Happy Thanksgiving

It's Me Again...

I had forgotten how addicting blogging is.

We didn't do much today. I got up around 7:30, fed Baby T and got him back to sleep, then ate my normal oatmeal (helps with bfing) and then decided to lay back down with Baby T. I ended up falling back to sleep for about an hour. We finally got up, Baby T ate again and then I got him his bath and got him ready for the day. I cleaned some things up around the house and watched some tv. I normally don't get my shower until he takes his afternoon nap (unless we're going somewhere important). Today I waited because the only place we needed to go was to the grocery store and I don't consider that important.

Well, we planned on a quick shopping trip but ended up having to meet my parents at our usual "half way" meeting spot so that I could get my phone charger. I went to charge it before we left and realized I had left it at their house from being there this weekend. So, we ended up grocery shopping at Meijer. I wouldn't normally go there because I really don't care for that store, but it was close and my parents needed to get some stuff too, so we got to see them for a little longer.

Baby T was not a happy camper on the way home and pretty much screamed the whole way. He's been doing a lot better though and I'm pretty sure he was just tired and hungry. I got him home, fed him and he fell right to sleep.

Then I had all the groceries to put away and dinner to make. We had ham, broccoli with cheese sauce and mashed potatoes. We had chocolate cake for dessert but I was a good girl and didn't have any. Yet. The night's not over.

Well, I guess I should be getting some school work done before I have to feed Baby T again. OH yeah, I think I forgot to mention that I'm taking a class online. I'm going to get my certification for Medical Transcription. I'm gonna have to work now and I want to be able to still stay home and I do not want to go back to doing daycare, so... after much thought and research I decided to give it a try. I know a couple of people who do it and they make really good money at it. Let's hope I'm good at it.

Warning! These Pics Are Full Of Baby Cuteness

I JUST Put The Baby Down

Not really, but close. (You know, since I haven't updated this thing since May 21.) Yeah, I've been kinda busy. OH, that's right, I had a baby and...

Oh my gosh do I ever have the cutest baby in the whole world!! And yes, my babymoon has lasted longer than normal, but I'm SO in love! This little guy came into the world so easily and won everyone's hearts right away.

So... Tanner Aaron was born on June 2, 2009 at 1:06pm. He weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces and was 22 inches long. And his skin... OH MY GOODNESS his skin was absolutely perfect, his color was great and he was just the most alert thing!

My delivery was awesome!! No drugs other than an epidural. I was so close to a c-section because my contractions stopped, but then I sat up and BAM they started again. I guess Tanner figured if I was laying down and resting, he may as well rest too. He came out in 3 sets of pushes and I only had a few little stitches. The only thing that hurt was my back from the epidural, other than that, I was up and around as soon as I could get on my feet. SO different from my other 2 births. So there, who says having a baby at 36 is harder than at 20?!?!

We were in the hospital for 2 days and came home. I don't think I've stopped looking at him since.

Oh, and I'm breastfeeding and it's been easy and wonderful. He hasn't had a bottle yet and I don't plan on him getting one anytime soon.

I'm doing most vaccines but they're being spaced out so he's not getting too many at one time. So far I've decided on no flu shots and no chicken pox vaccine... I'm researching the rest to see what I could leave out. I do think vaccines are important but I want to do what's best for his little body.

He is SO long... he's got the longest little legs ever. We call him "froggy". And he LOVES water. LOVES his bath. LOVES to splash and kick his feet.

He also LOVES to be held and does NOT love to be put down. He also loves boobs but thankfully only for eating at this point. The boy loves to eat.

He is just now starting to like to ride in the car. I don't think it was the car ride, but the car seat. He's hated it from day one. Seriously, when we put him in it at the hospital, he screamed. It's just been in the last couple of weeks that he's actually starting to enjoy it. And let me tell you, when your parents live 45 minutes away and your child's father lives 45 minutes the other way, that pretty much meant you were going to listen to 45 minutes of screaming THERE and 45 minutes of screaming BACK. I'm SO thankful that is starting to get better.

He's a lover. LOVER LOVER LOVER. He loves to be loved and loves to love. He gives kisses already and it just makes your heart explode.

He's almost 16 weeks old and I've loved every minute of the last 16 weeks. And trust me, we hit some pretty rough rocks along the way, but we're good. We're all good. We're in God's hands. I think I may have needed to be reminded of that.

Well, my baby needs me... I love that he needs me!! Hopefully I can update more and I'll get T1 to post some pics (IF you think you can handle the cuteness!!).

Welcome T3... you're loved more than you'll ever know! And it was ALL worth it!

Another Update

We had another OB appointment yesterday. Just the normal belly check, weight check, and listening to the heartbeat. I didn't gain any weight over the last week. (Yay!), the heartbeat was great and I'm measuring right on schedule.

I took my list of a few questions and asked Dr. S about the whole "inducing" thing. They will not induce me because of me trying for another VBAC... so, I asked what would happen if I went over my due date and if that would mean an automatic c-section. He said that was a good question and they would probably induce but it would be watched very closely. My thinking is, if they are going to end up doing a c-section, I'll go early and get it over with. lol We also talked about Baby T's weight and that he'll most likely be big... well, that's when Dr. S decided it would be a good idea to do an ultrasound next week to get a better idea of how much Baby T weighs so we can decide what to do from there. I'm very excited about this because they will be using the 3D ultrasound and we will get an actual look at his little face.

OH MY GOSH, we are SO excited to see him!! :)

A friend of mine just had this done last week and she said she saw her baby clearly and she (the baby) looks just like her other daughter did. Hopefully I'll make it over to her house some time this weekend to see the pic of her. She said you can really see the baby good when they do it in 3D.

I can't wait!

We have all the baby clothes and blankets washed and I have all his things packed and ready for the hospital. Mr. R and I still have to pack our bag. T1 and T2 got the bassinet and bouncy seat put together last weekend. (Awwww... Baby T's big brothers are finally getting a little excited about him.) We got our Coach diaper bag ordered and are waiting for it to come in. Today we can clean out the daycare room and bring his new furniture over. We still need to put the car seat in the car, but that shouldn't be too hard. We still need to get a chair for my room and the mattress for his big crib, but other than that, I think we have everything pretty much bought and ready to go. I need to get a little bag of snacks and stuff together for the boys and make sure they have a bag packed of stuff to do at the hospital and we should be set.

After we got done at the doctor's yesterday we went over to Mr. R's house and worked! Well, I didn't work much but the boys helped him power wash the house and move things. He's getting ready to paint the outside of his house today and tomorrow.

His mom made us chicken n dumplings and brought it down right about the time we were ready to come back here for the night, so we took it and stopped at KFC for some side dishes to go along with it. We watched American Idol and had a YUMMY dinner. I can't believe Kris won! I was hoping he would but figured it would be Adam. I think a lot of people were surprised. I wanted Danny to win but I'm sure he'll end up doing something with his talent.

It's suppose to be in the mid-80's today... I sat out at Mr. R's house yesterday and got some sun so maybe I'll sit out for a little bit today too. I need some color!

Busy Busy

Only 3.5 weeks left (or less)... hopefully not more. They won't induce me since I'm trying for another VBAC so it's pretty much up to the baby to decide when he wants to come. I keep telling him that in a couple of weeks he can come on out and if he does, mommy and daddy will take him to the zoo. :)

We still don't have his furniture up, or my room cleaned out, or the mattress bought, or the chair bought, or his clothes washed, or our hospital bag packed, or his middle name picked out, or... or... or... I just haven't had the energy and Mr. R has been really busy with his own stuff to do, so hopefully this will be the weekend that things get done.

I'm pretty sure we have time though... I had my 36 week check at the OB yesterday and my cervix hasn't done anything. So, basically I'm still closed up like Fort Knox. The doctor said the head was down and will hopefully stay that way, so that was good. I had a cervical exam and Strep B test. The doctor said I could have some bleeding from the exam but I didn't. I gained 4 pounds since I had been there 2 weeks ago, so that's only 2 pounds a week. I guess that's ok. We had the OB appointment at 3:00 and had to be way over on the other side of Indy by 5:00 for T2's yearly allergist appointment.

That went really well. He was at a 92% on his breathing test. We did switch from his QVar to another inhaler (Alvesco) because QVar can cause a problem with growth in kids. The doctor was happy to see that T2 had grown 2.5 inches since November but wanted to change the meds anyway - just in case. So, we'll see how it works and if it does the trick. QVar seems to be the miracle drug for T2 so I hope this new one works just as well. If not, his doctor said to just switch him back.

We also started T2 on an Omega 3. The doctor was telling us how great fish oil is for people with asthma/allergy problems so we stopped and bought a bottle on the way home. I'll probably have T1 take it also, just for the health benefits.

I had a great Mother's Day. We went to church in the morning, then to my parents, ate lunch with them, hung out for awhile and then came back home. I was tired and had a bad headache so we took a little nap and then went to Mr. R's parents' house to see his mom.

I could probably write more, but I'm tired and the daycare kids are here. Hopefully next time I update I'll have a whole list of things that we got done!

Are We There Yet?

Take that title any way you want.

I had my baby shower last night with Mr. R's family. It was so nice. We got a ton of great stuff and I had a really great time! His family is really fun to be around. I like them a lot.

I'm still tired. Very grouchy. And this heartburn... well, I didn't know it could go up into your ears. Seriously, my ears are burning. And the bad thing... I'm not even eating that much of anything. I don't know where it's coming from.

Mr. R had another series of tests on Tuesday. Everything went really well except for the fact that we got up at 5:30 am to get there early and when we went to register they didn't have him in their computer. So, to order the meds he needed for the test, we had to wait 2 hours. So we left, drove around and stopped at the store to kill time. Then, when we got back to the hospital they said someone else who was suppose to do the test never showed up and we could have gotten in early after all. They ended up giving us a Target gift card for the mix up so that was nice.

We're going to try to get Baby T's room set up this weekend, or at least get the furniture over here. We've decided to put him in the room downstairs. Of course he'll be sleeping upstairs in my room at night, but he really needs his own room. Especially with all the stuff he's been getting. Plus, it will be fun to decorate it.

I have 2 more weeks of daycare left and I'm SO ready for it to be over. I never want to do daycare again! It's not the kids... I love the kids... it's just the parents. I'm over it. No more bringing your sick kids... picking up late... not going by my policies... but hey, only 2 weeks left, right, so screw all my policies. UGH

T2 has a friend over tonight. They're playing in his room and having a great time. T1 is in his room watching tv. The dogs are laying around. I really need to get up and get something done. I have laundry and a bunch of cleaning to do. Another week is almost over and I still have a list of things that need to get done.

We're almost down to 4 weeks. It's bittersweet.

Another Big Baby?

I had my OB check yesterday with Dr. J. I really like him. I asked him about the tonic water that another doctor said I should take for leg cramps and he said he would not advise it. I'm glad I wasn't overreacting when I decided not to take anymore of it. I told him I'd stick with eating bananas and drinking juice with potassium.

I gained 2 pounds. I guess that's ok since I hadn't gained anything in a month.

We asked the doctor if he thought the baby would be big and he said from what he can guess, he'd say it would be at least an 8 pounder. Aww, I want a little baby!!! A nice little 6.5 pound baby would be so nice. He looked at my chart and said I just grow big babies. I guess as long as they're healthy that's all that matters. It's not like the boys are very big now... they're both skinny as rails.

My next appointment is in two weeks and they'll do an exam and the Strep B test. After that I'll start going every week and then... baby time! I'm nervous about the labor and delivery but I try not to think about it. It is what it is. I'm just praying I get the doctor I'm suppose to get and there's no complications.

I took in my VBAC consent form yesterday, so that's all done. Hopefully I can do that and not have to have another c-section.

We still have to go to the hospital tour, get the room ready, the bed and dresser set up, pack our hospital bag and wash the baby clothes and I think we'll be all set.

It's raining here today and very dreary. I didn't sleep at all last night and I'm tired and a little bit grouchy. My legs were hurting so bad and the baby was moving all over the place... kind of hard to sleep when there's a party going on inside your stomach. So, hopefully the daycare kiddos will be good and I can make it through the day. I'm sure I'll be ready for a nice long nap by 5:00!

I talked to my mom yesterday and she said my dad's sick with the flu. OH GOSH!

In Which I Whine About Swine

You know, when you're less than 6 weeks away from having a baby, you really have better things to be scared about than "swine flu".

We're stupid... shut the freakin borders already, keep people out of Mexico and keep the people in Mexico out of the U.S.! I mean really, does it take a brain?

I'm irritated. Mostly because we haven't had the flu yet this year and of course if we get it now we'll be all freaked out. Do I really need this right now?!

I hate the media. Why put everyone in a panic? And does anyone see the way this is correlating with the President's first 100 days "review". Whatever. I'm so over it.

The melodramatic United States.

And how wonderful that there has been at least one case reported in my state. I hope the person is responsible enough to stay home and away from the rest of us.


Anyhoo... enough of that whining. Nothing much is happening here. The temps have been in the 80's and I have a new respect for women who are pregnant during the summer months! Yikes! I got my taste of it over the weekend and it was not fun! I was miserable to say the least. I ended up turning the A/C on. In April!

I have another OB appointment tomorrow. I'm anxious to see if I've gained any weight or if I've lost again. Of course a part of me is hoping I've lost, but I certainly don't want that to effect the baby. I'm also wondering if he's still facing down or if he moved back up. He sure has been moving around a lot for having such a small space to move in. Trust me, I feel every little and big move he's making right now!

I'm getting about 4 hours of sleep a night. The night before last I laid there until 5am. I'm so happy I'm not working full time right now! I'd be ok if I didn't have to lay on my sides. I just get comfortable on one side and my leg and hip decide to go numb. Ahh, the joys of pregnancy.

Trust me, even during the harder moments, I'm not complaining. This has been the easiest pregnancy ever and I have nothing to complain about. I know it's going to be over all too soon and I'll miss it, so I'm really trying to enjoy it as much as I can.

Baby T's Bedding/Etc.

We finally found Baby T's bedding and things for his room. We wanted something in blue and green and this was the best we could find. I'm not into "character" stuff or trucks, cars, fish or frogs... so this worked out well. I like it! I can't wait to get his bed and dresser set up.

I'm 8 months today! Yippee! He's almost here!

Good Friday

Not much is happening here... just a boring Friday night.

Mr. R is busy having to deal with insurance things. He went home to a flooded basement Monday night and they're finally out there with the adjuster and all the "clean up" crew.

He bought the boys a go-cart Wednesday so we were busy riding that when he brought it over that night. (Yep, me and Baby T too!) T2 has it all cleaned up and found a spot for it in the garage.

The boys and I went to my parents' house on Wednesday during the day. My grandma is now living there, so we wanted to visit her for awhile. Then we went shopping with my mom to get everything we needed for our Easter dinner on Sunday and left shortly after we got back from doing that.

I worked on Thursday and ended up taking a 2 hour nap when the kids left. I am so tired all the time now. ugh

Today I sorted out baby clothes. I found at least one outfit that we'll be taking to the hospital but need a couple more. We have a ton of newborn outfits and a ton of 3-6 month outfits, so that is good.

Tomorrow the boys will be going to grandpa and grandma's house for the weekend. We'll be going over on Sunday for church and dinner.

Monday, Mr. R has his endoscope procedure at the hospital. I sure hope we can find out what is going on with him.

Sorry for such a boring post... life is so exciting around here. :)

Have a Happy Easter!

He is Risen!

9 Weeks

9 weeks or maybe less... hopefully NOT more! I am getting so uncomfortable.

Our appointment went good yesterday. I actually lost a pound. I told Dr. N it wasn't because I was being active! She laughed. She is my favorite doctor out of the 4 they have there. Mr. R really likes her, too. We are really hoping she will be the one to deliver Baby T!

I had a list of questions for her this week and everything I asked about, she said was perfectly normal at this point in my pregnancy. I also asked her about getting a spray tan... she said that would be fine and the only reason they say not to get in a tanning bed is because of the heat, not the tanning. I feel so white right now and I just need something to boost my spirits I guess. I may just try some self tanning lotion. I just feel so big... Mr. R says I'm not fat and I don't look fat, it's just all baby. Dr. N said I look like I have a cute little bowling ball in my shirt. I don't feel fat, I just feel big. I guess I should enjoy it while I can because soon I won't be pregnant anymore and I'll miss it. I think.

After our appointment we stopped at Walmart to pick some things up. The tums aren't working for my heartburn anymore so the doctor said to move up to something stronger. We got some Pepcid and hopefully that will work better. After our Walmart trip we stopped at Steak N Shake and then went home.

Later we got Pizza Hut and watched "Bedtime Stories". It was a cute movie.

Today we have some things do around the house, we'll probably go over to Mr. R's side of town and do some things around his house and just hang out. I'm not sure if the boys are going to my parents' house this weekend or not but if they are, it's probably going to be today sometime.

I want to go see the new Fast and Furious movie so maybe we'll do that sometime this weekend too.

Happy April

I'm so glad it's finally Spring... although they're saying we may have snow this weekend. I hope not because we need to get a lot of stuff done.

As of this Saturday, we only have 9 weeks left until Baby T gets here. 9 weeks!!! I can't believe it's this close! I'm excited and nervous.

We have another OB check tomorrow. I failed my 1 hour glucose test so had to go back last Wednesday and do the 3 hour test. I had to do the same thing with T2 and everything was fine, so I called one of the doctors and asked her if I really had to do the 3 hour test since my levels were right at the cut off mark. She said I really needed to do it and if I passed I could tell her "I told you so" the next time I see her. Well, guess which doctor I'm seeing tomorrow!?! LOL

We took the kids to see "Knowing" Tuesday night. It was ok. I thought it was going to be better from the previews. It was too drawn out and the ending was kind of stupid.

Mr. R and I rented "Quantum of Solace" last weekend and stopped it half way through. We didn't like it at all. Out of all the 007 movies, that was the worst. (At least in our opinion.) T1 had seen it before and he really liked it.

We did a lot of running around yesterday... we went to Sam's Club and renewed Mr. R's membership (got some food and candy), stopped by Walmart to return a car T2 had bought (it didn't work), went to Cracker Barrel for dinner and came home. Mr. R left and the boys and I headed to my parents' house. My grandma C is visiting so we went to Wednesday night church and then back to the house to visit her for a little bit. We went and got Taco Bell and watched American Idol, then left and got home around 11:00pm. I was very tired so I got my shower and went right to bed.

I was up this morning at 7:30 with a horrible charlie horse in my left leg. I've only had a few of them during this pregnancy so I'm not going to complain. With T2 I had them all the time. This time I've been eating bananas like crazy to avoid them and so far it's worked. I don't think I had had one in a few days, but guess what I had for breakfast this morning!

I'm working today and so far the day is going very slow. I'm still tired and wish I could crawl back into bed but I don't see that happening any time soon. I will probably get to sit down and rest a little while they're napping, but I won't go to sleep.

Happy April!

First Hospital Visit

Yesterday was the last bday of the month... my dad's. Mr. R left early to go to the gun show so I headed over to my parents and got there around 10:30. We went shopping for my dad and got his cake, came home, ate a late lunch and did his birthday stuff. Then we all played The Price Is Right on the Wii. That was fun. Then we had to make another trip back to the mall because the shoes my mom got for my dad didn't fit. When we got back it was almost 7:00 so I decided to leave and come back home. I really wanted to bring the boys back with me, but as it turns out, it was probably better that they stayed there.

Friday I had my glucose tolerance test then an OB appointment. I gained 5 pounds since my last appointment but they said everything looked good. I mentioned again the fact that I'm getting contractions a lot and they're pretty strong and I wasn't sure if those were real contractions or just the Braxton Hicks. They said again that they were just Braxton Hicks.

Mr. R and I had some running around to do that day so we headed out and went over to his side of town. I had noticed sometime in the afternoon that the baby hadn't been moving much. We chalked it up to us being busy and the glucose test.

At 5:30 yesterday morning I woke up and wondered why the baby hadn't woke me up moving around at 3:30 like he normally does. I kind of got a little worried, went downstairs, drank some coke and laid on my left side to see if he'd start moving. He didn't. Thank God we have a Doppler at home, so I got that out and his heart rate seemed fine so I went back to bed.

Then, to make a long story short, he didn't really move all day. Even T2 was pushing around on my stomach and talking to him and he wouldn't move. I know babies have their off days just like us, so I wasn't too worried about it yet.

After I got home and Mr. R got there, we talked about it and he started getting concerned. He can ALWAYS get the baby to move just by talking to him and it wasn't working. So, we got out the Doppler again and his heart rate was fine again.

Then my dad called at about 9:30 and asked if the baby had been moving yet. I told him no, he said I should call the doctor on call. Mr. R and I were headed out to Kohl's and he said I should listen to my dad and call. I hate calling on the weekends because I feel like I'm bothering them, but I broke down and called.

The doctor called back when we were in the car and told us when we got home for me to lay down in a quiet room on my left side for an hour and try to get 5 movements from him. We ended up turning around and forgetting the Kohl's trip and came back home.

Well, we didn't get 5 movements, we maybe got one. So, around 11:00 we called back and the doctor said to go ahead and go to the hospital.

On the way I was having more "Braxton Hicks" contractions and they were pretty hard. We got there and got settled in and hooked up to the machine and of COURSE he started moving! I knew that was going to happen and the nurse just laughed and said that it happens all the time.

I was still having more contractions so I asked her about them and she looked at the print out and said that there were a few that were actual contractions and didn't look like just the BHicks ones. Well, there ended up being quite a lot of those during the time I was there but they weren't consistent so the doctor didn't feel like anyone needed to check my cervix or anything.

They were really nice at the hospital and told us to never feel bad about coming in and that it's better to be safe than sorry. I know Mr. R was pretty nervous and so was my mom and dad. I started to get a little nervous the more contractions I started having but I didn't really think there was anything wrong with the baby because he wasn't moving. I just didn't want my kids to worry but when I called my mom at 1am she said they were both asleep. I told her if they woke up and needed to call me at anytime, they could.

We got home around 2am, I ate a banana and some wheat thins, took a shower and went to bed. There still hasn't been a lot of movement this morning and I've had some contractions off and on, so we'll see what happens today. I'm just glad that we found out that some of the contractions I'm having are real. I thought for a minute I was just being a wimp. LOL

I'm 29 weeks... 11 more to go! :)

Yet Another Birthday

Today is my little 2 year old daycare girl's birthday. She's a doll. She can't say my name so she calls me "honey". We don't know where she got that, because we're not around anyone who calls me "honey", but anyway, it's adorable!

I can't believe she's 2 already and it just reminds me how fast kids grow up and how fast my little baby will grow and how even though I really want this to be over, I should enjoy it because it's gonna go fast! I mean, I have a 15 YEAR OLD!! I should know this by now!

I had a wonderful birthday! I worked all day and then Mr. R came over and we met my parents and kids at one of my favorite restaurants. The food was good and they gave me a free piece of cake. :) Then we came back to my house, watched American Idol, had cake and ice cream and I opened my presents.

Saturday is my dad's birthday and then we should be done for awhile. People think they gain weight over the holidays... not us, we gain all our weight in March from all the cake and ice cream we have.

My kids are leaving again today. :( They were only home for 2 nights! When I tucked them in (yep, I still tuck them in every night - well, I hug and kiss them good night, I don't really "tuck them in") last night, I was sad because I knew I wouldn't be doing it again for a few more nights. It's hard when they're gone for more than half the week. Last time they were gone for 5 nights. That's just too long!

I have my glucose tolerance test tomorrow morning. I sure hope I pass it and don't have to take a second one. I'll also see one of the doctors and I'm going to ask him how big the baby is measuring and why I feel so out of breath all the time. It's not real comfortable when something (or someONE) is pressing up against your ribs. :)

Good news! I think we may have a name... and it's funny because I had dropped the whole topic for awhile because we just couldn't agree on anything, but then as we were driving home from the restaurant Tuesday night Mr. R started talking about it and mentioned some names that his mom had told him. One of them is a name I have had picked out for YEARS! I asked him about that name and he said he's liked that name for a long time too. I was shocked! So, we may just finally have a name! I'm not going to say what it is just yet because I don't want to jinx it. But for those of you who know me, it's the name I've always had picked out if I ever had another boy.

Well, I'm off to get laundry started and think about what we're going to have for lunch.

Happy St. Patty's Day

My kids have been gone since Thursday and I really miss them. They were suppose to come home yesterday, but at the last minute decided to stay with grandpa and grandma another night... I literally cried when I got off the phone with T2. 5 nights away from home is too much! I know they're having fun, but they're my kids, darn it!

I'm sure it also didn't help that Mr. R was going back home and I was extremely tired from our long day at the hospital and I was getting a sore throat. All that combined gave me reason for a break down.

So, I did what any normal person would do... went to Subway and got a foot long sub, drove home, stuffed my face, got in the shower, called my best friend and watched tv until I fell asleep.

Yesterday Mr. R finally had his doctor's appointment with the specialist. Actually, we saw two doctors and they both agreed he really needs an endoscopy. So, we have that scheduled in April. Hopefully they'll find out what's making him so sick and can fix it.

After that we had a lot of errands and running around to do. That always tires me out. We went to a new baby store and it was really nice. Somehow we managed to walk out without buying anything. That's a first. I just wasn't in the mood to shop.

Today is my birthday and I just want to go back to bed. I'm tired, I have a sore throat, my kids aren't here to entertain my oldest dc boy (who asks every 5 minutes "when is T2 coming home?") and I'm grouchy. I'm not in the mood to celebrate St. Patty's Day or my birthday.

I guess we're all going out to eat tonight, then we'll come back here, have cake, open presents and party like it's 1999. Yeah right, I hope I'm in bed by 10:00.

You'll all have to drink green beer without me.

We're Gonna Party Like It's Your Birfday

So yesterday was Mr. R's bday. I won't tell you how old he is, I'll just say he's 5 years and 5 days older than me.

I took him out to eat, we came back here and he opened his presents and blew out his candles on his ice cream cake. He wasn't feeling good and I was stuffed from dinner so we didn't even have any of it. We checked ebay for some baby stuff, watched "Role Models" and called it a night. We're BIG party people!

Tomorrow is my mom's bday and I won't even get into how many years and days older than me she is. Cause I love her. And she's got my kids right now.

Anyhoo, I know the perfect gift for her, but they aren't in stock ANYWHERE!!! I rarely know what to get people and it figures that the year I know just what to get my mom, there are none to be got.

Tuesday is my bday. I will be 36. I was ok with 35... 36 is pushing it. I think I can make it a few more years, but then hitting the big 4-0 may be a rough one.

Next Saturday is my dad's bday. I have a few ideas for him. One I'm still looking into and I think he would really like, but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to make it work.

PS- What's up with McDonald's and their Shamrock Shakes??!!?? Since when do you have to hunt for them? This is stupid! It's a yearly tradition (since my bday is on St. Patrick's Day) that I have one. Sorry Mickey D's, I'm not traveling all over the state to find your stupid shake! I mean it's bad enough you bring back the McRib every few months and then take it away... but this? This is just plain MEAN!

Here's some new belly shots from my last OB appointment. They are pictures of pictures because I don't have Mr. R's card.

We're In Love

Mr. R and I are in love... with ranch dressing. Specifically from Texas Roadhouse. And guess what... if you look hard enough, they have the recipe online and I'm here to tell ya, it tastes exactly like theirs! I decided I'll take out the cayenne pepper next time though. It had been awhile since we'd eaten there, so we decided to go there for lunch one day last week and ever since then we've had a craving for their salad - or rather, their dressing.

So, I found the recipe, got the ingredients and made some for our salad we had on Sunday for dinner. What I didn't add was the hard boiled egg, but if it would have had that, it would have tasted exactly like their salad.

Of course it still wasn't the real thing, so guess where we ate last night? We had to go pick the kids up and decided to stop on the way. Poor Mr. R got the catfish and was sick the rest of the night. (I wouldn't trust a steakhouse for seafood/fish, but what do I know.) He ended up having some left over and we took it to my parents and gave it to them. Well, my mom ended up having a piece before bed and she was up sick during the night. I don't think either of them will be getting catfish anywhere, anytime soon.

But the dressing was good.

Gotta love the time change! I figured since the baby normally moves around between 2:30 and 3:30, that he would now be moving around between 3:30 and 4:30. Guess who was up and playing the hokey pokey in mama's belly at 3:30 this morning. I think I ended up getting about 4 hours of sleep before my alarm went off, so needless to say I'm a little tired today. I thought lack of sleep didn't start happening until after the baby got here. I think a little someone is preparing me for the future. :)

The boys brought the Wii home again. (Big surprise! lol) They got new games over the weekend so they're busy with that today. I'm working and trying to stay awake. The dogs are sleeping. The daycare kids are sleeping. I wish I was sleeping.

Anyway, I should have some belly pics to post pretty soon... aren't ya excited. ;)

Wii Wii All The Way Home

The Wii is going back to its home tomorrow. The kids will take it back to grandma and grandpa's house when they go to stay for the weekend. I bet my parents missed it too! :)

It's probably a good thing that it leaves our house... I played it quite a bit Tuesday night and let me tell you, I am seriously out of shape!! I woke up Wednesday and my right arm hurt from bowling, tennis and boxing. I'm not kidding. That, is how out of shape I am! Pathetic!!

Tuesday night we watched Australia and it was ok. VERY long though. As a matter of fact, I started getting bored so decided to play with the baby. He was moving around and I had just got done drinking a bottle of water, so I put the empty bottle on my stomach and let him kick it off a few time. It was cute! I think we'll have to play that game again sometime.

The baby goes crazy when he hears Mr. R's voice! If we're laying around watching tv and he starts talking, the baby starts immediately moving around. I put the phone down to my stomach tonight to let him talk to him and sure enough as soon as he started talking, the baby started moving all over the place.

Last night we took the kids to the movies and saw "Mall Cop". It was funny! After that we stopped at Walmart and did some grocery shopping.

Today I woke up to a message on my voicemail that my daycare kids weren't coming, so I used the time to get things organized. I cleaned out part of my closet and got all the baby clothes out and hung them up. WOW does this child have a lot of clothes already! Then I organized the rest of the baby stuff we got, like shoes, socks, bottles, pacifiers, hats, etc. I also made a list of things that we need to register for, so hopefully we can get that done this weekend.

Right now I've got laundry in the dryer and it should be almost done. As soon as I get it out I'm heading for bed. I'm actually kind of tired tonight. Let's hope the baby is too!

T1's BDay - Baby Update - Etc.

Last Monday, February 23, was my first baby's 15th birthday. For his big day we went to Cincinnati with my parents, aunt Gail, uncle Mark and cousin Jer. It was a fun day!

We went to IKEA (where both boys got new beds), to the nation's 2nd largest mall (where we did a lot of walking), and then to TGIFridays for dinner (where we ate too much!).

I can't believe T1 is 15!!!! Next year this time it will be really hard to believe how old he's getting! I'm pretty sure I'm not ready to say I have a 16 year old. lol

I'm proud of T1! He's a great kid! Smart as a whip and FUNNY! He gets our family's sense of humor and enjoys it as much as gives it back. He's becoming quite the guy!

Luv ya toots!

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We had another OB appointment last week. The doctor we were suppose to see had to leave to deliver a baby so we got to see the one we've seen the most. He's real nice and told me I had "pretty" make-up on. Of course I was complaining because Mr. R was shooting pictures like crazy. (I really think it's sweet, but I can't let him know that!) At one point the doctor purposely stood in between me and Mr. R so he couldn't get any shots. It was funny!

The baby is doing good. I only gained 2.5 pounds since I'd been there a month ago. YAY!! I thought for sure I had gained at least 5-7, but I guess it's just ALL baby!

He (still no name yet) is kicking up a STORM! I was up a lot Saturday night because he was really kicking hard. I think he had me up from 2:30-3:30 and then again from about 6:30-8:00, just kicking and moving around. Needless to say we did not make it to church that morning. He was kicking so hard my sides were sore! Thankfully he's calmed down in the last couple of days.

My next OB appointment is in 3 weeks... I get to do the nasty glucose tolerance test. I hope I pass the first time because it's only an hour. The second one is about 4 hours, I think. I can't stand that stuff you have to drink. I still can't drink orange pop because of it.

After that appointment I'll start going every 2 weeks until the last month. I kind of hope it goes fast but I want to enjoy it too. This has been such an easy pregnancy! I thought for sure the older a woman got, the harder it would be... not yet. (knock on wood)

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Yesterday the boys were still at my parents so I spent the day running errands with Mr. R. We drove everywhere! We literally were in the car from about 12:30 to almost 10:00 last night. We had to go to his side of town and he had a ton of errands to run. He forgot he had an appointment with his lawyer so guess who got to go to that. :) After we were done there we went to Texas Roadhouse, did some more baby shopping, spent over $100 in MORE baby clothes at Babies R Us (this kid is going to be dressed good), and went to Dick's and both got new tennis shoes. Then we came back to my house, let the dogs out, checked some stuff ending on ebay and headed to my parents' (which is another 45 minutes away) to get the kids.

My parents bought a Wii and guess what the boys brought home. LOL My mom said her and my dad would be too busy to play it the rest of the week so we could borrow it until the weekend. LOL I've been playing bowling and baseball with the boys today and my little 4 yr old daycare boy has been playing it with us too. He is really good! They have one at home and you can tell he's played a lot.

We reserved 3 movies for tonight (Australia for Mr. R and I, Spongebob vs. The Big One for T2 and Max Payne for T1) I'm making sloppy joes for dinner. I'm not sure what we'll have with it, I'll probably run to the store after work and look for some stuff. I wish I had some of my mom's potato salad! Mmmm! I need to learn how to make that!

Tomorrow we're going to start cleaning out my room and making a place for all the baby stuff. I've got a pretty big master bedroom so it shouldn't be a problem. There's no reason for the baby to have his own room anyway because he'd never sleep in there. I keep my babies right by me for at least the first year.

Well, that's all that's going on with us! I can't wait for some spring weather!!

Valentine's Day Re-cap

We went out to eat and in Mr. R's words, I picked an unromantic F'n truck stop to eat at and I made Valentine's Day suck. Of course he didn't mention this until after we left the place. I didn't think it would matter where we were, just that we were together. Guess not. We got home and I got out my homemade chocolate covered strawberries and whipped cream and things were a little better. We exchanged gifts and it was funny how much we think alike. We both got each other a few of the same things and wrote some of the same stuff in our cards.

Do I think we're soul mates? Yeah, maybe. Do I think we're having a really hard time right now? YEP! Do I think we'll make it? Who knows. All I know is that after the last 6 months, it's a miracle we're still together now, so I'm not giving up and according to him, neither is he.

Maybe Today...

"Maybe Today..."

What exactly does that mean? I remember seeing that all over little plaques when I was little. I guess it was a 70's thing?

However, I've been thinking about that a lot lately...

"Maybe Today"... I'll get a call for more kids for my daycare.
"Maybe Today"... I'll figure out how to pay these bills.
"Maybe Today"... I'll get motivated and get us on a better homeschooling schedule.
"Maybe Today"... I'll figure out how to get this house in order.
"Maybe Today"... I'll wake up and Obama being President will have just been a bad dream.
"Maybe Today"... all the millions of people who have lost their jobs will find new ones.
"Maybe Today"... the government will care about how to fix our own country's problems instead of acting like we care about the rest of the world.

I'm too tired to post any more but you get the idea. Whatchagonnado? In the words of Cristy Lane (yep, I remember her too)... "One Day At A Time, Sweet Jesus"... enough said?

Anyway, I had a fabUlous weekend. The kids went to g-ma and g-pa's and Mr. R and I spent some much needed time together. We hung out here and at his house. He helped me get all my junk out of storage and put it in my "free" storage unit. (I couldn't justify spending the extra money every month to have my junk somewhere other than in my own garage.) We didn't really do anything too exciting... we played pool and darts, watched movies, went out to eat and just hung out. It was fun.

Hello, Mr. Hicks

Ahhh, lovely little things called Braxton Hicks contractions. I've had them since 7:00 this morning. At first I thought it was a little too early to be having them because I didn't remember getting them this early with the other two pregnancies but the book says they can start as early as 20 weeks.

The baby also didn't move much yesterday or today, so with that and the B-Hicks combined, I thought it would be ok to call the doctor's office.

A nurse called back and confirmed that yes, it was Braxton making his appearance and unless they totally take my breath away, or if I can time them 2-5 minutes apart, or if there's any bleeding, I shouldn't worry about it.

As for the baby not moving around, I can drink something with caffeine and lay down on my left side and that should work and should get him moving. Hmmm, maybe that's why he's so active between 2 and 3 am every night??

I'm so glad we have a doppler here. Of course I had to get that out and check his heartbeat. Still high and going strong so that eased my mind.

I think I'm just overly worried because EVERYONE I know who has been pregnant in the last few months has delivered early. Thankfully all their babies seem to be doing fine but it's still scary!

In unrelated news... we got between 9 and 12 inches of snow Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. The dogs didn't know what to do and wouldn't even go out until the boys shoveled a path out the back door and into the yard. Mr. R came over last night and he and the boys shoveled out the driveway. They were covered with snow when they came in.

After dinner we watched Fireproof and Taken. Don't ask me how someone in Mr. R's family got a dvd of Taken, but they did and we borrowed it and it was GOOD!

I am actually tired tonight! I worked today and naptime was a nightmare. For some reason my little almost 2 yr old did not want to nap. Very unlike her. She kept waking her brother up and the poor thing was so tired she really did want to sleep but just wouldn't let herself. She finally gave in and went to sleep but only got about a half hour nap in. She was fine the rest of the day and was happy when her mom got here so it must not have bothered her too much. It's so cute because she can't say my name, so she calls me "Honey". She tells her mom she wants to go to Honey's house. Anytime she wants or needs something she'll come looking for me saying "Honey... Honey... Honey...". So cute!

What's Up

We had another OB appointment yesterday. Mr. R was there acting like the paparazzi with his camera. He took a pic of me on the scale. I have gained 7 pounds in the last month. At first, I was like "Oh now hold on there nursey nurse... I've got Uggs on... those HAVE to count for at least 3 pounds." She wrote down what the scale said anyway.

We got to meet the new doctor. I loved her from the moment she walked in. See, I had that little colposcopy thing scheduled with the other doctor for last Friday... 2nd time it was schedule and 2nd time it got cancelled... well, I thought the new doctor would mention it. And she did. BUT... she totally agreed with me that there was no way this needed to be done right now. That my test didn't show anything close to it being cancer and that I shouldn't even worry about it and they'll just do a repeat pap after the baby's born. I love her, I tell you. We also talked about my iron levels and she was all... "I wouldn't do anything unless it was under 10." And, because it's at 11.4... good bye iron pills that make doing some things very hard to do. (If you've never taken iron pills, you have no idea what that means, if you have... you get it and you're high fiving me that I can throw those pills away.)

Then I mentioned that "OH MY GOSH I'VE GAINED 7 POUNDS!!" and she was all like "Girl, you've got Uggs AND jeans on. You've probably only gained about 4 or 5 pounds!" Then she looked at the chart and said "Ummm, you've only gained 9 pounds total and you're 21 weeks - this is nothing to worry about!" And then Mr. R had to gloat about how he's been making sure I do not eat much fast food. Do you think sneaking to McDonald's would be considered cheating if your fiance forbid it?

Anyway, I really like this doctor! And not just because her and Mr.R talked more about a past Guns N' Roses concert more than they talked about MY BABY, she seemed like she really knew what she was doing. We talked about whether I should have a c-sec or try another VBAC. She said she'd be happy to try a VBAC and that I should... but if I, or the baby even looked cross-eyed at her, she'd have us in the OR in a flash. I also found out that they will not take a baby early for a c-sec. You can schedule it, but not 2 weeks in advance anymore, only 1. So, this baby will be a June baby no matter what, unless HE decides differently.

After our appointment we went to Red Lobster for lunch, then more baby shopping. We got a stroller, bouncy seat and more clothes. The clothes thing is out of control!! When I get a chance, I'll get everything out and take a pic.

Funny Stuff

Just a couple of interesting/funny things I thought I'd share.

What's in Olive Garden's Alfredo Sauce...
When Mr. R and I went to Olive Garden last Friday night, we had a male waiter who was probably in his late 30's early 40's... as we were ordering, Mr. R asked him for a big bowl of alfredo sauce to go with our bread sticks (he loves the stuff)... well, the waiter brings it out and they are discussing it and how good it is and blah blah blah... so Mr. R says something to the effect of how good it is and how much he likes it and the waiter says "Yep, just like mother's milk!". We both looked at each other like "Did he really just say that?!" I mean, what do you say back to a statement like that? Should he have said "Yeah... in a few more months she'll have her own, want us to come back and share?!" lol (gross) It was just funny and kind of odd, but whatever. Perhaps that waiter could get a job with Ben and Jerry's? :)

Pregnancy Brain...
Last night I was not in the mood to cook dinner so I decided I'd take the kids to Burger King since we've been so good and not had any fast food in the last week. Well, since we live in such a small town, we had to go to the next town over. It's only about 3 miles once you get on the highway. So we go, get our food and we're coming back home... I'm just driving along, not paying any attention and all of a sudden I hear T1 in the back say "Mom, where are we going?". I totally missed my exit and was just driving along in la la land. I have no idea where my mind was. I'm starting to get really scatterbrained and it's scary. It only took us about 30 minutes to get home when it should have taken about 10.

Not Even In Office Yet...

...and spending OUR money like crazy. And for a ONE day event?!

Thank Bush, for declaring a "federal emergency" so that Obama's Inauguration can be as big and bling bling as he wants it. What's the cost up to now? $150 MILLION?

Nice.

Funny, only a mere $15 million is needed for security and that's for FOUR days of it!

Hmmm, how about this custom Cadillac limo he needs to ride in? I can't find a cost, but I'm sure it's not cheap. And the balloons... wonder how much those are costing us?

In recent years, new Presidents RAISED FUNDS for this event (or at least had a committee to do it). OK OK we'll give some credit to Prez O... he DID raise $41 million. However, that's not even a third of the cost.

Are ya'll sure he was the best choice? Really?

BTW... I'd be saying the same thing if it were McCain using this money UNwisely!

It's A Boy!

We had our ultra sound yesterday and it's pretty much 100% that it's a boy. His little hoohaa was sticking right up to show us what he was. This picture isn't very good, but you should be able to tell it's a boy. I'll have more pics once I get the card from Mr. R's camera.

One More Day

Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon we'll know what we're having. Neither one of us really care, but it will be fun to find out. Mr. R wants to go shopping this weekend and get EVERYTHING. That's nice, but what will we do for the next 5 months? I have a feeling that we're going to get really impatient towards the end.

We finally got snow yesterday. I wasn't really holding my breath but it happened. Not only did it snow, but the temps dropped too. It's -4 degrees right now. Brr!

Here's T2 doing what he does best... working outside. That child hates being trapped indoors and shoveling to him isn't work, it's fun. Why can't we adults think like that about more things in life?!

Goin To The Birds

I worked for the first time in three weeks yesterday. It was fun. I love the kids I have and it makes having to work a lot easier when you have good daycare kiddos. My 4 yr old daycare boy was so excited to tell me what he got for Christmas. It was so cute to hear him so excited about his new toys.

Last night me, Mr. R and the boys went to the movies. We saw "Yes Man". It was ok. Not hilarious, but not boring either. I really want to see "Mall Cop" when it comes out. I like Kevin James, he is so funny.

After the movies we stopped at Walmart and then ate at Arby's since everything else was closed or getting ready to close. We didn't get home until after 11:30 and I was ready for bed.

We got a little scare this morning. Mr. R had left around 12:30 and after he left I listened to the messages I had gotten on my home phone. One was from my OB's office and it said they had some results from my blood tests and needed me to call them back. Well, we all know that they don't call if everything is ok, they just tell you it's ok at your next appointment. Well, since I had just had my Quad Test on Friday, I started to get a little nervous. So I called Mr. R and he turned around and came back. I couldn't call them back until 1:00 because they close for lunch and let me tell you, that 30 minutes felt like 30 hours. Of course we were preparing ourselves for the worst (or I was - Mr. R is always positive) and we were just saying that whatever it was, we would be ok with it and we'd deal with it.

When I did call, I got put on hold a bunch of times but finally the nurse answered and told me they got some of my first tests back and it was showing that I am borderline anemic. Then she gave me the name of some iron pills that I needed to get (Slow Fe) and to take them for 60 days. We were SO relieved that that was all it was!! I can handle having to take some iron pills. Thank you Lord!

Of course Mr. R ran up to CVS right away and got them. I took one earlier and so far, so good. I've taken iron before and it's always upset my stomach so I'm hoping this kind of "slow release" iron will work better. (Although I can deal with an upset stomach for 60 days. It's better than having something major wrong!)

I'm a little surprised that I'm anemic because I do not have any of the signs. As a matter of fact, I've had more energy since I've been pregnant than I normally do. I haven't felt dizzy or had any of the other symptoms of anemia. Oh well, a little extra iron isn't going to hurt anything anyway.

Now I need to go try to find something to make with hamburger. I have a pound in my fridge that needs fixed before it goes bad. I'm really hungry for pasta with alfredo sauce... hmmm, wonder how hamburger would taste in alfredo? Maybe I'll make spaghetti instead and use it for that.

The picture below was taken by T1 (who by the way is an AWESOME photographer! The boy really has talent!) This is what we woke up to this morning in our backyard. Wonder where they all came from?!

Fun Weekend

Friday we had another OB appointment. I was a little nervous because it was with a doctor I'd never seen before and he had ordered the colposcopy. I didn't think it needed to be done, we discussed it and as long as he isn't doing biopsies, I guess I'll do it in a few weeks. He was really nice though and spent a good amount of time with us, answering some questions that we had and making sure that I understood everything. A big concern of mine is trying another VBAC. I guess we'll just see how big the baby is towards the end and go from there.

I only gained two pounds. Yippee! I'm surprised that's all I've gained considering I've been eating everything in sight.

We have another ultra sound set for Friday, Jan. 16. This one will tell us if it's a boy or girl. (Hopefully!) Everyone I've talked to thinks it's a girl. The doctor said if old wives tales are true, the fast heartbeat says it's a girl. I'm a little freaked out about that... I've got boys and that's all I know. We'll be happy with either though.

After the doctor's appt I had some last minute shopping to do. Then after that I went to my parents' house for dinner. My kids were already there and my uncle, aunt and two cousins came in from West Virginia. We had a yummy dinner, then me, the boys and my cousins all went to my house for the night.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early (6am) to go to Michigan to have Christmas with my mom's side of the family. We stopped at McDonald's for breakfast and got up there around 11:45. We had a great time with our family and getting another Christmas was pretty fun.

Later in the afternoon I went to Biggby Coffee with one of my aunts . I got a Mocha Mocha (Big Chill, I think?). It was pretty good. No Starbucks, but it wasn't horrible.

We got back to my grandma's and decided to go visit my grandpa's grave. It's hard to believe he's been gone for over a month.

We left around 5:30. My parents and uncle and aunt drove in their car and me, my kids and cousins drove in mine. My cousin Jer drove for me. That made me happy because I didn't want to drive. He also filled up my tank on the way up and back. Awww, what a great guy. (And single.... email me, ladies!) We stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way home. We were all so exhausted we pretty much went straight to bed when we got back to my house.

Sunday morning we got up early again, drove through Burger King for breakfast and headed to Muncie to go to church. After church we went to Damon's for lunch. Mmmmm, if you've never been to Damon's and there's one near you, GO! They have yummy yummy ribs and it's just a fun place to eat. They have huge screens up and you can play trivia games against other tables. We were actually in first place at one point. We took our two last names and put them together. (ClaMar)

After lunch the parents went home and me, the boys and my cousins went shopping. We went to Kohl's and I got 2 pairs of maternity pants and 4 maternity shirts. I am really starting to pop out, so I really needed them. My grandma gave me a Kohl's gift card for Christmas and Mr. R had given me money for clothes, so I was all set. I also had $20 in Kolh's Cash but they had expired on the 3rd. However, as I was leaving the lady behind me tried using hers and the cashier let her. So, I asked if she would let me use mine and she did. How nice!

After that we went to the mall and walked around. My cousin Steph road the "roller coaster", T2 took a bunch of stuff to Game Stop and my cousin Jer and the boys got pretzels from Auntie Anne's. I was stuffed from lunch but took a little piece off T2's pretzel.

After we were tired from shopping, we went back to my parents' house, played games, my aunt cut my hair, got Pizza Hut for dinner, played more games, got ice cream and then the boys and I headed home around 9pm. My uncle and aunt needed to leave early this morning so my cousins stayed there.

The boys came home and pretty much went straight to bed. They both fell asleep watching tv on their beds, so I just turned their lights out and set the timer on their tvs. I headed to bed pretty early too and tried to get some extra sleep to make up for what I lost getting up so early on Saturday and Sunday.

Today I did laundry, cleaned my bathroom, cleaned up the downstairs and went grocery shopping. I have to work tomorrow (first time in 3 weeks) so I'll probably try and get to bed early tonight too.

Hope your weekend was just as fun and enjoyable as mine! :)