2016 - Week 11

This week was the BIIIIIIIIG week…finally having our big anatomy scan, and finding out if surprise little Duran is a boy or girl! And, nothing could even touch the excitement of that.

Right away Monday, it was the big day. Ultrasound day!!! We were up and at it, as usual, and I dropped the big girls off at daycare on my way to work. I got a little work done, while Christian got ready and dropped Eliza off at his parents’ house for the day, and picked me up for the appointment. Off we went, so very anxious. We checked in, and when the tech came back to get us, I was quite surprised to realize that I knew her…we went to school together! What a small world. So, she made the scan extra fun – she explained everything she was doing and looking at very thoroughly and it was just a little extra comforting. The scan went great…baby was SUPER active, moving non-stop, which I think was actually helpful because she got shots of everything she needed. Everything looked perfect, baby was growing great, and they didn’t have any concerns. I don’t feel the baby move very strongly yet, but there’s kind of a constant “swimming” feeling going on, and after seeing it for myself, I’m thinking the level of activity plays into my constant nausea. Once the officially scan was over, she turned the screen away from us to search for baby’s sex. We felt pretty confident because she appeared to have found it pretty much right away, which was a relief. She snuck off to put the information in an envelope for us, while the OB came in to go over the scan and let us know exactly how everything was looking. We got the all clear, got our secret envelope, and we were off.

Christian dropped me off back at work, but I could barely concentrate the rest of the day. I was SOOOOO anxious to get home for our little reveal with the kids. Our friend Gini stopped by my work to grab our reveal box and the envelope, and stopped to fill it up at the party store for us. I FINALLY left work a tad early to pick Eliza up…who was sleeping, and very angry that I woke her up. By the time we arrived home, Gini was there, ready to go, and Christian had picked the big girls up from school. We set everything up, and got right to it…and…

I couldn’t believe it!!! When I saw those blue balloons pop out of the box, I was in complete shock. Amelia was so upset that there wasn’t actually a baby in the box, which was quite hilarious, and Eliza was pretty much only interested in getting ahold of some balloons. Olivia was the first to finally realize that the blue balloons meant we were having a boy, and then she was ecstatic! It was so sweet. Christian, of course, is OVER THE MOON, so excited to finally have his boy. I’m in shock, and not quite sure what the heck we’re going to do with a boy, but it’s going to be an amazing adventure. AHHHHH, so exciting!!! We let our parents know right away, and they were all just giddy with excitement, and then shortly after posted the big announcement on Facebook. I was going to wait until tomorrow, but much to our surprise, our family and friends were all just DYING to know what the baby was, which seriously warms my heart, and they were all so happy and excited. My biggest fear when we found out about this little hitchhiker was that we would get a lot of negative comments from people about having 4 kids, but it hasn’t been that way at all. Seriously makes life much easier when the people around you truly support you. Shortly after the big reveal, my mom arrived, with some pizza for dinner, so we ate and chatted and hung out. Our friend/neighbor Sara stopped over with her kids to visit for a bit and congratulate us on the big news, so it was pretty much pure chaos all evening. Gini made her way home, Christian was off to work, and the girls and I, with my mom following behind, were off to gymnastics. It was their last class of the session, which they are NOT happy about, at all, and the place was a madhouse! Their class is at a high school, and the school had some kind of concert going on, and parking was insane. Eliza was seriously a handful, and quite frustrating, so it was helpful to have my mom there with us this week. My mom left for home after class, and we finally settled in back at home. The girls watched their videos for a few minutes before bed, and I worked on editing some pictures from the big reveal. I was seriously still in shock, even looking at the pictures. A BOY!!!!!!

On Tuesday, we were all up and at it, still pretty much on Cloud 9. It seems so crazy to be over the halfway mark of this pregnancy, to know what we’re having…just to even be going through all of this again. It’s just insane. You really never know for sure where your life journey is going to take you. I dropped the girls off at daycare, and settled into work. One of my co-workers made a yummy reveal cake for us to have this morning, so the rest of the office could find out what baby Duran was. We cut right into it around 8:30AM…I mean, cake for breakfast, why not?! Everybody was so excited, it was really sweet. I started working at my job almost 15 years ago…and my mom worked there before me, so I’ve known some of my co-workers since before I even started here. I’ve always been like the “baby” of the office, so I knew everybody would be really excited about the news. It was pretty awesome! My mom also brought in some onesies she picked up at the store the other day, “just in case”. Seriously…the baby, the only boy, this guy is going to be SPOILED! After Eliza grew out of it, I sold our infant car seat to my coworker, for her grandkids, but she never ended up using it. So, I bought it back from her, and she brought that in for me today too. It was quite a baby day. I wasn’t feeling too well in the afternoon….feeling overheated, had a headache, and just exhausted. I went down to our “quiet room” to take a rest, but it was in use, so I decided to see how the weather was outside. It’s been really nice out, but thankfully there was a nice cool breeze, which felt amazing. After sitting outside, cooling off and resting for my afternoon break, I made my way back to my desk to finish out the long, slow afternoon. After work, I picked Eliza up, and we settled in at home. Olivia and her BFF Bella were playing downstairs, so Eliza made her way right down to play with them. Christian was getting ready for work, Amelia was watching some Netflix, and I cuddled up next to her for a while. It was a pretty quiet night…reading, dinner, relaxing, and bedtime. After yesterday’s chaos, it was a good thing.

Some onesies my mom picked up for baby!

The reveal cake at work. YUM!

On Wednesday, we were all off on our day, as usual. Most of my office was away today (and tomorrow) at our annual conference, so it’s that time of year again, when I have to turn my customer service switch on. NO FUN, but I do enjoy the overall quietness and being able to get really caught up on my work. Which was exactly what I did. I did leave a tad early to run some errands….I had to stop at Walmart for a few groceries, at school to pick up the girls’ fundraiser stuff, and then finally at daycare to pick up Eliza. Finally, I unloaded the van (including the car seat from yesterday and some other random stuff that had been piling up), and hit the couch. Christian made dinner, we all ate together, and he was off to work. I played with the girls for a while and we had a pretty quiet night before bed.

I also finally remembered to snap Eliza's monthly photo. As of 3/7/16, she's 22 months old, 29lbs and 3" tall. She's such a busy little bee, and getting SOOOOO close to TWO! She is talking up a storm these days, picking up new words and phrases every day. And, seeming to really understand just about anything we say to her, or ask her to do. She's no baby anymore ya'll! She never, ever, EVER stops moving, never stops talking and is pure entertainment. She's remained pacifier free, for well over a month now, and she's almost off of sippy cups completely. She's still in 24 month (and some 2T) clothing, so she doesn't seem to be growing quite as rapidly these last couple of months. She's so funny (and she'll tell you so), super picky, and by far the boss of this house. She's now responsible for feeding the dog, which is quite an entertaining process.

On Thursday we had a really slow-going morning. This whole week has just been a nightmare trying to get up in the morning. Just feeling so exhausted for some reason. With everybody still off at the conference, it was another quiet and productive day. Well, quiet with the exception of our resident all-day, every-day cougher, who drive me absolutely insane, and seriously tries my ability to control my pregnancy hormones. But, I really made a ton of headway on my inbox, and even caught up on a lot of that random crap that I put off for as long as possible. Success! Christian had to work early tonight, so he was pretty much off to work as soon as Eliza and I arrived home. So, we girls watched some movies, and American Idol, had dinner, relaxed and we were all off to bed early. Need to catch up on some sleep!!!

Friday FINALLY arrived, and it could not have happened any sooner. The big girls didn’t have school today, so they spent the entire day at daycare. After last week’s incident, I was pretty nervous about this all day long, but they ended up having a great day. And, I was able to hear more about the behavior system they’ve put in place, which makes me feel a lot better. The weather today was AMAZING!!!!!!!!, so I think they spent a ton of time running around outside, which probably helps. At work, everybody was back, and the office was back to the usual hustle and bustle and chaos. The day went pretty fast, and I’m seriously the most caught up that I’ve been in probably YEARS, so I’m feeling quite successful right now. After work, I picked Eliza up from my mom’s, picked the big girls up from daycare, and we settled in at home. Christian was just getting up for the day, so he hopped in the shower right away, and we debated what to do for dinner for quite a while. We finally decided to head to Buffalo Wild Wings, so we loaded up the van and were on our way. It was crazy busy, and it took FOREVER to get our food. Like, people who had come in after us were getting there food well before us. After our food finally came, Christian “complained” to the manager (not about our server or anything specific, just about the overall slow service). I HATE complaining at restaurants and it seriously mortifies me, but they ended up taking off about ½ our bill, so I guess it was worth it. After dinner, we settled in at home and watched some TV before the girls were off to bed. Christian hung out in the garage with his friend, Lorenzo, for a while, so I caught up on some Hulu before passing out myself. Today I turned “21 weeks”, and I seriously can’t believe how fast this is going. I’ve been feeling baby more and more every day this week…still very “fluttery”, not a ton of power kids yet, BUT, I actually felt my first kick from the outside today! I can tell that this guy is definitely going to be quite active, that’s for sure.

On Saturday, we were up and at it early. We hung out, had some breakfast, and I did some cleaning up around the house. Christian showered, while I got the girls ready to go, and we were off to swim class. This week also marks the last class of their swim session, and while I LOVE watching them do their activities, I’m really looking forward to taking a few weeks off and getting a break. This pregnant mama is EXHAUSTED! The girls did really well, and both ended the class working on some diving. Both of the girls ended up passing their session…but, I’m not comfortable moving Amelia up yet, so she’ll be staying in the same level, unless they choose to move her once class starts up in a few weeks. She’s getting better every week, but still seriously lacks endurance. After class, the girls showered, got dressed, and we made our way home. We played outside for a while, and Christian spent pretty much the rest of the day cleaning up the garage and getting things moved around and tidied up. My mom arrived around 1:30 to pick the big girls up for an overnight, so it was a pretty quiet night with just little Eliza in the house. While Eliza napped, Christian took a break from garage—duty and took the car in for an oil change. While he was in the area, he stopped to get the tires rotated at our tire place, and sure enough, just our luck, they said the van needs two new tires. UGH!!!! Not what I was in the mood for, at all. Eliza had a tough time napping today, she woke up yelling a few times, so my alone time was quite limited. The evening was pretty lazy though…we played outside some more and watched some shows before Eliza went down to bed, and I really wasn’t too far behind her. Of course, the dreaded daylight savings time is tomorrow, and we’ll unfortunately be springing forward, so I figured I better not stay up too late.

Swimmers!!!

She was walking around with little balloons all day, looking just like mommy. LOL

Sure enough, Eliza was up BRIGHT AND EARLY on Sunday. Damn it, daylight savings! So, we did some cleaning up around the house, I started some laundry, and we had a super lazy morning. Christian and I watched a movie before the big girls arrived home around noon. My mom would’ve kept them later, but they both had a bit of homework to do, and of course, we’re procrastinators and didn’t do any of it Friday or Saturday. Amelia and I were off to Walmart to grab some crafting supplies for the “leprechaun trap” she needed to make for school. We got right to work when we arrived home, while Christian showered and was off to the store with Lorenzo to get some grilling supplies. Olivia had 3 worksheets to do for class, so we let her spread them throughout the evening. My in-laws arrived around 2:30 to grill and hang out for the late afternoon. The weather wasn’t as nice today, but still quite survivable. The girls rode their bikes and scooters and got in a lot of outside time before we ate and settled in for the night. My in-laws ended up taking Eliza for an overnight (they watch her on Monday’s, so it works out), and I was seriously on the verge of tears all night long. My sweet baby, and her first night away from me. So hard. Christian was off to watch the soccer game at a friend’s house, while I got the big girls off to bed, finished up some laundry, and watched “The Walking Dead”. When I settled into bed, I used my doppler to check in on baby, and he seriously did not like that. He runs away from the doppler every time, and it cracks me up. But, it definitely woke him up big time, because he was kicking like crazy. I could actually see the kicks, one after another. So cool!! He’s getting so strong, so fast!

Working on Amelia's leprechaun trap. I hate crafting...

All done!!

Until Next Week! XOXO

2016 - Week 10

Week 10 of 2016! So crazy. This week marked the halfway point for this pregnancy – I can’t believe how fast this is all going, this baby is going to be here in no time! I spent the week still battling some nausea and appetite issues, I had my stress-inducing echo, a big issue with Olivia at school and just about every random thing you can think of. What an interesting week….

On Monday, I woke up dragging after a really crappy night of sleep. I’m beginning to accept the fact that pregnancy insomnia is start to rear its ugly head. No fun!! But, we were all up, ready, and off for the day. I dropped the big girls off at daycare, Eliza off at my in-laws and settled in for a pretty low-key day at work. After work I picked Eliza up, and we arrived home just as Christian was finishing up dinner. We ate, and rushed to get ready for gymnastics…and just as we were getting in the van, I started feeling really sick. Sure enough, I rushed to the side of the van and threw up. Seriously, this is NEVER going to end! The big girls were already in the fan, but I hadn’t gotten Eliza loaded up yet, so she stood back behind me, asking me if I was OK. Poor thing, I hate when they see me sick. No rest for the weary though…off to gymnastics we went. Thankfully I was otherwise feeling OK, and didn’t have any more issues (and, thankful it happened before we hit the road, or got there). Eliza was quite a handful tonight, not listening and running onto the mats where she’s not allowed. It was really frustrating, and I get so embarrassed. Toddlers, they’re super fun! After class, we settled in at home and relaxed for a little while, before the girls were off to bed for the night. I wasn’t far behind.

On Tuesday, I was up after another terrible night of sleep. On top of that, my stomach was turning flips all morning. I showered, and still wasn’t feeling any better, probably worse, so I called in late to work so that I could rest for a while. I finally started feeling a little better, and was able to get up and ready for the day. The girls woke up shortly after, so I helped them get ready, and we loaded up into the van. Then, all hell broke loose at daycare, because I wouldn’t let Eliza sneak her handful of Shopkins into daycare. Ugh. She usually grabs some random blanket or stuffed animal, which is fine, but I couldn’t let her take choking hazards in with her, so she threw the biggest fit! In addition to that, since we were late, she went right to her classroom, instead of the baby room, so she wasn’t with Miss Barb. DRAMA!!!! Thankfully, there weren’t any babies there yet, so Miss Barb came out into her room and held her until she calmed down. Seriously, she has the world wrapped around her super dramatic finger!  It was a really hectic day at work, one issue after another, and the days are already starting to feel long and exhausting. I have a LONG 4+ months ahead of me if I’m already feeling so drained. So looking forward to maternity leave…already. I picked Eliza up after work, and we settled in at home. My stomach was still bothering me quite a bit, so Christian and the girls just had some leftovers before he left for work. We watched some TV, relaxed and had a pretty quiet night. The girls were off to bed a little early, and while I TRIED to put myself to bed early as well, I just couldn’t fall asleep. Seriously, LOOOOOOONG 4+ months to go.

On Wednesday I was up and at it, much better than the last few days. I slept a bit better, I was feeling quite a bit better, and the world seemed much more doable. The girls and I were up and ready, and off for the day. Eliza was extra tired and crabby, but we survived. I left work early today for my echo appointment. While I’m not concerned, and I was actually “cleared” years ago, during my first pregnancy, they decided they would rather be safe than sorry, and have me screened again. And get back on an every-three-year schedule anyway. Of course, while I don’t really worry about anything changing, it’s still a pretty stressful thing to go through. Luckily it went much faster than I anticipated, so I still arrived home at about the same time as usual. However, while I was in the waiting room, my phone rang. I debated answering, since I would be called back any time for my appointment, it was the girls’ school, and I knew I couldn’t ignore it. I answered, and sure enough, it was Olivia’s teacher calling to discuss an “incident” that occurred this morning. This proceeded into a series of conversations throughout the night, in order to piece together the entire story.

-        First, my conversation with her teacher. She said that there were a few versions of the story going around, but that this morning Olivia came rushing into class, crying and noticeably upset. She said that while getting off the bus, she had been punched in the face by a little boy (from daycare). That apparently some of the girls that go to daycare together have been having a hard time getting along together…bothering each other, bickering, just driving each other crazy. And it escalated today on the bus, to the point of some of the other girls’ little brother punching her in the face, “seemingly unprovoked”. She wasn’t sure what really started it all, but heard it was over who was going to sit with Amelia on the way to school. She said all of the kids involved had spent some time talking with the counselors at school, discussing what happened and how to move forward. Her teacher said that Olivia and one of the little girls, who is in her class, have been having a lot of issues lately – just not getting along and bothering each other. Of course, now this whole thing sat with my through my entire appointment, and I was so upset and anxious to get home and get the next piece of the story.

-        Next up, I arrived at daycare, and thankfully the assistant director was still there. I asked her if she was aware of the issues on the bus this morning, and she took me into the office to discuss. She had talked to the bus driver and had a little more to what started it all (this morning anyway). The kids were all playing tag on the playground before school, and while they were playing together, they was some teasing and pestering going on. One of the other girls started telling Olivia that she was going to sit with Amelia on the bus and wouldn’t stop bothering her. They eventually loaded up and were on their way to school, and Olivia and Amelia sat together (which I would assume is pretty typical). Once they got off the bus, the other girls’ brother punched her in the face. The bus driver got off and brought him back on the bus to separate them and talk to him, while Olivia went off to school. The director said that two of the other kids had been written up (which leads me to believe that Olivia really didn’t do anything to provoke it, since I didn’t receive anything for her). I know this group of kids gets in trouble quite often, but the little boy especially has been a lot of trouble. He’s now hit both of the girls (he’s actually in Kindergarten, Amelia’s age), he’s been suspended from the center, he is just a violent, bad kid. This pushed me to get into a conversation about his behavior, and how they’re dealing with it, and discuss some of the other issues Olivia and Amelia have expressed to me over time (the things these kids will say and do, the name-calling and bullying they’ve described to me). They said he’s on a behavior plan and they do everything they can, but that after this incident, they’re going to meet to come up with some more plans of how to move forward. I mean, it’s something, but doesn’t really make me feel better. After our talk, I grabbed Eliza, and made my way home.

-        Once home, I immediately made my way to the girls’ room to talk with Olivia about what had happened. I didn’t really say much…I wanted her story, I didn’t want to prompt anything. So, from the beginning, she said they were playing tag on the playground before school, and the other kids weren’t playing nice, and were calling her names. She didn’t want to play with them anymore, so one of the girls (older, in her BFF Bella’s class) started telling her that she’s going to sit with Amelia on the bus to school, and how she’s Bella’s BFF now, not Olivia, and they’re going to have sleepovers and not invite her. Just typical “mean girl” kind of stuff, nothing Olivia can’t handle. She brushed it off, went about her business, and they eventually got on the bus to school. She said she sat with Amelia, and the other kids sat behind her, kicking and pushing their chair the entire way to school. I asked her what they did, and she said they didn’t say anything, they just sat there. She said at one point the boy who eventually punched her, hit her in the back of the head. Then they finally got to school, got off the bus, and he ran up and punched her in the face. She did say that at that point she “threw him to the ground” (which, sorry, I laughed about. Sorrynotsorry, he deserves it) to stop him from hitting her again. She said the bus driver took him back on the bus, and the other kids (mostly his sisters and cousins) were teasing her, because she was crying, telling her to stop acting like a baby, and “just stop crying already”, and that’s when she ran off to class. She seemed to be handling everything OK, but she was clearly upset about the things that have been going on. I think a lot of the shift has happened since she stopped going to the center in the afternoons – like she’s being “left out” now (Amelia doesn’t really seem to be affected by any of it).

-        After talking with her, I chatted with Amelia just a little, to see what she said. I asked her if they were doing anything, or saying anything, when all of this was going on, and she said no, they were just ignoring it, and didn’t say anything. I asked her what she was doing while all of this was going on, and she just said “nothing”. So, I told her that she needs to stand up for her sister when people are bothering her, just like Olivia does for her. She said “well, I went right over to her after he hit her and asked her if she was OK”. LOL.

After piecing everything together, I sent a very lengthy e-mail to the director at daycare, and Olivia’s teacher. I basically just summed up the entire story, and went on to explain my issues and reservations with this other group of kids (more so with daycare, since it involves more kids and interaction there than at school). I told them I’m not comfortable with my girls being around these other kids anymore – that I don’t want them playing with them, talking to them, hanging out with them. That it’s becoming more and more of a concern, that I can see the way things are escalating with them, and I’m honestly worried for my girls’ safety at this point. I have all of this anxiety over sending them to daycare, or school, at this point, and the entire thing has me all emotional. You hear about the things that go on these days…the things kids do and say, the way they bully each other and push other kids to their emotional limits. And with so many of “them” vs. my two girls (there are 4 siblings, plus 3-4 cousins), I can just see them all ganging up on Olivia and/or Amelia one day, and something violent happening. Sure, maybe I’m over exaggerating, but I’ve watched the way things have escalated to this point, and my fears are getting the better of me. Thankfully, they’ll only be at that daycare for 3 more months. We just need to survive 3 more months! At this point, I was all worked up and upset, and exhausted from all of the drama. We ordered some pizza, ate, and settled in for the night after Christian left for work. And, eventually, we were all off to bed early. What an exhausting night!

Here's this week's baby picture (19w5d)

On Thursday, we were up and at it, and it was FINALLY my Friday!! It’s been a hectic week at work – lots of issues and weird things popping up, so my brain is totally ready for the weekend! In addition, with the issues at daycare/school yesterday, I just feel like my mind and hormones have been on overdrive. I’m not going to lie, I was SUPER nervous dropping the girls off this morning, but by the time I arrived at work, I already had a response message from the director, which made me feel a lot better. She validated a lot of my concerns, understood where I was coming from, and went over some of the changes they’re putting in place. She was going to drive their bus for a while, to keep an eye on things, and they were going to have assigned seating, with Olivia and Amelia right up by the driver. She said they were going to implement more behavior tracking and discipline plans, and keep an eye on things. I reiterated my desire to have them separated, and she seemed to understand. Later, at lunchtime, she did e-mail me again with an update of how the morning went, and she said everything was smooth and they didn’t have any issues. She did say that at drop-off, the other kids’ mom had them apologize to Olivia, which was nice to hear (but, doesn’t change my opinion). Olivia’s teacher responded to my e-mail later that day, and let me know that things had been going OK at school, and that Olivia and the girls in her class both had sessions with the guidance counselor again today to talk about the issues and focus on the “golden rule”. I told her that I appreciate their working with the girls, and we’ll certainly work on that at home as well, but that I’m past the teasing/name-calling concerns right now (even though, yes, it’s important to discuss the harm that can cause), and that I’m much more concerned with the physical violence and my concerns over the way things are escalating. And, again, reiterated that I don’t want Olivia involved with this other girl anymore. I again received another e-mail later in the day, from the guidance counselor. Basically, saying the same thing her teacher had. So, I pretty much responded with the same response I sent her teacher. I’m happy they’re dealing with it, and not just brushing it all under the rug, but, like I said, I just want them to put a little more concern than they seem to be on the violence. At the end of the day, I’m just happy that it was a successful day. I ended up working a little late today, trying to get as much done before I left for the weekend as possible. I picked Eliza up, and we settled in at home with the rest of the family. Christian had to work a little early, so he was off shortly after we arrived home. The girls and I watched some TV, had dinner, and hung out for the night. Olivia spent a lot of time playing with Eliza, and they were all running around, laughing, having a blast together, and eventually all snuggled up in Olivia’s bed and she was reading a book to them. I love nights like this – just complete perfectly. Eventually everybody was off to bed, and I was SO looking forward to the weekend.

School Pictures!!! Olivia, 1st Grade, Spring Picture

Amelia, Kindergarten, Spring Picture

On Friday, I let the girls sleep in a little. Christian arrived home, and hung out with Eliza while I dropped the big girls off at daycare. Christian was off to bed as soon as I got back home, and Eliza and I spent the day together. She’s so funny, I just love spending time with her. We ate, played with ALLLLLLLL of her toys…I did some laundry, picking up and caught up on Hulu. Just a standard, low-key day at home together. Eliza took a nice long nap, so I rested for a while. It was seriously a pretty perfect day. I picked the big girls up from school, and had to give them the unfortunate news that their BFF movie-night had been canceled (Bella’s mom had to work late). They were pretty bummed, but we watched some movies and spent the night hanging out together. Once the girls were in bed, Christian and I settled in to watch the movie “Focus”, which was actually pretty good, but Eliza woke up about halfway through screaming and yelling, refusing to go back to sleep. We tried sitting with her, and she wouldn’t go back down for anything. So, after the movie, I settled into bed with her, and she spent the night with me. It doesn’t happen too often, so I enjoyed our all-night cuddles.

On Saturday, we were up and at it. I cleaned up around the house a bit, an got breakfast going. After eating, and getting ready, I was off to swim class with the big girls, while Christian and Eliza hung out at home. I had decided to take the electronics away from the girls for the weekend…not for any specific reason, they just needed a break from them, so we spent some time watching movies together and hanging out. They kept bugging us to go somewhere and do something, so Christian finally gave in and told them they were leaving soon for an overnight at Grandma Mary’s house. Sure enough, maybe an hour later, she called to tell me that she wasn’t feeling well, and had to cancel the overnight. So, again, I had to tell them that they’re plans had been canceled. Poor things. There are two reasons that I NEVER tell them what we’re doing/what our plans are. 1) They’ll drive you insane wondering “is it time yet?” “are we leaving soon?” “can we go yet?”; and 2) I don’t have a ton of faith in other people keeping our plans, and I hate disappointing the girls. After telling them two days in a row that their plans had fallen through, I felt terrible. So, I quick hopped in the shower, got ready, and loaded the big girls into the can for a little girl’s day out. We went to an indoor play area for a couple of hours (I had some free passes), and then we stopped into Davanni’s for dinner (all while Christian hung out at home with Eliza). It was nice to get out of the house for a while, even though the girls still drive each other crazy, whether at home or away! We settled back in at home, and the girls played pretty well for the night, and entertained Eliza. Christian’s friend, Lorenzo, stopped over to watch the UFC fight, and I painted our “gender reveal” balloon box for Monday. Two more days, I can’t believe we’ll know what little baby Duran is!!! The girls ended up going to bed pretty late, so it was a complete mystery what the morning would bring…

Play Time!

Dinner Time!

Sunday was another lazy kind of a day. The girls did indeed sleep in a little bit, thankfully, so it was nice to get some extra rest. I was actually feeling pretty motivated for a change, so I took advantage and got right to work on chores around the house. The girls helped me clean up their room, and then I got our room and the bathroom cleaned up. I got the dishwasher unloaded, and loaded back up, cleaned up the kitchen, and worked on laundry throughout the day. I even actually got ALL of the clothes put away and everything – bonus! We watched some movies throughout the day, and hung out…the girls played outside for quite a while – the beautiful weather is making an appearance again, and it’s amazing!! Olivia made some rainbow loom bracelets for everybody and it was just a perfect Sunday around the house with the family. Eliza refused to take a nap, but eventually fell asleep sitting with Christian on the couch. He delated putting her down, but it was getting pretty late and I told him that he shouldn’t, or she’d be up way too late. Of course, he didn’t listen, he put her down, she napped for quite a while, and was indeed up way too late. UGH!!! We had takeout for a late dinner, and I watched “The Walking Dead” on the computer while the girls watched some shows before bed. I finally showered, and got Eliza down for bed. I was so, so, SOOOO tired from the busy day around the house, but SO excited for tomorrow’s anatomy scan…making sure everything is looking OK, and seeing what this little hitchhiker is finally. I weight myself today out of curiosity, and at just over 20 weeks, I’m actually still down the 7ish pounds that I lost early on! I’m seriously hoping to keep my weight gain very minimal, or preferably non-existent, this pregnancy, so hopefully I can keep it up. I guess it’s one bonus to the sickness and lack of appetite!

Our reveal box is ready to go. TOMORROW!!!

Until Next Week! XOXO

2016 - Week 9

Week 9 was as pretty standard week. Work, chaos at home, usual stuff around the house. I did have my latest baby appointment, otherwise nothing too exciting.

On Monday, we were up and at it. For a change, Christian actually got u and helped get the girls ready and loaded up in the van. Maybe all of my nagging is finally paying off!!! However, it didn’t stop the girls from driving me absolutely crazy. They were just a completely mess, fighting about everything all morning, not listening and I was SOOOO stressed out. I felt so overwhelmed once I got them, and Eliza, dropped off that I just had to do a little crying before getting to work. Ugh, it was just a rough morning. A little later in the morning, I had somebody ask me how far along I am, and then comment how I “sure don’t look that far along”, which pretty much turned the day around for me. I’ve NEVER been told anything like that before…I usually have people asking me if I’m due “any day now” like 3 months before my due date. Yay, happy dance! Before leaving work for the day, I ended up agreeing to take on some extra contracts, to help out another office that is a little overwhelmed right now. I was a little annoyed, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to be a team player once in a while, LOL. After work, I picked Eliza up, and she was being so funny. She is suddenly obsessed with wearing slippers, so I guess she was wearing some around at my in-laws ALL DAY long. She was playing with her kitchen when I arrived to pick her up, so she had me settle in right away for a little picnic before we left. She’s getting so big, you guys!!! Christian ended up taking the night off, so he was able to come to gymnastics with us and help out tonight. I wasn’t feeling too hot, so it was a huge relief to have some help. Eliza was putting on a little show all night, dancing around, stopping to visit with random people. I think she may end up being quite a bit more outgoing than the other two are. We picked up dinner on the way home, and the girls were right off to bed. Christian and I watched “The Walking Dead” and I took my evening shower before heading to bed myself. Amelia had a funny today that I had to share. She has a habit of sneaking off in school and taking naps still. Her teacher is usually fine with it, and I think finds it pretty funny. Today when I asked her about her day, she mentioned that she took a nap, so I just laughed a little. I asked her when she takes her naps and she said “Well, it was ‘choice’ time, so I took a nap!”. I’m pretty sure napping is not one of the choices, but kudos to her. LOL.

Happy 100th Day of School!

Tuesday morning was pretty much a repeat of yesterday. Christian actually helped get the girls up and ready, AGAIN. Two days in a row, this is just insane! I received a call in the morning, letting me know that my OB had called in sick and I had to reschedule. So, I got sucked into a way too long phone call, because I had to let them know I’m not really “allowed” to cancel appointments, because of my blood pressure monitoring. And, that I needed some lab work done today (something that HAD to be done this week). They finally found somebody that could “squeeze” me in, a little later than my original appointment, so that was a relief. The appointment ended up going really well. My blood pressure was actually fairly normal, which was a relief, I was measuring well and the heartrate was good (even though it took a while to find, because the baby seems to hate it, LOL). And, I actually really liked the OB that I ended up seeing...so much so that I ended up scheduling the rest of my appointments with her for this pregnancy! Hopefully nothing changes, because it feels good to finally have that decision made! She recommended that I pick up some Magnesium for my headaches, which I had never heard before, so that was also quite helpful. I stopped into the lab after my appointment for a blood draw (to test for spina bifida, which came back negative) and was finally off. I picked Eliza up from daycare, and we had dinner as soon as we arrived home. The rest of the night was pretty quiet…Christian was off to work, and  I made him have the girls start doing their reading as soon as they get home (otherwise they get too crabby to do it before bed), so that saves me a task. So, we just watched some TV, the girls played downstairs for a while, they took baths and we all got ready for bed. Showering at night has been going really well for me…it seems to help relax me before bed, and it saves me a lot of time in the morning. It also allows me to actually do something with my hair, which is a nice bonus.

Such a little ham!

Even though I’m not super behind on my blog, Wednesday is a complete loss for me, for some reason. I know that everybody was off to work, school and daycare, as appropriate…and nothing too major happened, so I guess it was just a pretty standard day…

Took my weekly photo today. Oy! 18 Weeks 5 Days!

Thursday was a much different story. I had a really rough morning, and ended up throwing up from brushing my teeth. I ended up calling in, and decided to work from home today. I wasn’t feeling too bad, but I was pretty drained, and looked like complete crap (the blood vessels in my face burst when I throw up), so it was much more comfortable to be at home. So, I got the girls up and ready, dropped off at daycare, and then settled in at home. I actually got a TON of work done too, caught up on a lot of new contracts that I needed to get going, so it ended up working out for the best in that regard. Christian picked the big girls up from school, and then settled back into bed for a while, while they did their reading and I finished working. I picked Eliza up a little later than usual, and Christian was off to work early, so the girls and I just had a light dinner and quiet night at home.

Friday, FINALLY!!! Theses full weeks are for the birds! Everybody was up and off for the day…I dropped the big girls off at daycare, Eliza off at my mom’s, and settled into work. The day really flew by, getting everything routed from being home yesterday, and finishing out the week. Eliza took a late nap, so she was still asleep when I arrived to pick her up. So, my mom and I chatted for a while, waiting for her to wake up. As soon as we arrived home, Christian was off to his “Holiday Party” for work, so it was just the girls and I for the night. And I had BIIIIIIG plans of bingeing “Fuller House” all night long. Amelia decided to cuddle up and watch with me, and it was so fun watching her laugh and get into it…watching my kid love something that I loved so much growing up was pretty amazing. Meanwhile Olivia acted like a teenager, shutting herself in her room by herself, and Eliza ran around like a mad woman all night. We took a brief break to run and grab some dinner, and then Olivia actually joined our binge-session, until bed. I was so determined to watch the entire season tonight, but after 10 episodes, I could not keep my eyes open anymore. Off to bed I went…SO CLOSE!

Watching some Fuller House with my BFF

Saturday was a pretty busy day. I got right to work when I woke up, cleaning up the kitchen, working on the dishes and cleaning up around the house. I whipped up breakfast, and then helped get the girls ready and off to swim class. After class, we stopped into Target quick, all while we were gone, Christian showered and got him and Eliza ready for the day. Then, we were all off to lunch with my mom, for her birthday, at Applebee’s. I wasn’t really feeling sick, but I had no appetite and  nothing sounded good at all. I ate a little bit, and boxed the rest up to bring home. After lunch, we made our way back home, and we were having such AMAZING weather. The girls played outside pretty much all evening…they rode the rollercoaster and their scooters, climbed the tree, did lots of cartwheels and ran around like crazy. We’re having a one-day warm up, and definitely had to take advantage. I eventually had to head back inside, feeing just completely drained and exhausted. I finished up “Fuller House”, and watched some TV while I relaxed. Christian’s friend Lorenzo stopped over to hang out, and they did some grilling. I forced down some dinner, which was probably a mistake, because then my stomach was turning all night long. This pregnancy is seriously killing me. Once it was dark out, the girls finally settled inside for the night – and Eliza was NOT happy about it, at all. They ended up staying up pretty late, watching some movies and playing, and I wasn’t far behind them once they were finally off to bed. I can’t wait to feel human again one day!

Some outside play time.

Practicing her flip into a bridge.

Birthday lunch with Grandma Mary

On Sunday, I was determined to be productive. Eliza ended up sleeping in, so I hopped right in the shower as soon as the big girls were up. I made breakfast, got everybody fed, finished getting ready, and Olivia and I were off to run some errands. And, we had a snow-globe snowstorm join us. So crazy, 58 record high yesterday, cold, windy and snowing today – bi-polar weather!!! First up, we stopped to buy an Ergo baby carrier from a facebook sale group seller. One more thing checked off of the list!! Next, we stopped at PetSmart to finally get Rico some food (he’s on a special prescription food, since his “incident” a couple years ago). We ran into one of the girls’ teachers there and Olivia thought it was about the coolest thing ever! It was so cute watching her interact with her teacher. Finally, we were off to Target. We had to get a lot of stuff for the house…food, treats and litter for the animals, wipes, paper plates…all that random stuff you don’t need super often. We picked up a few groceries for the week and I found another piece for our “organization wall” that I’m working on (a letter/mail holder”. I can’t wait to actually get started on it one of these days….We finally settled in back at home and had some lunch. I ended up waiting way too much, and just felt terrible the rest of the day. My eyes were way bigger than my stomach, and I paid the price. I have Eliza a bath after lunch and put her down for a nap, and Christian and the big girls were off to visit with his parents for a while. I’ve been bingeing the latest season of “Devious Maids” all weekend (well, since finishing up “Fuller House” – seriously, I’m such an exciting person!) and I finished that up today. I got a couple loads of laundry done, and hung out with Eliza after her nap. Christian and the big girls were pretty late getting home, so we pretty much just did reading, homework and they were off to bed. I watched “The Walking Dead” and was right off to bed myself. I can’t believe another week is over already, time seriously goes by WAY too fast!!!

Breakfast of Champions

Shopping in the Snowglobe with Olivia

Until Next Week! XOXO

2016 - Week 8

Week 8, under our belts. But, between a Holiday and my Flex Day, it was a super short week, I’m FINALLY feeling better (illness wise, NOT pregnancy wise), and we overall had a pretty quiet week – which I always welcome.

Monday was President’s Day, so I was off of work, and the girls were off school. Since the big girls had their overnight at my in-laws last night, we were down to one kid for most of the day. While things were quieter and there was a lot less fighting going on around the house, I’m pretty sure that, somehow, Eliza is more of a handful when she’s on her own, than she is when they’re around. Maybe because she needs constant entertainment, which is a lot easier to divide amongst several people, than taking on all on your own. We had some breakfast, did some cleaning around the house, and I worked on finishing and folding laundry. I made a quick Target run, while Eliza fought her nap and drove Christian crazy. She finally went down when I arrived home, so Christian slept for a while before heading to work for the night, so I just had some quiet “me time”. The big girls were dropped off mid-afternoon, so we watched some movies together while the others finished their napping. Once Eliza was up, we had a snack, got ready for gymnastics, and the girls and I were off for the night; while Christian got ready for work. We received the girls’ gymnastics photos tonight (I just ordered a magnet, to add to our softball and soccer collections) and they actually included a copy of Eliza’s funny picture. It seriously made my night (and cracked me up!); it was so sweet of them to print it off. After class, we got into our jammies, had a late dinner, and the girls were off to bed. I caught up on some Hulu, got the girls’ outfits for the week put together, and did some final cleaning around the house before settling into bed. It was a late night, but I felt quite accomplished.

Gymnastics Photos - including Eliza's, LOL

On Tuesday, it was back to reality. Work, school – everybody was up and at it. At least, for me, I was heading into a 3-day work week, and a pretty quiet one at that. I did get the girls signed up for softball today, which I’m pretty excited about. So far, they haven’t seemed SUPER into it (except Olivia, when she’s playing “pitcher” and gets the ball a lot). I figure we’ll see how this season goes, and then I’ll leave it up to them if they want to continue. I really want them to get a few seasons in to really learn the game, and see if they like it or not, but I don’t want to force them to play something they don’t want to. I’m sure hoping at least one of them loves it, because that is MY sport. LOVE softball!! I’m so excited that they’ll be on the same team this year though, it will make life so much easier, especially being SUPER pregnant by the end of the season. After work, I picked Eliza up, and we settled in at home with the rest of the family. We hung out, watched some TV< had dinner. The usual. Christian was off to work, so the girls and I did their reading and played for a little while before they were off to bed. Eliza was SOOOOOOOO crabby tonight, and I had to put her to bed crying, which I hate. Luckily, she passed out really fast; I think she was just really overtired. My poor baby! I ended up heading to bed pretty early myself…I took some Tylenol PM for my dang headache, and I think it kicked in faster than I expected.

On Wednesday, we were up, at it and out the door for another day. And, BONUS, I was actually on time for work!!! That seriously never happens. I had a nuisance headache all day, that just kept getting worse, so that was a major pain to deal with, especially working on the computer all day. I did leave early to pick Amelia and Olivia up from school, and head to Amelia last dentist appointment. 4 more fillings, and thankfully they were all pretty small again, so we were in and out. $350.00 later, we’re FINALLY done. UGH!! I am so glad she did so well with them though, and hopefully we can now keep up with our flossing and evening routine to avoid going through this again. We’ve been doing really well, so we just need to keep it up! After the appointment, I dropped the big girls off at home, and rested for a little while before heading back out to pick Eliza, and some dinner, up. I just could not cool tonight, feeling so crappy. We had another pretty early night after Christian left for work…reading, off to bed, and I passed out pretty early again myself.

17 Week 5 Days to be Exact

Dentist Fun...

On Thursday I woke up with a really terrible headache. I’m pretty prone to headaches in general, but it’s one of my major pregnancy “symptoms”. It doesn’t help that ever since I got sick, the only pop that I like, Diet Mountain Dew, tastes absolutely terrible to me, so I’m  not really getting any caffeine (I don’t drink coffee or tea). So, I think the lack of caffeine is playing a big role right now. I ended up calling in late to work, so that I could take some medicine and rest for a little while, before finally showering and getting everybody up and ready. I dropped the girls off, and settled in for a busy day of work. Short week, heading into a long weekend, so there was a lot to get done before leaving for the day. I picked Eliza up after work and had a perfect, quiet night. The girls watched some videos, we had dinner and did reading, and everybody went off to bed, no argument. Eliza has had quite a crabby streak suddenly, so it was nice to have a happier night around the house.

Friday was my day off…seriously, a 3-day work week every week would be perfection! I let the girls sleep in a little, before getting them ready for the day. Christian arrived home from work, and stayed with Eliza while I dropped the big girls off at daycare. Christian was off to bed for the day, while Eliza and I had some breakfast, played the day away, caught up on some Hulu. Love my quiet days at home! While Eliza napped, I did a little cleaning, showered and got ready for the day. I was finally off to pick the big girls up from school, while Christian showered and got ready, and got Eliza up from her nap and ready to go. We were all off to meet my Dad and Stepmom for dinner. For a change, I was actually feeling pretty good, and HUNGRY, so it was perfect timing. We had a great time catching up and laughing, the girls had so much fun telling them all kinds of stories, and Amelia challenged my dad to about 150 games of tic-tac-toe. Ha. It was a perfect little outing. After dinner, we made our way back home for the night. We watched some movies with the girls, and had a little dance party before bed, and then Christian and I watched “The Martian” before calling it a night.

We had a marathon picnic today. I just love this little one.

Doing some Netflixing. Those cheeks though.

On Saturday we had a pretty lazy day. We had a quiet morning, watching some TV and eating breakfast. The big girls and I were off to swum class…where we found out that Olivia actually passed her level, already! She’s moving up to Intermediate 2! After this, she’ll be in the advanced classes and REALLY learning a ton. So proud of my little fish. Amelia has mastered ½ of her Beginner 2 skills…she mainly has to work on endurance (which was Olivia’s big issue for a while) and keeping her face in the water. She’s getting there!! When we arrived home, I was shocked to find that Christian had actually done some cleaning and picking up while we were away…I love him, but seriously ya’ll, I could’ve passed out from the shock. By the time we had lunch and Eliza went down for a nap, I had a MAJOR, tear inducing headache kick-in. I took some medicine, grabbed some ice packs, and passed out on the couch for a while. I started feeling a little better after a couple hours of laying around, but oh man, that one knocked me out! Once I was up and showered and feeling a little better, we went out for a late dinner. After settling back in at home, Christian was off to help Lorenzo with his car (it wouldn’t start), and the girls started falling asleep on the couch, so I got them settled into bed, and watched a little Hulu. After my napping, I wasn’t super tired, so I was up a little later than expected. Well, “late” like a real adult I guess.

We don't usually let the girls play on the phone when we're to eat. But with my headache/exhaustion, and Eliza's craziness, we gave in tonight. Look at these two, they crack me up.

Sunday was another pretty lazy day around the house. We watched some movies with the girls, had breakfast, and then got to work on our chores. Laundry, cleaned up the entry, got the kitchen pretty much all cleaned up (it’s been quite a giant mess for a long time now, it was WAY overdue) and had some lunch before sending Eliza down for a nice long nap. Christian took the big girls over to his parents’ for a visit, and to fix their TV (again), so I watched some shows and finished registering the big girls for the summer Y program. AHHHHH, I decided that it was time to transition them out of KinderCare (both because of their age, and financial reasons), so starting with the summer program, they’ll be doing it through the Y. Change is always so hard, but it will be so much more fun, and age appropriate, for them, I know they’ll love it. And it will save us a ton of money (especially because I want to keep them in part-time after the baby comes, so they can still have fun and get out of the house regularly). After summer, they’ll be doing the before-school program through them, right at their school, which will also save us a ton of money (but, it means two drop-off’s, every day, before work – which will be a pain). Christian fried up some taquitos for dinner once they were home, while I finished up laundry. The big girls were at each other’s throats all evening long, I made them do their homework and reading a little early, and they were off to bed as soon as we finished dinner. UGH, one of those nights where you just don’t know how you’ll survive. Plus, we missed “The Walking Dead”, which just makes me that much more annoyed. LOL. I ended up taking a shower before bed – I’m going to try to do this from now one, to hopefully save me some time in the morning. We’ll see though.

A little throwback...these two had their first day at KinderCare 4 years ago. So crazy.

Until Next Week! XOXO