So I’ve embraced Fall…

I found my fall wreath for my door, my little scarecrow that I put by the front porch and my cute, ghost ‘Happy Halloween’ sign. Now they’re all hanging outside, as if I can now welcome the weather change. And as if that didn’t put me in the mood, I baked two loaves of banana nut bread tonight. --- that was actually more a necessity because my bananas were going bad. But it does smell wonderful and autumn-like now. All I wish now, is I had some mature trees in the neighborhood to see the leaves change color.

Today has been exhausting! It must be the later stages of pregnancy…or it could be this ridiculous Ecology class that I’m in that makes me hike to a stream, then dangerously slosh my way through the vermin infested waters to reach an appointed spot to collect any kind of bugs we can capture. It’s so gross…I hate to admit that we successfully collected leaches today - among other things - but those being the most despicable (did you ever see the movie ‘Stand by Me’? I’m no boy, but I couldn’t imagine pulling leaches off my bits).

As soon as I hiked my way back to my car (thankfully I parked closer than normal) I sped home and jumped in the shower.

Tomorrow is going to be another crazy day. Becky is dropping off the girls early because she has an exam and the HVAC guy is coming by to install the ventilation downstairs. Hopefully all the children behave, including the internal one. She feels like she’s trying to sink lower and lower every day. It is much more uncomfortable than it was with Elijah. I feel like it’s happening sooner too.

Anyway, here is some progress to our basement. Hoooray! We have light!

This is the bar area…the two blocks you see are going to create a separation from the tv area (which you can’t see because I’m in space taking the pic). It will look great with pillars and all.

This is the other side…the tv area. Yea, I know. I wish we could have flipped it and have the bar area by the windows, but plumbing dictated that this is how we will have to set up the spaces.

This is the insanely wide hallway that is from the TV area to storage and the ‘office’. I don’t know why we didn’t see that it was going to be so wide, in the end I think we will manage. We will put up bookshelves on either side and store all of my books that I can’t part with  -that seems to be the only ‘pack-rat’ side I have about me – you never know when you may need a chemistry book from the 70’s you found at a garage sale :)

This is the office, and where Elijah is moderately safe to play while he watches his grandpa and dad fix things up.

Lastly, this is taken from the office and  you’re looking at the entrance to storage and at the end of the hall to the left will be the future bathroom.

I know it’s difficult to visualize without seeing it in person, but that’s why I don’t make documentaries for discovery channel.

Aghhh.. Elijah just woke up chewing on his pipila…must be time for tooth #7 to make it’s debut. Hopefully soon. Night all.

Fall is finally here!

And I’m not quite ready. I have been complaining about the heat a lot lately, but now it’s official that summer is over. It just makes me more anxious about the next few months. Sure, I am going to enjoy all of the festivities I’ve been looking forward to, but it also means that I will have another child soon!

Speaking of her….I feel so bad that we don’t have a name for her yet. Elijah was Elijah by my second trimester pregnant with him. I am creeping on 31 weeks and we are debating…still. Part of me needs to see her first. If you ask asked us what our top picks are, it would change by next week. So far we are going back and forth with Athena and Evangelia (Evie). Both are Greek names, but I am still having an issue calling her a name ( I did with Elijah too, even after his name was decided). I know…we still have a good 10 weeks, but we all know how quickly that’s going to go by.

Speaking of time flying, Aubrey had her first birthday last week! I remember the day she was born –take a look; actually it’s one of my all time favorite pictures ever.

Now look at her!

She is my Doobrey Doops….I rarely call her Aubrey :)

Take a look at these photos too….my grandchildren are getting so big!!

Above is a little boy…for some reason I like to call him Frisco.

Above is Pinky Poo…we’ll probably keep her, because she is the only one who wags her tail when Elijah climbs in the box with them :)

Above is Frisco and Gizmo…the all black one. Becky is probably going to get Gizmo and give it to Emma for her 5th birthday at the end of November. Now we just need to find Frisco a home…if Brad allows. He is falling for all 3 of them!

In other news I got a crib for the new baby! It came in a few weeks ago. I got it from Amazon.com (I am totally addicted) and it is great. It was a fraction of the cost of Elijah’s crib, and will convert all the way to a full size.

Now my challenge is to get my childhood furniture to match. It has to be painted, unfortunately. Lowes tried to color match a paint to the crib, but they said it takes too much pigment (basically it’s too dark). So I got a couple samples and have started painting. I’m not thrilled with the results, so I am going to go to a Sherwin Williams store to see if they have a better option. If not, then I’ll go with what I can. – I don’t know when I became so anal. I would have never cared about this stuff a few years ago!

Lastly, I am SOOOO thrilled with basement progress! Ron finished framing last Thursday. I got the St. Charles Permit on Friday and Neal (Brad’s dad) is probably more than half way done with all of the electric work, as of tonight! The negative about all of this….well, you can guess.

$$$$$$

Extra expenses have crept up, as planned, but maybe a little bit more than planned. It’s all okay, but I probably won’t be able to get the floors I really want, or buy new furniture, but at least I will have a place for my dad to stay and a place for my new baby to sleep! (Although she will probably be in our room for a while). I’ll post some pics tomorrow for you to see.

That’s it for my Sunday evening. I’m wiped out! I’m gonna pour myself a glass of milk and hopefully watch an episode of Iron Chef before I start another hectic- mom/wife/student/superwoman- work week!

Where do I start?

I started off by blogging my complaints about the Similac recall. I had a couple paragraphs ranting and raving about the inconvenience it has become…then Brad called me and my mood changed completely.

He’s been out of town for the last two weeks (we hung out on Saturday together) and finally he’s coming home tomorrow. As I was talking to him this morning I was complaining that Elijah’s formula has been recalled, and my morning had started off crappy because Eli cut his nose open…blablabla. Right now I am so thankful for those inconveniences to my day.

Brad told me one of his colleges that lives in Dallas (where he is currently) wasn’t able to make it to a planned dinner and he later found out it was because her 18 month old son drowned that day.  It has bothered me emotionally all day long.

I’m SO glad Elijah has just a cut on his nose. I am THANKFUL that I’m just dealing with his worst case of diaper rash. I have cherished every tantrum he threw today, because I have him.

People would always say you can’t understand some things until you become a mother…I completely agree. It is devastating to lose a child – you can understand that as a single person, but when you are able to look at your own child you can almost feel the devastation that the mother must be feeling. That’s what I’m feeling today. I can’t pray enough for that mother and family. Please pray for them too, especially if you are a mom, and can understand what I’m trying to express.

I can’t wait for Brad to get home. I know he can’t wait to be here either (I just found out he’s coming in the morning and not late at night – woohoo!).

I really don’t feel like talking about all the exciting things that have been happening. I’ll try and fill it all in later. Although I am very thankful for the blessings that have come my way (regarding furniture, cribs, puppies, basement, etc)…the blessing I’m counting most dear is the ability to go kiss my son’s cut nose, make sure he’s tucked with his bear and wait for morning to come so we can have the biggest family hug we’ve ever had.

The word ‘love’ just doesn’t capture what you feel sometimes, you know?

Hooray! Basement work has started!

I am SO excited. I know it’s going to be a lot of money, time and frustration…but I can’t wait to have more space around here. Elijah’s new favorite thing is throwing things and slamming dents into our hardwood floors….so he’s gotta go…downstairs that is :)

With this recent wild-man-like character I’ve definitely decided to go with laminate floors down there. I don’t even want to think what carpet may look like in a couple years from now. Not to mention he’ll throw a fit if he can’t roll his train over a rug, so laminate it is.

Speaking of the little booger, he is sick for the first time since we had the swine flu back in October. It’s even hard to say if he is “sick”. His nose is runny (but so are most of his cousins – and it’s clear, not gross). He’s had a low fever, and major diarrhea (with diaper rash as a bonus) but I see a couple more teeth trying to pop their way through. Who knows, but it breaks my heart that he feels bad. I wish mommies really could kiss pain away.

Either way, I’ve decided that I am going to spike his formula with some breast milk once his sister is here. I mean, why not? Especially if it keeps him healthier throughout the cold and flu season.

So, back to the basement. I found this guy on craigslist, and so far so good. He is really kind, efficient and a no BS kind of guy. I took some pics today. The only thing is that he is working alone and is a little slow…but it doesn’t matter to me that much. As long as the work is good and safe in the end – that’s what matters (I’ve been watching Holmes on Homes like crazy – I openly have a small crush on Mike Holmes too)  :)

 

What took him (his name is Ron) one day, took Brad’s buddies months…and notice there are no stray beer bottles either :)

This is the future bedroom office. There is no legal means of egress, so my dad will sleep in the office.

Oh! While I’m posting pictures. Look at Elijah. His new thing is talking on the phone. He will hold a cell phone in his hand and hold it up to ear (his shoulder blades rather), tilt his head, get serious look and babble his language. SOOOO sweet. I could eat him up! Not a great photo, but worth documenting and sharing with you.

Brad is out of town again :(

Ugh….he will be gone until Friday, then leave Sunday to return home the following Friday. All I know is, is that he better be racking up the frequent flier miles so we can fly discounted (or upgraded!).  It sucks when he’s gone. Especially now because it’s getting harder for me to lean and pull Eli out of the tub safely. I hate feel incapable – especially when it comes to caring for my baby. At least I have Brad (and my dad around). I can appreciate a single parent’s sacrifice a lot more now – even though my experience doesn’t really compare.

Oh, other news is I failed the glucose test. I’m pretty shocked. I passed perfectly with Elijah. So this Saturday morning (at the crack of dawn again) before Aubrey’s birthday party I have to get the 3 hour test done. Apparently I didn’t fail that badly. I got a 140, and Dr. Chen’s cut off number is 120.  The only thing that has me worried (thank to googling, of course) is that she measured bigger at the 20 week ultrasound than the average baby and I am thirsty a lot. I down two bottles a water in the middle of night, which I don’t recall doing with Elijah (while pregnant).

We’ll see what happens. I’m sure Dr. Chen will give me more info at my appt on Friday.

And so it begins…

It’s 5:43 on a Saturday morning and, yes, I’m blogging and not sleeping. I woke up to pee about a half hour ago and couldn’t get comfortable enough to fall asleep. Poor Brad. You’d think in our king sized tempurpedic bed (I was so excited to get)  I could find that cozy little spot and doze off again. Instead I kick him, take way too long to flip over and unsuccessfully try to spoon him with my ridiculously huge-growing belly.

Anyway, the couch didn’t offer me anything either – especially after Tipsy left me because there was no room for me to spoon her either. So here I am, listening to Greek radio offering me some comfort that there are people awake with me right now (even if it is around 2 pm over there)  :)

You know what’s worse of all? I am starving and didn’t go grocery shopping. It sounds like a good day to go through the Bread Company for some bagels and cream cheese….are they open now?

I then have to go get my glucose test taken. Elijah has been too crabby this week for me to even dream of taking him to wait an hour in some boring waiting room. After that hopefully the rain holds off a bit so I can take a peek at some garage sales and then head to Creve Coeur Lake for a nice walk with George, Steph and my little Evan. We went last week, and it was SO perfect. It felt great too…even though I was the first to admit I wanted to poop out of walking before we really even started.

I know, right?…I was like 5k queen, even 9 months pregnant with Elijah. It’s been a good reality check. I need to continue the activity – although I do consider keeping up with a soon-to-be-14-month-old a VERY active life-style --- it’s definitely not as therapeutic as an outdoor walk.

I didn’t get to tell you about last weekend did I? Well, in a nutshell, Friday was Brad’s birthday and we didn’t do anything (he played his new Madden football game). Saturday we went to the lake, Brad went to the MIZZOU football game. Saturday night Brad took me out to finally get the crab legs I’d been craving!! They were really good…but I still manage to want sushi and seafood…

Doesn’t Elijah remind you of a lifeguard or something (with his paddle board replaced by a push school bus, of course)…he was so serious right then.

These of Evan were after the park during lunch…

So I HAD to put these pics of Evan in here with his slobbery-ness. It was so hysterical, and amazing he still looks so squeezable covered in cookie slime. LOL….I can’t stop laughing looking at him :)

Sunday we went to a beautiful Greek wedding in Clayton. It was really nice to see old, familiar faces from church. And Monday we had both of our families over for a BBQ.

So there you have it….I have to wrap this up because I see a great sun rising and my stomach’s need for a bagel has taken over my mind.   

2 week visits, already?

Are you serious? I can’t believe I am that far along that I have graduated from my monthly doctor visits. Geez, I mean, it really hit me today I got to get my stuff organized! What sucks is that getting organized with a crib, monitor, clothes, diapers, etc all costs money….thanks to Tipsy and basement expenses I have to summon my inner bargain shopper. I am up for the challenge, but have you ever tried to take your baby to garage sales? – not the easiest thing in the world to do…

Aside from that everything is great. Dr. Chen is really pleased with everything. He says my weight is healthy now and it looks like smooth sailing.  Next I have to get my blood test this week for the diabetes and blood count.

Today  is Brad’s birthday and he said he had a good day. I hope so. Elijah and I got him a portable speaker for his new iphone. And he later got himself the new playstation madden game….hooray….(insert sarcasm) “I am so glad you found the game you like Goose”  (end sarcasm)

just kidding. I’m just poking fun because I bought that game for him last year on his birthday and he returned it because he wanted something else….so I didn’t buy it this year, but he went and got it anyway…..

I guess it’s time for me to document a few of these things. So here is survey #1 for #2 :)

• How far along? 27 weeks 1 day
  Total weight gain/loss: negative 8
• Maternity clothes? sometimes, but I really don’t like them at all
• Stretch marks? just the ones from before
• Sleep: I wake to pee 2 times and have to sleep in the middle of the bed where it’s firmer
  Best moment this week: feeling her get the hiccups for the first time on Thursday!
• Movement: she’s a maniac. Kicks my bladder and punches my ribs at the same time
• Food cravings: seafood. I have been waiting for months to get some really good crab legs…mm…
• Gender: girl :)
• Labor Signs: no, but I feel some braxon hicks when I walk
  Belly Button in or out? in
• What I miss:feeling more able to do things
• What I am looking forward to: having things prepared for her
• Weekly Wisdom: I try to cherish my “alone” time with her as much as possible, because I know I will soon have to share her with everyone else. Same goes for Elijah, I cherish more and more the alone time we get to spend uninterrupted.
  Milestones: 2 week visits! 3rd trimester (I made a mistake in my previous blog…I was only 26 weeks, and I thought I was 27 – I really don’t need to speed this process up, it’s fast on it’s own!!)