Meal Plan Monday

So, I've been making a meal plan for about 8 weeks now.  It's working out pretty well for us.  It helps keep the grocery bill down and makes me more willing to actually cook dinner!  Of course we also have to include lunches & breakfast foods in our meal plan, otherwise our shopping would be seriously incomplete!

This meme is hosted by orgjunkie.com & my friends at Happily Domestic are playing along too...

For breakfast we have available:
English muffins, toast, oatmeal, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, a couple other cereals, and a few clementines

For lunch we have available:
Microwave mini raviolis, Cup A Noodle soups, boxed soup, Ramen noodle soup, Mac n Cheese, Hot Dogs, Turkey meat (need provolone cheese), and grilled cheese

Monday- tacos w/ cheese, macaroni and cheese

Tuesday- homemade pizza (need pepperoni)

Wednesday-rice and gravy from the crock pot

Thursday- tuna casserole, Cold Stone for dessert (free birthday coupon!)

Friday- grilled or baked chicken w/ boxed potatoes

Saturday- spaghetti sauce

Sunday-grocery shopping day!

Friend Making Monday

Over at aefilkins they're hosting, "Friend Making Monday", basically it's a little meme to let others know something interesting about you! 

I'm home, "cleaning" today...so I thought I'd participate again! 

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List a few things that you cannot live without

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Tim-the best husband EVER

Internet (though I can handle SHORT breaks)

Transportation

$$

My family

Chocolate milk

Alone time

Sunday Update

Another, never published post....

Thursday Sept. 24


Well, Thursday I had to work at Ingleside. I was subbing for a first grade teacher that also turned out to be the inclusion, SPED, class. Fun stuff. I got myself all settled in and got to work right away at 8:00. First graders are a piece of work. They don’t let you sit down. At all. They whine and cry when “she’s not my friend anymore” and all that jazz. I can’t stand that age. So, it was a LONG day.

Add in that there was no air conditioning in the classroom I was in (and I’m 8 ½ months preggo) and I was DYING. When I got my break at 9:30 I ran to the other end of the building to find a classroom to relax in! I also ate a quick snack because I was hungry!

I had another break at lunch time and spent that in the teacher’s lounge catching up with old friends. It was good.

After lunch the time started to drag. I was looking forward to 2:00 desperately! About 1:50 the aide came in who was going to take over watching the class & I wrote my report for the teacher & booty-scooted out of there.

When I got home, Terrell was waiting here with the two boys, sound asleep. I got them transferred to my bed & Carolynn’s crib and relaxed on my computer for a while. They slept for a couple hours each!

I made hamburger helper for dinner and we all ate. (Chrissy and Carolynn were here by then too.)

After dinner, Tim and I got the boys ready to go and headed out to church. We were early, thankyouverymuch, and had plenty of time to get there, sign the boys into the nursery and chit-chat before the Bible Study for “Pregs and Babes” started.

Our Bible Study went well and was very relaxing. I really enjoyed it!

The ride home was a pain in the butt, because Lindsey was off of work but could not be reached. I hate it when people leave their kids in day-care when they’re not at work. I mean, it’s one thing if that’s the arrangement you’ve got…but it’s another when your day-care provider is pregnant and has another job!

So, we got home, got the boys settled in and to bed, and then waited…and waited…and waited. Around 11:30, Lindsey finally showed up “from Newport News” where she had supposedly left 2 hours before. (It’s 40 minutes at the most away.)

I went straight to bed.

Friday September 25

Happy Birthday to ME! Tim had the day off of work so we slept in. It was GREAT. We snuggled and slept until 10 am…which is unheard-of for Tim! When we got up we putzed on our computers and got showered and dressed. Tim had to be at church at 1:30, so he left just before 1:00 to head over there. I had a few errands to run. I went to the bank to deposit Girl Scout money, McDonald’s (for an actual combo…I was hungry!), the library, and Food Lion (for milk..2 more gallons & we’ll get our THIRD free gallon!)

When I got home, I was pooped. Tim called to say he was on his way home too. I don’t remember what I did between getting home from the store & Tim coming home.

After Tim got home we got ready to go to the school to pick up the Girl Scouts.

One of the scouts was late, so we didn’t get on the road until 6:00 (supposed to have been 5:30) and then I needed to stop & pee…so we got there around 7:00 & the show was starting at 7:30.

As it turned out, we had enough time to get our tickets, use the bathroom, and find our seats before the show began.

The girls really seemed to enjoy it & I thought it was worth the $15 it cost us per person. I’d recommend it for ages 3 and up. I’d say school-aged boys would probably NOT enjoy it, because even though it wasn’t a princess themed show, it was still very girly. It is a musical & there were A LOT of skits with the princesses as the central feature. We had good seats but we had that Girl Scout promotion, so that helped.

It was 10:15 when we got back to the school & almost all of the parents were on time to get their kids. (We had to to wait on one until 10:35!!)

Once the last child was picked up, we headed home & straight to bed.

Saturday Sept. 26

I slept until 11 am!! When I finally got up we got to work on measuring the furniture & bedrooms to determine the best way to reorganize the house.

My goals were:

1. Get Chrissy out of the playroom

2. Get the birds out of the living room

3. Get the dog cage out of the kitchen

4. Not have to share the “office” with anyone

First things first, Tim had to re-run all the cables in the house for the internet. That means he spent several hours crawling through the attic running the lines & cutting holes to drop them into the right places.

I worked on helping him, getting dishes & laundry done, prepping my prefolds, and cleaning up the house.

Around 4:00, Amanda showed up to start helping with the moving of furniture & stuff. Around 5:00, Chrissy got home & started helping too. We all worked a lot to get things JUST THE RIGHT WAY and Tim & I were really beat.

We worked until midnight! I slept for crap up every hour or so all night long. I’m super sore and super tired.

I got up at 10:30 this morning, too late for us to go to church, so we’ll be hanging around here until about 1:00…I guess.

Sunday Update

Thursday Sept. 24


Well, Thursday I had to work at Ingleside. I was subbing for a first grade teacher that also turned out to be the inclusion, SPED, class. Fun stuff. I got myself all settled in and got to work right away at 8:00. First graders are a piece of work. They don’t let you sit down. At all. They whine and cry when “she’s not my friend anymore” and all that jazz. I can’t stand that age. So, it was a LONG day.

Add in that there was no air conditioning in the classroom I was in (and I’m 8 ½ months preggo) and I was DYING. When I got my break at 9:30 I ran to the other end of the building to find a classroom to relax in! I also ate a quick snack because I was hungry!

I had another break at lunch time and spent that in the teacher’s lounge catching up with old friends. It was good.

After lunch the time started to drag. I was looking forward to 2:00 desperately! About 1:50 the aide came in who was going to take over watching the class & I wrote my report for the teacher & booty-scooted out of there.

When I got home, Terrell was waiting here with the two boys, sound asleep. I got them transferred to my bed & Carolynn’s crib and relaxed on my computer for a while. They slept for a couple hours each!

I made hamburger helper for dinner and we all ate. (Chrissy and Carolynn were here by then too.)

After dinner, Tim and I got the boys ready to go and headed out to church. We were early, thankyouverymuch, and had plenty of time to get there, sign the boys into the nursery and chit-chat before the Bible Study for “Pregs and Babes” started.

Our Bible Study went well and was very relaxing. I really enjoyed it!

The ride home was a pain in the butt, because Lindsey was off of work but could not be reached. I hate it when people leave their kids in day-care when they’re not at work. I mean, it’s one thing if that’s the arrangement you’ve got…but it’s another when your day-care provider is pregnant and has another job!

So, we got home, got the boys settled in and to bed, and then waited…and waited…and waited. Around 11:30, Lindsey finally showed up “from Newport News” where she had supposedly left 2 hours before. (It’s 40 minutes at the most away.)

I went straight to bed.

Friday September 25

Happy Birthday to ME! Tim had the day off of work so we slept in. It was GREAT. We snuggled and slept until 10 am…which is unheard-of for Tim! When we got up we putzed on our computers and got showered and dressed. Tim had to be at church at 1:30, so he left just before 1:00 to head over there. I had a few errands to run. I went to the bank to deposit Girl Scout money, McDonald’s (for an actual combo…I was hungry!), the library, and Food Lion (for milk..2 more gallons & we’ll get our THIRD free gallon!)

When I got home, I was pooped. Tim called to say he was on his way home too. I don’t remember what I did between getting home from the store & Tim coming home.

After Tim got home we got ready to go to the school to pick up the Girl Scouts.

One of the scouts was late, so we didn’t get on the road until 6:00 (supposed to have been 5:30) and then I needed to stop & pee…so we got there around 7:00 & the show was starting at 7:30.

As it turned out, we had enough time to get our tickets, use the bathroom, and find our seats before the show began.

The girls really seemed to enjoy it & I thought it was worth the $15 it cost us per person. I’d recommend it for ages 3 and up. I’d say school-aged boys would probably NOT enjoy it, because even though it wasn’t a princess themed show, it was still very girly. It is a musical & there were A LOT of skits with the princesses as the central feature. We had good seats but we had that Girl Scout promotion, so that helped.

It was 10:15 when we got back to the school & almost all of the parents were on time to get their kids. (We had to to wait on one until 10:35!!)

Once the last child was picked up, we headed home & straight to bed.

Saturday Sept. 26

I slept until 11 am!! When I finally got up we got to work on measuring the furniture & bedrooms to determine the best way to reorganize the house.

My goals were:

1. Get Chrissy out of the playroom

2. Get the birds out of the living room

3. Get the dog cage out of the kitchen

4. Not have to share the “office” with anyone

First things first, Tim had to re-run all the cables in the house for the internet. That means he spent several hours crawling through the attic running the lines & cutting holes to drop them into the right places.

I worked on helping him, getting dishes & laundry done, prepping my prefolds, and cleaning up the house.

Around 4:00, Amanda showed up to start helping with the moving of furniture & stuff. Around 5:00, Chrissy got home & started helping too. We all worked a lot to get things JUST THE RIGHT WAY and Tim & I were really beat.

We worked until midnight! I slept for crap up every hour or so all night long. I’m super sore and super tired.

I got up at 10:30 this morning, too late for us to go to church, so we’ll be hanging around here until about 1:00…I guess.

MAJOR Update!

Boy howdy, it's been a long time since I kept ya'll up to date on my goings-ons.  Did you enjoy the break?  Don't answer that. 
Anyway, I figured I ought to give my blog some attention today, so I don't lose my followers!  Hee hee...  I love my blog, I've just been SO tired!  Also, sitting in the computer chair isn't exactly comfortable any more, so I never spend long amounts of time on my computer.  (This post alone has taken 2 DAYS to write!) 
So, here it goes, this is the last two weeks in a nutshell! 

Wednesday September 9
All I can remember from this day is that I overdid it somehow and ended up having contractions. I ended up not being able to go to Bunco or Girl Scouts.
Oh yea, here's the post!

Thursday September 10
Here's a post I wrote this day...since I can't seem to remember anything & I have nothing on my calendar!

Friday September 11
Here's a post I wrote this day...since I again, can't remember anything & have nothing on my calendar!
Saturday September 12
Glenn Beck's 9.12 Project Rally in Washington D.C.
Amanda and I got up super early and I drove out to her house. Then she drove us to Springfield, VA. We spent over an hour at the Metro station, using the bathroom and getting our tickets. Then we rode into the city. It took us a long time (through a bunch of contractions) to walk from the Metro station to the Capitol building. We got pretty close but nowhere near to Mom and Dad were. Mandy ended up getting mad at the people around us and she took Grayson to the Museum of Natural History. Spencer and I just hung out, waiting for Mom and Dad to call.

When they did call it didn’t take me long to meet up with Dad and then with Mom.

As soon as the three of us were together we headed back towards Mom and Dad’s hotel. Mandy started making her way towards us and we eventually all met up. We got back to the hotel and had our “picnic” lunch on Mom and Dad’s beds. Then we spent the afternoon into early evening visiting and playing with the boys.

Around 5:30 we started our walk back to the Metro station. It was close to 7:30 by the time we got back to Amanda’s car. We got some McDonald’s as soon as we could and headed home. I slept the entire way. When we got home, Lindsey showed up to pick up the boys and I headed home for bed.

Sunday September 13
We went to the 11:15 church service & then afterwards we went to our pastor’s house for lunch. We had a good time enjoying lunch with several other “young adult” couples and our pastor & her husband.  It was really nice to get to meet some of the other couples from church.  I'm looking forward to attending the "Pregs and Babes" Bible Study that we've joined!

Monday September 14
This was my first day of substitute teaching. I worked at Crossroads Elementary and enjoyed it a lot. We also had childbirth class that night.

Tuesday September 15
I was off on this day but did have a long Girl Scout meeting that night.  I'm pretty sure I kept Carolynn but...I can't be 100%!

Wednesday September 16
I was back at Crossroads in the same classroom on this day.

Thursday September 17
I kept Carolynn this day. I also got Grayson and Spencer at some point during the day. When Tim got home we ate a quick dinner and then I took Spencer with me and left for La Leche League. Tim had to get Carolynn and Grayson out of the house to go to church for the first “Young Adults Pregs and Babes” class. Chrissy met him at the church to get Carolynn and he put Grayson in the nursery. It was after 11 when Terrell finally got there to get the boys.

Friday September 18
On Friday, I subbed at Northside Middle School. That wasn’t great but it also wasn’t amazing. That evening Tim and I were lazy and just laid around in bed.

Saturday September 19
On Saturday morning, I had breastfeeding class. When I got home, we ate lunch and then headed to Tim’s parents’ house. When we got there, Tim and Tom left to go to the dump to get rid of the old couch (Tom and Peggy bought us a new one on the 12th). Peggy, Beth, and I went to Rock A Bye Baby and I got 2 new pairs of maternity pants. Peggy bought Luke a sleep sack. Then we went to Target and Peggy bought Luke 2 little newborn outfits.

Afterwards she dropped me off at church. I didn’t feel good though & ended up missing ½ the service! Afterwards, we headed back to Tom and Peggy’s for dinner. I still didn’t feel good & we ended up leaving just as soon as we could.

Sunday September 20
I slept in. Tim went to 11:15 church, 12:30 meeting at church. Then he picked up his mom. Mandy picked me up at 11:30. We ran errands & had the baby shower. We were at James and Missy’s until 7ish. Tim dropped me & the gifts off at home, so I could clean/put away. Then he took his mom home. He brought me Arby’s and ate left overs for dinner himself.

Monday September 21
I slept in again. I did a little bit of housework. Then I drove to Lauren’s house. We went to Chic Fil A. Then we chatted back at her house. Then I had my confusing doctor’s appointment. Afterwards I came home and did more housework.

Tuesday September 22
I had to work at Lindenwood. I won’t ever go back there. It was awful. I had a stressful day at work & then an even more stressful afternoon. (Chrissy drama) Then Amanda picked me up & we went grocery shopping. I bought a crib mattress but I might end up returning it.

Wednesday September 23
I was supposed to work for Ms. Walters at Ingleside today, but I couldn’t. Instead I’ve been lazy and done nothing all day. I did get the playroom vacuumed and hung up a picture. I washed white clothes too. Tim and I spent some time checking out his insurance benefits and making sure I can continue on with Dr. Morgan. It looks like I can, so that’s good!

34 Week Appointment

Back from another confusing doctor's appointment.


So Dr. Morgan said....

A. Weight gain (1/2 lb.) is ok. It's good that I didn't lose any, he wishes I gained more.

B. Heart rate is fine. (didn't tell me what it was)

C. Fundal height measured "almost 33" weeks. I'm 34 exactly.

D. He asked about the contractions...I told him about the scary grocery store experience (3 hours of 5 min. apart contrax!) and D.C. (lots of contractions through that day!) and his reply was, "Well, I don't want to deliver this baby for AT LEAST two weeks. You need to take it easy. Drink lots of water & if you have any contractions, lay down."

E. Then he said my next appointment will be an ultrasound, group B strep, and check up. He said I needed it at 36 weeks. I told him that I scheduled it last time. He asked for when. I told him for Oct. 9 (Thursday, I'll be 36 weeks & 4 days). He said, "That's not soon enough. You need to get in on Monday or Tuesday." I told him they said they didn't have any appointments. So, he looked at his schedule...he said, "Right here, they can fit you in right there...." and he wrote down the appt time & date.

So, my next appointment was moved up 4 days. From Thursday to Monday. Why is 4 days so important? He also said he'd be checking the baby's development and size to make sure he's ok. I know that's the whole point of the US, but does he have to make it sound so VITAL?

It's been a long time coming....

A much needed blog-break that is!  It's been so long since I've visited my own blog, that my computer forgot it's address & I had to type it in!  Now that's bad, isn't it! 

Anyway, this is not an end to the break.  I'm tired.  I'm 34 weeks pregnant.  Or 8 1/2 months.  I have a darn good excuse.  Get over it.

Quote of the Day

‘Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater.


If you give her sperm, she’ll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she’ll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she’ll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she’ll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her.

So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit.

-Anon

Work

Well, I had a good day today! 

It was my first official substitute teaching job at Crossroads Elementary School.  I actually had butterflies this morning & couldn't eat breakfast! 

I got there at 8:00 am and got checked in.  The teacher I was subbing for is very neat & organized & left nice plans layed out for me! 

I had an hour to kill before any kids showed up, so I worked on Girl Scouts stuff & explored the school. 

The day went well, the kids weren't overly bad or good and I didn't have any contractions or feel bad at all!  I even ate enough of my yucky soup at lunch-time that I didn't get hungry! 

I talked to mom on my car ride home & I need to go cook dinner now, but just thought I'd post to say, I defintely DO NOT miss teaching & don't regret quitting at all! 

Hee hee....

Busy Friday...

Well, since we cancelled Girl Scout camp there's a lot of other stuff going on instead.

I told Chrissy I'd watch Carolynn, so I had to decline the substitute job I got called for.  I wasn't really heartbroken, it was a high school placement for today from 7-2:30.  I'm not sure if I can handle HS! 

Tim actually went to work today (he put in two 12 hour long days from home the last couple days!)  This evening he's supposed to be going out with James & a bunch of other guys. 

Here's our plan for the day:


Shower & bathe/ dress Caro
Pick up the play room
Bank
Water Store
Wal-Mart to return stuff
Food Lion for 2 gallons of free milk
12:30 Nanny Job Interview
Home for Carolynn's nap (and hopefully mine too)
Pay for Jamboree
6:00 Meet up w/ Girl Scout parent-cancelled/rescheduled

Hopefully we get it all done & things go smoothly!

Don't forget to remember those effected by 9/11/01 today.

Irritable....uterus?

So, ladies and gents, I apparently have an 'irritable' uterus.  This is the diagnosis of whoever was the on-call doctor last night at Tidewater Physicians for Women. 

You see, I spent the morning being lazy, sleeping in, working on my computer (Girl Scout stuff), and didn't get moving until after lunch time.

I headed out to Wal-Mart around 2ish.  It took me a LONG time to do the grocery shopping (almost $200 worth!) because I had to get so many things.  It was the longest list yet, because we'd thrown out so much stuff that spoiled in the great refrigerator freeze-up.  By about the 4th grocery aisle I'd gone down, I was having pretty serious & painful contractions.  I contemplated sitting my butt on the ground against the wall of food but kept moving. 

When I passed the cereal aisle I was really bad off.  Getting around to the meat department meant I was almost done but I had missed a few items & really wanted to go back for them.  (One was marshmallows for my much needed rice krispy treats!) 

So, I chugged on.  By the time I got to the check out lane, with my hundred pound grocery cart I was sweating, hurting, and BEAT.  The cashier must have thought I was about to die.  She loaded all of my cloth bags into my cart & worried about me getting them into the car. 

When I got home, I went straight to bed and started timing the contractions.  I was hopeful that they'd just go away when I laid down, like they normally do.

I was wrong.  I obviously WAY outdid myself and my poor uterus was unhappy. 

I ended up have 5 minute apart contractions that lasted more than 30 seconds each for close to an hour.  Getting into the tub helped them and spread them out & shortened them, but the exertion of getting OUT of the tub caused me to have extremely painful & long (2 mins.+) contractions! 

So I got back into the tub for another 45 minutes.  This time I got out of the tub & didn't even try to dry off, I just hobbled to the bed. 

After monitoring the contractions for a while in bed (until they were 8 minutes apart & slowing down again) I called the doctor back & she said they were probably just BH from all the exercise of grocery shopping & to go to bed. 

She said basically if they were painful, all around (from back to front, instead of JUST in my uterus up front), and consistently lasted longer than a minute then she'd be worried about PTL but since they weren't, I was ok.

I ended up just relaxing in front of my computer until about 10 and they did eventually go away. 

Anyway, I won't be doing the grocery shopping anymore.  We've got our list & I'm sure Tim can handle it until after Luke is born. 

Other things that happened last night:
A. I cancelled the Girl Scout camping trip.  Our troop also only has 3 returning girls that I know of. 
B. I got my first substitute job.  It's on Monday! 
C. I missed Bunco.

So far today:
A. I've done NOTHING but some LIGHT housework.
B. I declined my first sub. job.  It was for TODAY for Pre-K and they only called 45 minutes before I would have needed to be there.  No thanks! 
C. Tim's working from home again. 
D. I watched "Cocoon" with Tim, it was old and sad and lame.
E. I feel like poo. 
F. Grayson & Spencer will be here around 2:15, so I need to go get showered & dressed. 

A Special Gift from Mandy

So, if you know me at all, then you know that Tim and I are flat broke, because I shouldn't have quit my job.  Oh, we don't regret it, and honestly it was the BEST decision, because we wouldn't have been able to stay afloat during my maternity leave & I'd have been sick as a dog working in my 3rd trimester.  BUT, financially, we are making HUGE adjustments because of it.

So, anyway, one of the things we really wanted to do but weren't going to be able to, was paint Luke's nursery. 

While we were away, Amanda went out and bought baby blue paint & used some tan paint she had to paint 99% of our nursery!  Chrissy was supposed to finish it up while we were gone, but didn't get it done until yesterday evening. 

It's amazing & perfect & we're so happy that Luke's room is adorable & JUST for him now!  Yay! 

Obviously it's got Chrissy's and Carolynn's things in it, but we love it.  Enjoy!

Baby Shower Gifts!!

So, I officially HATE being the center of attention.

 I handed my cousin Renee the camera with instructions to take a picture of at least one gift from each person, but not of EVERY single gift, because these pictures NEVER get used for anything? 

I mean, how tacky would it be to put up a collage frame of pictures of me opening/showing off a million gifts?  Right.  So anyway, here's a few of the baby shower gifts. 

Of course some of the pictures are not being shared because I look like a moron in them...it has nothing to do with who the gift was from or how much we liked that gift.  It has everything to do with, if I look stupid, I'm not posting it on my blog!!

This is one of three Cars cups we got.  We had to have Cars sippy cups!

Aunt Dianne & Uncle Tony got Luke the Baby Einstein playmat! 

Aunt Rosie & Debbie got us the high chair we wanted!

This is one of many cute little sweater vest outfits.  You can also see the AWESOME corsage my mom made me in this picture. 

Itty bitty newborn t-shirts.  Say it with me, "Awwwwww....!" 

A little baby boy bathrobe!

One of several super soft & fuzzy baby blankets.  Tim really likes the baby music box puppy that matches this. 

Aww, monkeys!  This is another of the few newborn sets we got.  We are seriously lacking in newborn sized goodness!  This one is cool because the legs convert from pants to a nightgown!

Here's an outfit Mandy will appreciate!

Something for next Christmas!

I love this thermal tee shirt w/ dinosaurs all over it. 

This coat is part of the thermal dino set but isn't it fun!

My First Kennywood Bib!  You can also see his first Kennywood toy on my knee.  My dad won that for Luke!

Here's a close up of the pot & the baby doll. 

OK, first off, I look good in this one, right? 

Secondly, those are HAND crocheted w/ size 10 THREAD (not yarn) little sneakers!  Too Freaking CUTE!

Here I am flipping through the burp cloths my mom embellished. There are a baker's dozen of them finished & each is unique!

Renee just about killed the baby when she passed me the bucket & it was funny!

Here's the rocking chair & Luke's blanket all cozy in the office. Doesn't it look PERFECT? 

Luke's amazingly full closet.  I don't know if you can see the little size tags I made, but the whole closet is organized by size.  Doesn't it look like a little man's closet?  I love looking at it!

Here's another close up of the pot, now that it's been unpacked. 

And here's a close up of the basket mom decorated. 

And one more shot of the baby boy!

Phewie, that was a lot of fun!  I'm so thankful to everyone and truly appreciate each and every single gift!  We are so blessed and our baby will definitely feel the love from all of you! 

Baby Shower Goodness!

Well, this weekend was the baby shower in Pennsylvania.  Let me start off by saying that Tim & I are incredible blessed and totally thankful to SO many people, but especially to my mom and dad for the AMAZING baby shower they hosted for us & all the amazing and totally wonderful gifts they gave us! 

This is the dessert buffet that my mom had set up.  She's been baking for what seems like FOREVER.  There were rice krispy treat rattles, sugar cookies in the shape of rattles, pacifiers, and baby carriages, nad pizzelles.  There was anissette toast, anis cookies, sesame seed cookies, and chocolate chip cookies.  There were also m&m cookies w/ ONLY blue m&ms.  We forgot the chocolate drop cookies until the last minute, but I made sure they got set out, too! 

Here's a view of the kitchen table w/ the cake & the food buffet behind it. 

A close-up of the clothes line cake.  My dad MADE the clothesline.  My mom made the little cloth prefold diapers that are hanging on the line! 

Here was the plates & silverware/napkin table.  Isn't it pretty?

Yum, yum, yummy!  This is the food buffet my mom made!  We had ham sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, tuna salad sandwiches, and chicken salad sandwiches.  The tuna & chicken sandwiches were on three or four different kinds of bread.  We also had Italian potato salad as well as traditional potato salad.  On the other side was shrimp salad and lime flavored fluff.  It was ALL delicious and there were very little left-overs. (Not because there wasn't enough food, but becuase people kept going back for MORE!)

Here's another view of the cake.

This is the beverage station, before the tea, juice, ice, and water got set out. 

This is an adorable gift my mom made for us!  It's a large terra cotta pot, painted, embellished w/ my nursery fabric, filled with goodies, and snuggled by a little cloth baby!  (He's stuffed with crinolin & is wearing hand made baby mits (embellished w/ balloons), a 0-3 months sleeper and bib, and a Kennywood hat!) 

Here's the banner that was part of the theme.

This is the awesome wreath my mom & dad made.  They actually MADE the wreath & then decorated it with all those blue baby goodies!  The ribbon was supposed to be spread out but it had a little accident before the shower & it didn't get fixed up. 

Here's a wider view of the living room/wreath.  See that awesome rocking chair?  Yea, my parents bought that for us!  How amazing!  It's perfect & totally comfortable.  I've been sitting in it watchign Sopranos in the office w/ Tim! 

This is the fruit salad mom made.  (Well I melon balled all the fruit, mom made the watermelon baby carriage!)  Isn't it pretty!  Behind it you can see the 'favors' which a lot of people left behind.  You can also see one of the little candy-holding-booties mom made. 

Here's Aunt Nunny writing her antecdotes into the "Baby Advice Book". 

A quick shot of some of the gifts!

Everybody chowing down!  My cousin Renee is in yellow, cousin Lisa in blue, Aunt Dianne in pink w/ red hair, and Aunt Nunny in pink w/ brown hair.  You can also see 1/2 of Lisa's daughter Bailey. 

Here's more folks chowing down.  My mom in the back w/ flowers on, Great Aunt Lucille on the left in white, Great Aunt Rosie in pink and my dad's cousin Debbie hidden behind Aunt Rosie. 

Phewie!  So, that's all the decorations & festivities pictures of the baby shower.  I'm going to edit & decide which of the pictures of gifts getting opened to post & put them in another post.  

I love, love, loved EVERY single thing & my Mom and Dad and brother put SO much into giving us an AWESOME and PERFECT baby shower.  We're SO thankful!    

Pregnancy Update

Well, I just spent the last two hours counting/timing contractions.


Grocery shopping is officially off of my to-do list. I will NOT be doing that again!

I started contracting 1/2 way through Wal-Mart. I pushed on. When I was ALMOST done I called DH to let him know I was in a LOT of pain.

I know I had at least 8-10 contractions while shopping. As soon as I got home I got in bed and drank water and started timing them.

They were coming 5 minutes apart & were close to 1 minute long each, so I called the doctor. They suggested eating, drinking, and taking a warm bath w/ my entire belly in the water. So that's what I did. The contractions went from 5 mins, to 6 mins, to 8 mins, and finally I went 20 minutes without one.

(Mind you, I can feel Luke moving the whole time. He does NOT like contractions.)

As soon as I got out of the tub, I had a HUGE painful contraction that lasted more than 2 minutes. This is what the doc said to watch for (pain & longer than 1 minute). So I got back in the tub.

Same thing again. 5 mins apart, 8 mins apart, 15 minutes...got out of the tub, another huge one. Layed in bed & managed to get up to 8 minutes apart again before calling the doctor back.

She said I have an "irritable uterus" and it doesn't sound like PTL to her. She said eat some more, drink some more, and go to bed. I had to cancel Girl Scouts & Bunco. Bummer.

I also cancelled the Girl Scout camping trip this weekend. There's no way I'd have been able to handle it & there were only 2 girls able to go, not the 4 we'd planned on. So, we're not going. Yay!

Update Time

Wednesday Sept. 2-
I did housework & packed all of our stuff for Pennsyvlania.  Tim got home around 2:00.  We got the truck loaded & were on the road just before 4:00.  We got to Pennsylvania around 12:15.  We took the "Paw Paw" route.  I was in a lot of pain & had to make 2 "unneccesary" stops just to move my hips. 

Thursday Sept. 3-
We spent our first day in Pennsylvania getting things ready for the shower.  Tim cut my hair.  Mom & Grandmom went and had their hair done.  We went grocery shopping.  Mom made veal for dinner. 

Friday Sept. 4-
We spent Friday getting ready for the shower too.  Tim did some work in the basement for dad.  In the afternoon, Dad, Frankie, Tim, and Tony went to the shooting range. 

Saturday Sept. 5-
We spent the entire morning up until the shower started getting the house ready & eveything taken care of for the shower.  The baby shower started at 2:00 and was wonderful.  It was after 6:00 before Aunt Rosie & Debbie left.  Tim and I decided to take Mom & Dad to dinner in Greensburg about 30 minutes away, so we left as soon as we could to head over there.  Dinner was good and we used our credit card to pay for it, so no problems there.  When we got home it was after 9 & pretty much bed time. 

Sunday Sept. 6-
We spent Sunday relaxing!  Tim played games with the boys.  Dad went off and did who knows what.  Mom played her game and I sewed a bunch of diapers.  In the evening, I packed up all of our presents and watched "The Horsemen" with Mom and Dad.

Monday Sept. 7-
Monday morning we got up at 7:30 and got busy packing out.  We had to pack everything in plastic & didn't get on the road until 9:45.  We had to make a couple stops because my hips were hurting but we made good time.  We got lunch at Chic Fil A and made it home around 5:00.  John came to get Tony & we organized our unpacking a little bit.  Then, around 6:15, Tim and I headed out to Obici Hospital for our first "Prepared Childbirth" class.  It was good.  I only learned one thing, basically WHY it hurts when baby comes out "sunny side up".  Tim learned a lot about labor.  We also got to tour their L&D department, even though we're delivering at Leigh.  (We're touring over there on Oct. 5.)  On our way home we went to Pizza Hut & grabbed a pizza.  We ate at home & then went to bed.

Tuesday Sept. 8-
Today was the first day of school & I slept until 11:00!!  When I finally got up, I got busy cleaning house & working on unpacking.  I had to get all of Luke's belongings out of the guest room, because it smells bad in there.  I had a couple small contractions from all the work before I finally left WAY late to go to my doctor's appointment. 

My doctor "isn't worried yet" but my appointment was less than pleasant.

I lost another pound. I am eating...I don't understand how I'm still losing weight.
My fundal height was 30 cm, so I'm measuring 2 weeks behind.
I have a regular check up in 2 weeks & then at 36 weeks we're having an ultrasound.

After the appointment, I went to McDonald's and got some food.  Then I went to Ingleside to visit & drop off my Girl Scout fliers.  I left there around 4:30 and headed home.  Since I've been home, I've cleaned up and been working on getting Luke's clothes put away.  Tim's working on defrosting the freezer in an attempt to save the fridge.  (Although Mandy might get us a used one for $50.) 

We're going to have tuna casserole for dinner, because I couldn't do the grocery shopping with a broken refrigerator! 

To Do List Update

To Do List & Schedule:

Before Luke is born: (mid October)

put away our laundry
clean office
Bank (deposits)
finish cutting grass
bathe dogs
clean carpet in nursery & office
filing
scrub our bathroom (sink, toilet, tub, mop floor)
scrub walls in hallway (and rest of house too)
paint
clean carpet in living room & our room
wash car seat cover
reclean the garage
paint Luke's wall letters
assemble cradle
buy crib & dresser & get set up

M Sept. 14-8:15-3:35 Subbing at Crossroads Elem., 7:00 PM Prepared Childbirth Class
T Sept. 15-Happy Birthday Mom!, Girl Scout Meeting @ 6:00
Th Sept. 17-La Leche League 6:30 in Hampton, Tim going to Pregs & Babes Bible Study
Sat. Sept. 19- Breastfeeding Class
Sun. Sept. 20-Baby Shower (3:00)
M. Sept. 21-Happy Birthday Dad!, 2:45 Dr. Appt., 7:00 PM Prepared Childbirth Class
Th. Sept. 24- 7:30 Pregs & Babes Bible Study
F Sept. 25- 7:30 PM Disney on Ice w/ Girl Scouts
Su Sept.27-3:00-Church of the Epiphany on Lafayette Blvd-Service Unit Meeting for GS
M Sept. 28-7:00 PM Prepared Childbirth Class
S Oct.3- 10 am-6 pm Girl Scout Jamboree at Colonial Williamsburg
M Oct. 5-Sentara Leigh Hospital Tour 6:00
F Oct. 9-3:00 Ultrasound & Dr. Appt. 
Th. Oct. 15-La Leche League 6:30 in Hampton
Sat. Oct. 17-Knitting for Newborns 9-12noon

Mama Time!

I snagged this cute little list (or rather large) from Mama Kenz Studio, who grabbed it from her friend Kim at A View From The M and The Trial of Labor. I have done everything in bold! Have fun learning a few crazy facts about me!



1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Totally copied a post from someone else’s blog to your own

Now I want to learn about you!

I've done 32/100 what's your score?

Copy this list, paste in your post and customize it for you! Make sure to come back and link- I want to see!

My Diapers are Here!!!!

This is just too exciting not to post about.  (My cloth diaper blogging friends will TOTALLY get it!) 

Mandy (the best sister in the world) bought me 6 dozen green mountain diaper (GMD) prefolds!  They are THE top of the line diaper as far as prefolds go!  She bought 2 dozen unbleached diapers of each size: preemie, orange edge (newborn), and yellow edge (small).  Yay! 

They just came today!  Yay!  We just bought them Friday!  Wahoo!