32 Weeks!!

How your baby's growing:

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

How your life's changing:

To accommodate you and your baby's growing needs, your blood volume has increased 40 to 50 percent since you got pregnant. With your uterus pushing up near your diaphragm and crowding your stomach, the consequences may be shortness of breath and heartburn. To help relieve your discomfort, try sleeping propped up with pillows and eating smaller meals more often.

You may have lower-back pain as your pregnancy advances. If you do, let your caregiver know right away, particularly if you haven't had back pain before, since it can be a sign of preterm labor.

Assuming it's not preterm labor that's ailing you, you can probably blame your growing uterus and hormonal changes for your aching back. Your expanding uterus shifts your center of gravity and stretches out and weakens your abdominal muscles, changing your posture and putting a strain on your back. Hormonal changes in pregnancy loosen your joints and the ligaments that attach your pelvic bones to your spine. This can make you feel less stable and cause pain when you walk, stand, sit for long periods, roll over in bed, get out of a low chair or the tub, bend, or lift things.

32 Weeks! :) We're getting there! I know I say that every week, but it seems more and more true each week and I think about what she's going to look like, act like, be like more and more. I'm excited that I'm almost there!

I have a few concerns to talk to the doc about this week. First and foremost, I'm going on a ski trip so I want to see if there's anything in particular I should or shouldn't be doing. Next, if I've been sitting for a long time, when I stand up to walk my whole right leg is numb. I don't know if that's normal or not... Third, Nick is sick and now I think I'm getting sick. Well I know I'm getting sick and I want to try and nip this in the bud and NOT worry about getting tubes in my ears again! Finally, I think we are supposed to schedule the c-section this week so I'm excited about that!

I see the doc on Thursday. Here's to hoping everything is still going perfect!

Upcoming Appointments:
Thursday, February 3 - Doc appointment
Friday, February 18 - Ultrasound and Monitoring

♥ ♥ She's HERE! ♥ ♥

My sister had her baby!!!!

Adelina Margaret (pronounced Add-a-leen-a) was born on Saturday morning at 7:30 am. She was 8 lbs. 13.8 ounces and just over 20 inches long. She has a LOT of dark dark hair. She's beautiful.

Nick and I were still in bed on Saturday when my dad called us at 8:15. He called and said, "I have no details, but Angie had her baby and everyone is doing well.". I was so excited! I waited until Andrew called about 40 minutes later and then I got some more details. Everyone was doing great he told me. I asked if visitors were allowed and he said yes, but wait until the afternoon because they still weren't even in their room yet. They were still in the delivery room waiting for their overnight room.

That was fine with me. Leslie was in town and a bunch of us were going to lunch at noon anyway. So we went to lunch (which was fabulous, by the way) and then Nick, Dom and I headed over to the hospital.

When we got to her floor, we were walking to her room when we saw Jack, Ginnie (Andrew's parents) and Cecilia walking our way. It was too adorable. As soon as Cecilia saw us, she came running down the hall. As soon as Dom saw Celia, he started running to her. They met in the middle and gave each other a BIG hug. We didn't tell them to do that or anything, they just did it. And it was adorable. Wish I had my camera out then!!

We went into Angie's room and she was feeding Addy so we had to be patient for a little while longer. While we were sitting in the room, I asked Angie about her birth story.

She said it wasn't a very long one, but she'd tell me anyway. She woke up Saturday morning around 3 am with a contraction. She tried timing them, but had to wake up Andrew. They continued to time them for awhile and around 4:20 am they were only 5 minutes apart. They called Andrew's brother, John, to come to the house to be there for Cecilia and they headed to the hospital. They got to the hospital around 5:00 am and Angela was in pain. They brought her back to L&D and got her hooked up and checked her. She was already 6 cm. She got the epidural and they waited. It didn't take much longer after that until she was ready to push. At 7:30, their beautiful baby girl was born.



I was so jealous when I heard her story. That's not a long labor at all!

After Addy ate, I got to hold her. She's so sweet! I forget how little they are. Dominick did really really well. I was afraid of how he would react, since he's usually not a fan of Nick or I holding other babies but he did great. He ran right up and looked at her and said, "Baby!". He wanted to hold her too. I let him give her a hug and he seemed ok with that. We did a few pictures of me holding both of them and then he was off playing Legos or something again. :)



We spent a little time there and then headed home.

I couldn't stay away though. Sunday morning around 11:00 am, I headed back to the hospital. For awhile it was just me, Angie and Andrew so I got to hold her for a long time. I loved it. They are so sweet and little and I can't get enough!

While I was there, Andrew's parents came up with Cecilia and then my parents and my Grandpa showed up. Also in the middle of all the visitors, Addy got her pictures taken. They were so good! It's a new company from when Dom had his hospital pictures done and this company does a much better job. I'm excited for Annabelle's pictures!



I stayed until about 2:00ish and then I headed back home to my boys.

I'm in no way ready to have my baby girl yet, but being at the hospital and seeing the babies and everything makes me really really excited to have my baby girl! I'll know this Thursday what the countdown is until my delivery date! So exciting!

2 year appointment

Today was Dominick's 2 year Dr. appointment. The appointment was at 9 am. I was so excited last night when I went to bed because I was sure I was going to get to sleep in a little. Dominick usually doesn't wake up on his own. I have to wake him up around 7:20-7:30 so we can get dressed, get him to daycare and get me to work by 8. Well 7:30 would be heaven to me. An extra hour to sleep sounded great.

Dominick woke up at 6:50, wide awake and ready to party. :) I brought him into our room and laid him on the bed by me. I gave him a few books and thank goodness he started reading and playing by himself. I never actually slept again but at least I got to lay in bed until 7:30.

After laying around for a bit, we got up and got dressed. We headed downstairs and I made us each breakfast (cheerios and a banana for Dom and toast with apple butter (YUM) for me). We watched an episode of Go Diego, Go! and then were getting ready to leave.

We still had the folding table in our kitchen from Dom's party. On this table I had Dominick's plate, my plate, Dom's sippy of juice, my travel mug of coffee, a cookbook, my cell phone, the TV remote and some napkins. We were sitting at the end of the table when the opposite side (thank God) collapsed and EVERYTHING went rolling to the floor. I sat in shock for a minute before I realized that my phone and the remote probably shouldn't sit in coffee for too long.

I propped the table back up, stood my coffee upright, and cleaned off the remote, my cell and my cookbook. Thank goodness for dogs sometimes. Brady and Ruby had the floor mopped up in about 2-1/2 minutes.

After this ordeal, we got our coats on and headed out the door.

We had no wait this morning and got right in to see the doc.

Dominick is doing GREAT! He's such a big boy! Here are his measurements:

Weight - 29 lbs. 12 oz. (71%tile)
Height - 3' 0.5" (93%tile)
HC - 48 cm (20%tile) - yup, he's still got that little head!

So he's right on track with what he was at his 18 month appointment.

He was talking and playing the whole time I was talking to the doc. She could tell how smart he was. He was naming the different shapes of a toy he was playing with and reading their numbers (or just naming numbers in general!). She was asking different questions about his development and she got to a vocabulary question. They worry if the child doesn't have a vocabulary of at least 20 words. She said she heard him use about 40 words just in the room! So he has NO problems with his vocabulary!

Then she had to listen to his heart and tummy, check his ears, nose, eyes, and mouth, and check his man parts. He didn't like any of these checks. I don't know how she heard his heart with all the screaming he did but she said everything looked and sounded great. So that's good!

Then she asked about lead. We had to do a blood draw for his one year appointment and it was awful. I felt horrible about it and he hated it and his arm was all bruised and it was AWFUL! Nick and I both had to go and we both struggled with it. I thought we were done with that test. She asked if we still lived in the same house and I told her we do. I thought I was off the hook then. Then she said, "Have you done any construction on walls in the last year? Like removed wallpaper or taken down drywall?"...

Deep sigh..."yes".

Great. Another lead test. That should be fun...at least I have a month or two before I HAVE to get that done.

Then came the really hard part of the day...he had to get 3 shots. 2 were required vaccines and the 3rd was his flu shot. I hadn't gotten him one yet and since we're traveling in a few weeks I wanted him to have one. So we did all that today.

The nurse came in and said, "Mom? I'm going to need you to hold him good because he seems very strong."

Well that was hard on me then too! I was holding him down and had his arms pinned and was stroking his face. At first he was just a little uncomfortable and whining since I was basically on top of him. Then I didn't see when he got the shot but I could tell by how fast his little face turned red and he stopped breathing. It was awful. You think you'd get used to this...According to his shot record, he's had 30 vaccines. Some may have been combined, and I know at least 2 were oral vaccines, but he's had at least 20 shots. But it still breaks my heart each shot.

He screamed and screamed. When she was done she told me to take my time leaving. I picked him up and he held onto me SO tight. I finally calmed him down and then he was very excited about his "bambades". He wanted to go right to Ms. Stella's to show her his 'bambades'. :)

All in all, everything is perfect. He is a healthy guy and he did really well. I'm very proud of him. He's getting so big so fast.

He doesn't go back until he's 3, although we'll be going back quite a bit once Baby A gets here. And the best part is, NO VACCINES next time! :)

PS - I did the "child height predictor" on babycenter.com. Based on Dom's current age, gender, and height, and taking into account how tall Nick and I are, Dominick is predicted to be 6'4" when he is 18. There is a 90% chance that will be within 2.1" of his actual height. And then it's also mentioned that boys grow a little after their 18th birthday.

So basically babycenter.com thinks we're looking at a 6'5" or 6'6" Dominick in 16-18 years. Great. My son will almost be a foot taller than me!

Patience

Or lack thereof.

My sister is 5 measly days from her due date on February 1. We thought for sure she'd have this baby early. Cecilia was almost 3 weeks early and the second baby typically comes sooner and faster than the first...but not this baby apparently.

She is so ready to have this baby girl. With Cecilia she was an exercising queen. In fact, Cecilia was born on a Saturday and the Thursday before, my sister did 45 minutes on the elliptical at the Y (which she did regularly throughout the whole pregnancy; yes, she was crazy). This time she hasn't done as much, since she's got a 2 year old, she's working full time, going to school, teaching a class, etc. And I think she's more tired because of it. At least that's how I feel. I'm not exercising as much and I'm WAY more tired this time around...(although I never worked out at the Y regularly with Dom either, so who really knows).

She's also never been this pregnant, so she's just ready in general.

She had a doctor appointment a few days ago and they did an ultrasound to check the growth of the baby. She was 3 cm dilated and the baby weighed "approximately" 8 lbs 9 oz. I say "approximately" in quotes because ultrasound weights are seldom accurate. There is usually a discrepancy higher or lower somewhere. But you never know. And I was thinking about it. Dominick was born one week early and was 8 lbs. 9 oz. So this baby could be that big.

Now the title of this post has nothing to do with Angela. I keep having to tell myself that I need patience (and obviously I have none). I keep calling/emailing her to see if anything has changed. So far, nothing.

I think I need to stop doing that though because I'm making her MORE anxious I think!

So until I get the phone call that her Baby A (yup, it's an A name too!) is on the way, I'll have to at least pretend to have patience...

I can do that.

Names

Kids crack me up. Mine in particular.

This morning, Dominick saw the cat and yelled,

"Kitty!".

I told him,

"Yes, that's the kitty. Do you remember the kitty's name?".

He stood there for a second staring at the cat like it would come to him. Then he looked at me and said,

"Yes. BAD Kitty!!".

I couldn't help it. I started cracking up. Which made him crack up. I had to stop and explain to him that while we often call the cat, 'Bad Kitty', that is not, in fact, his real name. I told him the kitty's name was Peyton.

He nodded and said,

"Oh yeah. Peyton..." while nodding the whole time.

I think I like Bad Kitty better!

I love that kid. :)

Bathroom!!!

So we are almost done!

I wish I had pictures of the bathroom before we started anything...but like most of our projects, as soon as Nick decides to do something, he's already tearing down walls before I can get in there for a picture.

But picture our old bathroom. A typical "city" bathroom. It had the peach tile that was painted white. So it was chipping everywhere. Everything was that tile. The walls, the window sill, the shower walls, everything. The floor was basic white tile. The shower was painted white tile and chipping as bad as the other parts of the walls. The tub was disgusting. The sink was a tiny pedestal sink. I hated it. I absolutely hated it. It was gross and the paint on the tile was peeling and showing the ugly color underneath EVERYWHERE. The tub was so gross (our fault because we only used it to clean paint brushes, etc.) that I wouldn't dare shower in there, or subject anyone else to showering in there. And we found out the bathroom vent didn't vent anywhere...it pulled the air from the bathroom and vented into the walls. So randomly different areas of our house would smell and we didn't know why...Now we knew. So it needed to go.

So here's our transformation. I have to say, I LOVE OUR NEW BATHROOM. We used to avoid the main floor bathroom. Like we'd make the trip to go upstairs or downstairs to go. Not anymore. I've even caught myself going upstairs from the basement to use the main floor.

Where the shower goes

The ceiling

The window

Where the toilet and sink go

The window and sink/toilet area, with drywall!

The floor

The ceiling, with a new access panel to get to our jetted tub
upstairs in case we ever have a problem

The shower area, with our new tub

Our new vanity, toilet and floor!

(And our cat)

The marble casing around the shower (love it!)

Our ceiling (complete with LED can lights, our access panel and a vent
that ACTUALLY VENTS OUTSIDE

Our new vanity (and you can see some of our floor tile here, that
Nick laid himself!)

Our new "super" toilet. This thing has a "power flush" and can
flush a whole bucket of golf balls in one flush...don't try it though.

So if you can't tell....I LOVE OUR NEW BATHROOM!!! It's still not 100% done. We already bought the new window, it's just not in yet, so that window will be replaced. We also haven't even touched the bathroom closet. So we have to finish that.

But it's functional!! And we love it!! Now I just need to find a shower curtain I like...

30x30 change

So I changed one of my 30x30 goals...ok I changed two. And I still need a 30th!

The first one I changed was the Full Marathon goal. This is still a goal of mine, I swear. But it's not going to happen before I'm thirty. Training for a full marathon takes time...a LOT of time. And it's just not going to happen with going to school and having two small children. So that got changed. Instead I think I'd like to do an indoor triathlon like Nick did. It's something I think I can do. And who knows, maybe I'll love it and keep doing them to get new better times.

The second one I changed was the no caffeine one. I still haven't had caffeine since January 5th so I'm on my 20th day of ZERO caffeine. But after a long talk with my sister, she doesn't think it's worth it for me to do this one. She was telling about various studies that show that caffeine isn't bad for you and can even be good for you. Especially a little caffeine before a workout, etc. So I changed that one. I still won't be drinking caffeine while I'm pregnant (or at least limiting it a lot) but I'm not giving it up for a year. And I'm happy with this.

Instead, I'm going in a whole new direction. Instead I'm going to attempt to try every beer on Growlers Pub's list of beers. They have 131 beers and you can get a card that lists them all. When you get one, you get a stamp for that beer. I'm going to sample all 131 before I turn 30. :) So I kind of went in a different direction here but I'm ok with that.

And I still need a 30th goal....

I'll keep thinking on this one!


PS - I just started looking at my goals and was trying to plan some out. For example, I looked up how to get Ellen tickets (http://ellen.warnerbros.com/tickets/) and I was thinking of surprising Nick and going to Chicago this summer for our 6 year anniversary of our engagement. I was going to look up first class tickets and get us reservations at the Signature Room. Knock two off my list at once...well 2 first class tickets for July 22nd 2011 from St. Louis to Chicago would cost me just $1,091.00 per person....so I might need to rethink my 19th goal....

Dominick's 2nd Birthday!!

Holy Cow, I have a 2 year old.

I was talking to someone about my birthday a few weeks ago and that person asked me if I felt "old". I told them that my age didn't make me feel old. The fact that I have a 2 year old and another baby due in just a few months makes me feel old. I still think of myself as being right out of college. When in fact, I've been out of college 5 years almost. I've been married for 5 years this September. I have a 2 year old. I'm about to have a newborn. I have a mortgage. I have a job.

Holy cow, I'm a grown up. :)

But enough about how old I am, and let's talk about how old Dominick is! He's TWO!

We had his family birthday party on Saturday (a day early). When I picked him up Saturday (he stayed at his Nani's Friday night so Mommy and Daddy could finish the bathroom) I asked him how old he was. He said, "one!". I said, "No silly. Now you're two!". He said, "No two. I'm one!". And then I had to stand down, because he was right! On Saturday he was still one. ;-)

He still doesn't quite "get" his birthday yet. When people showed up at our house yesterday they would walk up to Dom and say, "Happy Birthday Dom!" and he would reply, "Happy Birthday ____!" to whoever he was talking to! It was pretty cute.

He had a BLAST hanging out with cousins and just running around.

We ate brunch first. I had sausage, egg and cheese breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, fruit salad, Caesar salad, and baked potato soup. It was pretty good if I may say so myself!

After brunch, everyone just hung out for a bit. The kids destroyed the basement ;-) and the adults talked upstairs. I decided before it got to be too late, we should go downstairs and watch the DVD I made. I don't know if you all remember but Nick's sister and her husband do a birthday DVD of the kids. It shows a picture slideshow set to music and it's really neat. It's like a virtual photo album and I loved the idea. So I made one for Dom's birthday last year. I decided to stick with it and we did another DVD this year too. Unfortunately, when we got Ruby last year, she ate our camera cord (remember that fiasco??) so there were a LOT of pictures that were either Dominick alone, or pictures I took from my sis or my mom. So not a lot of pictures with the cousins. BUT we'll work on that this year for Dom's 3rd birthday DVD! :)

After the DVD we went back upstairs for cake and presents. Dominick got to pick out his cake this year, could you tell? He wanted an Elmo cake. So Elmo is what Dom got.

Henry, Kailey, Addison, Dominick,
Sophia and Cecilia (we were missing a Jilly for this picture).

We got a few pictures with the cousins before singing and cutting the cake and then we sang to the Salami.

He loved the singing. He tried to sing along but didn't know all the words. After we were done he clapped along with everyone else. He blew out his candle (with a little help from Mommy) and then clapped some more. I just love this picture of how excited he is! :)

He LOVED eating his cake too. McArthur's cake is SO good I don't blame him! Nick and I were left with about 5 pieces after the party and let's just say, we weren't complaining!



After cake time, it was present time! He really started to get it this year. He loved opening the presents and handing me the paper each time he pulled a piece off. He got "boring" presents this year, per my request. :) He got SO many toys and things for Christmas that I didn't want him getting any more! I requested he get clothes, books and puzzles. He got a LOT of clothes, a few books and three toys. Perfect if you ask me.

The clothes will be perfect for our ski trip. He got lots of fleece jackets and pants. He also got sweatshirts and jeans and all kinds of good stuff! He also got some clothes for Spring which is nice too so that we won't be stocked for the winter and then have a naked 2 year old in the warmer weather!

He got a few books that he already has but we can leave some books upstairs for Annabelle and bring some downstairs to his big boy room.

For his toys he got a tool set (to be just like Daddy), some Hot Wheels Cars (his favorite right now!) and a Little People car ramp thingy that took awhile and about 4 people to assemble!







I think that he was a spoiled little guy!

One of the best parts about the party was that the bathroom was almost complete. I don't have an "after" picture yet for the bathroom but I will soon. I'll try to do a bathroom post tomorrow. It was great to have 3 functioning bathrooms! With 25 people, you need as much room and as many bathrooms as you can have! :)

I'd say that Dom's 2nd birthday party was a success.


SUNDAY - Dom's actual birthday!

We wanted to do something fun. Just for him on his actual birthday. We woke up and read books and played for a bit and then we got dressed to go to breakfast. We went out to Bob Evans (our favorite place for breakfast!) and though Dom was gonna be bad. He was whining and crying the whole time we were waiting for a table. But as soon as we sat down, he was an angel. And he must be going through a growth spurt because he ate a TON. He ate 3 of his 5 little pancakes. A sausage link. Half of Mommy's potatoes. Half of a biscuit. And a bowl of fruit. And that was after the banana and animal cookies we had at home! That's not like Dom. Typically he's not a good eater! But he was a good eater on his birthday!

After breakfast we asked Dominick what he wanted to do and he said, "Go play at Dommie's house!". So after asking about 4 times if this is what he really wanted to do, we obliged. We took him home and played with his new toys. He took a good nap (Mommy took a nap then too) and then we played some more. He got a bath and then went to bed about 8ish.

It was a good birthday weekend for Dom! His last birthday as an only child! :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Little Man!! We love you SO much!

31 Weeks!!

How your baby's growing:

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

How your life's changing:

Have you noticed the muscles in your uterus tightening now and then? Many women feel these random contractions — called Braxton Hicks contractions — in the second half of pregnancy. Often lasting about 30 seconds, they're irregular, and at this point, they should be infrequent and painless. Frequent contractions, on the other hand — even those that don't hurt — may be a sign of preterm labor. Call your practitioner immediately if you have more than four contractions in an hour or any other signs of preterm labor: an increase in vaginal discharge or a change in the type of discharge (if it becomes watery, mucus-like, or bloody — even if it's pink or just tinged with blood); abdominal pain or menstrual-like cramping; an increase in pressure in the pelvic area; or low back pain, especially if you didn't have it before.

You may have noticed some leaking of colostrum, or "premilk," from your breasts lately. If so, try tucking some nursing pads into your bra to protect your clothes. (And if not, it's certainly nothing to worry about; your breasts are making colostrum all the same, even if you don't see any.) If your current bra is too snug, you might also want to pick up a nursing bra. Choose a nursing bra at least one cup size bigger than you need now. When your milk comes in you'll be grateful for that extra room!

31 weeks...just a few months to go. I think I'm starting to feel ready. I love being pregnant (especially this pregnancy...so much easier than the last) but I'm kind of done being pregnant. I'm ready to meet this baby girl. Well, I'm ready emotionally. Not ready with the things at home. We still haven't moved Dom downstairs yet. Need to really push this soon. Also, we don't have a swing, or baby monitors, or enough clothes (somehow we lost clothes from when Dom was this age...weird). I need to look up the things you are supposed to register for and go through the whole list of things we used, and then FIND them at home! I'm not even sure where our Boppy is! Lots to find... lots to do!

I'm excited that at my next dr. appointment we are going to set the date for the c-section. I'm still hoping to go on my own, but if not, it will be nice to have an actual countdown. Instead of my due date it will literally be the latest she will come. That will be nice. I'm hoping to schedule the c-section on either March 21 or March 23. Dominick is 01-23 and it would be nice to have Annabelle be either 03-21 (the opposite of Dom) or 03-23 (so they are the same date, just different months). Make it nice and easy to remember! :) We'll see when my doc is on call. That's what really determines it.

Unfortunately I found out at my last ultrasound that I do have to do monitoring again. I was really hoping that since things are going so smoothly and since I don't have diabetes that I wouldn't have to do it, but I do. Right now it's looking like I only have to go once a week instead of twice a week so I guess that's something...we'll see when we get there.

Happy 31 weeks Annabelle!

Upcoming Appointments:
Thursday, Feb. 3 - 32 week Dr. appointment
Friday, Feb. 18 - 7:30 am - Ultrasound; 8:00 am - Monitoring

Silly Joke

I got this email from a friend last night and it made me laugh.

Happy Thursday everyone! One more day until the weekend!



Bottle of Wine
(Women will LOVE this one!)

A woman and a man are involved in a car accident on a snowy, cold Monday morning; it's a bad one. Both of their cars are totally demolished, but amazingly neither of them is hurt. God works in mysterious ways.

After they crawl out of their cars, the man is yelling about women drivers.

The woman says, 'So, you're a man. That's interesting. I'm a woman. Wow, just look at our cars! There's nothing left, but we're unhurt. This must be a sign from God that we should be friends and live in peace for the rest of our days.'

Flattered, the man replies, 'Oh yes, I agree completely, this must be a sign from God! But you're still at fault...women shouldn't be allowed to drive.'

The woman continues, 'And look at this, here's another miracle. My car is completely demolished but this bottle of wine didn't break. Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune. She hands the bottle to the man.

The man nods his head in agreement, opens it and drinks half the bottle and then hands it back to the woman.

The woman takes the bottle, puts the cap back on and hands it back to the man.

The man asks, 'Aren't you having any?'

The woman replies, 'No. I think I'll just wait for the police...'

MORAL OF THE STORY:

Women are clever and evil.

Don't mess with them.

Spring Semester Begins

So last night was my first class back in school for the semester. It was actually a really good class.

I'm taking Anatomy and Physiology II this semester and it means once a week. Tuesday nights. It was really tough in the morning when I left and gave Dominick a big kiss and said,

"Bye Buddy!! I love you! And I'll see you tomorrow."

Tomorrow?? It was a tough. I missed him more than I thought I could during the day. I usually don't see him all day but knowing I wouldn't see him that night was tough.

But back to my school story.

I left work about 4:10 and went to my parents house. Since class starts at 5:30, there's no point to going home first. So I got to my parents and heated up some of their leftovers for my dinner (with permission of course) and had some dinner. I wanted to head to class early since I wasn't sure which classroom we were in, so I only stayed at my parents until about 5:10.

I headed up to school found my classroom pretty easily. I decided to go to the bathroom before class, and of course, the only bathroom is on the whole other side of the building...not so great for a 30 week pregnant chica! But c'est la vie. I went to the bathroom and went back to my classroom.

Class was great! I'm really glad I'm still taking the class. The teacher is awesome. He's already posted our lecture outlines on Blackboard so we have all the notes. He told us if it's not on the outline and he didn't specifically tell us to add anything onto it during class, then it won't be on the exam. So we already have our study guides. Sweet!

The only bad part of class was my giant cup that I carry around with water somehow exploded and covered my book, notebook, pencil case, etc. in water. And I loved that cup! It was quite the mess, but I got it cleaned up with a little help from my classmates and all was well again. I'll have to find another cup though...it's one of those big ones that holds 32 oz of water with a big straw...I miss it already. :)

After lecture for 2 hours, we headed to the lab. We went over some models and did some histology. And then he let us go home...at 9:00 pm! He told us that he's going to try and get us out by 8:30 every night and 9 at the absolute latest. Awesome! Sounds good to me!

We'll have 4 lecture exams and 3 lab practicals. That's it. No quizzes, no homework, no extra credit. But I think I can do it. We already have the study guides. We should be fine.

I'm very happy I didn't drop it and I hope it continues to go as well as last night went!

1 class down, 15 to go!

Sunday Birthday dinner

I have a few minutes so I wanted to write about Sunday.

Nick did an indoor mini triathlon in the morning with his sister at the YMCA in Chesterfield. Kate started at 7 am and Nick started at 8:30. We didn't see Kate start, but we got to see her finish. Since it was an indoor tri, it was timed. Which meant, you did a 10 minute swim, a 30 minute bike on the spinning bikes, and a 20 minute run on the treadmill. You controlled how fast/how far you went and you just had to do the time. So no matter what, you were only doing something for 1 hour. Plus you had 10 minutes between the swim and bike and 5 minutes between the bike and run. Awards were given out for whoever went the farthest (furthest??).

Dominick was a bear Sunday morning. We had to wake him up to go to the tri, and he was not happy. Plus he's going through a major "daddy" stage and didn't want anything to do with me. He kept asking if he could swim with Daddy and I had to tell him no and it made him sad every time. Luckily when Kate finished, she came and hung out with me and Dom and that helped.

Nick did great, although he mentioned that this was one of the hardest things he's ever done. He thought it was harder than the half marathon. Mainly because he has a bad hamstring and he really struggled on the bike but he was exhausted.

He did great though. He did 17 lengths of the pool (down is one, back is two), he biked 9.5 miles, and he ran 2.3 miles. So he did really well.

After he finished, Kate picked Dave up and the 5 of us went to breakfast at Stratton's cafe in Clayton. It was delicious. I was exhausted from chasing Dom so we all had a hearty breakfast!

After breakfast, we went home and Nick, Dom and I all took a nice nap! It was much needed and definitely deserved in my opinion! Dom woke up before either Nick or I did and it was perfect timing really. We got up, got dressed and headed north for my birthday dinner.

Dinner was GREAT. We had cornflake potatoes, a pear and spinach salad, rolls and salsiccia sausage cooked with peppers and onions. I LOVE Salsiccia sausage. Delicious.

After dinner we just hung out for awhile and talked. Then I opened my presents. :)

I got a cookbook stand, which I love. I asked for it and my mom got it for me. It's a nice bamboo wood and has a plexiglass cover on it so you don't get the pages dirty. I love it.

I also got my traditional money from my parents. They give us $1.00 for however old we are. So this year I got a card with $27.00 in it. :) They are also giving me money towards a desk chair or a printer for my new computer.

My sister and Andrew gave me 2- 3 tiered hanging baskets to hang in our kitchen that look like this:




and some K-Cups for my Keurig. They got me Hot Apple Cider and some decaf Hazelnut coffee. It's nice to have some other non-caffeinated options for me!

It was a great birthday dinner! It was finished up with white cake with white icing (my favorite) and some chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Yum!

We even left at a decent time so I was in bed by 10:30. Gotta love that!

Happy 27th birthday to me! :)

Caffeine Free Please

Just FYI...

I'm on my 12th day of absolutely no caffeine (ok, caffeine in chocolate totally doesn't count. I'm talking about DRINKING caffeine). And I have NO idea how I'm supposed to make it 1 year. This may have been a silly decision....

I'll keep you posted.

30 Weeks!!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

How your life's changing:

You may be feeling a little tired these days, especially if you're having trouble sleeping. You might also feel clumsier than normal, which is perfectly understandable. Not only are you heavier, but the concentration of weight in your pregnant belly causes a shift in your center of gravity. Plus, thanks to hormonal changes, your ligaments are more lax, so your joints are looser, which may also contribute to your balance being a bit off. Also, this relaxation of your ligaments can actually cause your feet to spread permanently, so you may have to invest in some new shoes in a bigger size.

Remember those mood swings you had earlier in pregnancy? The combination of uncomfortable symptoms and hormonal changes can result in a return of those emotional ups and downs. It's normal to worry about what your labor will be like or whether you'll be a good parent. But if you can't shake the blues or feel increasingly irritable or agitated, talk to your doctor or midwife. You may be among the 1 in 10 expectant women who battle depression during pregnancy. Also let your caregiver know if you're frequently nervous or anxious.

Well I guess my baby is big!! This says my baby should be ALMOST 3 lbs and the ultrasound said 3 lbs. 9 oz! I have another ultrasound Friday at the perinatal center so I guess we'll see what they say.

30 weeks feels great. I like that I'm in the last 1/4 of this pregnancy! And 30 weeks sounds so much further along than 29, don't ask me why. :)

So far (except for our little scare on Saturday) things are going great. She's definitely a stinker already, but that's ok. We still love her. We haven't done much to her room or gotten the baby stuff out, etc. so I guess we need to start that.

After Dom's birthday (which is Sunday) we are going to put every effort into moving him downstairs and getting that transition underway. We have started the transition to getting rid of the binky. He now ONLY gets it at night. Not even for naps anymore. So we're getting there. Once he is somewhat established downstairs we'll get going on the nursery.

I'm trying to decide how to make it more feminine without actually repainting the whole thing. We have the bears on the walls already so I was debating on painting over them or trying to make their uniforms purple or something and giving them bows in their hair! We'll see.

We don't have very much clothes so we will probably have to hit up a store soon and get some more stuff. My mom gave us a four pack of pink onesies yesterday but we still have a long way to go! Especially for warmer clothes. It will still be chilly I think when she is born so I want some warmer clothes for her.

We also have to get out the little bottles, get out the burp cloths, raise the crib, get a swing, get out the swaddles, get out the bouncy/vibrating chair thingy, etc. We have a LONG way to go. After Dom's party I think we'll be able to get moving a bit.

Until then, we're just playing it by ear.

Happy 30 weeks Baby Annabelle! We can't wait to meet you in about 9 weeks. :)

Upcoming Appointments:
January 21 - Ultrasound
February 3 - 32 week dr. appointment

Birthday Weekend - and a scary story...

What a weekend it was!

My birthday was Friday and it was a good birthday (for the most part). I worked in the morning at the office, then in the early afternoon, Mike and I went out to our accountants to drop off our year end stuff. After we did that, we headed to West County Mall to grab a quick lunch. I had Chick Fil A. Yum! :)

Then it was time to go home and get ready for our night ahead. I got home, took a shower, dried my hair and got dressed. We picked up Dommie from Daycare and brought him over to his Nani's for a sleepover (score!). Then we headed back home to finish getting ready.

We went to Blue Ocean Sushi for dinner with some close friends and family. We had quite the turnout! Friday was my birthday and today is my close friend, Michelle's birthday. So we were celebrating both birthdays. And technically, we were celebrating Michelle's husband (Adam)'s birthday too. His birthday is Thursday.

Anyway, we had 14 people come to our birthday party! :) It was a good time. And GREAT food.

The night ended a little rough because Nick was tired (I guess that's what happens when you have to get up for work at 5 am and you play XBox Black Ops until 2 am!!) and he was crabby by the end of the night. We fought almost the whole way home. And me being the pregnant, over-emotional person I am right now (and on my birthday!!), I cried and went to go sleep on the couch in the basement.

Quick sidenote here, my basement is really scary at night!! I was not a fan of being down there by myself when it's so dark! I debated going back up, but I had to prove a point, right??

And it worked, about 15 minutes after I got down there, Nick came down and apologized and asked me to come upstairs. I did so very willingly and we both got a good night's sleep in our room. :)

Saturday morning was good. We woke up and the marble people came to install the marble in our shower. YAY! We left for a bit to go to breakfast and I got some delicious blueberry pancakes. We picked Dom up after that and headed home. This was around 11:30. At this point, I told Nick that I hadn't felt the baby move at all that day. She wasn't moving a lot the night before but I didn't think too much of it since I had been talking and doing a lot. But the fact that she hadn't moved at ALL on Saturday was very odd, especially after eating those sugary pancakes.

I decided to drink some juice and lay down for an hour. I laid down until 12:30 and hadn't felt her move once. At this point I was starting to get a little scared. I called the exchange to talk to a doc and my doc was on call. He told me to come in. He said most likely everything was fine but we should be safe and not sorry. So I headed to the hospital. I went alone because it was almost time for Dom's nap and I didn't want to disrupt that. I also figured I would get halfway there (or all the way there) and she would start moving. No such luck. I got to the hospital at 1 and they got me in quick! I was in a room by 1:10!

They had me change into a gown and they came in to hook up the monitors. She found the heart beat right away and that helped me breathe easier. Not 5 minutes later, she started kicking. Of course. Little stinker.

I wished I could get up and go back home and say "Just kidding!!" but you can't do that. So they asked me a million questions and kept me on the monitors. I would look at them randomly and saw that her heartrate was usually in the upper 130's, lower 140's and my contractions would range from 8-16 or so. Nothing to be concerned about. I couldn't even feel those honestly.

The resident came in after one hour of monitoring and said that she was going to do an ultrasound to check growth but everything looked good. The baby was measuring right on time and was 3 lbs. 9 oz. My fluid level was 13 cm (should be over 9 at this point she told me). So everything was looking good. Then she checked my cervix. She said it was starting to thin already but it was still closed and I wasn't dilated at all. She wanted to call my doc and then she'd be back.

After she left, I started feeling contractions. A lot. I get these contractions fairly often. They don't hurt, but they make my stomach feel super tight and I can't breathe. I looked over at the machine and saw that my contractions were in the 40's and 50's. Yikes! She came back in shortly after that and told me I wasn't going anywhere. I had to be monitored for another hour to see what the contractions did. So I waited. And drank some water and waited some more. She came in around 3ish and told me that they were starting to go down a bit but she didn't like how many I was having. I told her that I get these all the time and Dr. Webb knows about them. She called him and he said I was free to go (thank Goodness!). I have to keep a closer eye on my contractions and if I get more than 6 an hour I have to call or go in. I don't think I ever get that many but I don't really count them.

I was sent home with instructions to do fetal kick counts and to monitor my contractions closely. I also have to drink more water. I don't drink enough. And so far things have been great. The baby is moving constantly and I haven't had any contractions. Things are perfect. Like I knew that they would be. I just had to hold off on going to the doc. Oh well. Like he said, better safe than sorry.

Sunday was a busier day (and my birthday dinner with the family) but this post is long enough. I'll write about Sunday later. :)

It was a good birthday.

New Zodiac Sign...?

Well Happy Birthday to me! I woke up this morning a Capricorn and just found out that now I'm a Sagittarius. I'm not sure how I feel about this...

After a lot of reading (yes, I need to know why I changed signs, darnit!) I found out that the tropical zodiac hasn't changed since it follows the seasons, however if you don't follow the tropical zodiac and you follow the zodiac based on constellations (the sidereal zodiac), then your sign probably changed. I don't know which one I follow (some websites say US follows the tropical and others say otherwise), but I know that I'm sure glad I didn't follow a craze and get a tattoo of a ram or other Capricorn related objects on my body!

This article from a CNN blog says that most likely your sign didn't change at all and that Westerners follow the tropical zodiac.

But if you follow the sidereal zodiac or something like that and you are wondering if your sign changed, see below. I have a list of the old dates and the new ones. It's really crazy because my friend Mike told me about this when we got to work and he said his sign didn't change. I looked it up and me, Dominick and Nick's signs ALL changed!

Dominick is now a Capricorn (was an Aquarius - and has an ADORABLE onesie he got from his Godmother that says Aquarius on it...)
Nick is now a Gemini (was a Cancer)
I am now a Sagittarius (was a Capricorn)

I guess it doesn't matter because we follow the tropical zodiac or something, but I'm still not 100% sure about that either...

The Old Zodiac Signs
Aquarius: Jan 20 – Feb 18
Pisces: Feb 19 – March 20
Aries: March 21 – April 19
Taurus: April 20 – May 20
Gemini: May 21 – June 20
Cancer: June 21 – July 22
Leo: July 23 – August 22
Virgo: August 23 – Sept 22
Libra: Sept 23 – Oct 22
Scorpio: Oct 23 – Nov 21
Sagittarius: Nov 22 – Dec 21
Capricorn: Dec 22 – Jan 19

The New Zodiac Sign Dates:
Capricorn: Jan. 20 – Feb. 16
Aquarius: Feb. 16 – March 11
Pisces: March 11- April 18
Aries: April 18- May 13
Taurus: May 13- June 21
Gemini: June 21- July 20
Cancer: July 20- Aug. 10
Leo: Aug. 10- Sept. 16
Virgo: Sept. 16- Oct. 30
Libra: Oct. 30- Nov. 23
Scorpio: Nov. 23- Nov. 29
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29- Dec. 17
Sagittarius: Dec. 17- Jan. 20

So now I need to figure out what being a Sagittarius means...

I know that the Sagittarius is the Archer and it's a picture of a centaur (half human, half horse) holding a bow and arrow. At least that's pretty cool.

Sick...

of being sick...Well I'm not SICK sick, but I'm nauseas and feel gross. I took a sick day yesterday since I was up most of Tuesday night feeling ill or getting ill. Tuesday day was better. Lots of sleeping on the couch and watching old Iron Chef episodes.

Unfortunately, when you take a day off of work, you don't get a day off of being a mom. I still had to bring Dom to daycare (which went great actually, he was very good in the morning) and I still had to make his dinner and play with/watch him play at night. I love being a mom, I absolutely do. But sometimes you just want to lay down and do NOTHING.

Luckily last night was a pretty good night. He played in his big boy room. He played on his roller coaster. He did some puzzles. He read some books. He even didn't fight us on going to bed. So he was good. But I still felt awful. And I still just wanted to lay on the couch.

I think I've turned a corner. I'm at work today and that's a big improvement. I'm hoping to feel 100% by tomorrow night. It's my birthday dinner (and my friend Michelle's birthday dinner and my cousin Adam's birthday dinner - lots of January birthdays!) at a sushi place nearby. I'm looking forward to it.

And I'll get to sleep in on Saturday! Nick's mom is watching Dom overnight Friday night. :) Happy Birthday to me!

29 Weeks!!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because his bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

How your life's changing:

Your baby's very active now. Your healthcare provider may ask you to spend some time each day counting kicks and will give you specific instructions on how to do this. Let your provider know if you ever notice that your baby is becoming less active. You may need a nonstress test or biophysical profile to check on your baby's condition.

Some old friends — heartburn and constipation — may take center stage now. The pregnancy hormone progesterone relaxes smooth muscle tissue throughout your body, including your gastrointestinal tract. This relaxation, coupled with the crowding in your abdomen, slows digestion. Sluggish digestion can cause gas and heartburn — especially after a big meal — and contribute to constipation.

Your growing uterus may also be contributing to hemorrhoids. These swollen blood vessels in your rectal area are common during pregnancy. Fortunately, they usually clear up in the weeks after giving birth.

If they're itchy or painful, try soaking in a sitz bath or applying cold compresses medicated with witch hazel to the affected area. Avoid sitting or standing for long stretches. Talk with your provider before using any over-the-counter remedies during pregnancy, and let your provider know if you have any rectal bleeding. To prevent constipation, eat a high-fiber diet, drink plenty of water, and get some regular exercise.

Some women get something called "supine hypotensive syndrome" during pregnancy. This happens when lying flat on your back causes a change in heart rate and blood pressure that makes you feel dizzy until you change position. You might notice that you feel lightheaded if you stand up too quickly, too. To avoid "the spins," lie on your side rather than your back, and move slowly as you go from lying down to sitting and then standing.

29 weeks...so this means that there are 11 weeks to go. Except I will have a c-section a week early if I don't have the baby already, so this really means about 10 weeks to go MAX. That's kind of scary. 10 weeks is NOT a long time. We're getting close now people! This pregnancy has felt like it's taken forever and I think I know why. We knew early with Dominick since I was testing early but I was hopeful, and not sure I was pregnant until I was almost 5 weeks I think. Maybe even 6. We had our first ultrasound with Dom when I was 6 weeks 3 days along. Which is early, but not as early as this time around.

This time I got my first positive test at 9 dpIUI. That means I was only 3 weeks 2 days pregnant. And you have 40 weeks in a pregnancy. So I've known for a Looooonnnnnng time.

Things are still going great. This baby girl is very very active. I feel her move a lot. This morning she actually woke me up because she was kicking AND she had the hiccups. :)

I'm a little nervous that I don't get enough calcium. I'm not a huge milk drinker. (Although I actually had 2 glasses of milk yesterday). And I'm afraid I won't get the calcium my baby needs. I'll have to make sure I pay attention to this and work to get enough.

The only problem I've been having (of the three they mention this week) is heartburn. My chest is on fire and I feel like there is acid in my throat. I don't feel like this all the time. But I feel like this often. I'll be ready for this part to go away.

I don't feel light headed or anything when laying down, but I will admit it's getting harder and harder to get up from a laying down position! I don't know how I'm going to get up in about 8 weeks! I'll have to stay in bed until someone helps me out! :) It's also getting harder to sit with Dominick in my lap. He likes to sit in my lap on the floor and read or do puzzles, but my belly is always pushing him off. I can't get him close enough to me anymore to have him sit comfortably. I guess he'll have to get used to sitting next to me and not on me for awhile.

All in all, things are perfect. Couldn't be better and I couldn't be happier. Only 10 weeks or so to go!

Happy 29 weeks, Baby Annabelle!

Upcoming Appointments:
Friday, January 21 - Ultrasound
Tuesday, February 1 - 32 week Dr. Appointment

No big deal,

BUT

I don't have Gestational Diabetes!!!! Woo hoo!!! :)

I don't know how. But I don't have it. I'm so happy. I thought for SURE that I had it. Well, when I got pregnant I was positive I didn't have it, but then I started testing my blood sugar and was sure I had it. But I don't!

Bring on the chocolate and ice cream!!!!

Just kidding...

Kind of.

Naked

Fruit smoothies, that is.

I love them. Absolutely love them. I discovered them this week and I'm obsessed. Seriously.

I discovered them on accident. I normally go to Schnucks every Monday morning. I get myself lunches and snacks for the week and keep the fridge here at work stocked for myself. On Monday I need to get gas too. I was running a little late so instead of going to any gas station, I went to QT to get gas, coffee and some food. I got a banana, a sandwich and a Naked fruit drink.

It was awesome.

On Tuesday, I did my shopping at the grocery store and got 3 more Naked drinks. Still amazing.

So today I went to the store and got lunch for the day (usually we order in on Fridays but I hadn't heard from Mike yet and didn't want to be without any food) and got another Naked drink.

I got the Mighty Mango. Listen to the fruit that is inside this smoothie:

1 1/4 mangoes
1/2 orange
1 3/4 apples
1/3 banana
and a hint of lemon

That's a lot of fruit!!

It's 100% juice too. No added sugar (definitely has sugar, but it's the natural sugar of the fruit) either.

I love it.

I'm definitely obsessed...

30 x 30 Revisited

So do you remember this post?

It was my 30x30 post about the 30 things I wanted to accomplish before I turned 30. Well I decided to revisit that post and mark some things off my list and change a few around. My 27th birthday is just a week from tomorrow and there's not much I can mark off this list. I think I'll have to do a lot of work these next 3 years to narrow this list down, but I'll work on it.

Here's my updated and revised 30 x 30.

1) Run a half marathon - DONE! Twice even. :) With another coming up in October. So I can successfully mark this off the list.

2) Go back to Europe - ok not done. But I still have hopes for this one!

3) Learn a foreign language - Also not done, but I'm definitely going to do this one. We are thinking of sending Dominick to the St. Louis Language Immersion School instead of another grade school. This is where they "immerse" the child in a foreign language. They actually don't do anything in English until later. They start in kindergarten and continue through 5th grade before they start at a secondary school. Here is their website if you are interested in more info on that. It would be nice for me and Dom to be able to talk to each other in another language.

4) Have 2 of my 4 children - Almost done! :) God willing, this one will be done in March 2011.

5) Take up golf - for real! - not done. Not even started. I've played a few times and had fun but haven't done it consistently. We'll have to work on this one over the next few summers.

6) Be debt free (except the house) - Almost done!! We are down to one small loan in addition to our house. We were fortunate enough to pay off almost all of our other debt this past year. We have the one small loan and then our credit cards. But we pay our credit cards off each month so I don't count those entirely. We are set to be done with that small loan before I turn 30 so unless we rack up some stupid debt in the next few years, I think we'll have this baby done!

7) Complete an indoor triathlon - This is replacing my Full Marathon goal. With two kids and being back in school, I just don't think I have the time or motivation to complete a full marathon. I would still like to do it someday but that might be a goal that I complete in my thirties and not before my thirties.

8) Watch Gone with the Wind - Not done - but this will be an easy one. I just need to sit down and do it!

9) Watch the Godfather - Almost done. I got this DVD from Netflix and got more than halfway through when the DVD stopped working and I had to send it back. I just had them send the next DVD in my queue and I never finished it...I'll do this one soon. Maybe on maternity leave.

10) Play in a poker tournament in a casino - Not done, but I'm not worried about it. We'll go back to Vegas before I turn 30 and I'll do this one. Definitely.

11) Get a new car (or newer car) - Not done but will probably do that soon. We are talking about getting a new car this year. Not "new" but like under 60,000 miles (which is basically new to us!). We're looking at the Ford Edge or the Ford Flex, just FYI. :)

12) Shoot a gun - Not done, but Pete says whenever I want I can go to the farm and learn to shoot. I just want to shoot a gun once. At a can. Just to say I did it. That I can probably do this summer.

13) Go back to school - DONE! I'm back in school! Not done with being back in school but I'm definitely back. (And my next class starts on January 18th).

14) Learn to drive a stick shift - not done....and I really need to do this one. I'll do that this summer. I promise!

15) Learn to french braid hair - haven't even thought about that one. But now that I'm definitely having a daughter, I guess I need to figure it out! Anyone know how to do this and can teach me??

16) Get into cooking - Almost done...I'm getting there. I got a couple of new cook books that I love. I have my new kitchen island that I LOVE LOVE. So I think this one is almost there. I just need to be more consistent about my cooking. I'll go a week cooking all week from scratch and then the next week we go out or I make frozen pizza...it's a work in progress.

17) Finish the entertainment center - DONE! Roger finished this one last year and it looks great! We still love it!!

18) Register to vote in St. Louis City - DONE!! I finally did this! And I voted in the last election at the school right by my house. It felt great!

19) Fly somewhere 1st class - Not done. Haven't thought about it. I'll do it though. Maybe not this year, but I'll do it!

20) Go on a cruise - not done. I think I'd like to do this after the baby is born. Nick is afraid of getting sea sick so we might do a short 4 or 5 day cruise. That would be fun. I'll start looking into that.

21) Make my own recipe - not done. Haven't thought about this either. I'd like to come up with something though that I'm famous for. Maybe when I start getting into cooking, I'll come up with something uniquely mine. I'll try working on this!

22) Go back to the Signature Room in Chicago - Not done. That was where Nick proposed to me. Maybe a summer trip is in order?! This summer will be the 6 year anniversary of when Nick proposed to me...not a special year but we can celebrate it!

23) Go on a family vacation with my family - not done. Although we've started talking about it and it's more of a possibility than I thought it was. Mom is in, Angela and Andrew are in. We just need to get Dad on board....and find a place in driving distance!

24) Learn photo shop - Not done. But I'm thinking maybe I can go to my sister's while she is on maternity leave and learn some things. We'll see if she thinks she'll have time for me!

25) Be in the audience at the Ellen DeGeneres show - Not done. This will be a tough one, but I'm determined to make it to the show!

26) Get into exercising consistently three times a week - Not done, obviously. This is more of a goal for when I'm done being pregnant. This summer I'd like to get into a routine. One that works for me, Nick and both kiddos. Hopefully I can find a way to make this work. Whether I go to the YMCA or just work out at home. I'd like to be doing it consistently.

27) Reach my goal weight. - Definitely not done. I would like to have this accomplished by next September. Maybe not realistic but I'm going to try. I'll rejoin weight watchers as soon as the baby is here and my doc says it's ok. And I'm still a member of the Y right now. I'll pull out the Wii Fit and get my booty into action!

28) Try every beer on the list at Growler's . There are like 131 beers on tap there and you get a card and every time you try a new beer you get a stamp. I'm going to get a stamp on every space. :) Not all at once mind you...over the course of the next three years starting after I have Baby A.

29) Watch the AFI Top 100 movies - Not done but working on it. Not even close really but I think I've seen about 20, so I can watch 80 movies in the next 3 years. No problem.

30) Become a nurse!! In theory this should be done in the next two years..we'll see!

I eliminated a few from my original 30x30 and I can't come up with a good 30th goal....any tips?

I'll keep working on these and I'll try and keep you posted on my accomplishments. I'll get started on these and hopefully I'll reach my goals by my 30th birthday.

January 14, 2014 is my deadline. :)

Decisions, decisions...

So I had my doc appointment yesterday. And he made me question some things.

First, I'll tell you about the appointment. It went well. Baby's heart rate was good (although they didn't tell me what it was). I heard it though, and it sounded great. My weight gain is still fine although much higher this time than with Dom. I'm at a total weight gain of 17 lbs right now. My doc told me he wanted me to gain between 25 and 30 lbs and supposedly (according to babycenter.com) I'll gain about 11 lbs this trimester so that's fine. The really sad part is that my weight now (28 weeks pregnant) is only 2 lbs more than what my weight was when I GOT PREGNANT with Dom. Eek! I don't ever want to be that heavy again. Major working out will start in May.

Sorry, off track again. So the appointment went well. No problems. Everything looked great. I'm doing fine. I got my blood drawn for my glucose test and will get those results either Friday or Monday. Until then, I'm being cautiously optimistic that I don't have GD. We'll see for sure soon though.

Next the doc and I sat down and just talked. He asked if I had any questions and we started talking about delivery. I know I still have 11 or 12 weeks to go, but if you know me at all, I'm a planner. He asked me if I wanted to consider a VBAC (guys stop reading - VBAC stands for vaginal birth after caesarian). I told him that I did want to consider it if my water broke on it's own or something. I definitely don't want to be induced again. He told me that they won't do an induction with a previous C-section patient. So it's written in my file now. If I go into labor on my own, we're trying for a VBAC. If I don't, I'll have a scheduled c-section 4-8 days before my due date (which he has as March 27th. I thought it was March 28th).

SO - at my next appointment (which is in 4 weeks), I'm scheduling my c-section. If I go into labor on my own, great. But if not, we'll already have the c-section set up.

Then we started talking about potential dates for the c-section. I told him that I'm taking a class this spring and was honestly trying to plan around that if I ended up scheduling a surgery to miss as little school as possible. He looked at me like I was insane.

He told me that he recommends that I drop the class. He told me that ultimately it's my decision, but he's afraid I'll get put on bed rest (due to stress of being pregnant, working and taking a class) or something will happen after that baby is born (like my healing being slower or something) and I won't be able finish the class. He doesn't want me to lose my money if I withdraw too late. He thinks these are probably just precautions and I should be fine, but he leans on the safe side.

So now I'm faced with a major decision. Do I drop the class?? Take my chances??

I've asked a few people and so far the consensus is to try the class. See how it goes. Talk to the teacher. Try and get it out of the way now before the baby comes. And that's where I'm leaning too. I know my doctor is just looking out for me but I personally think I can do it.

The class is from January 18 to May 15. If the baby is born the end of March, I'll only have 6 weeks of being in school with a newborn. And I'll be on maternity leave so I'll only have to focus on my kiddos and this one class. No work.

I think I can do it. What do you think??

It's a New Year

It's 2011....how crazy is that??

We didn't do much for New Year's Eve this year. We knew we wouldn't. I can't drink. Nick doesn't drink much. I can't stay awake past 10. You know, the usual.

So we went over to my sister's house for pizza and salad. We had dinner around 6ish and just hung out and talked. We watched the kids play games. We had the beginnings of a Wii Jeopardy tournament (with Nick and I realizing how LITTLE we know compared to my sister, Andrew and his brother, John). It was good. We were at the championship game of the Wii Tourney when the kids wouldn't cooperate. Dominick wouldn't sleep in the pack n play and Cecilia was very upset to hear Dominick cry. They both cried and yelled and carried on and we finally got Dom out of the pack n play to see if he'd sleep on me. That didn't work. So at 10:30, we headed home to put Dom to bed in his crib. I had every intention of putting Dom to bed and then going downstairs and being awake for the ball drop or something.

But then I laid down, finished reading 'Darkly Dreaming Dexter' on my kindle and then fell asleep around 11. Yes, I'm a nerd.

Nick crawled into bed at 4:30 a.m. after playing Call of Duty Black Ops all night long...

Happy New Year to us!

Saturday we ran around and did so much stuff, I didn't even realize how late it got! We did Dom's 2 year pictures at Sears in the morning (didn't even buy a CD because they were so bad. Because of Dominick...not Sears. We bought like 6 pictures for us and the various family members and called it a day. Then Dominick went to Maw-maw's house while Nick and I were at home. We cleaned, organized, played more Call of Duty, and then went to lunch. On the way, we brought our tree to wherever it is you bring your Christmas trees when Christmas is over...Nick knows the city way better than I do. Some recycling center where there was a HUGE pile of Christmas trees. Anyway, then we went to my sister's to get Dominick from my mom (she brought both kids there and we got Dom from Angela's).

After playing for a bit longer, we headed back home to do more work. I think our house is looking good for Dom's party (which is just 2 weeks from Saturday...EEK).

Sunday was an outside day. We loaded up the car and drove to Columbia, MO with Ang, Andrew and Celia. We went to Shakespeare's for lunch and then to Mizzou for the women's bball game against Florida State. It wasn't the best game for Mizzou but the kids ran around and had a blast, and that was more the point than anything else.

When we got home, we watched the end of the 3:00 football games and then settled in to watch the Rams game. It didn't have the best outcome, and wasn't the best game honestly, but the Rams were playing for a chance at the playoffs and after having gone 1-15 last year, this was a huge deal. We gave Dom a bath at halftime and tried putting him down in his new room. That didn't work and he wanted to play, play, play. Around 9:45 I gave up and brought him up to his crib and put him down there. We need to get this big boy bed to work though, any tips???

We went to bed after the game.

So far we haven't done much in 2011, but it's been pretty nice. Just hanging out the family. The best start to a new year. :)