Impatient!

I'm an impatient person. There. Now that that's out of the way!

I'm really looking forward to the end of this long, long journey. I've said it before and I will say it again... I'm not trying to wish time away but considering I've been pregnant for almost 2 1/2 years straight, I'm so ready for the sleep deprivation that a new little one brings as opposed to the stress and worry and anxiety. We're ready for her when she is. Diapers are prepped, tiny clothes are washed, cradle is set up in our room, infant seat is installed in the van... yup, I think we've pretty much got it all under control.

My body is getting pretty tired too, as is to be expected at this point. Stella's feeling pretty big to me and my tummy feels stretched to the point where it's just as solid as can be. The last two nights have also given me the gift of extreme itchiness - hands, feet, arms, belly, back, scalp. Weird stuff. I have to wonder if it isn't cholestasis and I'll ask at my appointment on Wednesday. Benadryl doesn't help the itching but it does knock me out enough that I'm able to get a couple hours of sleep in there until I have to get up and use the bathroom. And then there's the rolling over in bed. I often feel like a semi-truck trying to make a 12 point turn in the middle of a one lane road. Other than that though, I really have felt pretty good... not good enough to go on like this forever though :)

The kids are on Spring Break this week and it's been pouring down rain. The last nice day was the day that I was stuck inside with the flu. We've had lots of tea parties, played games, rotated out toys - they played with Little People today! puzzles, movies, stories. I've also been making sure that they take some quiet time in their own rooms. They're used to having a break from each other (and me) and it really does help keep the attitudes in line. During rest time today, I decided to take my 36 week picture... a bit late but better than nothing. Holy cow I feel like I look huge compared to just 2 weeks ago!

When she's ready, we'll get to meet her and I'm really, really looking forward to it!

This & That...

What a week.

I was on a roll for accomplishing so much and feeling really good about it. I finally got our bags packed for the hospital, most of the house projects are done now, Karleigh got the flu and had to stay home from school on Monday but she just vegged on the sofa and I got a ton of cleaning done. Tuesday afternoon I managed to paint Rylan's floor, a table for the girls' room, wash Rylan's walls, clean the bathrooms and got a bunch of laundry done. Then Rylan got sick on Tuesday night just as we were crawling into bed. Luckily his Spring Break started Tuesday afternoon. Jim felt nasty on Tuesday as well and by Wednesday, I was wiped out with it. Thankfully, everyone had Wednesday off. I had to cancel my OB appointment, lost almost 5# and spent several hours with painful contractions, 5 minutes apart. Of course, that was just due to the dehydration. I've been feeling a bit better today but believe it or not, even the dog threw up today. Awesome.

The kids are both officially on Spring Break now so hopefully I'll be able to keep up with everything that I've done. I'm feeling pretty good about what's done. All of the "have to's" are done and most of the "want to's" are done as well so now it's hurry up and wait and try to come up with little things to keep me busy.

And in a brag, Karleigh got her second report card today. I'm so proud of her, her marks were pretty incredible. Now I see why her teacher said that she might be a bit bored in class. The end of year benchmark for reading is level B. They do have books labeled level C that she has been bringing home to practice on but she generally just chooses her own books in her room to read. When I looked at her reading level on her report card... F! No wonder she's bored and squirly during reading time.

Sorry for the boring post, not much to write about when you're sick and just waiting for something a "bit" more exciting to happen! Oh and it looks like you can vote once per 24 hours in that belly pic contest but I'm not holding my breath nor even thinking about it much at all. I'm just thankful to have a baby belly right now!

A Contest!!!

So, I entered a photo contest about 6 hours before the deadline the other day. Turns out, my picture was chosen to be a finalist. Eh, it has nothing do to with my photography but my belly instead! How fun, right?!

Anyway I'm begging, pleading, er, kindly asking that you go to this site: http://www.babygizmo.com/vote to vote. You can only vote once per IP address per 24 hour period and it is a fairly short voting period, ending at 10:00pm (CST) Friday, April 2, 2010.

The prize is not fame nor fortune ;) but instead a fun piece of baby gear, and a great story for Baby Stella.

So, here I am, shamelessly begging... Please go VOTE!!! for me and baby Stella at 30 weeks! Feel free to re-share on your Facebook or Blog too. Hey, it gives you something to write about ;)

Muah!

I'm Tired!

No surprise really though is it? It's a lot of work growing another little person and taking care of the two little people who can voice their demands (quite loudly at that). I'm certainly not complaining though. I'm thrilled to be "tired".

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Some "highlights" of the last few days... (I'm sure this will be quite boring)
We had some sunshine! I was able to chase the kids and the dog outside and I was able to clean carpets. They played "doggy daycare" for hours and had a picnic outside. The crate isn't normally outside which is why it was so great! I had moved it out so I could clean the area rug and mop the floor in the guest room/office :)

Poor kids though. Rylan had to stay home from school just the day before because his eyes were blood shot and producing that ooky goo at an alarming rate. So we got him in to make sure that it was viral and not bacterial. Thank goodness it was just viral and has run its course really quickly. He did get a nice long day with just mom and dad though which was fun for him. Jim took most of the day off and Karleigh was busy with school, a birthday party and Daisy Scouts until 8 that night. One on one time is great, it's just so hard to create those opportunities. Looking at Karleigh... well, she was sick as a dog less than 18 hours later. She'll be staying home from school tomorrow which she is NOT happy about but she has some sort of tummy virus that she needs to get over.

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I've basically just been working on getting everything situated for "go time", whenever that is. I finally went ahead and finished packing the bags tonight. It's interesting, with Karleigh I didn't really get all that anxious. Her due date was January 1st, that's when I expected her and that's when she came. Then came Rylan, 3 weeks early, I don't even remember if my bags were packed. I know his was and I know that we had installed his infant seat about 12 hours earlier. So now I want to make sure that I'm ready to go and at the same time, don't want to get too anxious because each baby has his or her own schedule.

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Earlier in the week, Karleigh had a "job parade" through the school as an ending to their jobs unit. She decided that she wanted to be a mail carrier for purposes of the unit. I'm pretty happy with how her costume turned out. I also love that Jim helped to sew her mail bag!

Of course, now the hat and the bag are used for her "doggy daycare" :)

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Monday was a nice start to the week and I got a chance - correction - finally made the time, to meet up with one of my friends from high school for coffee and to pick up a tummy time mat for Stella since her girls are past that stage. Ahhh, I miss adult (girl) conversation!

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Spring break basically starts for the kids this coming week. Rylan is off starting Wednesday through Easter Sunday and Karleigh goes Monday (except she doesn't since she's sick!), Tuesday and then Thursday morning and then it's break time for her. We have nothing planned which is kind of a bummer. I was hoping to make it up to my parents and to Seattle but I've been given the "stay close" instructions from my doc. Speaking of which, I have another appointment on Wednesday. It's getting close which really feels good most of the time but there are still times where the anxieties kick in and I can't actually picture coming home with a baby. But most of the time... most of the time I can!

34 weeks

It feels so close and yet so far! I'm not sure I'm looking any different from the last few weeks but I'm feeling different so I guess that counts for something.



There were some things that I thought I would have done by this point like...
Professional maternity photos. We've never done them before and this obviously (unless something totally bizarre happens) is our last opportunity.
3D/4D ultrasound to get a fun quick peek at the little bit. I thought for sure we would have made an appointment but again, we didn't get around to it and now the poor girl is so low and getting big enough that the images really wouldn't be all that good.
Family trip. I thought that perhaps we would have made a trip to the beach for the 4 of us to have some "us" time before baby.
... and you know what, none of that bothers me!

We're actually making plans that sound like...
"We won't need to buy a seat for her, I'll just wear her and we can even take the ferry over if you want." and "We can all go to the movie. She'll probably just eat and sleep through it anyway!"

I'm having such a hard time focusing, this is just a total jumble! Hopefully my brain regenerates quickly after this delivery. I've been such a mush head. Pregnancy brain alone is bad enough but add in the extra anxiety and all of the other thoughts that are constantly running through my head and well... you get something totally useless!

Thursday Thoughts!

Remember this statement from my last post, "I'm pretty sure it's safe to say... that's all we're going to get" when referencing the lack of snow this year?
Yah.
Me too.

It's a good thing I'm not a meteorologist!



On the other hand, it really wasn't a big deal at all. It snowed really hard for an hour or so and then melted almost as quickly. No school delays, no snowballs, pretty much just watched Max run around like the crazy dog he is! Now, hopefully that's the last of it. Come on spring!

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The closer we get to my due date, the bigger I get.
Duh!
But, there are some benefits to this...

1) I can wipe down the far side of the dining room table while my belly dries and polishes the near side!

2) I never slam the pantry door open into the wall anymore. My belly always stops it.

3) While doing dishes, I no longer have to wipe the water from in front of the sink and off the floor. You guessed it, my tummy makes sure that my sweatshirt soaks it up and there's no water making it to the floor.

4) I will soon be off of laundry duty since I can barely reach the bottom of the washing machine anymore. My arms are just not long enough anymore! I honestly do not remember that being an issue with Karleigh or Rylan. Hummm...

5) I no longer dribble food on my pants! However, all of my shirts seem to have spots on them right on the tummy. I guess that's a plus and a minus.

6) I can easily get Rylan's attention while brushing his teeth. I'm not kidding, that poor kid has gotten knocked off his step-stool 3 times this week. ...keeps him on his toes!

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Yesterday Jim and I went to my 34 week appointment. Rather drama free which is always nice! My a fore mentioned tummy is now measuring just a tiny bit ahead. I told him about the frequency and intensity of my Braxton Hicks and that some of them are accompanied by some uncomfortable cramping. He basically said that I'm good to go at any point and that he has no worries. That was sure a reality check! He also doesn't want me going too far from the immediate area considering the speed and timing of Rylan's delivery. So, that does cut into one last hurrah that I had planned to Seattle at the end of this month but honestly, I do understand. I would have been up there within days of when I went into labor with Rylan and his labor was only 4 hours long... Honestly, I have no guesses about when this little bit will make her appearance. I know Jim thinks sooner than later. I'm just hoping she doesn't come 2 weeks late! But in the end my "demands" are pretty minimal. Safe and sound is what I'm going for.

Spring Fever!

I'm loving the great weather! It really does not feel like early March around here. It feels more like April (which in its own way is killing me!) But at the same time, it's nice to be able to open the windows or head outside for fresh air without an umbrella or snow boots. Actually, we got maybe 4" of snow this winter season and I'm pretty sure it's safe to say... that's all we're going to get. So strange after the last couple years around here. The mild weather has sure done a job on the lawn which is now quite loaded with moss. I'm sure Jim will get that under control soon though.

I went outside this afternoon after the kids got home from school and snapped a few pics around the yard.

Yes, Spring Fever indeed!

In more "regular life" news: Karleigh lost ANOTHER tooth this evening. Once again she climbed up on what remains of my lap and asked me to give it a wiggle. Within just a couple minutes and one "pop", there it was between my finger and thumb! She's getting quite the... interesting... smile!

Regular ol' life! That's good stuff :)