Simple.

Today I am thankful for Netflix. :)

Full of Thanks

I know that I already had one day of thankfulness for my Brian, but my thankfulness of him deserves more than just one mention. More than just one day.

Because of his job and willingness to support us, I am able to stay home with Kinsley. Before she was born, he and I had talked about how much time we would both take off and had settled on 12 weeks. That would take us to the beginning of the school year. Then she was born. And for the five months that she has been here, she's been away from me exactly 2 times. Once when I went to Giant alone and once when Brian took her to Giant. Needless to say, I've yet to return to work. :) And that is because of my rock. I will return to work in January (which is coming WAY too fast!), but my working is a temporary thing. Brian has a great job and provided we keep saving as much as possible and his raises and bonuses continue, I'll stop working once we have baby #2. Eeeee :)

Without him, I would be lost. And heart broken. And so much more stressed.

So thank you, sweetheart, for everything you do and for everything you've always done for us!

Happy Veterans Day!

Today (and everyday!) I am thankful for this man. Jerald Edgar Ely, my dear sweet grandpa. Grandpa was in the Navy during World War II and has such wonderful stories to tell. He is brave and sweet and wonderful. He is now 92 years old and has gone through a lot in the last year. 

I am so thankful for the time I have with him <3 p="p"> 

Playing catch-up...

Mission to blog more and on time: FAIL


Now it's time to catch up on my thankfulness :)

November 3rd: I am thankful for my in-laws. Even if we don't always see eye-to-eye they are wonderful and I know they would do anything for us :)

November 4th: I am so thankful for both my health and the health of my family. Kinsley had a nasty cold, which was stressful enough, I cannot imagine how tough a real health concern could be! Even with the struggles my family has had/is having, we are generally a healthy bunch. :)

November 5th: I am lucky enough to have two amazing grandparents.  They are great influences on all of us and they are wonderful parents to their six children and wonderful grandparents to their 19 grandchildren AND all their great-grandchildren! I miss my Adams grandparents all the time, but that makes me treasure the Ely ones all the more. :) I'm also so thankful that Kinsley has four wonderful grandparents :)

November 6th: Happy Election Day! Of course I am thankful for my right to vote, but I am also thankful that all my friends (even the ones who are WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG) have the right to voice their opinions on the election :)

November 7th: Thankful that the correct candidate won :) And I'm excited to see what the next four years bring.

November 8th: Although it might sound repetitive, I am very thankful for my family, both immediate and extended. And especially for my sister-in-law, Cheylyn, who rode to Reading and back with me on Tuesday so I could vote!

November 9th: I am thankful that I could sleep in every morning this week!

November 10th: One of the aspects of my life that I am most thankful for is my dear, sweet, tiny, loveable baby Kinsley Charlotte. She is the cutest, tiniest, sweetest baybee I have ever met and I love her with all my heart and soul. I am so thankful that Brian and I were blessed with such a great baby. She has always been such a joy and so easy. I don't know what I ever did without her :)

Second day of thanks

Today I am thankful for my wonderful parents.  Kinsley and I are spending two weeks with my family while Brian is in St. Louis.  I had forgotten how much I love spending time with my family, specifically my Little Mom and Dad.

Growing up we always had everything we needed. Did I recognize it at the time? Definitely not! But now that I'm a mom myself I realize how hard my parents have always worked for us.  They gave up so much of their time and things they may have wanted so Lana, Raymond, Emily and I could have things we wanted or needed. 

Thank you so much for all you do and have done, Little Parents!

A Month of Thanks

Happy November! :) Trying to kill two birds with one stone here, blogging more and doing the whole month of thanks thing.

Today I am thankful for my wonderful husband. Since Kinsley was born, Brian has stepped up in every aspect. He's a champion at putting her to sleep, changing diapers (when they're not TOO bad) and supporting me.  If it weren't for his great new job I wouldn't have been able to spend this time with Kinsley. He is also an amazing best friend and support in every other aspect of our lives. 

Love you sweetheart!

Our growing girl

My original plan for weekly pictures was to do what they've done at Young House Love.  But neither Brian nor I are especially good with the camera or PhotoShop. :) For now this is what you get.  Hopefully someday we'll edit them, etc, but they're cute for now.  Enjoy!

 June 13th, one week. Pants compliments of Gwen.

June 20th, two weeks. Ducky pants from Aunt Lana.

June 27th, three weeks. More compliments of Gwen pants :)

     

July 4th, four weeks.  Happy 4th of July!

July 11th, five weeks.  Such a sleepy girl!

Hey, guess what! I HAD A BABY!

Yeah that whole pregnancy thing got in the way of me updating... about my pregnancy. So here's a mini-rundown of how it all went.

• 99.999% of the time, I enjoyed being pregnant.  The heartburn only got bad at the very end. I felt great, I looked great (if I do say so myself) and my pregnancy was textbook perfect. (Just like my little baybee <3) I think I only gained about 25 pounds. I stopped weighing myself and paying attention when they weighed me at the office.  I felt amazing so I wasn't going to get myself down :)

Yeah, I got kinda huge. But still cute :)

  

• The biggest issue I had was the killer yeast infection I got the very last weekend I was pregnant.  We didn't discover what the real problem was until the night before the sweetness was born.  Which meant there wasn't anything they could/would do until after the c-section.  There was much suffering and little sleep the night of the 5th but I didn't think I'd sleep that night anyway.
   



Here I am looking especially lovely, thanks to the yeast infection pain and the contractions and lack of sleep. Isn't my husband sexy in his scrubs?!

• The c-section went super well.  Brian watched the.whole.damn.thing. Shocking, I know.  I thought for sure he would just stay by my head, blood and guts and all that but he did a great job.  And let me tell you, spinal anesthesia = the most AMAZING thing in the world! My anesthesiologist was the best.  He talked me through the whole thing and offered me any and every drug I wanted. :) And the best thing about the c-section?



Kinsley Charlotte Aldrich
7 pounds 6 ounces
18 3/4 inches long
Born at 12:58, Wednesday June 6th, 2012

• She is wonderful and perfect and makes me want to stay up all night watching her sleep.  She sleeps, well, like a baby. :) In the cliche sense.  As in if we don't wake her up, she will sleep for anywhere from 3 to 5 hours at a time.
   
   
• Everyone loves her and we've had a ton of visitors...

• The only problem? She is jaundiced.  Like pretty significantly.  Not so bad that she had to be readmitted to the hospital, but bad enough that she has had to be on a bili-blanket the last two days. Basically my baby is a glo-worm.  But she is the cutest glo-worm in the world <3 Brian and I are both a little sleep deprived.  We have been getting up to feed her every two hours to nurse and change her diapers.  The best way to get rid of jaundice is to nurse like crazy and keep her on the bili-blanket.  The only problem is that the blanket makes nursing harder because there's a huge tube coming off her side.

I can't figure out how to flip this picture. Deal with it.

• I've been pumping so Brian can feed Kinsley with the bottle because it's easier for her to drink from a bottle and it's good bonding time for my baby and her daddy. He has been wonderful and supportive and I couldn't do this without him.  He has had this week off and it's been great having him at home.  Next week should be interesting since the beeblet and I will be on our own.

I love love love love LOVE being her mommy <3 And I can't believe she's already a week old!

Pictures :)

From the front....

Honestly, I don't think that I look that pregnant.



Until I turn to the side...

Hello baby! :) Like I said, up 18 pounds (so far) some days it looks it, other days not so much. :)

Baybee Update :)

In list form...

• My ankles have started to swell. :sigh: But only in the heat and/or if I'm on my feet for a long time.  Or I haven't had enough water.  But it's only my ankles, my fingers have been perfectly fine. Rings still fit perfectly fine :)
• My baby shower was amazing :) We got lots of great stuff and are well on our way to being prepared for this baby to get here in SEVEN WEEKS!!!
• We've found a dresser for FREEEEE! It's the dresser that both Lana and I used, in turn, at home. There's a mirror to be mounted above it which will be a lovely distraction for the beeblet.
• We went to Ikea on Saturday and found a ton of awesome stuff.  We walked out with just a dresser (for our bedroom) and a bookshelf for the living room. 
• New Furniture Plan
• Billy the Bookshelf will be moving to the left of the television.
• The table that is currently next to the TV will be moving next to the desk.
• The bookshelf that is currently next to the desk will be moving to the RIGHT of the TV.
• The cube thing that is next to the TV will be moving to the baby's room for clothes, toys, blankets, towels, etc
• One foof chair will move to the baby's room (perfect for time outs, when we get to that point) and one will stay in the living room.  Probably next to our new buddy Billy.
• Baby is kicking up a storm!  Starting last week he/she learned that it's fun to flip and kick and dance all day long :) We're pretty quiet at night though. THANK GOODNESS!
• My blood pressure is still FAN-TASTIC.   Like 117/70.  (Normal is 120/80) And I've only gained 18 pounds.  Woo hoo! Dr. Lamade said things couldn't be going more smoothly :) MAJOR sigh of relief.
• I am SO sick and tired of people asking me what I'm going to do if I go into labor.  Simple answer: Brian and I will jump in the car and drive like hell to get to Williamsport.  Yes, I know I'm taking a risk by driving 2 hours to the hospital.  Yes, it is a risk I'm willing to take.  I am confident that if Dr. Lamade thinks I shouldn't be far from the hospital we'll move in with the Killians. I am having the baby at 38 weeks, not 40 so the risk of going into labor is reduced.  Yes, I know there's still a risk. Please stop asking.
• UPDATED LIST.. WOOT!
• Find a cute shower invitation
• Send out said invites for March 24th
• Create and carry out a menu for the shower
• Pick out a crib for baby to sleep in
• Assemble the crib
• Realize that the crib should not be assembled in OUR bedroom, but instead in the second bedroom. The baby won't sleep in it right away anyway and will sleep in the pack n' play in our room.
• Clean out the second bedroom--I feel like this will never be finished!
• Reassemble the crib in the baby's room/guest room
• Find a dresser/changing table for the baby--there's been some progress on this one. My parents have a huge dresser we could have. The only problem is that the dresses is lower than I'd like (we're aiming for around counter height) and we don't have an easy way to get it from the parents' garage in Susquehanna County to our second floor apartment in Berks County! Progress is progress though, right?
• Write a letter to the school board requesting FMLA for next school year--turned this in today!! SOOO exciting!
• Clean/reorganize my classroom so my sub can find things!--I will not be attending the 8th grade field trip to Baltimore this year :( so that day will be perfect for organizing/cleaning my room. My desk drawers (5 out of 6) have already been reorgainzed, now it's just on to the last drawer, my two filing cabinets and the (dreaded) closet!
• Attend my baby shower on March 24th BEFORE the risk of being put on travel restriction
• Buy any other "must haves" before the tiny one shows up--including (but not limited to):
• pack n' play for the bebe to sleep in 
• milker pump so when I go back to work in December/January the tiny one can still eat :)
• crib mattress 
• waterproof EVERYTHINGS! Crib sheets, pack n' play sheets, changing pads... 
• bathtub, so my baby isn't stinky 
• covers for the mombo and boppy 
• seat covers for the Equinox. Beige interior + baby messiness = unhappy daddy :) 
• sling! I already have a Moby, but Emily loved her sling so I'm going to try that too. 
• Clothes to wear while I'm in the hospital and for the trip home. 
• Nursing tops/easy in-out tops. 
• One super cute, super girly outfit and one super cute, super manly outfit for when we come home 
• Paint the baby's room <3 I think we're going to go with a light green like the border of the blanket from Amanda and Steve. That or yellow... or light blue... :) I'm HOPING Frank and Cathy can help with this next weekend.
• Pack a hospital bag. I'd like to get this done, or at least a good start on it, soon. I'm only FORTY-NINE days from C-Day and paranoid that this baby will want to be early. OR that something will be found at an appointment and I'll be put on bed rest. 
• 3-Hour Glucose Tolerence Test. Failed the 1-hour one, wah wah wah :( But only by a few points. So during Spring Break next week (WOOT!) I'll be spending one day with Dr. Lamade and one day at the lab here. If two of your three blood draws are high, you're official GD.  Only one of mine was high. So I passed, woot!
• Enjoy some just-the-two-of-us time with the hubsters. Other than cleaning/orgainizing time! This doesn't have to be JUST the two of us time either, I just mean couple-y time. Know what I mean? No, get your mind out of the gutter, not THAT kind of couple-y time! ;) 
• SLEEEEEEP! The third trimester funk has hit me and it's a struggle to not nap during the day.

Did I mention...

we have a solid date scheduled for my c-section? Well we do :)

We talked to Dr. Lamade about end of pregnancy stuff such as the fact that I cannot attend the 8th grade field trip to Baltimore and having bi-weekly and then weekly appointments.  As we were leaving he said, "oh, we need to schedule this thing!" hehe.. love that man.  He wasn't sure that the June schedule would be up yet, but said if it was we would put my name on the books and he'd start his side of the paperwork. 

Sure enough, the schedule was there so he asked us how June 6th sounded.  GASP. Umm... good? We immediately said yes even though we were a bit conflicted. 

+ The last student day is June 5th which means that I'll miss the last in-service day (shucks..)
+ I'll get a minimum of 12 weeks of "sick time" which means I won't have to go in over the summer at all
+ Frank's birthday is the 4th, Abriauna's is the 5th, and this baybee could be the 6th :)
+ Because I'll be just over 38 weeks there is (hopefully) less of a chance I'll go into labor

- 12 weeks of sick time will only get me to August 29th, so I'll have to take more unpaid leave than I wanted
- My original due date was June 21st.  If we use that date, June 6th would make me less than 38 weeks.  Is that too early?
- Wednesday's child is full of woe

And since the positives outweigh the negatives, we are set for June 6th (6-6-12) at 7:00 AM.  :) Being first for the operating room that day = lowered chance of getting bumped.

That means that we have 9 weeks and 5 days until this baby arrives <3 I cannot believe how time has flown!

To Do List Update

Things I Need to Get Done Before The Baybee Comes...

 

• Find a cute shower invitation
• Send out said invites for March 24th
• Create and carry out a menu for the shower
• Pick out a crib for baby to sleep in
• Assemble the crib
• Realize that the crib should not be assembled in OUR bedroom, but instead in the second bedroom. The baby won't sleep in it right away anyway and will sleep in the pack n' play in our room.
• Clean out the second bedroom--I feel like this will never be finished!
• Reassemble the crib in the baby's room/guest room
• Find a dresser/changing table for the baby--there's been some progress on this one.  My parents have a huge dresser we could have.  The only problem is that the dresses is lower than I'd like (we're aiming for around counter height) and we don't have an easy way to get it from the parents' garage in Susquehanna County to our second floor apartment in Berks County! Progress is progress though, right?
• Write a letter to the school board requesting FMLA for next school year--turned this in today!! SOOO exciting!
• Clean/reorganize my classroom so my sub can find things!--I will not be attending the 8th grade field trip to Baltimore this year :( so that day will be perfect for organizing/cleaning my room.
• Attend my baby shower on March 24th BEFORE the risk of being put on travel restriction
• Buy any other "must haves" before the tiny one shows up--including (but not limited to):
• pack n' play for the bebe to sleep in
• milker pump so when I go back to work in December/January the tiny one can still eat :)
• crib mattress
• waterproof EVERYTHINGS! Crib sheets, pack n' play sheets, changing pads...
• bathtub, so my baby isn't stinky
• covers for the mombo and boppy
• seat covers for the Equinox.  Beige interior + baby messiness = unhappy daddy :)
• sling! Something like this. I already have a Moby, but Emily loved her sling so I'm going to try that too.
• Clothes to wear while I'm in the hospital and for the trip home. 
• Nursing tops/easy in-out tops.
• One super cute, super girly outfit and one super cute, super manly outfit for when we come home
• Paint the baby's room <3 I think we're going to go with a light green like the border of this blanket. That or yellow... or light blue... :)
• Pack a hospital bag.  I'd like to get this done, or at least a good start on it, soon.  I'm only 69 days from C-Day and paranoid that this baby will want to be early. OR that something will be found at an appointment and I'll be put on bed rest.
• 3-Hour Glucose Tolerence Test. Failed the 1-hour one, wah wah wah :( But only by a few points. So during Spring Break next week (WOOT!) I'll be spending one day with Dr. Lamade and one day at the lab here.
• Enjoy some just-the-two-of-us time with the hubsters.  Other than cleaning/orgainizing time! I think we'll hit the Farmers' Market this weekend.  Soon (when he can walk again!) I think we'll start taking walks together too.  This doesn't have to be JUST the two of us time either, I just mean couple-y time. Know what I mean? No, get your mind out of the gutter, not THAT kind of couple-y time! ;)
• SLEEEEEEP! The third trimester funk has hit me and it's a struggle to not nap during the day.  In fact, my eyes are getting heavy now. 

Why did I think this list was going to get smaller?? Like I said though, 69 days to go! Can't wait to meet this little person who has learned to dance in my belly!

 

Twenty six down, thirteen (ish?) to go!

Twenty-six weeks = 182 days = holy crap! We have officially reached twenty-six weeks and have (at MOST) thirteen weeks (or 91 days) to go.  Again, thanks to the c-section thing the baby will come at or before 39 weeks.  I think that Dr. Lamade can do the surgery as early as 38 weeks without prior insurance approval or without it being an emergency.  That means, boys and girls, this baby could be born as early as JUNE 5TH!! That's the last day of school so technically we could make that work.  Dr. Lamade did move our estimated due date up to June 19th. 

How big is baby: According to The Bump, the baby is now the size of a head of lettuce! Hopefully not that shape though... that would make any delivery difficult! :) We're now in the 13.6- to 14.8-inch and 1.5- to 2.5-pound range and getting bigger all the time. According to most sites, baby's eyes are open and looking around now.  Quite the view, huh? We also have eyelashes <3 all the better to bat at daddy so we get everything we want :)

Weight gain/loss: Not really sure what the number is, but I've definitely gained weight now.  Dr. Lamade even made a comment about it last Thursday when we saw him.  He said something along the lines of, "oh I see we've gained the weight this month that we didn't gain last month".  Umm... thanks? :( I thought I had been doing well before.   

Stretch marks: Oh yeah, and they're dark. Luckily I can't see them since they're on my lower stomach, but Brian tells me they're growing nicely too.

Maternity clothes: Sarah, Emily and I hit Motherhood Maternity this weekend and found around $150 worth of cute maternity-ness for me.  Including this dress...

which I'm wearing today. <3 It's supposed to be into the 70s today so I thought today was the day to break out the pretty dresses.  I did opt for tights under it though because it's a bit short and I don't want to scare any of my students :)

I also got cute skinny maternity jeans (oxymoron?) and t-shirts from Old Navy.  I'm wearing maternity exclusively now with one or two non-maternity shirts thrown in there.  Cardigans are my saviors though.  I'm definitely a whole lot warmer around the clock now so I usually start the day with long sleeves and end it with t-shirts or tanks. 

Sleep: Depends on the night... I'm definitely not comfortable all night on my back anymore so I've been waking up a lot to roll back over onto my left side.  On nights when I don't roll to my back, I sleep very well.  That doesn't happen much though! The other exciting thing is that the baby wakes me up now, but more on that later :)

Food cravings or aversions: SOY SAUCE! YUCK!! I cannot stand the mere thought of soy sauce/teryaki sauce right now which is a shame because I used to love it so much.  Not sure if this is my body telling me I've had too much sodium or what, but I cannot stomach soy sauce anymore.  The other food I've eliminated is cheesesteaks.  :( Sad :( They definitely make me sick now.  Brian and I had minute steaks last Wednesday and I was still feeling the ill effects at the end of the day on Thursday. 

Movement: OH MY GAWD, do we have movement! There was one night last week where I swear the baby was doing cartwheels at 3 am.  It woke me from a sound sleep and I could not get back to sleep for hours! I realize I'm only 26 weeks and that I have plenty of kicking, punching, dancing to go but I have to say I have loved every kick, punch and two-step this baby has preformed.  There's nothing like sitting in class and feeling my little baby performing their own little ballet, oblivious to the rest of the world. 

What I miss: Right now, nothing. <3 I love being pregnant and would be willing to give up anything for this :)

Misc: My baby shower is quickly approaching! I cannot wait to get all the baby gifts into his/her room and start getting things set for the arrival! The crib is already here and put together (in the wrong room, but it is assembled!) and I have some clothes and toys.  Nothing big yet. :) I can't wait to see our whole extended family and to continue preparing our lives for this little one!! <3

OH, and Aunt Sarah got to feel the baby kick last night! She's the first (other than Brian and me) to get to feel kicks. Very exciting!!

Two successful recipes!!

Over the last week I've made both the Beef Stew and Veggie Beef soup from our adventure in Cooking Once a Month.  Both were DELICIOUS and definitely repeatable.  Since we were so impressed with both, I'm combining our reactions.

Meals: Beef Stew and Veggie Beef Soup
Roselyn's Rating (based on a scale of "Licking Out the Crock Pot" to "Pitching the Whole Damn Thing"): Pretty darn close to Licking Out the Crock Pot for the stew.  We served it over egg noodles and it was divine! The soup was very good as well and it will definitely last more than 2 meals.
Brian's Rating (based on a scale of "Licking Out the Crock Pot" to "Pitching the Whole Damn Thing"): When we had the stew, I believe B said something along the lines of 'this is one recipe I'll look forward to having again'. And considering the fact that it had peppers AND onions, that's saying something! Last night when the soup was on the menu, he was equally impressed but I expected that since it's just plain ol' veggie soup with some ground beef thrown in.

General Reactions: SOOOOOOO good! I had the stew as leftovers twice since the original evening and will probably have it again tonight.  Both B and I took the soup for lunch today.  I thought it was equally as good today as last night, and we'll see what B says later!

What I'd Change for Next Time: I think both recipes needed a little more salt and pepper.  It was easy enough to add them bowl by bowl so I probably wouldn't add more to the baggies pre-freeze. 
 
 
We still have the Healthy Barbeque Chicken and the Roast and another bag of each of the recipes I've done.  So far the idea of only cooking once in a while seems to be going really well.  My bank account is liking it too because we haven't had to do major shopping since our big shopping day!

Crockpot dinner, 1st attempt...

Meal: Teriyaki Chicken

Roselyn's Rating (based on a scale of "Licking Out the Crock Pot" to "Pitching the Whole Damn Thing"): Meh, could be worse! The other bag will get made but probably not until all the others are gone.  My reaction could most likely be attributed to the fact that any soy sauce based dish has sounded good to me before it's cooked and then sounds, smells and tastes disgusting to me once it's cooked.

Brian's Rating (based on a scale of "Licking Out the Crock Pot" to "Pitching the Whole Damn Thing"): Definitely better than expected!

General Reactions: The apartment smelled amazing as soon as we came home.  The new crock pot Brian bought me for Christmas worked very well.  Since it has a timer on it, I was able to turn it on before I left for work and it switched to Warm after 8 hours.  I'm wondering if maybe that could have been a contributing factor to my not enjoying dinner as much.  It's possible that everything had cooked for too long.  Which I suppose is better than not cooked enough :)

What I'd Change for Next Time: Because I do love teriyaki so much, I'm willing to try this again. (Especially if I make it AFTER the baby is born :) I think he/she is not a fan of Chinese/Japanese food!)

Next time I think I would save this one for a day when I'm going to be home earlier or leave later so the crock pot on for a total of nine and a half hours.  I know that having it change from Low to Warm means that it's not cooking at the same rate, but it has to be still cooking that whole time. 

I'd also like to try adding some more seasoning to it.  I think it needed more ginger and less soy sauce flavor. And maybe some garlic? Or I should say MORE garlic, there was some in there but not enough.

Next time I think I'll try cutting the chicken into smaller pieces before freezing it OR shredding the chicken after it's cooked.  And since it's served over rice, I'd like to try thickening the sauce before serving it.  The sauce was really runny and definitely would have been better if it had some substance to it.

The other thing that could have stood in my way of enjoying dinner tonight was that we got rear ended on the way home.  There was no visible damage to the Scion but it still shook us both up.  The kid who hit us looked like he was going to cry and kept apologizing.  He really didn't hit us that hard.  Neither of our seatbelts locked up and the car didn't move at all really. Brian's going to take the car to the dealership first thing tomorrow morning and get it checked out to make sure we don't need to turn anything in to the insurance.  We're both really okay.  Honestly, if we hadn't heard the noise of him hitting us, we wouldn't have known (mostly). That being said, I'm glad I have an appointment with Dr. Lamade on Thursday.  I just need to hear the baby's heartbeat again to make me feel all better. :)

I should really learn NOT to read certain posts!

Let me just start out saying that I L-O-V-E, love being pregnant! Other than not being able to eat all I want because my stomach is getting squished by baybee and won't hold everything, I have no complaints :)

That being said, I really need to stop reading blogs/posts about moms who have lost their babies long after that first scary 12 week period.  I have been doing everything in my power to keep this baby healthy and baking until June but every little twinge scares me.  I don't want to spend the next 16ish weeks worrying, but that's easier said than done.  ::sigh::

Anyway... yesterday was my birthday! :) The big 2-9. Wow. :) I ate A LOT A LOT A LOT and paid for it with feeling uncomfortable all night, but it was worth it.  Sarah and I spent the better part of 5 hours doing this. We'll see how they turn out when we start cooking them this week! There was only one massive mess which was a combination of my not making sure the bag was sealed and a broken seal on one of the Teriyaki Chicken bags. But all's well that ends well, we got it all cleaned up and transferred to a new bag.

I also got free cake at The Hitching Post thanks to the owner George.  We've gotten to know him during our pre-Happy Hour visits and he was kind enough to surprise me after brunch :) And I can't forget the Sublime Cupcake run! B and I decided that I didn't need a whole cake (neither of us are big cake eaters) and didn't have room for an ice cream cake, so Sublime was my birthday treat this year.

Thursday I have another appointment with Dr. Lamade for the little tweeblet, so I'll write an update then on the important stuff :)

Boob giveaway!

Okay, they're not really giving away boobs... I've got enough of them! But I figured I'd enter to win this give away in hopes that I'm as lucky as Sarah!

One thing I need to get on with is finding suitable things to nurse in!  One of the women on the June board at the Bump had this posted so I thought I'd give it a chance.  You could always register and then give it to me if you win.... :) Help Roselyn keep the ladies covered!!

Updates and pictures and lists, oh my!

We have officially reached 22 weeks!

• How big is baby: Our little one is between 10.5 to 11.8 inches and weighs about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces, the size of a papaya <3 And officially big enough that the little tweeblet's movements are pretty obvious to me :)
   
• Weight gain/loss: Around 5 net pounds since November, which means I'm FINALLY starting to gain weight! (never thought I'd be cheering for weight gain...)
• Stretch marks: Just a few on the sides of my bump, nothing major.  :) And every little mark is more than welcome, that means the baby is growing!!
   
• Maternity clothes: Almost exculusively now... and I'm good with that.  I'd rather be comfy and cute than overflowing my clothes!
• Sleep: Meh... I get a solid four hours a night and then am restless for a few hours.  I'm sleeping mostly on my side now but I wake up occasionaly on my back.  Which makes my back hurt after a little bit. :( I think this is just my body preparing itself for when the tiny one arrives <3
•  Food cravings or aversions: None really... I eat what I'm hungry for and avoid what doesn't sound good to me.  The babe definitely likes sweets though! We got an email a few weeks ago about the baseball team selling Krispy Kreme donuts and as soon as I asked one of my kids if they were selling them the baby started jumping around like crazy!
• Movement: All over the place now!  It's mostly at the end of the day and early in the morning.  Sometimes I can feel 10 to 15 kicks, punches, jumps in a row and other times it's just a few here and there.  I cannot wait until B can feel the kicks too :)
   
• What I miss: Being able to take whatever cold/allergy meds I want!  We spent this past weekend cleaning out our bedroom to make room for the baby and the dust was unbearable!  I was okay while we were cleaning but Saturday night into Sunday I barely slept between 2 and 8.  Last night I took Benedryl and that seemed to help but I am not going to make taking it a habit.  I know it's safe occasionaly but I know how out of it I get when I take Benedryl, so what's it doing to the baby??
   
• Misc: I've (FINALLY) started having dreams about the baby! I've heard that if you dream about the sex of your baby you're most likely right. Both last night and Thursday night I dreamt about a sweet little baby girl with bright blue eyes and brown hair <3 Both B and I would be thrilled with a boy or a girl, but I FEEL like we're having a girl. Maybe it's wishful thinking (my sisters both just had girls in April and May last year, so if we have a girl we'll get lots of hand me downs!) or the fact that everyone in my family had a girl first, but I'm holding to this baby being a girl :)
• We haven't decided on a girl name yet but we've narrowed it down from 50 to 20  :) We've also narrowed the list of boy names down, but again no clear winner yet.

Sooo, since day 1 (or more like day 21) of this pregnancy I've been confused about my due date.  Based on my LMP, the due date would be June 19th.  Which just so happens to be our 3rd anniversary <3 Based on ovulation (thanks to my Clear Blue Easy Fertility Monitor-seriously if you want to get pregnant buy one of these) my due date would be June 26th.  According to our first appointment with the RN and Dr. Lamade the date would be June 21st.  HOWEVER whenever we have an ultrasound the date is back to the 19th! I think I'm going to stick with the 21st since (a) it's in the middle and (b) I'd rather be planning on meeting this little one at the end of the month and then SURPRISE we get to meet her him the sweetness earlier :)

Not that my due date really matters that much since this baby will be born via c-section. Thanks to my myomectomy (nasty fibroid removal) six years ago, Dr. Lamade thinks it's best if we avoid the risk of tearing and do the c-section.  Because we (especially Dr. Lamade) don't want for me to go into labor at all if possible, we'll schedule the section for a week to 10 days before 40 weeks.  I think Dr. Lamade is more antsy/excited for this baby than most people we know so he's itching (just as much as us!) for this baby to arrive.  When we saw him at the end of January he mentioned delivering the baby at the beginning of June! :) Now, if my EDD is June 19th, ten days early would be June 9th which is early June.  We have school until June 6th so if he wants to deliver before then I'll have to take sick days, which is FANTASTIC by me!! <3 I cannot believe that in less than 4 months I'll be a mommy!

My computer does not want to cooperate, so my plan to upload multiple pictures has fallen through :( But here's our most recent ultrasound!! :)

 My little thumb-sucker at 20 weeks :)

 

Things I Need to Get Done Before The Baybee Comes...

• Find a cute shower invitation
• Send out said invites for March 24th
• Create and carry out a menu for the shower
• Pick out a crib for baby to sleep in
• Assemble the crib
• Realize that the crib should not be assembled in OUR bedroom, but instead in the second bedroom.  The baby won't sleep in it right away anyway and will sleep in the pack n' play in our room.
• Clean out the second bedroom
• Reassemble the crib in the baby's room/guest room
• Find a dresser/changing table for the baby
• Write a letter to the school board requesting FMLA for next school year
• Clean/reorganize my classroom so my sub can find things!
• Attend my baby shower on March 24th BEFORE the risk of being put on travel restriction
• Buy any other "must haves" before the tiny one shows up

I'm sure there are a million other things I need to do, but that's all I've got for now!

 

The excitement got to me...

So I've had this delicious little secret from the majority of people for the last 18-ish weeks.  Well, it was a complete secret from all my my darling husband (and Katelyn) for 12-ish weeks and then from the majority of people until Christmas when we filled our families in on the news.

If you haven't guessed yet...

We're having a baby!! :) I wasn't going to make a big announcement to the world until after our 20 week appointment, but like I said, the excitement got to me :)

I'm 17 weeks, 5 days right now, but here's a better update...

• How big is baby: We're between the size of an onion and a sweet potato :) about 5.1 inches long and weighs about 5.9 ounces. The baby's rubbery cartilage is now turning to bone and gaining some fat there. 
• Weight gain/loss: At my last appointment (2 weeks ago) I was still down 2 pounds since I got pregnant. Our scale at home doesn't seem to be completely accurate, but I'm thinking I'm at 0 weight gain so far.  Looking at me though you would think I had gained 5 to 10 pounds all in one certain area. I just read on The Bump that by the 17th week I should have gained 5 to 10 pounds... I really don't think I've done that.  Although... I did lose 6 pounds between the start of my pregnancy and week 8 and then I've been slowly gaining. Hmm... maybe I have gained some weight!! 
• Stretch marks: No noticeable ones yet, but I do think I'm getting some on my stomach. HA! I wrote this before I had a chance to actually check for stretch marks and OH they are there! Nasty little things... I have some lovely red/pink ones on my stomach and something that looks like white um.. marbling on my sides. Yuck.
• Maternity clothes: I am COMPLETELY in all maternity pants now. I have yet to pack away all my non-maternity clothes because I'm still paranoid I'll need them. No work maternity shirts though.  As a teacher, I try to not wear clingy things anyway so my baggy shirts are working just fine right now.
• Sleep: I'm definitely less tired than I was a few weeks ago, but I could still go for a nap most days. I'm not really sleeping through the night most nights.  I usually get up at 1:30ish to pee and then I'm also awake somewhere between 3 and 4. This is an improvement over my going to bed at 8:30, waking up at 11, 1, 3, and 5 that I had going on before Christmas!
• Food cravings or aversions: Fruit, fruit and more fruit!! I went through a period (about week 5 to 10) where all I wanted was apples, and then until Christmas it was oranges, Clementines to be exact, but now it's strawberries <3 I eat around a quart of strawberries a day (which is hard on the wallet!!) and could probably eat more if I had the chance. I don't really have any aversions, I'm just not in the mood for some things.
• Movement: I don't know if it's movement or not, but at night when I lie on my back I feel... something in my belly. I sort of feels like it's getting tight and then relaxing. Not sure if it's my imagination or the baybee stretching or what but it's there most nights. :) Dr. Lamade (our god of an OBGYN) said not to worry about not feeling anything until 20 weeks so we still have a little time.
• What I miss: A few weeks ago it was alcohol, and then cold cuts.  Now I can't think of anything that I'm missing.  I could definitely go for some coffee occasionally but I can live without it.

Overall things are fantastic :) I'm not sick anymore.  Never really was, just a little nausous. I really don't think I look pregnant though, just fat.  I cannot wait until I get that cute little bump <3

I know, I know...

I have been incredibly lax about this whole blogging thing. The thing is the everyday stuff isn't exciting enough to note and the exciting stuff is too exciting to just throw out there! So here's the super quick, super glossing over the details update of the life of yours truly....

• Christmas was lovely, except for the fact that I had a tooth pulled and it hurt like a mother for days.  Still aches now. We did Christmas Eve with the Adams family and attending church with the Grube-lets. Christmas Day was with the in-laws. Then we drove from the parents' houses back to our cozy apartment for our own Christmas. Then BACK up again for Christmas at Grandma's and Christmas proper with my immediate family. And the tooth extraction fun-ness.  Where I almost passed out thanks to our buddy Codeine. Fun.
• New Years was also spent in the great north.  I did not see the ball drop. Again this year. This time it was a combination of my (recent-ish) exhaustion and the pain killers.
• The first week of 2012 was spent running around to appointments and such.  Including a semi emergency on the tooth front. And to Williamsport for check-ups. I don't think there was one whole day last week where we weren't traveling or contemplating travel.
• This past weekend we visited the Smiths and the Farm Show. Relaxing in the aspect that it's what we wanted to do, but not the same as staying in bed all day.
• And last, but certainly not least, we found out between Thanksgiving and Christmas that there will be not one but TWO Aldrich grandchildren in June of this year. :)

.... and we'll leave it at that <3 hehehe...