Projects Update - July

Finishing Nola's Baby Book
I have about 2 pages that aren't complete... and they most likely never will be. So I'm going to say FINISHED! on this one.

Crocheting a Blanket for Molly
I have about 4 rows to go and then some tails to tuck in... that's a Sooooo Almost Finished!

Creating Human Life
My due date is 15 days away! I better be Almost Finished! Will go on no longer than 27 days from now (c-section planned for 28th if no labor)

Starting Roses from Clippings
Ends look truly disgusting... and I think it's time to put the suckers in some dirt and see what they do.... no visible roots popping out but the tops are still alive and kicking in the window sill. So we will give this one an In Progress still.

Growing Vegetables
Well - my planter box has been very much neglected since I entered my 8th or 9th month of pregnancy...I have still collected some green beans and one pepper... but it's so hot out that I just don't go check on them all that much. I did pull out some plants to give the others a chance to grow larger... I planted the rejects in an abandoned pot along my driveway and have done even more than nothing to them... well, they look 100 times better than the ones in my planter box. I guess they are shaded more or something... Maybe next year I will have the luxury of an in ground garden or just not be pregnant in the heat of the summer! Either way, this one is still In Progress.

Selling My House
No news on this front - it's about to come to a close for a while when I have the baby but until we actually sell, it will be In Progress ... Unless we decide to bunk up the little ones, give up on the sale and just stay here longer to save hassle and money.... you never know!

Buying a Bigger House
Really - this one Hasn't Started Yet.

365 Project
I think I am on 46 out of 365... that's about 12% complete. So this one also gets an In Progress

Learning About my Camera
This has been labeled, In Progress, but seeing as that learning is an ongoing thing I think I need to relabel it as OnGoing.

Being 'Greener'
Also better known as OnGoing. We have been very conscious of saving on water and electricity and while my electric is on budget billing I can still tell we've used less... and our water bill was about $20 cheaper than last time... so that's progress. And I think I will join a wholesale club after that baby comes. If anything it will allow me to stock up and save on gas going to the store... and hopefully money. Still in the process of getting rid of all current cleaners before making my own.

Paying Off Debt
We are about 3 months into my 3 year plan... and so far so good. I'm keeping track of all the debt that's being paid off... and it's definitely decreasing! And we are about ready to get rid of another credit card! We will have only one left for emergencies (which always come up). And pretty soon we will start aggressively paying off Kirk's car early. So this one deserves a very proud In Progress!

Regular Sized

So I went for my ultrasound today and they estimate the baby to be 7 pounds. I think I remember that they grow about 1/2 a pound a week at this point, so I think I'm still in good shape to have a VBAC. As long as we don't go too far past...

I just need to start jumping up and down and eating spicy foods and all the other crap they say is supposed to make you go into labor but probably doesn't really work. It's just personal torcher since none of it is comfortable or fun... Now if they said eating lots of ice cream and chocolate would jump start labor, sign me up! Or maybe sleeping all day.... or watching chic flicks.... but no, I have to move around and eat things that will give me heartburn....

If this kid is like the last one then he's got no plans of exiting anytime soon. Which sucks cause I'm ready. Not to have a kid quite yet, but to not be pregnant. I think I may be just a bit in denial about the actual child coming home with us from the hospital... if I think to much about that part, I may have a panic attack! Yeah, really. Just thinking of no sleep at all for the next month... oh crap - I have to stop now or I will convince the baby never to come out!

Ok - well - that's my tale to tell today.....

The Situation

Ok, here's the situation... my parents went away on a week's vacation and, they left the keys to the brand new Porsche... Wait! Wait! Wait! I'm not the Fresh Prince!


Ok, here's the situation... I have to have another ultrasound. My OB thinks that the baby might be pretty big. Well... I knew that. Funny how he was measuring small and now he's measuring big. But either way, we will find out his weight on Wednesday. Then we can proceed with a new plan of action. If he is super big then my OB really doesn't want to let me go 2 weeks past my due date (which I agree with since I'm really uncomfortable already).

If we decide that a C-Section is what's going to happen then I can schedule one as soon as Monday (that would be 7 days from NOW!) But - that's jumping the gun a little bit. We will wait and see what he weighs and then go from there.

Too Much to Do!

Ok - so here is a breakdown of what's the haps for the next few weeks:

7/26 - Brunch/Playdate at a friend's mom's house who's in town
7/27 - Lunch/Visit with my cousin at my sister's who's in town
7/28 - Doctor appointment @ 11.15am
7/31 - Shopping for a wedding gift for a friend
8/01 - Brother & Sister-in-Law in town, spending whole day w/them
8/02 - Wedding for a friend (afternoon and evening)
8/03 - Going to pick up Nola from overnight babysitter (Grandma's house)
8/04 - Doctor appointment @ 9:45am
8/10 - Babyshower-ish Lunch w/Mom & Aunt
8/11 - Doctor appointment @ 9:45am
8/16 - Due Date!
8/18 - Doctor appointment @10:45am
8/19 - Brother-in-Law's birthday
8/20 - Kirk's birthday! and cousin-in-law's birthday
8/27 - Niece's 3rd birthday
8/28 - C-section scheduled if no baby has come by then

Boy am I tired! And through it all I still have to go through old boxes of baby stuff and get things ready for Logan's arrival... I have to shop for some things I will need. I have to keep up on housework (not that anyone has inquired about the house lately) but the laundry is calling my name from the basement! The bills have to be paid and the meals have to be cooked.... And the kid has to be read to and colored with and sang to... and bathed and dressed. Diapers are never ending and toys are ever cluttering. I can only sleep now for an hour at a time before pee or pain wakes me up and orders me to move. My feet swell now if I'm on them, or they aren't up, every hour or so.... And Little Lego is still up to his antics of seeing how hard he has to punch or kick me in order for me to double over or pee myself. (I have yet to pee myself - just for the record.)

Pregnancy is a miraculous, wonderful, joyous, splendid thing that I wouldn't change for the world... but when you're nine months in with a toddler and a husband who works 60+ hours a week and your house is for sale... none of those words come to mind... Cuss words come to mind. Very colorful, four-letter, top of your lungs, glorious cuss words.

On that note...
FUCK!

Important Dates!

July 27th - SHARK WEEK begins!
(3 days to go)
Kirk is so excited! He loves Shark Week.

August 8th - THE OLYMPICS start!
(15 days and counting...)
I'm looking forward to being at home this year for the Olympics - first time since college that I can over-indulge myself in sporting events that I normally could care less about... yes, I'm one of those. I've already taught Nola how to jump up, put her arms in the air and say, "Stick it!" That's gymnastics for you losers out there who don't love gymnastics.

Spider Spider

Spider, Spider, on thee wall...

Ain't you got no friends at all?

Don't you know the walls been plastered?

Get off the wall you stupid...

Spider.

This is a poem the was recited to my in junior high school by Mark Bertalino. Mark, if you're out there, I still remember this poem somehow... maybe because you said it to me every day

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I was sitting on the couch today during nap time, nine months pregnant with my feet propped up on a pillow on the ottoman. I was covered in the blanket that I'm currently crocheting for my future niece, and all the balls of yarn and whatnot. The TV was on but I was just glancing at it from time to time since I was crocheting. Out of the corner of my eye I thought I say something move across my floor. Since I have a 1 1/2 year old, it could have been anything from trash to crumbs to fuzz that she picked off of her stuffed animals... But I didn't actually see anything so I just went back about my business.

About 15 min later I saw the same type of movement again and pushed the blanket aside to look over my legs onto the floor. Let's just say that heeby jeebies don't quite cover it.... A large, brown, long legged spider was scurrying across the hardwood. He wasn't going too fast so I made every effort to get up as quick as possible so I could squish him. Feet up, giant belly and covered in yard... I had no chance in hell of catching him. But he stopped. So up I got and went straight for a shoe on the floor. As soon as I got close he went right under the computer cabinet. Well, there's no bending over for me, especially not to look a creepy spider in the eyes! So he's a free man.

But he was the same color as my hardwood. And he's loose. And that was the 2nd movement I saw (so are there 2 of them? possibly making hundreds of spider babies as I type this?) And I'm on the computer that is in the cabinet he ran underneath.... Shit - I'm gonna get bit by a giant spider.

Random Thoughts

Oh Sophia! Estelle Getty died today - she was 84. Hard to believe since it seemed like she was 84 in the 80's. The Golden Girls was a college favorite. Crocheting and watching Blanch, Dorothy, Rose... and Sophia. Yes - my college years were out of control! But Sophia (Estelle) will be missed.
...and the card attached would say: Thank you for being a friend!

**************************************************
There is a commercial for Kashi, the one with the man who says he hates health food but looks for healthy things for Kashi...

If you haven't seen it, keep your eye out. If you have seen it, take a second look. I swear Whoopi Goldberg is shopping in the background at one of the food stands where the guy is trying out some strange food. If it's not her, then that person should hop a plane to the US and start a new career as a look-a-like!

That's all. Random.

New Due Date

So I went to the doctor today only to find out that my due date was changed about 4 months ago and they NEVER TOLD ME! I'm due a week earlier than I thought! Which is what I originally told them, but they changed it based on ultrasound measurements.... but I was actually right! Go figure that a person knows when they did and did not have sex in order to get pregnant!


So I only have 3 weeks to go, not 4. And I have a c-section tentatively scheduled for the week of August 25th - 28th. It should be finalized by the end of the day. Hopefully I will go into labor before that and won't have to worry about a c-section at all. But August 28th is the end of the road no matter what happens.


I thought my due date was August 15th.
They changed it to August 23rd.
Now it's back to August 16th.
And I will have a baby by the 28th!


In other news - I bought Logan a Baby Book yesterday. It's really cute. Here is a picture of Kirk and Nola reading through it... it's empty by the way, but she insisted.

36 Weeks Along

Well - Not too much going on here - just getting more and more pregnant. I think I've started 'nesting'... although I think that's a weird term, seeing as that I'm NOT a bird! I'm just doing what needs to be done. I have today's check list ready to go - Kirk is off work to help. I've cleared out a drawer in our bedroom (since that's where little Logo will be staying for a while - in our room, not the drawer) and have started to fill it up. I have to go through the boxes in the basement to find all the things we packed away to save after Nola was finished with them. And then find somewhere out of the way to store them. Lot's to do!

My biggest anxiety generator right now is what will we do with our kid while we go have another kid. Both Grandmas work so I can't expect them to take off work for the duration of our hospital stay. Everyone works, really. And we have no idea when it will be... Oh! I worry just thinking about it! My mom can do it but she wants to actually BE THERE when the baby is born - and I agree.... while pushing a human being from my body I just might need my mommy! But it looks like she's the only one who can commit to taking Nola overnight.... so if we have the baby during the day - I think we're okay. If it's overnight, my mom just won't be there. ooohhh stresss.

So this is my 36th week - that's 9 months folks! I think I'm getting a little freaked out! I made Kirk sit on the couch with me last night and keep his hand on my belly. He doesn't like this at all, it really freaks him out to feel the baby move. But I told him he had to 'experience pregnancy' for at least an hour. It was funny - his hand kept drifting away and I'd put it back. He would jerk his arm when Logan would really move and shutter a little bit.
He said, "Honey, it's just so weird that there a human being moving inside you..."
"Yep, " I said... "at least you can move your hand and walk away.... Try having all this movement when you're trying to do things like... walk!"

Well - I'm off to start my checklist.... wish me luck.

The Dangerous Plastic Bag

I was sent this today via email and thought I would share.
Please watch it.

Plastic Bag Slideshow

And pass it on....

Shopping Without Money & My Uterus

How's that for a post title?

My Uterus: I had a doctor's appointment today. I sat in the waiting room for almost an hour, then witnessed my doctor yelling at nurses to give her some patients to see instead of leaving them all in the waiting room while she had nothing to do... that was funny. Almost worth the wait.
My blood pressure is just fine, I didn't gain any weight and my belly is measuring on time again. After complaining about how bad I feel and how hard it is to do things, she replied exactly how I knew she would, " Yeah - that's sucks, but you are pregnant..." I guess there isn't really a lot to do about being uncomfortable except for having the baby.... just a few more weeks or so...

Shopping Without Money: I found a great hobby. After going to a bridal shower for a friend of mine several weeks ago and shopping for a gift off of her registry I realized what a great job she did. She registered for all kinds of great things... It made me want to go back in time and re-do my own wedding registry. Put a few more practical things on it, as well as a few more splurge items. Mine was kind of middle of the road. It also made me want to re-do my kitchen and a few other spots in my home.

After a few weeks of random thoughts of what I would like to improve about my household items I just did it! I went online to www.bedbathandbeyond.com and made a registry. I called it a House Warming Registry since we are eventually moving to a new house. And I set the event date for 2014 so I can keep it going. But it was really fun. I shopped online all night! I picked out cookware, kitchen gadgets, some new small appliances, etc. And I had fun and spent 0! dollars. But, so it wasn't a complete waste of time, I actually chose items I want to eventually purchase. So it is essentially a running list of what I want.

Now, when my birthday or Christmas, or any other gift giving occasion rolls around and people ask me what do you want? I can refer them to my registry or just give them a list of what's left on it. I think I will also make a registry a few other places. This way, when I'm stuck at home with no money and two kids I can still go shopping.... for free! It will at least get that urge to go buy something out.

So if you're broke like me, or stuck at home like me... or just like to shop - I think starting a registry online is a great way to pass he time. It fun and free. And who knows, maybe someday you will be able to fulfill all the items!

Mid Month Musings

So it's almost the middle of the month - which means I have about a month or so to go until I am a mother of 2... Well - as much trouble as this little one is giving me I think it counts already.

I have been feeling so bad the past few days. I am in constant discomfort, if not pain. Logan is flip flopping his way around my body, making sure to hit every vital organ along the way (mainly my stomach - which make my nauseous, and my bladder - which makes me have to pee constantly). I have a hard time walking, I just feel so much pressure, as if he were make of lead. I have trouble bending over, there are no functional ab muscles left. This makes it hard to function as a mother, or a person for that matter. And I literally can't walk from one end of the house to another without loosing my breath and feeling dizzy (and I have a small house). Maybe the dates are wrong and I am going to pop out this kid any time now... who knows.

Since I have never gone into labor before I have no idea what to compare my new crappy feelings to. (I went overdue and was induced last time, and ended up with a c-section.) The doctors have told me that since I am attempting a VBAC this time I will essentially be going through another 'first labor' which is always harder than subsequent labors.... yeah - glad to hear it doc!

In other news - I did find it within myself to file! I have been avoiding filing bills and paperwork by putting them all away in the file cabinet in a file labeled, "To Be Filed". Handy isn't it? Well - it's been almost a year so I felt the need to tackle the filing monster.... and I am 95% done. Just a few more things to look through and then away things go into the file cabinet, but in the proper places!

I have ordered all the pictures for Nola's baby book. I got a deal from SnapFish for 50 pictures for fifty cents. Couldn't pass that up - and it was on my list of things to do anyway. Also, I ordered pictures to keep her photo album up to date as well.... Grand total - $4.09!

Now I just need to start making plans for when Logan arrives - I've started a little, but I need a real plan... and some diapers to fit a little bitty booty!

We had a terrible rain storm yesterday but when it was over there was a rainbow for about 5 min - so I snapped a few shots. Here they are, plus a few more from my front yard yesterday (that's about as 'out' as I get these days).

Big Dorks on the Lawn


My Hosta plants about to bloom


The Rainbow....



Ok - well - it's time for me to take a nap... Have a super fun weekend everyone - do something fun for me (I won't be leaving the house!)

"Bump" in the Night

I was asleep by 10:30 last night. Pretty normal for me. I was awake again by 12:30 to pee... also pretty normal. Kirk wasn't home from work yet, the house was still quiet and dark and there were no piles of his stuff all over. So I went back to sleep.

I heard him come in around 1am or so. He eventually went downstairs. He had a NetFlix movie I knew he was going to watch. I barely woke up for this, and was asleep again quickly.

I was awake again around 3am to pee again (yeah - being pregnant RULES!) The house was quiet and dark upstairs and so back to bed I went. I had my eyes closed and was drifting back off to sleep when that familiar Windows noise rang through out the living room. You know, the noise your computer (if you run on Windows) makes when you turn it on or off... the sing songy "Da Daa Da Daaaa." My eyes popped open. My computer is in my living room and no one else was.... right? So I layed there and watched as the colored screens lit up the house. Eventually it stopped and I guess the computer just restarted for no reason. Either way, it scared the crap out of me - but not enough to make me get out of bed... I went back to sleep.

Of course I was up again at 5am to pee - Go bladder Go! What actually woke me up this time was that my hip and leg were numb. This has been happening lately while I sleep. I don't get it - you're supposed to sleep on your left side when you're pregnant (which I do about 1/3 of the time, the right is just more comfortable). But now, every time I sleep on my left side my hip hurts and my leg starts to go numb. I've been feeling heavier down low lately - maybe the baby is dropping. His head may be pushing on a nerve or something. I just roll over (which is no easy thing anymore!) and go back to sleep.

Then at 6:30am I hear the tweet and twitter of Kirk's cell phone alarm clock. He's trying to get up to go to his morning Aikido class... which usually results in us waking up and him sleeping through the noise! SO I picked up the house phone (which I keep by the bed these days just in case) and called his cell phone, "Wake up, quick - Don't wake the baby!" So he got up and made all kinds of noise (why can't men be quiet?). Nola woke up and started her normal gibber jabber as he walked out the door, of course. She goes through her list of who she knows and where they are...

Papa, Ai-Keedo!
Mama - Aikeedo, NO!
Mama - Night Night, uhh huhh!
Cee-Cee, Bye bye!
Salison, Cee-cee's House!
Maw Maw, Bye Bye!

Eventually she starts in with either 'Mama, Are You?' (which means where are you and come get me), or 'Seee Mama!' (which means I want to see mama now, come get me). We were up by 7am. Not too bad, except that she was up late last night and I was hoping for a 7:30 or 8 o'clock get up time.

So there were lots of 'bumps' in the night around here! How did you sleep?


This is what she insisted we do to her hair this morning....

Fireworks Display

Well - we had a toddler friendly Independence Day celebration at my sister's house. Kirk and I went out and bought some cheap crappy fireworks for the kids to watch, and the bigger kids (Kirk & Scott) to play with. We started out grillin up some grub.
Kirk and Nola doing their thing (dressed alike thanks to him):


After we ate the girls waited patiently for the show to begin


Nola played with an unlit sparkler


Allyson posed for a portrait


The show started out with 'black worms' and a hen that 'layed eggs'... both were a little lame if you ask me.



The crowd waited through the smoke in anticipation...


And then the colored smoke bombs started. The girls were yelling out the colors and then saying goodbye to them as they burned out, "Bye Bye Purple!"


And the Grand Finale - sparklers, poppers and flares. Some of the pictures looked like we were just setting the house on fire, others looked like a welding project...


And the evening ended with Allyson's very first sparkler on her own...


Happy Birthday America!

It's Official! I'm OLD!

Well, yesterday was the Fourth of July! Independence Day. I celebrated an Independence of my own. I think I am now totally free and independent of any youth I may have had left!

First of all, I didn't do anything at all to celebrate the holiday. I put Nola to bed by 8 (her normal time) and just hoped that she would sleep through the fireworks that were to start around nine. She woke up around 10pm. Which is fine, there were lots of pops and booms and cracks near our home.... I held her a while and we talked about how the fireworks had to make loud noises so they could make pretty colors in the sky. She looked at them but didn't care, she was sleepy. So off to be she went around 10:30 with instructions to tell any future fireworks, "Boo!" and "Shhh - Quiet!" She went right to sleep. So did I.

Around 11:45 I woke up because it sounded like my house was under attack. There are 2 houses down the street from me that are rentals... I have no idea who lives in which one, but there are a lot of kids over there all the time. Between the ages of 16 and 25... I have no idea - they're younger than me. They were setting off any and all kinds of fireworks you can buy. And it was continuous. I waited until about midnight and then looked up our local Police Department's phone number. Nola had woken up twice, not calling out for me, just waking up and then going back to bed... and Logan (the unborn one) was freaking out! He was jerking and turning and kicking... all because of the noise. So I called the Police. They said they would send over a car - and they did - and the noise mostly stopped.

So that's it! I'm old. I called the cops on some kids for being too loud past midnight! Oh my goodness! And while, on the one hand, it feels really crappy to be the tattle tale... on the other hand I feel like "Ha! You little assholes - be quiet!" Either way - I'm officially old.

Bummies, Noonels & Wice

Just wanted to add a little bit about my little cutie today. It seems like she's picking up new words every day but I have to say my favorites are Bummies, Noonels and Wice.

Bummy is for bunny, which we usually see out the window every morning and evening eating the grass in our front yard. When Nola and I sit each morning having our 'night night milk' and coffee (yes, she calls her morning milk her night night milk, as well as the milk she has before bedtime), we always see a bummy or two having 'bites' in the yard. And she usually says, "Hi Bummy! Hop hop hop bummy! See bummy Mama?"

Noonels started as macaroni or spaghetti (any noodles really). Then she would say 'noonels' whenever I was cooking anything. And when I would cook rice I would tell her it was 'rice, not noodles'. So she started saying 'wice!' BUT, when I would cook Rice R Roni, which has both in it, I would tell her it was Noonels AND Rice.... So now she always says "Noonels an Wice!"

And she's started doing the strangest thing lately. She has been perfecting her climbing skills and now scales the side of my computer chair while I'm on the computer, hanging on and eventually standing on the arm.... very dangerous! But once she makes it to the top (with me holding on to her of course) she looks at me and cocks her head to the side and with a sly grin says, "Noonels an Wice!" And she giggles.... Why? I have absolutely NO IDEA! Maybe one time when she was on the arm of the chair I asked her what she wanted for lunch.... But it always makes me crack up and give her a kiss when she says that so I'm sure that's why it keeps going.... it's just so off the wall....

So to all of you having a bad day, just think of a goofy toddler climbing up the side of the chair you're sitting in and randomly telling you, "Noonels an Wice!" and squealing her head off.... it should at least make you smile.....

Ode to Seagal (aka Kirk's trip)

So Kirk is now home from California. He had a lot of fun and spent a lot of time training with Seagal and his fellow Aikido people. They actually had their classes at Seagal's house, out on the lawn. He said it was really neat. Of course he didn't take any pictures of him, he said it was because the only time they were with Seagal, they were training. I guess you can't do Aikido with a camera strapped to your neck? I would have tried! BUT - they did take some group photos which we don't have back yet. And one of Kirk's group took pictures that she promised to send to everyone at some point. (So hopefully there will be pictures to some)


Basically they arrived on Friday, trained until late and went out to eat at a $27 buffet! Woke up Saturday and trained, broke for lunch and then trained some more. Sunday they had black belt testing (Kirk is not to that level yet) and then went to Venice Beach. That night they went to Denny's to party it up and say goodbye... until next week when they all show up in class together.... and apparently Denny's was more like a bar than a restaurant, it served alcohol and had video games. Then he flew home.

This is what I learned about Steven Seagal:
1. He really does speak fluent Japanese
2. He really does still do Aikido, and is good at it
3. He has recently become an 8th Dan - not 7th, like you will see on the Internet (which just means he's an even better black belt)
4. He talks really gruffly and does some sort of grunt thing
5. He's really a nice guy
6. He has records out there - as in singing and playing guitar - umm... yep.


So now Kirk's home, back with a few souvenirs and a suntan. He bought Nola a cute T-shirt with Disney characters on it that says Los Angeles:




And apparently when he jumped into the ocean at Venice Beach he stepped back out into 1993 to buy a souvenir for himself.... To your amazement and my own they still make these things... and Kirk bought one. I don't think he will ever leave the 90's!




I told him it should be illegal to own and operate such a garment... and Photoshop will agree with me!

What's New with Your Face?

Well - what's new with mine is that I got new glasses yesterday! Finally! It's been WAY TOO LONG. The pair I was wearing had scratch marks on them from when our dog (who we no longer even own) was a puppy. Yeah - that's old. At least 3 1/2 years. They had broken several times and be fixed. Been bent and twisted by Nola... and were stretched out so far... I didn't stray too far from what I'm used to, but I did get something a little different.

My choices were narrowed down to the ones I chose and another pair that looked almost exactly like the ones I've had for so long..... Here is the comparison:



And.....


And I also ordered contacts so that I don't have to wear glasses at all anymore if I don't want to.... I've been out of contacts for almost a year too.... I'm cheap and lazy if you're wondering why.....