushed out of the cemetery quite as fast as with my grandma, so we were able to chat and say our goodbyes to each other. He'll be buried right on top of my grandma, so once the headstone is in, we're going to go and visit. Christian dropped me off at home and was off to visit with his parents for a bit, while I rested and even napped for a bit. He picked the girls up on his way home, and I had to do a little shopping...the girls have their school pictures tomorrow, so I had to finish getting stuff for their outfits, and some new shoes (these outfits will double as their Easter dresses). Then, we were all home to eat and RELAX. Exhausted doesn't even cover it at this point!

My Throwback Thursday photo today was, of course, a photo with my Grandpa (and my cousin, who is 6 days older than me).

From Grandpa's funeral...the flag, which goes to my Dad, his three volley salute, a red rose for me and a white rose for each of the kids.

Friday started off a little touch and go. It was my Friday off, so obviously that was pretty exciting. Christian dropped Amelia off at school, while Olivia and I were off to her dentist appointment. Today, she was getting the first of 3 fillings. I did now know what to expect, whatsoever....from the procedure, or her. I didn't tell her much about what was going to happen, I just told her she has a little hole in her tooth and they're going to fill it in so it doesn't get bigger and hurt. She settled into the chair, and she was seriously perfect as can be. She did everything they asked her to do and cooperated to a T, never a single peep, cry or anything from her. I will say, their dentist is so awesome, he is amazing with the kids. We were in and out in 20 minutes, and she left smiling away, like nothing had ever happened. I was wondering how she would react to the laughing gas and all that, but she didn't get too crazy. She was making some pretty hilarious faces, waiting for the feeling to come back, but that's about it. We stopped at McDonald's so I could get her some oatmeal to eat on the way home. I wasn't sure if she'd be able to, but she was doing great, so she was off to school. I made my way home...spent the day catching up on some shows, relaxing as much as I could,. I did manage to get most of our laundry done throughout the day, and did a TINY bit of picking up, but that's about it. It was a ME day! The girls and I stopped at Target quick on our way home, and the rest of the evening was pretty standard...dinner, movies, some play time. Christian had to work SUPER late tonight, so he was pretty exhausted when he arrived home.

My baby girl, ready to head off to the dentist

Haha, oh the joys of being 3 & 5!

Baby's bed is up and ready, I just love it!

Saturday kicked off another cold snap, hopefully a short one. We started the day off with a "feels like" temp of -11. Seriously, IT'S SPRING, it's the end of March, this is so unfair! Christian was off to work, while the girls and I hung out at home. They have a couple of weeks off swim class before their new session begins, so it was a pretty relaxed morning. I finished up some picking up around the house. My mom stopped over to pick the girls up for the night, just after Christian arrived home. We had some lunch, and started getting ready for the evening. Tonight we were off to celebrate Christian's birthday (early) with our friends, and we were so excited! We were off to Buca's for dinner, then met everybody at our old stomping grounds, The Glockenspiel. We used to spend just about every Friday and Saturday there, at least a quick stop. Seems like a lifetime ago, and it was kind of strange being back. It was so fun though...catching up, chatting, laughing the night away. Sure do miss those days sometimes! I made it until about midnight, and just couldn't hold out any longer. This pregnant lady had to hit the hay!

See, no lie. BRRRR!

Ready to take my giant baby out on the town!

Cuddles with baby Brittany at dinner!

Sunday I REALLY slept in, until 10:00AM! Never thought I'd see the day that would happen again. Although, it was a really late night, and of course, I was up plenty throughout the night, so I say it doesn't really count, in my defense. I finished up my laundry, and since I'd been working on my chores the last couple days, I actually got to take it pretty easy most of the day today. The girls were pretty antsy when they arrived home, so Christian took them over to his parents for a while. Worked out for me because I actually got in a few hours of work, to make up for some of my time off this past week, so that was pretty awesome! Gotta save up every hour possible. By the time they arrived home, it was pretty much time for baths and bed. Another weekend quickly came to an end. This week is either going to fly by from catching up on work from this past week, or it's going to draaaaag being a 5-day workweek. Only time will tell!

Welcome home cuddles with my babies!

Today also marked 33 weeks. I updated a bit on how things are going earlier this week. I'm still pretty anxious about how everything is going to pan out, but I'm trying my hardest to not focus on that, and just enjoy this home stretch with my last little growing life. I've been feeling more and more exhausted every day, more and more uncomfortable, but of course that all comes with the territory. We're all getting very excited though, with every passing day! We just can't wait to meet this final piece of our family puzzle.

Until Next Week XOXO