Happy 4th!

So, we've kept up our laid-back drama-free lifestyle but I got kinda busy being mommy and of course, the blog was the first thing to get neglected.

My online class is now completed, with an A. :) And a new class starts on Tuesday, joy. We've been enjoying the summer, mostly just as a family and with Curly.

The holiday weekend was a blast, our town had all the festivities yesterday since it was Saturday. I took D to the parade just before lunch, then we went to Angie's barbeque for a bit before the fireworks. Curly met us for the fireworks and we all watched them, while cuddled together on a blanket. It was perfect <3.

I don't think I'll ever get used to the way he makes me feel. I can't help myself from smiling whenever I think about him (which practically means I've got a permanent smile upon my face). My cheeks get tired and kinda ache at bedtime almost daily. It's so amazing, between my munchkins and him, I don't think I've ever been happier.

 Today Little Miss and I went to a picnic at his house, with his family. I met a set of grandparents, an aunt and uncle, and two cousins (one of them I had known back in middle school, vaguely). I was suuuper nervous on the way there, but all went well and they were super sweet. (Surprise, surprise.. I mean they are related to Curly after all). It confirms my suspicions that his family are just some of the kindest people EVER & I enjoyed spending time with them.

Once everyone left, Cia and I stuck around a bit and swung on the porch swing with Curly. It was one of those perfect summer nights, a slight breeze, a beautiful sunset, and wildlife bouncing around in the field. We listened to the birds sing while Cia slept in the ring-sling. It doesn't get much better than that.

Then when I came home, Mr. D was waiting for me all done up, ready for a 'dessert date'. He had me put on a dress and we ate cheese curls and brownies together. He's such a charmer. But then as he fell asleep he told me he wanted a date. I said "I thought I was your date?" and he goes "No,you're my mommy, I want a REALLL date" Oh man, I'm done for when he gets a bit older.

I can't say "I love my life" anymore without sounding like a broken record... But man, it's so amazing to go to bed every night smiling, feeling light hearted and know that tomorrow will just be more of the same happiness today was full of. Love it <3 & I wish everyone had it. If they did, the world would be SUCH a better place.

I apologize...

I'm a super neglectful blogger. I try so hard for a while and then BAM life happens and my blog takes a backseat and suffers. Not that I have 'followers' who really follow.... but you know, now I lost some memories because I didn't record them. :P

So a recap: Baby C is now 2.5 months old, Mr. Von is a terrible toddler, I'm a brunette now *as of today*, and Curly is still as amazing as ever.

I've been taking a class online, which I absolutely hate. I miss the interaction you get from face-to-face classes. Plus being online means: distractions (especially BBCB), and having to actually read in order to do well. I totally don't do that usually so it's a kinda hard habit to get into.

I drove back to the parental's house to visit so Papa could meet Baby C now that he's back from Iraq. The drive was long, but surprisingly Baby C did fairly well and Mr. Von is a super fantastic traveler so it went pretty well. Now, the ride back... that worries me. My little sister, the amazon, is going to be going back with us and staying with Grama K for a while.

Being back here certainly doesn't help my anxiety issues. I think I need to be put on something, I am constantly looking over my shoulder when we're out of the house and I get super tense every time I see anyone that slightly resembles Psycho. *Sigh* I wish that part of my life were truly behind me. Thank Curly for the pepper spray, it makes me feel a little safer, though I really wish he were here with me, he always makes me feel safe.

Back to Cia, she rolls over now sometimes. She was 12 lbs 8 oz at her (late) 2 month appt (she was really 2.5 mos) and had grown 4 inches! Looks like she is a fabulous eater and I have amazing milk.

Watering the Garden

So, we live on a small 'farm' with lots and lots of garden space. D and my little cousins like to play in the dirt, and 'help' grama in the gardens.

Well, yesterday my little D, kept coming in the house with his pants around his ankles. So of course I ask "D WHAT are you doing!?". He replied ever so sweetly, "I just peeing outside".

I have no idea where the kid got the idea, he doesn't even pee standing up no matter how hard I try to urge him to inside, instead he takes his pants and chonies off completely, and climbs onto the potty to do his business.

He is definitely a character. :)

Catch Up

It seems like I'm always playing catch up on my blog.

I totally suck at the daily recap thing. *sigh* If only there were more hours in a day... Not that I use them all productively anyway. lol, I can pretend I do though right? Though, I guess raising 2 kids and keeping my sanity at the same time IS productive in some sense of the word, at least in my opinion.

Hmm, notable things since last week...

Tuesday: woke up with tenderness but no where near the horrid pain in my breast, fever broke during the night, and all was well on that front. Then the nursing students and instructor came by to check out Cia and look me over: Surprise, surprise, all was well with us too.

Wednesday:  I had the appointment with admissions at the university. It went really well, we enrolled me in two courses for this summer: Management something online for the first summer session and Research Methods, face-to-face for the second summer session. Now I just have to figure out how i'm going to fund tuition, not only for the summer but for the rest of the time i'm there.

Thursday: Cia and I went up to Hoopie's and then shopping at the outlets with Hoopie and KayKay. It was fun. Mr. Von spent the day at home with Grama. He isn't much for sitting in the stroller for hours on end. But, I did find him the puddle boots he wanted (frogs) and he was so excited he has barely taken them off since I gave them to him when I got home.

Saturday night, went back up to Hoopies for dinner with Queen Wendell & her family. We ate lasagna and ribs. Donovon went down the zip line a few times (he totally loved it!) and don't worry, there was an adult holding onto his waist the whole time lol, then we played Apples to Apples. It was a super fun game. I need to add it to my *non-existent* game collection.

Sunday night, Curly came over and we just talked & hung out for hours. He drew my ear (a required drawing for one of his classes), which turned out pretty cool. D would NOT go to sleep, he was up till after midnight. Finally he fell asleep and somehow we just cuddled and talked until 2am. He's still as amazing as ever. <3

Monday: Day 1 of Mission: "try to get D to sleep in his room". Naptime, we were running errands and he slept in the car for an hour-ish. So at bedtime, we read a story in the glider, then another story in his bed and he passed out. He slept in there on his own until 2ish am, when he came into my room and I just let him finish the night with me.

Oh and Baby chicks started hatching today! They are soo cute and fluffy soft! 

Tuesday: Day 2, Naptime took a while, but he ended up sleeping in Cia's crib (which she has yet to and won't try to use for months yet, if then) and fell asleep by himself. Then, bedtime came around and the child would NOT cooperate. I ended up giving in and letting him sleep with me because I WAS TIRED! Only for him to stay awake longer playing with my hair and driving me crazy. Then at 4am when I woke up to nurse Cia, I realized he had PEED THE BED! Ugh! So, changed his chonies and pants, put a towel over his wet spot and I thought we'd go back to sleep? Nope. Instead both children thought it was time to be wide awake. For three hours. Awesome. Needless to say, after the kids fell back asleep (after 7am) we all slept until 11ish!

Wednesday: Well, our late awakening limited the hours in today, but after bathing, we went to town with Grama. We stopped in and saw Grama K at work & went to walmart. D played outside for a long time when we got back & after dinner we all went on a walk up to Andy's and were there for a bit, on the way back he trekked through the woods with Grampa!

No nap for him since well, we woke up so late! But at 9pm, we brushed our teeth, washed our faces, read two stories and sang a song... & guess who fell asleep on his own by 9:30pm, in his bed!? yay! It's been an hour. We'll see how long he lasts tonight!

Maybe Mastitis?!

So, Cia and I were up at 4am for the normal feeding... However, I woke up to a swollen breast and was FREEZING. Like, shaking I was shivering so bad, freezing. I thought at first it was just the room temperature as we didn't have the heat on and it got pretty chilly last night, but upon inspection, D was normal temped and Cia was sweating.

My breast (that was swollen) also hurt reallly bad on one side, so I figured it was a clogged duct and massaged it while nursing her from that side. I've had my share of clogged ducts with D. But, it didn't help. After she fell back asleep I was still shaking so I drew a hot bath and soaked in there a while (and finished the book i've been slowly reading). I was super tired so I got out, put warm sweats on and went back to sleep with a hot compress on that side.

I slept decently, but when waking for the am, was met with all of the same symptoms, plus a headache and a bit of nausea. So not how I wanted to spend my day. I just nursed Cia and ate an orange and some toast. Took my temp but couldn't get grama's super ancient mercury thermometer figured out, no matter which way i turned it, I couldn't see the mercury strip! Annoying. So I took another hot bath, and then just went back to sleep, with D next to us watching a movie on my laptop.

Again woke up still feeling exhausted, swollen sore breast, etc. So I went downstairs and ate, took my temp again, it was now just over 100. Then found my discharge instruction paperwork, and on the list of what to call for was "chills and/or fever of 100.4+, flu like symptoms, pain in breast other than engorgement etc" I obviously had more than one so I called and talked to the MW on call, she suggested to wait it out and nurse like crazy to hopefully cure it that way, but she prescribed antibiotics as well and said to take them if I get worse, or just don't get better.

My fever is still hovering around 100. It sucks. I just feel exhausted with a painful breast. :( Not to mention the wonderful shifts from hot/cold. one minute i'm shivering then i'm sweating. Awesome to deal with when you have not only a newborn but a 2.5 year old to tend to.

It's times like these I really wish I wasn't a single mom. :(

Fly Like An Eagle

Yesterday, Cia and I went up to one of our cousin's Eagle Scout ceremonies. I kept D at home with Grama because I was sure he wouldn't sit through it.

The ceremony was pretty neat and it was good to see some of the family and let them see Cia.

I'm super proud of my little cousin, apparently Eagle Scout is a high honor. I had no idea, 'cause after all, I've never been a boyscout. But he did it! He's planning to go into the service (can't remember which branch) after graduating high school this year, so hopefully he makes something for himself; unlike his brother.

But ya, Go Daniel!

Cartoons & Cuddling

These two things seem to be what make up my life these days.

Good thing I love animated movies and cuddling is one of my absolute favorite things to do in the world! :)

Friday night, Curly came over and we played with D until it was time for him to calm down and he watched Scooby Doo (and fell asleep). Then we watched Knocked Up and got to cuddle ourselves a while. Ohh how I missed getting to snuggle up next to him.

Then Saturday, we had a typical day, then a 'Men Cooking' dinner at the church. After which, we came home and finished up watching The Princess and the Frog (because it messed up on me the first time and i didn't get to see the end :( Sadness. So I got to cuddle up with my two kiddos and watch the movie; which I highly recommend, it was super cute!

Today (Sunday), Mr. Von stayed home with Grama while Cia and I drove about an hour away to see one of our cousins become and Eagle Scout. I'm suuuper proud of my little cous for accomplishing that :). Even a representative from the House was there! Cia was great, as always and everyone commented how cute and quiet she was. <3

I love my life. 

Curly & Cia

So, last weekend Curly came by for a couple hours and spent some time with me and the kids.

D was watching a movie but would come in and jump on Curly and talk to us for a bit. But, mostly it was just me, Curly, and Cia, laying/sitting on my bed talking and watching Cia be cute. She was awfully fussy the whole time but he didn't seem to mind.

He kept saying she was cute and wondered what she was thinking. :)

He also said Fleur was a good mn choice, because she's definitely like a little flower <3.

Ah, this boy makes my heart rate speed up a bit & my mind go cloudy. Best of all, my cheeks hurt after being around him because I can't stop smiling. I love that feeling.

Baby Cia is here! :D

So, I've been MIA again, but for good reason this time!

At first, I was hating the world because everyone else was having their babbies and I had no sign of having mine! So, I decided to stay away from the interwebz for a while so everyone wouldn't hate me for bitching constantly. I was feeling super depressed, it sucked.

Last weekend was a busy weekend, full of maple syrup and insomnia. We had an amazing turn out at the open house. But of course, all of the comments about how hugely pregnant I was didn't help my sour mood. A couple people mentioned the full moon on Monday night, and how they thought I'd have her then (complete strangers mind you). I just told them all I wasn't holding my breath.

Well, Sunday after the open house hours ended, I met up with Grama K and we went into the 'city' so I could go to Target and get a swing and a breast pump. We walked around forEVER hoping it'd do something. It didn't. We ate at Red Lobster since i'd been craving seafood because of all the Lobsterfest commercials on this time of year.

So Monday, D and I got up and decided to be ambitious and put the swing together. Grampa had to help us because a few parts of it needed more tools than a screwdriver and... well, I suck with the whole handy thing.  We got that put together and we played the rest of the day (and napped). I had been doing squats every so often the past few days and had did the acupressure points Saturday and Sunday nights. But, I thought nothing was happening. Grama went to bed at around 10 and had came up and told me her plans for the am (she was supposed to watch my cousins in addition to Donovon). I had an appt at 10:15.

I was just chatting on chat, getting depressed that ANOTHER mama due after me was in labor. I started having what I thought were Braxton Hicks sometime around then. I didn't pay any attention to them because I didn't want to get my hopes up and I'd been having BHs for weeks even consistent ones every 6ish mins for 12ish hours, with no results!

I ignored them and just went about my business. Around midnight I realized they still hadn't subsided, but still they didn't seem close (atleast not enough for me to notice) and were only uncomfortable, not painful. I decided to take a shower JUST in case it was the real thing.

I took a shower, got back in pajamas, etc. and got back online chatting with Meggie at 12:50ish, and she suggested I start timing them since it'd been going on for a few hours. So, I pulled up trusty ole contractionmaster.com and started timing them at 12:55. Much to my surprise they were coming 3 mins apart, and lasting just over a minute. I still wasn't convinced because they weren't that painful (but were definitely more painful than a while before) and again, I didn't want to get my hopes up. I couldn't time them perfectly because Cia was moving SO much between contractions I couldn't tell when a contraction started, or finished because her back would press against my belly.

At 1:30, I decided I had better call L&D, see what they thought, and go from there. They connected me to the midwife on call (who was sleeping at home). I told her what was going on and she said "well, it could be it, I'd wait about half an hour longer just to make sure they don't taper off, and then come in if they haven't."
They didn't. At about 1:45 they dropped to 2 mins apart, and I was having to get up and pace the hallway through them chanting to myself "it's okay, it's okay, it's okay". Swinging my arms, or pushing on my back... I kept feeling like I needed to go to the bathroom, but I'd sit down and nothing would come. I threw the rest of the essentials in my hospital bag that hadn't been able to go before and called my Grama to wake her and tell her we needed to go.

She got dressed and came upstairs. Meanwhile, D had woke up and was crying because he wanted me to lay back down with him, or hold him. I could do neither. The contractions were too intense. I loved on him some and told him I thought his baby sister was coming to meet us tonight... Etc. Then let grama take him downstairs to grampa so we could get on the road.


We left the house at 2:10ish, having contractions every couple of minutes in the front seat of a mini-van was not very fun. I was sweating profusely and downed an entire water bottle on the trip. About halfway there I remembered I was supposed to call L&D to tell them if I was really coming in or not. But, of course I didn't have that number programmed into my phone and couldn't find that paper between contractions. So I called Grama K (2:30ish am) and told her to call L&D and tell them I was coming. She asked if I wanted her to come and I snapped at her "I DON'T CARE JUST CALL THE HOSPITAL!" lol I was not in a chit-chatty mood.

About 3/4 of the way there or so, it got extremely painful, the pressure was like nothing I'd ever felt before. I tell my grama this, and she reassures me that it'll be okay (we HAD to make it to the hospital) lol. I didn't know that I was really probably fully dilated at this point and that pressure and the urge to push was the real deal...

So we get to the hospital, go to the ER entrance (apparently the wrong one but we didn't know, not like we go to the ER often), and an orderly comes out with a wheelchair. I was dying of heat AND it helped to be up and moving during a contraction not sitting, so I had gotten out of the van. He tried to get me to sit in the chair.. Um I'm sorry, but sitting in a wheelchair during a contraction when I could walk/stand to deal with the pain more... Ya, I don't think so. I just wanted to be in L&D! LOL I was almost in tears but somehow still had my composure, though I wasn't very quiet or nice when I tried to talk.

When the contraction subsided I sat in the wheelchair and apologized to him, "it just REALLY hurts" so we got to L&D, and as we got to the room to check my progress, I was having another contraction. The nurses were telling me to lay down on the bed to be checked... But, IT HURT and I couldn't. I had a hold of one of the nurses shirts, squeezing it, cause ya know squeezing cotton fabric helps a ton BAER. Finally one of the nurses checks me but says "I can't tell how dilated she is, the bag is bulging, RIGHT there." So, a different nurse checked me, who apparently wasn't afraid of the bulging bag. She didn't say out loud what I was, but she rushed to the door and hollers down the hall for the nurse at the desk to "CALL DEB NOW, JEN IS TOO FAR AWAY" Deb wasn't the midwife on call, but lived considerably closer than Jen did. Then as they were wheeling me to a room, I heard the nurse tell the other nurse "She's complete with a bulging sac, she probably really does feel the need to push!"

So we get to a room, they have me lay on my side (with my legs together, seriously! ha!), and Brianna (one of the nurses) was coaching me to 'blow out the candle' during contractions. Really, ALL I wanted to do was push. But, I trusted her and I really didn't want to tear. I didn't think I could get through it, the pain was INTENSE and definitely like nothing I'd ever felt before. My grama got to the room, I again asked for ice chips and got to suck on them (I was still dying of heat). They turned the air on in the room and gave me a cold washcloth for my head. I told my grama to call my mom, she did. My mom asked if I wanted to talk to her, so my grama asked me and I yelled "NO!" lol again, not in a chit-chat mood. But, I wanted my mom updated.

I was still having contractions super closely, I was gripping the side of the bed rail that had a little groove in it and/or my hair/washcloth. Trying to chant to myself in my head that i'd be okay. I felt like I had to poop and told everyone that a few times. LOL. Brianna assured me "No, honey that's just the baby's head." But man, it felt like I had to take a massive poop. Ha.

Brianna continued to coach me through contractions with "blowing out the candle" which was increasingly difficult to do, I just wanted to push- SO BAD. She just kept saying we need to wait for the midwife. So, I listened. My grama was amazing and encouraged me the whole time and fed me ice chips when I asked for them.

FINALLY I saw Deb walk in. She was washing her hands and I told her "I need to push!" She goes "Then push!" So they helped me turn onto my back, Deb broke my water and immediately said "I see hair!" lol baby girl was most def. ready to enter this crazy world. Then I realized: OH NO, WHERE'S THE CAMERA?! I told my grama where it was in my bag, she got it... it was on video mode from Donovon being silly earlier... So she didn't know what to do. (Mind you, i'm on my back having a contraction... but I was NOT going to have this baby without pictures since my mom wasn't there! lol) I didn't push, instead I took the camera from my grama, quickly put it on the right mode and told her "just press the button!" One of the nurses made a comment about how "She's going to show us all how to have a baby... AND work her camera!" That I did! So, a few contractions and pushes later, Miss Cia was born! Oh and, don't let me forget to mention that the 'ring of fire' they talk about, is no joke. It feels exactly like that.

I got to hold her for a bit until the cord stopped pulsing, then my grama cut her cord. We cuddled a bit more and then they took her to the little baby station they had in there to weigh her. 7 lbs 14 oz. Bigger than her brother! :) They gave her back to me and we nursed, Grama K showed up and both Grama's held her, then later the nurse gave her a bath and set her under the heating lamp to get her nice and toasty again. I needed to pee, (only an hour, maybe 2 after birth) so I took a shower when I did that.

They took her to the nursery to do whatever else they need to do, footprints and vitamin K, and length- 20.5 inches.

I was tired, but had all this energy from the adrenaline that goes along with having a completely natural delivery! I didn't really sleep until the morning after both grama's had left and Cia was sleeping soundly.

Welcome to the World Baby Mia!

My best friend who lives in Cali, had her baby last night! She was in labor all day (well and the night before) and finally little Mia came out, she was 7 lbs 5 oz and looks JUST like her big brother! :D I'm ecstatic for my bestie Bob!

I wish we could get together this summer since we'll both have teeny babies and our big boys, but unfortunately that isn't going to happen unless I win the lotto (which I don't play).

Eeek I can't wait to see more pics of her. :)

Lazy Baby

So, noticeably starting yesterday, (kinda Sunday evening as well), Little Miss decided to become lazy and stop moving constantly. I didn't think much of it Sunday evening, nor the middle of the night (usually I have BH and movement when i'm up to pee, but only had the BH) that night, but then when she wasn't moving around yesterday throughout the day I got worried. I finished up the dress for one of Jody's nieces and laid down a while after we ate, poked at her, and still got nothing maybe a tiny wiggle. I fell asleep a while, and when we got up we were busy again in the afternoon so I chalked the non-movement to just being I wasn't paying attention so I wasn't too worried. Then evening came (usually her most active time) and I was laying down on the chat, and she still wasn't moving. I was poking her all around, ate a bunch of jelly beans, etc. Still nada. I was just about to call the hospital when she gave me a few good movements. So, I didn't call and just decided she was having a lazy day, ya know with the rain and all, it makes sense I was pretty lazy myself yesterday.

So this am, I woke up and had to get ready for a doctors appt at 10:45. Grama was sick with a stomach bug yesterday so I was taking D with me to the appointment today so that she could get some more rest (and hopefully avoid me and/or D getting the bug). Little Miss was once again inactive. I took a shower (usually the shower/bath gets her moving bc of the different temperature), ate breakfast (an orange and toast), and we were on our way to the appointment without feeling her move up until that point. I did feel a foot in my ribs once on the way there, but still, one movement in 2 hours, not normal.

The Appointment: So when I got there I told the nurse, and when I saw the midwife she decided to do an NST, which apparently we didn't 'pass'; Only one "axle" or w/e in 20 mins, took 40 mins for her to get a 2nd 'axle'... Though her heartrate was strong the whole time, though much lower than usual  (130's, every appt before this one she was 150's-160's). She then sent me to the hospital next door (doesn't have L&D it's a teeeeny hospital) for an u/s.. Note: everything else at the appointment was fine, belly measuring 38, she's in position, 'perfect' urine, BP 124/62 (same as the last few appointments I believe), and my weight was only up 1.5lbs. Not too bad.

The Ultrasound: Baby still did not have any big movements on the u/s but everything else checked out, fluid was 12 (they wanted atleast 10), she was doing breathing motions the whole time, and she's HUGE her estimate was 7 lbs 14 oz... D was 7 lbs 6 oz 2 days overdue!!! Apparently she IS moving, but it's just a kinda little twisty motion, or a slight move of her hand or foot here or there. Not what they want to see since I can't FEEL that little of movement since she's now facing my back and her back is to my bellybutton. We got to see hair too, and what looked to be chubby cheeks (just a quick scan past the face so i'm not sure).

Well, the mw still wasn't satisfied with the movement issue, so she sent me to the other hospital (where they actually have a L&D ward) for more monitoring, an hour away.

This was all before lunch, so it was 12:30ish when we headed to the hospital, stopped to get McDonalds and my grama and grampa met us there, my grama went with me to the hospital in case something WAS wrong; I didn't want to be alone, and my grampa took D home with him.

We got up there and hooked up, she had one big set of movements within the first 10 mins, and stayed active every few minutes the whole NST. Her heart rate was all over the place, but strong, and even a few contractions registered on the machine.

So, all is well. Unfortunately no baby yet for me though.

In other news, I'm feeling super depressed today. Hearing about all these women who are due after me getting contractions/going into labor/ having their babies, has seriously put me in a funk. I should be HAPPY for them, and I was really TRYING to be... but I heard about another today not due until almost 2 weeks after me, and I burst into tears and felt super depressed. So I think i'm going to have to try to occupy myself somehow and stay away from the internet (atleast facebook, babycenter, and the chat) a while and hopefully it either goes away, or I have Little Miss and thus, won't be so jealous and upset about everyone that has their baby except me!

I feel horrible for feeling this way, but it's not like i'm doing it on purpose. :( Hopefully all the ladies aren't mad at me or think i'm being immature. I really just feel super depressed about it. *sigh*

A Baby 'Sprinkle'

Today we had a baby 'sprinkle' just some of my family and Miss Lissa.

It ended up being pretty fun and we got some adorable stuff along with some money I can put toward the swing!

We played some games (which reminds me I need to buy a nursery rhyme book because I know NONE of them! lol), ate some food and yummy cake (chocolate cake with bavarian creme filling!), and then opened presents and just hung out.

Other than a few small things, I think we're ready for Miss Cia to make her appearance. I'm sooo over being pregnant, but I'm nervous about being a single mom of two, now that I'm down to ELEVEN days left before I'm due!

It's Spring!

When Curly came yesterday we went on an adventure in the woods, albeit a short one because I'm so hugely pregnant I couldn't walk for too long up and down that uneven terrain :P D and Curly had a blast together, so I really can't wait for Cia to make her appearance so we can go on longer walks together!

We fed the 'buggabugga's' as Curly calls them, and gathered their eggs, and then changed and headed to the church for dinner. The food was good, the company was a little...odd, but all-in-all it was a good outting.

There was a moment of awkwardness in the middle of dinner, a random teenage-ish kid was sitting next to us, he asked me when I was due, I told him, then D needed my attention, so I wasn't paying attention to the kid anymore... He turned to Curly and asked him 'so is the baby a boy or a girl', obviously assuming Curly was the dad and we were a little family. Curly didn't hesitate too much though before saying 'it's a girl'. He didn't correct the kid for his obviously wrong assumption.

We headed home after that and D passed out on the short drive back. He stayed asleep when I carried him inside, so Curly and I cuddled a few minutes in my bed, but decided we'd better watch a movie before we passed out too. Neither of us had had a nap and Curly had had a long day Friday, so we were all beat.

The Nightmare Before Christmas was the movie of choice, as it's my favorite, & Curly had taken a seminar on claymation the day before. We cuddled up on the couch and watched about half of it before D woke up and joined us.

Curly had his hand on my belly and I was kinda playing with his fingers since I don't know how to be still... and Curly randomly was like "It's crazy how teeny Cia's hands are going to be, aren't newborns fingers like this big?!" and showed me approx the correct size of a nb's fingers. It was so sweet that he obviously gives Cia some thought, and isn't too terrified of her being born if he's thinking about her hands. I realllly hope things don't change for the worse when she's born, because I still think Curly is amazing.

Ohh and best of all, he brought me a present... Pepper spray! In a cute pink container that clips onto a key ring! haha <3

Oh Noes We've Got the Sickies!

Thursday went as usual, onovon still had a runny nose and a cough but nothing more serious than that. Well, in the middle of the night, he woke up and was rubbing on his left ear, saying it hurt. So I decided to call when we got up and take him in. I woke up to go pee around 5:30 and he woke up too, we were both exhausted, but wide awake. He picked a movie and we went into the 'jungle room' to lay on the couch and watch it. Around 8:20 or so we both fell back asleep for an hour. I called the ped when we got up and they said I could bring him in at 10:30. We changed and I scarfed a piece of toast and we were on our way (half an hour ish from the peds office).

When we got there, I had to pee, of course. D had went right before we left the house and was still wearing a dry pull-up from bedtime, so when he said he didn't have to go, I believed him. We sit back down in the waiting room, D on my lap. & all of a sudden I feel this hot spot on my leg.. I thought it was his hands at first because they'd been hot off and on the whole time he was sick (along with his feet). Well, it wasn't. He peed. Apparently his peepee was positioned weirdly pointing toward the leg of the pull-up because the pull-up was NO where near full, and yet it went through the pull-up and his pants and onto mine. So, there we are at the dr's office, with one pant leg of mine wet through with pee, and the opposite leg of D's backside wet with pee.

Since A. He was wearing a pull-up and B. He hasn't had any accidents in a couple weeks, I didn't have a change of clothes for him in the car. Luckily, it's been super nice here lately and after leaving the Dr.'s office both of us were dry by the time we got to Walmart.

Oh Walmart. I'm NEVER filling prescriptions there again. It was a 45 minute wait, which turned into over an hour because of the ridiculous lines at the pharmacy (I think because it was Friday?). 38 weeks pregnant, sick, with a sick 2yo... NOT a pleasant experience.

We took a nap when we got home after eating chicken noodle soup, and then just bummed around the house since we were both feeling crappy.

Today, we wayy slept in. I didn't even realize it until we were finished eating 'breakfast' and I looked at the clock on the oven... It read 11:28... Ooops. Lol. I needed to make fudge today for the bake table at the churches dinner tonight, so I did that after we ate. I made a double batch (so ~3lbs) of chocolate peanut butter fudge. Then I felt the NEED to clean the kitchen, so I did all of the dishes (including those that couldn't be or didn't fit in the dishwasher!), cleaned off the table and counters, then swept AND mopped the whole downstairs (well where there is hardwood).

I felt accomplished, that put me at 2o'clock-ish. So I jumped in the shower, and now D is taking a tubby so his nose would run without that nasty saline spray. (Grama isn't here to hold him while I spray it up his nose, it's a 2 person job for sure).

Curly is coming over. (Well actually, Curly is now a no-haired kid... But, for the sake of less confusion, and the fact I'm in love with his curls... I'll continue to refer to him as Curly). We're going to take D for a walk in the woods for a while and then go to a chicken and biscuit dinner at the church. :) Probably watch a movie when we get back or something.

Or collapse from exhaustion, ya know whatever works.

Sweet, Sweet Sunshine!

 Another sleepless night last night, topped with lots of screaming from Mr. D, and lots of tears from me. I really don't know what to do to get him past this, he isn't like most kids that give up after a while... He seriously will NOT give up (or just fall asleep from exhaustion). *Sigh* It's so frustrating and it breaks my heart and makes me feel like a failure as a mother for not getting him on a schedule or something. I really do not know how i'm going to deal with this and a new baby.

Especially because the past few days the screaming has crossed over into his assertions of independence as well, and when he doesn't get his way, he'll start to scream bloody murder, throw himself, etc. and WILL not calm down! :( He did it tonight while eating dinner because he put WAYY too much butter on his waffle and I took a knife and took it off because I'm sorry, but my child is not eating half a stick of butter on one quarter of a waffle (No joke that's how much was on it). Grama took over once she was done eating after I tried dealing with him, so that I could eat. He didn't calm down for her either. It's sooo frustrating I just don't know what to do to stop it, terrible two's don't even begin to explain it.

As for the rest of the day, it was amazing out, hit 60 this afternoon. D and I spent a lot of time outside, just hanging out. He ran around, we walked around the house to see all the animals, did the chores, visited the new calf (and mama), and I even had to chase D around a bit.. My do I ever feel it now. LOL, But, it was nice to get out and enjoy the fresh air. Tomorrow is supposed to be another gorgeous day so we'll probably do the same thing. Maybe i'll work on crocheting or something while i'm sitting on the porch.

D helped grama make apple pies today, he's a big fan of sifting flour (and making a mess with it). They turned out sooo yummy. Tomorrow she's making blueberry and maybe some other flavor(s), for the bake sale table at the churches dinner on Saturday. But we of course get to keep a blueberry and an apple :)

Heres to one more day closer to meeting Little Miss Cia, whenever that may be.

Oh and, I still hate St. Patty's day.

I'm ready, i'm ready, i'm readdddy!

Sunday:

Spent the day at home, not doing much. Got a dress mostly made for my uncles wife (for a gift for one of her nieces), but that was about it. Then after dinner we went and visited Grama K at the inn where she works, I left D with her for a couple hours, and went to see that Curly haired kid. His family was just about to eat, so I sat with them while they ate, then we went upstairs and hung out. He had slacked over his spring break on his drawings, so he drew me 2 more times, then we did the usual, cuddling/talking/listening to music, which of course led to less innocent things, tasting of butterscotch.;)

I was hoping that it'd start labor but, alas, it just gave me strong and frequent braxton hicks for about 12 hours. Super frequent for about 6ish hours, then I finally went to bed and they calmed down some, and finally wore off completely after breakfast. *sigh*

Monday:
We slept in, then got around and D went to my uncles house to play with the boys for a while so me and grama could go to the hospital for a tour of Labor & Delivery and to pre-register. The L&D unit was nice! I'm super excited about delivering there now. You have your own private room for the entire stay and you aren't moved between rooms (unless you have to have a csection). They also encourage fulltime rooming in, so I don't have to argue with the nurses about keeping her with me the whole time like I did with D.

Then D slept like shit last night. We started our normal bedtime 'routine' if you can call it that, at 9:30, and he just screamed off an on until TWO when I finally couldn't stay awake any longer and fell asleep w/ him screaming. Then, every single time I got up to pee in the middle of the night (about every 1.5/2 hours) he would wake up, and scream some more. It was fabulous. No really.

Today:
Woke up after said sleepless night and had to get ready to go to my midwife appt. I actually dressed cute for once, bc it was a GORGEOUS day. Wore a casual dress, magic dance tights (thank you Capezio, I need to buy a few more pairs of you!), and my cute boots I got for Christmas that I haven't been able to wear bc no skinny jeans fit me currently. LOL I got complimented a ton while I was there, totally boosted my self esteem.

Then, it got even better by being 2lbs down on the scale from last week (midwife said a lot of my weight is more than likely water weight). Everything else was perfect as well. Miss Cia definitely dropped and is 'engaged', so it could be anytime now (which also unfortunately means still 3 weeks from now).

I'm reallly hoping for sooner rather than later, too bad for me, I don't have control over that, she does. So come on Miss Cia, we want to meet you and kiss your face! :D

Meeting the G-Parents :O

So, I did it, I brought Curly home to meet the family.

I cooked dinner (chicken and broccoli alfredo stuffed shells--YUM), baked cookies (maple chocolate chip), and Grama and I finally got her junk/jungle room cleared out and transformed into a 'family' room for me and the kids! It was a SUPER busy day for us yesterday, but it was well worth it.

Curly came over, we ate dinner, went out to feed the chickens and look in on the new baby calf that was born the other day... then we played with Donovon a while checking out all his awesome toys. Curly was impressed with his tool bench, and would have stayed there playing if I left him to it. lol

We decided to watch a movie, Twilight is what he picked out since he hadn't seen it before, so we sat/laid on the floor in the 'jungle room' and watched it (so much for the chairs. :P they're too separated lol). As always, it was a good time. He liked my grama's bug collection (well one of them) that is now on display in that room. He told me some cute stories about catching bugs/chasing snakes when he was a kid.

My great aunt and uncle (L&L) had stopped by just as we were setting the table for dinner. They hadn't eaten yet, and we had enough so we invited them to stay and eat. They did, and everyone loved the stuffed shells! Curly at like 5... and even super picky 'I don't eat anything' Grampa ate them! (I wonder if he threw them back up though. HAHA... But, it was his choice and he usually won't even try stuff like that, let alone eat 2!)

Curly is super sweet, he took Reese (his lab) on a long walk yesterday (it was in the 50's and beautiful!) and came across some plant that had heart shaped leaves.. He took a pic and sent it to me :). I'm telling you, whoever snatches this kid up and marries him, is going to be the luckiest woman in the world. *Sigh* daydream over. LOL But really, I can't think of a time he hasn't put a smile on my face.

In baby news, I'm officially 'full term' now, which means she's safe to come anytime now. Hopefully sooner rather than later. But, as long as she's healthy, I guess I shouldn't be too picky. She's just ruined my body hardcore, I found stretchmarks on my CALVES yesterday. How does that happen?! Ya know the 45ish lbs and counting thing BLOWS, as does the cellulite that has taken over my bottom half. :'( My sessi bodeh will never be the same.

Oh what a night, doo dit doo dit dit doo dit dooooo

Today was GORGEOUS! High 40's all day with *gasp* sunshine! It was amazing. I didn't spend time outside though unfortunately. D and I went to Lissa's house, so Lissa could take some maternity pictures for her portfolio. It was fun. D 'played' with Emmah, though he is kinda a bully around her for some reason. He must have a crush :P.

Then Lissa and I just sat around talking for a bit before D and I headed off to Grama K's. We hung out there, then after dinner I went to Curly's house, since Friday we went "out" instead of our weekly mov "in" time. We chatted with his parents while they all ate dinner (though I'd eaten already, so I just tried the red cabbage/broccoli/apple salad his mom made, which was really good). Then we watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind w/ Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. It's a fairly decent movie, but kinda hard to follow. It eventually mostly makes sense, but in the beginning you're definitely sitting there like... "wtf?!"

After the movie we got even closer and as usual, it was amazing. Curly has almost 8 hours worth of sketching for homework over his spring break this week, so after all that he decided to draw me, just laying on his bed. It was pretty intimate, atleast for me! I could have easily went for round 2 after, maybe it was being able to just watch him in his element. He's amazing. The drawing came out really good IMO, it did look like me! lol.

I have a feeling sex might work to induce labor here in a couple weeks, because tonight after, I've had a good amount of STRONG BH and it's been over 2 hours with them. They aren't 'real' ones though, as they aren't too painful. But, it could definitely have a chance at working later on!

Well, i'm tired, and hungry. So, i must go get a snack, then hit the sack!

One more day down!

Have I gone around the bend?!

Tonight I went to see Alice in Wonderland with Curly. It was pretty good. I don't think i'd call it a 'favorite' but it was a good movie and I'd watch it again. I didn't realize prior to watching it that it wasn't a remake of Alice in Wonderland, but rather a sort of sequel to it. So it wasn't what I was expecting for sure. I loved Johnny Depp in it, and all the creatures were awesomely animated.

Curly and I were good kids, we held hands during the movie <3. I remember back in the day when that was something you hurried home to call your best friend and tell them. :) Since it's not as accepted to do that these days over something minute, especially when you've done a lot more than hold hands... I'm blogging about it instead. lol.

A friend of ours works at the movie theater, so he saw us together obviously. I'm not sure if he knew/knows i'm pregnant or not though. I was carrying my coat when we went in, and it was shielding my belly. :P I wonder what'll be said now that someone saw Curly and me on a 'date'.

After the movie, we went back to his house, he had to work on an outline for one of his classes that was due by midnight, so I read along while he was working on that, and did some editing for him :P. How useful I seem to be. ha. Since my Grama T had D I didn't want to stay too late, she's never watched him other than for my doctors appointments.  I came home early (and before we even did anything too fun!) and it was a good thing because he wouldn't go to sleep for her. What a brat! lol

Here we are, 12:40am and he's still awake. Apparently he did fall asleep downstairs, but when she tried to bring him upstairs to put him to bed he woke up and wouldn't stop crying because he didn't want to go to bed. Guess it's just one of those days where he seems to have inherited my insomnia.

Pretty Princess

So I absolutely adore my baby boy.

Tonight, he was brushing my hair, and he grabbed my cheeks and turned my face toward him and told me "You look like a pretty princess" <3 Talk about melting your heart! It made me cry because toddlers are honest, so he thinks that, and I feel anything BUT pretty and princess like. So the fact that my 2 year old thinks that about me, makes me feel amazing.


Just some daily updating... I had my (almost) 36 wk appointment today. Baby was measuring right on track still, 35cm, strong HB in 150's/160's, head down and thought to be 'engaged'.  I was up too many lbs again. Rah! I'm blaming it on heavier clothes.. and having JUST ate breakfast before I went. We talked a little about how labor/delivery will go... and I'm nervous, but excited for it :)

Ohh and Curly asked me 'out' to the movies on Friday night to see Alice in Wonderland :D. I feel like a 15 year old, all giddy and excited that a cute boy asked me out, lol! This will be the last movie I go see for a while, so i'm looking forward to it, even though sitting through it will probably suck, and i'll have to get up to pee a million times. Ah well, maybe he'll make it worth my while and hold my hand and take me home after ;)

One month to go!

It's officially down to the wire, I'm due in exactly one month! :D
Cia is constantly moving, which is painful these days. My pelvis feels like it's going to shatter into a million pieces, especially when I'm laying down and I move.

I got the kids' room organized and most everything set up. I need to hang pictures on the walls, but I think I should wait for her to be born and put pics of the two of them together (and some of just Cia) instead of just D all over. I still have to buy a few things, but I'm mostly ready for her to be here! and I'm soooo ready to be un-pregnant! lol

We had a pretty uneventful week, we were snowed in thanks to freezing rain and then about a foot of snow. So we just were bums and watched lots of movies and played cars a million times.

On Saturday we went to Grama K's when she got off work, and then to a great aunt of mine's house for dinner. Afterward, I left D at Grama K's for a few hours and went to Curly's. :) As usual it was a good time, we just listened to music, talked, etc... Which was amazing. Then we made hot chocolate and munched on random things before he took me back to my car (my little corolla HATES snow... so in inclimate weather I don't dare drive it on his road, which gets pretty shitty pretty quickly like mine does).

We actually took a picture together finally, that came out pretty cute.





I'm pathetic and can't stop looking at his picture. His expression just looks as content and happy as I feel... so I get that "Aww he likes me" feeling *blushes*

Tomorrow morning I have another OB appointment. I get the GBS test, joy. I'll try to update tomorrow :).

Almost 35 week appointment

I had another appointment today, the last of the 2-week intervals. It was pretty uneventful like usual. I only gained 2 lbs since my last one, so finally was NOT over the 'target' for that interval... Which was a shock to me because my mom fed me WELL while I was back to visit!

Blood pressure was 112/66 which apparently is pretty 'perfect' according to the midwife. Cia's heartbeat was in the 160's like usual and my belly was measuring 34. Everything is still going superbly.

My next appt is in a week. I'll be getting the Group B Strep screening done and hoping that it's negative this pregnancy, as it was positive with D.

We're going to plan a hospital tour soon and pre-register. It's all becoming so real! I'm going to have TWO kids... i'm going to have a baby GIRL! Crazy! I hope that we adjust quickly and easily, and that D doesn't hate me for taking away his 'only child' status.

Not-so-short trip home.

We drove back Saturday night part way, then allll day Sunday. Ended up getting a flat tire just about 3 hours away from home... and were on the side of I-80 for THREE hours. First my grama couldn't get the spare out from under the van, the bolt thingy that was supposed to release the cable, wouldn't turn far enough for the cable to extend completely to be able to get the tire out... So we called a number that the GPS system gave me for supposedly something to do with car maintenance in the next town... Well, it was a house number, I told the lady what was going on and ask her if she'd give me a number to a garage, she did... I called, they 'sent' someone... Well I told them everything I knew about our location, we were 16 miles from the exit (according to GPS and come to find out later IT WAS EXACTLY 16 MILES FROM THE EXIT) east bound blah blah blah, okay so 45 mins goes by, no guy... my cell rings, it's the guy who is 'in route to find us' and he is saying we ARE NOT on the side of the road he's been from such and such place to such and such place and we are not there... Um.. Sorry but YES we are.. So I describe EVERY single thing I can see, my grama walks a ways to find a mile marker, we tell him.. etc. "Oh I think I know exactly where you are... by this city..., I'll be there soon" hmm.. okay so another hour or so goes by... Still no garage guy.. My phone rings again, just as a man pulled over FINALLY someone pulled over, I ask the man who pulled over what the exit we JUST passed was (the wheel started shaking as I saw the off ramp to the exit, but I was in the far lane and couldnt get over till probably 1/4 mile after the exit). He told me the number and the name.. I tell the guy on the phone... He starts  YELLING at me.. How he'd supposedly been by there TWICE, had JUST passed that exit and we are not there... WTF!? So I yell back... "I AM NOT GOING TO BE DISRESPECTED ON THE PHONE, I'M 8 MOS PREGNANT WITH A 2YO AND MY GRANDMOTHER ON THE FUCKING SIDE OF I-80 FOR TWO HOURS NOW, I'M NOT LYING TO YOU ABOUT WHERE I AM, I AM 3 HOURS FROM HOME, AFTER DRIVING FOR THE LAST DAY AND A HALF, I JUST WANT TO BE THERE ALREADY AND HAD YOU FOUND ME IMMEDIATELY WE'D BOTH BE HAPPY!" and the man says (still yelling) "WELL TELL THAT MAN TO LEAVE, I'VE ALREADY GOT 50 MILES INTO THIS LOOKING FOR YOU TO HELP, YOU OWE ME MONEY..........." I cut him off "I have told you EXACTLY where we are, even the man who LIVES HERE said exactly what I told you when I asked. We're in a RED minivan on the side of the road exactly where we've been for hours. If you find us, great, we'll pay you, we haven't lied at all, we just want to go home. Since you obviously are blind or a moron and you're rude and yelling at me, if you don't find us you can fuck off!" and I hung up. He kept trying to call again. But by this point I was crying and NOT going to deal with him... 

The man that stopped got the spare out from under the car, then something got bent and he couldnt get the tire off or on or something (idk I was sitting in the van with Donovon my grama was out with the man)... he went to the store, bought a new w/e it was we needed, and came back to help us! He got the tire all changed, THEN (after 2 hours of sitting there) a state trooper finally stopped (2 had passed at that point w/ no help). But the trooper only pulled my grama aside to make sure she was 'comfortable' with this man working on our car... when he was already completely done with the tire! and then asked her if she wanted it towed, bc the cable thingy wouldnt retract like it was supposed to. 

They ended up cutting the cable so we could get back on the road. We stopped at the next exit w/ a gas station (THE ONE THAT WE WERE 16 MILES FROM EXACTLY) and had them check all the tires and everything.. Then drove the last 3ish hours going EXACTLY the speed limit so as not to irritate the donut... so we spent 3 hours on the side of i-80. It could have been soooo much worse than a flat tire, we're all safe, etc. So even though it did SUCK horribly (my grama and I both ended up peeing on the side of the highway in 30ish degree weather bc we'd been there so long LOL)... and then after we got back on the road we BOTH had to pee about an hour or so after.. But I didn't want to stop (and she didnt want to ask me to stop to pee), so I drove 3 hours 15 mins straight w/ having to pee for atleast 2 hours... LOL I just did NOT want anything to happen when we stopped and us be stuck there.


so... SIGH. It made for a looong day. I called Curly after the guy made me cry and hysterically told him the story (he knew we got a flat prior) and then  when I got home I called him again and he admitted "you were talking sooo fast I had no idea what was going on... except someone yelled at you, you were crying, and really had to pee!" hahaha! 

But, I'm super thankful it was just an inconvenience and it wasn't anything serious. We're all safe and home. It was fantastic to finally reach our exit and know we were in the clear. 

I went and saw Curly yesterday morning-ish, we were good and just cuddled and I talked pretty much non-stop for two hours... Not WE talked.... just ME. Ha. I get a little nervous around him, so I can't be quiet.. or still. I think I may have adult ADHD. :P Seriously. It felt sooo great to be back "with" him again and not ~1000 miles away. 


Then I came home, took the stuff my grama had brought in from the van upstairs, unpacked most of it (some stuff is warm weather clothes that won't need to be pulled out until later). I attempted to put together the changing table, but turns out i'm misisng one "barrel nut" so I can't finish putting it together. I made D lay in his bed, we read a story and I went back to bringing stuff up.. He cried, but I decided to put together the crib, so I was in and out of the room bringing up those pieces, and then sitting on the floor putting it all together.. He fell asleep a while into it and woke up twice in the night. Around 5am he was crying pretty loudly, so I went in and got him and let him finish the morning in my bed since he wanted me to lay with him and I was NOT going to sleep in that bed LOL. 


It's good to be HOME!

Where's that money tree?

Today we went to the Tanger Outlets and spent a lot of money! LOL The sales were great, I'm sure they were even better over the weekend but we didn't get a chance to go up because of the weather/road conditions, so today had to do.

Got lots of clothes for D for next winter, and possibly even bigger. He also got a winter coat for next year, and a couple pairs of shoes! He rode in an alligator cart thingy and didn't want to leave even after hours of shopping. He's such a good kid sometimes lol :)

Then of course we got tons of clothes for Miss Cia. I finally lucked out on long sleeved teeny shirts, Carters had a bunch. I can't wait to get to dress her in those adorable teeny little outfits! Having a daughter is going to be super expensive. D would rather be naked than have a ton of clothes! LOL

Probably my favorite purchase of the day:

Eeek 43 days! How insane, I can NOT wait to meet her and watch her and Mr. D play together!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

Well, it's partially true I guess. Little D and I are back in the midwest to visit the family while the Major is back on leave from Iraq. And I have to admit, I miss that Curly haired kid like crazy! We usually only do something once or twice a week, so atleast right now, it has only been a week, which is normal... But just knowing he's 900 miles away and I CAN'T see him for atleast another week sucks!

Before I left, I spent an evening with him, we just cuddled, listened to music and all that fun stuff. I don't think i've ever felt as safe as I do when I'm in his arms. With all things considered in my life, it amazes me that I could even feel partially safe these days, let alone trust him with my life so completely in those moments.

Curly was sweet like usual and asked me to be his Valentine yesterday, we of course couldn't do anything... but it made me smile just that he asked. <3 I love getting random "xoxo" texts. He's pretty fantastic at making my day. :) 

As for being back in the midwest, I still hate it as much as I always have. Back to drama and dealing with psycho, along with snow and shitty roads because the city doesn't know how to plow. Mr. D is LOVING having Gigi, Papa, Bear, and Boo around, it'll be hard for him when we leave again I'm sure. Surprisingly psycho hasn't been TOO terrible. The Major made it clear that he has to be in the house when psycho comes to see D... Which D hasn't really wanted much to do with psycho when he has been here. Yesterday he came, brought D a Buzz Lightyear toy, and a little monster truck. D liked them but wanted to play with them with mommy... not daddy. Then tonight he came again, they watched Lilo and Stitch. Again, D wanted mommy to sit on the couch with him and not daddy... He did play some, psycho swung him around and tossed him in the air and stuff, which he loved. He just wasn't into "daddy" so much... He even was scared of him when he first got there tonight.

Tomorrow I think we're going up to the outlets so I can hopefully find a bra that will contain the girls. Since there are no maternity stores anywhere near the new place.

Skype Night

So last night D and I talked to Curly on Skype. It was much better than the 2hour delay our text convos usually have thanks to livin' in the boonies!

Him and D were both adorable as per usual. And being the dork that I am, I'd like to remember the details since I always tend to forget them.

D was up way too late, but since Granite is here, I don't feel like fighting him this week so that Granite can hopefully get some extra sleep (He doesn't sleep well already). So, D was watching Tinkerbell in my room, and we were talking to Curly. D thinks it's awesome/hilarious to play hide and seek and/or peek-a-boo on skype, so of course he did with Curly too. Curly was a good sport and "disappeared" a few seconds then popped back up... Which made D roar with laughter and of course do the same. At one point D was hiding behind the laptop and was like "Curly can't see me!!!!" It was super cute.

Then D passed out (Thank you Tinkerbell!) and we were just talking about life, his school stuff, the visit me, the boy, and Grama will be taking back home next week, etc. At one point he was talking about how he loves to doodle (well duh he's an artist) and he held up a <3 drawn on a piece of paper. It was definitely an "Aww" moment from me. (And made me cheese like a moron I'm sure). Later on he also wrote "Brin is cute" on a piece of paper, ya know, like Taylor Swift style. Soooo sweet.

Apparently in one of his classes they're talking about diff time periods, different art/writing forms, etc. He was like "I think if I'd have lived in Ancient Egypt, I'd have been a scribe" I was like "Yea, you do have pretty handwriting, even carved stuff, so that'd have been a good job for ya... I know nothing about Ancient Egypt other than ya know... Pyramids, cats, mummy's, hieroglyphics... So I'm not sure what i'd have done had I lived back then" And he goes "hmm... I think you'd have been a scribes wife. And probably a mom." Definitely another "awwwww" moment from me. I don't think i'd mind the scribes wife role... (then or now).

It's such a different feeling than I've ever had before... Someone that cares and is kind, without the expectation of gaining something from it... I think it's safe to say I'm smitten. Usually after the smitten-ness comes heartbreak, but this time... I really just hope he stays a part of my life in SOME context. I like the way my cheeks feel since he's been a part of my life. Prior to then, my 'smile muscles' didn't get near enough use other than for little D.

Itty Bitty Baby Dress

I was ambitious when I woke up and started/finished sewing an Itty Bitty Baby Dress; pattern courtesy of Made By Rae !

It came out adorable and I'm going to make a few more for other mama's I know that are having girls as "shower" (or rather "virtual shower") gifts since I won't actually be there!







It's definitely not perfect, and I'll buy piping next time instead of making it ghetto like we did (bias tape and YARN haha). But, definitely not a fail!

It's been a week... AGAIN.

I apparently suck at blogging. LOL Which is kind of sad since I'm always online. I need some big reminder... Maybe i'll put a post it note on my laptop or something.

Hmm.. well.. The weekly rewind..

Didn't do anything too notable tues-friday other than some sewing, I started and finished a quilt top and pieced backing for Robyno's wee one due 2 days before Miss Cia and taught myself some basic crochet stitches and started crocheting a blanket (but I ran out of one of the colors of yarn I was using so that's on hold...AND I broke the cheap crochet hook so need to find/buy another in that size).

Saturday, we hung out with Grama K and Justin, then D stayed there to hang out more, and I went to Curly's. We cuddled and watched a bunch of UFC fights he had on DVD for lack of other options atm. I'll need to remember to grab a DVD from my ever-growing collection from now on everytime I'm going there... just in case. Of course 'adult time' was fabulous, as per usual with Curly :). & all I have to say is Warm butterscotch is deliciously amazing.

That night I slept incredibly well, but woke up kinda stuffy and it was one of those "ughh I'm 31 weeks pregnant and huge and I don't want to have to move" days. We didn't do much until the evening, when we went to pick Granite up from the airport for his spur of the moment trip!

So today, D went with Granite and Grampa to the dump and to visit some family while Grama and I went to a sewing group at the church. Only one lady showed up but she's known me since before I was born... so it was fun just the three of us jabbering for an hour or so. We came home, made lunch... Then I went to the state police dept. to get some info. and Grama took care of naptime with D... He actually went to sleep for her without her laying down with him! >.< What the heck!? My child must just love me THAT much right that he MUST have me with him? haha.

I got to get groceries too, what fun walmart and groceries are being hugely pregnant... especially when you have almost a cart-ful and then realize you forgot something WAYYY back in the last row. Awesome job Brin!

I definitely got my exercise in today!

Looong Night = Even Longer Day

So we'll go backwards to recap...

Today, we did nothing. I've had a migraine alll day because of lack of sleep last night, so I stayed in bed aside from feeding/bathing D and attempted to "rest" while he played.

Last night, D had a nightmare, and screamed bloody murder for close to an hour. I tried switching rooms, had all the lights on... etc. but nothing helped, he just screamed. I tried to lay him down with me in my bed and he bolted off of the bed and ran to hide in my closet.. The entire time he was screaming "LEAVE ME ALONE, DON'T TOUCH ME. NOOOO" :( poor baby, I still have no idea what he dreamt about that scared him so much. To top it off, it was storming last night and I can't fall asleep when it's stormy bc i'm a baby and it scares me. So... I was realllly tired today.

Yesterday, Sunday, we didn't do much either. We sewed some, just hung around the house, cleaned... the usual. D had woke up with a pretty horrible cough so I was glad we didn't get up and go to church.

Saturday was more eventful. A friend of mind, Angeline, called me in the am and wanted me to meet her in town to give her moral support while she bought KY lube... lmao. So, being the amazing friend I am... We went. She's a loser, really it's not a big deal but whatever. Then, instead of coming all the way back home and then back to town and to the "city" later.. I decided to just head to the "city" from there, a lot earlier than I had planned.

We went to target, old navy, and TJ Maxx. Spent too much money of course, but... my bank account isn't empty yet so that's something. Then I just happened to call Grama K (we were headed to her house after) when we left TJ Maxx and turns out they were in the "city" too, eating. So, we went there and ate with them and went back with them. Hung out there for a while...

I called one of my friends I still hadn't seen since I've been back and he was free so I stopped by there for a while to say hi on my way to Curly's house... Then went to Curly's, ate, watched Gamer (which was decent... though the "society" aspect was WEIRD as hell and the obese man made me gag), and "snuggled" for a while :)

It was a good night.

Friday, I can't really remember. LOL oh the exciting life I lead.

Curly + Donuts = A Good Day

So the title is pretty self explanatory. Our morning was unblogworthy boring, like usual. But then we got clean and cute to take Curly home made alfredo for lunch! :) As soon as we got there, his dog, Reese, came to the car and Von was like "Reese wants to seee me!" LOL How he remembered his name from one other meeting, I haven't a clue.

Once inside Von ran around and around after/from Reese while we talked to Curly's mom and reheated the alfredo. It got Curly's approval, so that's good :)

It was a pretty chill visit, then he had to go back to class, and we had to head to WIC to get on it here. We had a wonderful drama to watch while waiting... A woman bitching about not getting enough milk.. when she gives her 1 year old twice the recommended amount! Then when the WIC lady was like "that really is too much for his age" she YELLED at her... "QUITE FRANKLY HE CAN AND DOES DRINK WHATEVER HE WANTS" Um... then why are you on WIC if you aren't atleast semi-following guidelines as to what your child should be putting in their mouth?! There are guidelines FOR A REASON so your kid can be healthy! They need water and other shit too, not just milk! Rah.

Then I got praised for BFing as long as I did. D is now 38inches and 32lbs. I am... well... 30 weeks pregnant. haha! So after WIC, we decided to go to Dunkin Donuts.. after all, you can't go all the way to that town and then NOT get Dunkin Donuts since thats the only remaining one around here! So we got our donuts, and stopped at the Assistance office so they could make copies of the rest of the stuff they needed. The complete outting took forever, though it didn't feel like it was forever at the time.

Aunt Angeline came over after a bit when we were home. She picked up the sewing room that was a disaster, and helped watch my cousins that I was babysitting (3 and 20ish mos) for a while.

Well, that was my simple, but good day... I mean come on, Curly and Dunkin Donuts? Fantastic! Now, it's time for me to power down the laptop and passss out!

Miss Productivity

Well today, I decided to get on it and finish the diaper bag... So, I got up, and did just that. I'm sooo pleased with how it came out! I can't wait to use it! (i'll be using it as a purse for now because dang it i'm impatient!)

Wonky picture bc there was nothing in it... but it'll do for now




and the interior... I did the pockets differently than the pattern. I added a 3rd pocket, and instead of splitting the pockets by sewing, I decided to keep them as big pockets for my purposes of the bag I think that'll work better.



Then... I couldn't stop with the sewing... So I made a Heather Bailey pincushion..


I also started a hot/cold rice bag using this tutorial http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/2009/08/hotcold-rice-bag.html I adore that blog! I would have completed that as well but I didn't have rice to fill it! :P

Tomorrow will be a slightly busy day, so i'm not sure what, if anything, will get sewn! But I will be having lunch with Curly! :)

Mediocre Monday

Today was something, that's for sure.

We got up and everything was good, I did some sewing on the diaper bag, watched Johnny Test with the monster, played with him a while... all that good stuff, then it was naptime. I took a nap with him (yes in his twin bed), and woke up before him and got a shower in... Did some more sewing. When he woke up we played some more.

I got a phone call from my midwife post naptime, and was told that my levels from the 1 hour glucose test had came back elevated.. (I took it LAST Monday... damn it they should have told me sooner because I really thought I was in the clear!) So I need to go in asap to take the 3 hour (which i'll go in the AM). She also said that if it does come back that I have GD, I'll need to switch to an OB. The only OB's at that hospital are male.. and given my past, I'm just not okay with that. So, I may need to check out the other hospital (which is even further away) and see if they have any female OBs.

I'm praying I DON'T have GD, though it would account for the insane amount of weight i've gained thus far for no apparent reason.

So in the morning I get to go the hospital and get poked four times, while trying not to get sick from starvation for a million hours. Ugh, it's not going to be fun.

Some good news, last night, D slept through the night in his bed from 11ish pm-8am! He didn't get much of a nap yesterday so that's probably why, but it's noteworthy at least.

If I make it through the 3 hour alive, I'll be back :) But for now, it's off to bed for this blondie.

Playing Catch Up

Well i've been slacking on the blog once again (already sheesh!). But nothing much really went on last week so I didn't have much to report about. So here goes the update on last week.

We mostly just hung out at home, played in the snow since it had warmed up a bunch comparably to the week prior, and did random house stuff.

On Thursday night I took D to watch his very first wrestling meet. He loved it! He played with the kids I knew in the bleachers and sometimes even sat nicely and watched intently. He kept telling me "I do that!" and trying to run onto the mat. He wanted to wrestle too!

There was a creeeepy kid (who was creepy back in the day when I was here as well) that somehow had my number. I walked by unknowingly and he started texting me. "I didn't know you were expecting again" my response "Well, no shit". Then he had the nerve to ask me "So whose is it?". Um first of all, I'm not from here. It's very unlikely that the father would be anyone he knew at all... So why would you open your trap and ask that? Moron. I didn't reply. Then about 10 minutes later D had to pee so we went to the bathroom, thus walking by creep-o again. On the way back he texted "Where'd you get that cute butt?!" *gagbarfvomit* I had to text the artist and make him distract me because I threw up in my mouth a bit. He went on to ask how long I'd be back... I'm not a liar, but I really didn't want to let him know i'd moved here for a while... So... I just didn't reply.

Friday, was a lot better. D and I just played in the snow, cooked, ate, took a nap and when we got up we got ready and went over to Grama K's house. She had gotten Dunkin Donuts which of course made me a very happy pregnant chick :) I <3 Boston Creme's! We stayed and played for a while, then Curly (the artist) called and invited me to dinner with his fam. I couldn't pass up seeing Curly nor food so D stayed with Grama K and the boys, while I went out to eat.

Dinner was an experience. It took FOREVER and a day to get our food. His parents, his brother & his brothers girlfriend (whom I used to be close with back in the day), him and I, just sat and talked the entire time. We had gotten there at about 6 and didn't leave until just before 9! It was ridiculous.  At
least it was in good company. The food was good (I had fried shrimp with a MASSIVE baked potato) but definitely not worth a 3 hour experience.  After dinner, Curly and I left (we had drove separate), followed by the others. We went back to their house and just hung out... sin the toddler, for a while. It was a great night. A late night for me, but a great night :).

On to Saturday...    Saturday we went to the Farm Show a couple hours away with my Grampa. Grama had been down there all week working at the Maple booth. We left our house at 5am, got there at 7:30am... and didn't leave there until about 6:30pm! It was a LONG freaking day! The animals were neat, aside from the normal farm animals there were Alpaca's (which D knew what were thanks to Go Diego, Go!), Peacocks, funky chickens, fluffy rabbits, a HUGE elk, and an even bigger Buffalo. We ate lots of crap and sat in uncomfortable folding chairs for a big chunk of time. We could have easily left and not been upset at ohh... around lunch time. My back is STILL killing me. But, whatever.

Yesterday was a blissful day of no responsibility. We just hung around, played, and watched movies all morning. D and the Grandparents went up to my uncles house to play with my cousins for a while. I decided to stay home and work on Cia's quilt top. I sewed ALL the 9 patch blocks, cut and "tossed" them all, resewed into disappearing 9patch blocks, laid them out where I wanted them, and sewed together. So, the quilt top is finished!

I didn't buy backing fabric though so I need to do that, embroider her name, and then wait on the Quilt Along to catch up so I know what to do next!







Nothing pressing is on the agenda for today. Maybe we'll do something with Curly later, maybe go to Grama K's... and maybe we'll just stay home and do nothing.

Oh and Psycho has been living up to his name quite nicely all week, more of the same threats as per usual. It's fantastic. :)

and the drama continues. (Vent)

I'm not sure i've touched on it too much in the blog so far, but my life is extremely dramatic. It could be an award winning reality tv show, or atleast an unscripted soap opera.

Von's dad is a psycho. So we'll refer to him as that. He has no legal custody/visitation/anything to Von. He's simply his sperm donor, who abuses us constantly. (Physically-well only me, Mentally, Verbally, the whole she-bang). We're finally away from him. But does he stop? No. That would be too convenient.

He instead spam texts my phone constantly and is threatening to report kidnapping and child abuse (HAHA) charges. I have told him just to do it. But, has he? No of course not. He won't stop. It's driving me insane. He keeps bitching he doesn't know where we are and then in the next text he's supposedly got my CELL phone tapped and is on his way to come find us and get D "one way or another".

Oh and I supposedly missed court yesterday. A court appearance I had no prior knowledge of of course. But according to him there will now be a warrant out and he'll automatically get sole custody. Yes, a 21 year old male that has NO stable job, lives out of a nasty motel room (a motel that constantly is getting drug busts, and 2 people have been stabbed there in the past year), has FOURTEEN assaults on his record (though some are from juvenile but because of the recent assaults my lawyer is pretty sure they'd get brought up in court), and he's never taken any type of care of MY son in the past 2 years he's been alive. Yes, he will automatically get sole custody.

*rolls eyes*
I just had to vent..

El Fin de Semana

Well our weekend was pretty fun! (details about Hoopie's house in the family blog)

In addition to that more "big kid" info, I worked on some craft projects, a bag (which I mentioned) that i'll use as a diaper bag... and today I cut all the 5in squares to start Miss Cia's quilt!

Here are 9 of the fabrics, there are a few others that'll be in it.




It's definitely not the traditional "baby" color scheme... But it's "me" and I love it. I wanted it to coordinate with D's duvet color (Cia will have a matching duvet when she gets to the twin bed stage...) which is:


I think they'll look okay in the same room, and she'll be able to use it as a throw later on as well so it'll "grow" with her I hope! :)

So after the weekend at Hoopie's house (and psycho bothering me nonstop the entire time I was there. >.<), I let DC play at Grama's house a few hours and I went and watched a movie with the artist. ;). We watched "Burn After Reading" and besides George Clooney being sexy, it was a waste of time, okay so the people were all connected... wow. Where was the plot besides that!? Stupid.

We ate lasagna with his family and then just hung out in his room listening to music talking and you know...
I can't help but grin when I think about him. I like being treated like someone cares about me :) It's a very nice change in my life. LOL. Though I constantly have to tell myself that no matter what ends up happening, it's a good thing that it's even happened at all... Even if it goes no where, he's helping me to remember how it is SUPPOSED to be when you're "with" someone. Not how it's been with psycho the past 3ish years.

Today, I had my first appt at the new midwife practice. I LOVED the midwife, there are 3, but she is "mine", whoever is on call is who will deliver me of course. Everyone was so sweet and it made getting poked 3 times at the time we were at the hospital less awful, and it gives me something to look forward to instead of dread.

I start going to appts every 2 weeks now! It's insane, these next few months are going to go by super quickly now... and then i'll be a single mom of 2! eeek!

Well, my poor bum is sore from the Rhogam shot and I didn't get a nap today. So, i'm off to dreamland.

Welcome to My Life

I'm horrible at keeping things like these going, but i'm hoping to get into the routine of it so I can document my daily life and won't have so many memories get lost in my head that i'd prefer to remember. So, here goes.

My 2 year old son and I have recently relocated halfway across the country, back to my roots. It's been good so far, except for missing our immediate family back in the midwest. But, it's for the best so I have to keep reminding myself of that.

There are of course new characters in our lives now that we're back here to live, so it's not just about losing people. One of those new additions is 'the artist', Curly, an old friend whose now a close friend and is keeping me sane here in the boonies. Then there are the girls, Melissa (who has a DD a bit younger than Mr. Von) and Angie.

So I guess we'll start with today (or rather yesterday as it's just after midnight). We woke up to about 4 inches of snow, with it still falling. It was the pretty powder kind, that makes the roads nice and slippery but isn't too hard to get rid of. We stayed in bed watching a movie since Von thought he had to wake up at quarter after 7, then just played at the house until lunch time. We had lunch (though I already can't remember what we ate!) and then it was naptime.

While Von was asleep I uncovered the car and made sure we could get outta the driveway (which we could thanks to the unknown skidsteer driver)! Then we headed to Grama K's house so Von could go with her and my cousin to an appointment and visit Great Aunt Crazy...

I met up with the artist and we went to the mall (about half an hour away). He had some exchanges to make leftover from Christmas, so we took care of those and then just walked around. He's adorable as per usual and bought us chocolate covered strawberries and pretzels. So me and Little Miss were satisfied :). And of course being the typical Scorpio Schemer, he complained of his hand being cold, suggesting that I hold it. I've missed those innocent little gestures that happen in relationships. Hell, i've missed being respected and SMILING.

But lately between Mr. Von and the artist, I go to bed with my cheeks hurting instead of crying myself to sleep. IMO, so far so good with the change of life. It'll of course take some getting used to, as every big life change does. But I'm still 100% sure it's the best decision for me and the kidlets.