Soccer and my crazy week

R started soccer last week. The jamboree was today, he had a lot of fun, even though he really doesn't get it, and he was super cute to watch!! Here are a few pictures...




Here's a funny picture for you too... R built this "comfy cozy play place" and he kept asking if he could sleep in it. I let him nap there one day, can you find him? lol


Things with this pregnancy are getting interesting... I've been having NSTs once a week for a couple months. At last Tuesday's my blood pressure was high. I figured it was from laying on my back, but when I got home that afternoon I checked it again and it was higher (and kept going up). I ended up going back to the hospital that afternoon and staying there for 7 hours before I was told to take a higher dose of my BP meds and rest for at least 4 hours a day. I was pretty mad that they didn't induce me, my doctor had said if things started looking bad after 37 weeks we'd induce, but apparently they weren't bad enough. We've got it under control for now, but we're looking at inducing at 39 weeks now, which I'm quite happy about and I really hope my OB doesn't change his mind on that!
I now have to go for twice weekly NSTs, weekly ultrasounds, and my regular weekly OB appointments. All that with the higher dose of BP meds which make me feel awful for half the day and it's a bit much for me to take.

My week ahead is crazy busy, about half of it is all the pregnancy stuff, but it's getting hard to keep straight. Here's what I have going on so far...

Monday- ultrasound 11:45, soccer practice 4:30
Tuesday- NST 9am
Wednesday- small group 6:30
Thursday- OB 2:45, back to school night 6:30
Friday- MOPS 9 (I think I'm going to skip that), Bday party 5:30
Saturday- NST (still need to call for a time)

Plus taking the kids to school and picking them up each day...

I'm actually thinking things will be easier once this baby is born! Yikes!!

Anyway, that's what's going on here, if I don't post anything next week you'll know why!!

Things That Make Us Happy

Me?

Getting a crib mattress that fits in our crib, and finally getting it all set up...

The kids?

Getting to play with the box. :)




After the first mattress that I bought at Target didn't work AT ALL I decided to order one online from them. I figured at the very least it would make returning it easier if it didn't work either. It came yesterday, and I was SO HAPPY that it fit well in the crib! I'm finally feeling like things are starting to come together and we will be ready when N comes.
The kids played in the box for a while, and then they took it outside and colored on it. Great entertainment and well worth the cost of shipping!!


Here's one more cute snap from today. We made chocolate chip banana muffins and they had to get their chef's outfits on first.

Monday Menu and other stuff...

Well, I just have to say that I really hate this computer. I just wrote a big long post, and the computer started freaking out when I tried to upload some pictures, so I COPIED my blog post so I wouldn't loose it, but apparently it didn't actually copy when I told it to, so it's gone.
And, what makes me even more mad is that anytime the browser gets closed it logs me out of everything, it's been doing that for about a year now, and I can't figure out why. I was online one day when the power flashed, and then when I turned the computer back on it said I was logged in on another computer and it logged me out. Now it says that every time I open the browser, and I have no clue why (yes, I've checked all the options and settings...). *sigh*


Anyway... here's the menu for the week...

Monday- dinner @ my sisters, binging candy bar cheesecake
Tuesday- Dr appointments all day, spaghetti & salad
Wednesday- twice baked potatoes
Thursday- ?
Friday- Breakfast, something with potatoes (we have a lot of them right now!)
Saturday- Evan's Mechanical night at the races
Sunday- BBQ?? (we didn't get to it last night)

We'll see how much of that we stick to... lol


We (meaning Matthew) got a lot of stuff done yesterday. We finally got some shelves up in R's closet so I could move all his clothes in there and make room for the smaller dresser/chaining table. I don't know why, but this makes me so happy. lol Here's a picture of it when it was mostly done. I moved a few things around after this was taken, and I still need to organize the top shelf, but you get the idea.


I got those plastic bins at Target, 5 for $4, and I love them! They're the prefect size for the shelves. :)

Matthew also set up the smaller dresser, so today I'm going to start doing baby laundry and putting it away, I can't wait!
And to show what a nesting dork I am, we put the bigger dresser in the garage and I'm going to organize all of N's bigger clothes in there so they'll be easier to look through and find when he starts growing into bigger sizes. I'm SO EXCITED to take them all out of the bins and be able to see them!! lol

I also had Matthew hang this stuff in M's room for me... We picked up this little lantern at Ikea months ago and then we brought a few globes home from the wedding last week, I think it looks really cute!


Here's a close-up of the lantern, it's still kind of hard to see, but we put Tink in there. :)
(although Matthew, the Peter Pan expert, tells me that if I really knew the movie I'd know that when she was in that position she was actually in a drawer... lol)


Anyway, I'm feeling much better now that we've made some progress in getting the boys' room organized.

My kids go back to school next week, I can't believe how fast summer has gone by! And N will be here very soon!!

Menu and stuff...

I still need to get to the grocery store. We are out of pretty much everything, my cupboards are so empty it's sad. I'm all thrown off with getting home Monday. I feel like today should be Monday, but I had my Tuesday stuff to do... It will be nice when things get back to normal soon!

So... the menu...

Monday- leftovers from the wedding and cereal (for me)
Tuesday- quick pasta of some sort
Wednesday- breakfast... potato scramble or pancakes and eggs, not sure yet...
Thursday- Mom's biscuits and roasted red pepper soup
Friday- homemade chili with cornbread or muffins or something...
Saturday- leftovers?
Sunday- I would love for Matthew to bbq chicken and potatoes, but I don't know that I can make him do that with all the other stuff I want him to do this weekend, I'll have to ask him... If not I'll try for next weekend


I had my NST this morning. I took the kids, and they did really well. My nurse for today's test was our old neighbor. I knew she worked there, I think she took care of me when I had R, but I hadn't seen her in there yet this time. She doesn't usually work on Tuesdays though, so that's why. Hopefully I'll get to see her again when I go in to have the baby!
Anyway, everything looked fine on the baby front. I'll see my OB on Thursday this week and then go from there. I can't believe how close I'm getting!

Our Crazy Summer Is Now Over

Whew!

We knew this summer was going to fly by and be super crazy busy before it started, but I still can't believe how fast it's gone!
We just got home from Matthew's cousins' up by Seattle this afternoon, and we have 2 week until school (and R's soccer practice) starts back up!

I just have to say, I really don't like Oregon that much. I don't really have a good reason (other than their total lack of good road signs), I just don't care for it. I like California, and I like Washington, Oregon is just in my way. lol

We had a fun trip though. We left last Tuesday and drove 1/2 way up, stopping in Eugene at a hotel that had a pool, which the kids loved! Then we headed up to Seattle Wednesday and were there until Sunday afternoon.
We "celebrated" 9 years of marriage on Thursday (I got a pedi and did some last minute food and wedding shopping with 2 of Matthew's cousins while he helped set up wedding stuff). I told him he has to take me out now that we're home, although the pedi was wonderful! :)
We took the kids to the fire station where one of his cousins works. We were only there for about 2 minutes when they got a call and had to leave though. It was fun to see them get their stuff on and drive out of there so fast, but that's about all we got to see. I was hoping to get some pictures and scrap a page about it, but obviously that didn't happen!
The wedding was beautiful! Here are a few pictures, you can see more here, and I will be adding a few more there once I get through the rest.

These cupcakes were SO YUMMY!!!


34 weeks and some change...





We stopped at Ikea in Portland on the way home, and after driving past it 3 times, around the airport once, and looking at 2 different sets of directions we actually managed to find our way into the parking lot (again with the bad road signs!). We had gotten a dresser for the boys' room when we were down at the Giants game in May, but it was too tall, so we were very happy that we were able to exchange it on the way home!

Now it's onto baby stuff. My shower is tomorrow night, and then I plan to spend the rest of the week washing baby clothes and getting organized. Matthew has a growing list of things I want him to do this weekend including switching carseats around, setting up baby stuff, and buying and putting shelves in the boys' closet. I'm hoping that by this time next week I'll feel a lot more ready for baby!

Tomorrow I have my weekly NST in the morning, and then I need to run a few errands and get to the grocery store, all with the kids in tow most likely. My mom usually watches them for those, but her neighbor is being induced right now, and she's watching her little guy, so I'm not sure she'll be able to make it in tomorrow morning. Hopefully the kids will be good for me!!
I'll be back with an update and menu for the week later. :)

Scrap Stuff, Menu, Baby Update, ect...

We were gone Thursday-Sunday, and yesterday Matthew was home, so I'm just now getting back to "everyday life", so I thought I'd just cram everything I have to say into one big post. :)


First off, Britt put a new colab kit out last week with Sahlin Studio that's just SO FUN!! I seriously LOVE this kit! It's called Land Of Fantasy and it's based on Fantasy Land at Disney.
I did scrap with it before we left town, but I'm just now getting my LO posted, so here it is...



Now for the weekly menu...

Monday- we had leftover noodles from the night before (how exciting!)
Tuesday- breakfast... pancakes and potatoes and maybe eggs...
Wednesday- take-n-bake pizza
Thursday- tacos
Friday- spaghetti with meat sauce and artichokes
Saturday- chicken casserole


I had my 30 week appointment yesterday...
BP was good (but it's always low in the mid morning after taking my meds), but I had a lot of protein in my urine so they sent me to get another urinalysis done. They said it would take 24 hours to get the results, so I don't know anything yet. I'm keeping an eye on my BP at home, and so far it looks "normal for me".
Other than that the baby sounded good, he's head down, and I'm measuring well.
I start my non-stress tests next week, and then I go back to the doctor in two weeks. It sounded like he would have had me back in a week if he wasn't doing the non-stress tests, but because they'll keep an eye on things there too he didn't think he needed to see me weekly yet.
He also said he would probably order another ultrasound at some point to check the blood flow from the placenta and such, but he didn't order it this time.


So there's all the updates. We had fun at the reunion, I took a few pictures, and so did M, but I haven't gotten them off the cameras yet. I'll try to post some later.
I can't believe how fast this summer is flying by!!

Talk about a weird craving!

I have to say, this pregnancy has been the most symptomatic of the 3 by far! I've had exhaustion, emotions, morning sickness, clumsiness, and cravings, and they've all been so much stronger than with the other kids. I think tonight may take the cake for cravings though.

I made that Chicken & White Bean Bruschetta Bake for dinner (the sea bands seem to be helping enough that I can think about food again). I didn't think anything of it when I was making it, but as soon as I pulled it out of the oven I saw the cooked white beans and immediately thought of casalay (and I'm SURE I'm not spelling that right). It's a soup/casserole dish that I ate in France, over 13 years ago! I think we tried to find some in the US that tasted good once we got back, but seriously, I haven't had the stuff in 13 years, and now it's all I can think about. I don't even know if dinner was any good, because I kept expecting it to taste like casalay with every bite I took (the kids didn't like it though, so we wont' be doing it again). WHAT THE HECK is that about?!?

26 week appointment

I had my 26 week appointment today. Everything looked good with the baby... heart rate was in the 150's like always, gained 4lbs, measuring fine, ect... I asked about inducing before my due date due to my blood pressure stuff and he said he was going to start weekly monitoring at 32 weeks to keep an eye on the baby and the placenta (he didn't use the phrase "non-stress test", but I'm thinking that's what he meant??). He also said he wouldn't let me go past my due date, which I was already counting on. lol I got my paperwork for the GD test, but he said I could do it after we get back from vacation, so I need to remember to do that when I get home! lol I have one more appointment in 4 weeks and then I go to 2 weekers (or maybe I'll go right to one week ones with the extra monitoring, I'm not sure how that will work...).
So all in all a good appointment. I had to take the kids with me and they both did really well, so that was nice!

Bad Blogger...

Sorry! I don't know where the week went. I was around, I just never posted, so today I'll play catch-up...

Britt had a new kit out Friday called Jackpot. It's a really fun Vegas themed kit, and if you buy it before midnight on Thursday you get some cool Vegas wordart free! Here's the page I did with it, it's a picture I took when Matthew and I went out there in January of '07 for a Maytag convention.

We didn't do a whole lot last week. I had a doctors appointment, which was pretty boring. Baby sounds good and is measuring right on track, I go back in 4 weeks... lol

Yesterday R had to wear his new Superman shirt like Daddy's, and he wanted me to take their picture. I'd like to get some better pictures of them in their shirts, but I thought this was kind of fun...

I also had Matthew snap a belly picture of me... 22 weeks and some change:


So now for this week's menu...

Monday- waffles with strawberries and hash browns (I'm noticing a pattern of breakfast on Mondays. lol I didn't plan it that way, we just have a bunch of strawberries that are going to go bad if we don't eat them soon)
Tuesday- I'm going to try the no-bake version of this... Baked Lemon Pasta. I've been on a lemon kick this pregnancy and this sounds SO yummy to me!!
Wednesday-
Thursday- I think I'll just do burritos... we didn't do them last week because t-ball got rained out and we got to go to group. :)
Friday- meatloaf and mashed potatoes
Saturday- pesto pasta with chicken
Sunday-

I'm coming up totally blank this week so that's all I'm doing. lol

Now off to the grocery store just as soon as Regis & Kelly is over, gotta see JT on there first! :)

20 weeks

Today I'm 20 weeks. I feel like this pregnancy is flying by, but then when I started thinking about it today it kind of feels like it's taken a long time to get to 20 weeks. lol

I had the "big" ultrasound yesterday. The tech said it's a boy (even though I really didn't see what she was talking about), so now I believe it's really a boy. She said he was a bit camera shy, but we got a couple good pictures I thought. I don't really know much other than that, I won't see my doctor for a couple weeks, and they really don't tell you anything there, but here are the pictures...

this is the same picture but with explanations on it in case you can't figure it out. lol


same thing here...

and here's a quick picture I had M take today. Our back patio gives of some funky colors and I didn't feel like messing with the picture any longer, I know the color is off. lol

I started messing around making a Target baby registry. I just have so much going on in my head with what we really need for this baby that it was the easiest way to figure out what we needed and what I want (and it feels like I'm shopping without actually spending money lol). There are so many new things out there since M was born (and because I kept everything after her I didn't really buy anything big when R was a baby), it feels like I'm a first time mom again. It's fun to look at everything, but I mostly did it just to keep things straight in my head.

Anyway... that's it for today. Be sure to check back Friday, it's the start of the big national scrapbook day (week) celebrations at SM and you won't want to miss all the great deals!

Some pictures

Just playing with a few pictures from the last couple days. I still need to go through Easter pics and most of the birthday pictures, but here's a few to tide you over...

M took this yesterday while we were setting up for R's party... 18+ weeks

one of the kids too...

I was TRYING to get a good picture of them together. hahaha...

These are from tonight. While I was making dinner R came out of his room in this. He said he was a superhero. I loved the way he looked so much I had to take a bunch of pictures so I could scrap them, here are a few of my favorites of my goofy 4-year-old. :)





okay, I'm going to go veg and wish there was something good on TV tonight. :)

In Thursday Night Tradition...

Just for my Thursday night peeps... I had to dig up the blue cookies from when we found out with R (I'm too lazy to actually make blue cookies right now lol).


I went in for a kidney/bladder ultrasound on Friday. I had a great tech and even though he wasn't supposed to he peeked at the baby. It looks like we're having another boy (but I'm only 16 weeks, so we'll double check at my 20 week ultrasound soon), which totally surprised me, I thought for sure it was a girl! That will make me 0 for 3. lol

It was a really long ultrasound, and they even brought the radiologist in for some of it to watch instead of just sending him the pictures. The tech told me I have "fluid on the kidneys" which he said is not super uncommon during pregnancy and could cause bleeding. I also have funny shaped kidneys, which could be normal for me, but it sounds like it's something they'll keep an eye on (and seeing as it's me, I'm betting on it being normal lol). The radiologist said one of his kidneys is the same way and he watched it for 5 years before he decided that was just normal for him.
I still have to go back to the doctor to get the official results in a couple weeks and find out where we go from here, but I feel so much better knowing that there's some sort of explanation for what's been going on, and it didn't hurt that I got to peek at the babe too!

Scrapbook Friday

Back with another addition of Scrapbook Friday. This week Britt has a great new Easter/Spring kit out called Bunny Foo Foo. It's a super cute kit full of fun Easter and spring stuff! I don't feel like I did the best job on my page... I redid the whole thing after my first attempt (which was embarrassing!), and it's better, but I don't know... It's just not great to me. Anyway, no reflection on the kit, which is great as always!! Also, as always, there's a bonus alpha (the white one on my page) included in the DL this week only, so go check it out!


Be sure to vote in my poll if you haven't already! :)

Take my poll!

I want to know what everyone thinks we're having this time. Leave me a comment after you vote if you want, I'd love to know who's voting for what. :)

That's a BIG Avocado!!

The kids and I have been checking out this website to see how the baby is growing each week. It's not exactly perfect, but I think it gives the kids a better idea than just telling them "it's 4.6" this week..."
So, this week the baby is an avocado. When I showed the kids M looked at my belly for a minute and then back at the screen, then she said "that's a big avocado in there!". Yep sweetie, that's what happens when there's already been 2 babies in there before this one! lol

Still no news on what has been going on with me. I saw a urologist today and he's sending me for ANOTHER ultrasound, this time on my bladder. It doesn't seem like anyone has much of an idea of what happened (or is still happening??), but I'm not in pain right now, so I'm trying not to worry. They all keep saying things like, "well, it could be this, but probably not because of this...". It's getting a little old.


I'll be back tomorrow with a Scrapbook Friday post.

I have a little wiggle worm!

Sunday night I felt a definite little kick, and today this baby is wiggling around like crazy. I love it!
Here's a picture I had Matthew take around 14 weeks.


I ended up keeping my appointment for yesterday. The doctor had said to cancel it if I was still feeling okay Monday, and I felt great all weekend, but woke up in pain on Monday morning. So, I went in and saw my usual doctor and he seemed a bit surprised that none of the other doctors I had seen or talked to were doing anything about it. He checked the baby out and agreed with them that the baby is not being affected by this. He thinks it may be something to do with my bladder, so he's sending me to a urologist, I'm just waiting for them to call (will call tomorrow afternoon if I haven't heard anything). I'm feeling much better today, and I'm very glad my doctor is being more proactive about all of this!

So, there's the update on that.

The kids are doing well... I'll brag for a minute. :)

R is awesome kid of the week this week at preschool, he got to bring in some toys and pictures, and he was very excited!
He's finally starting to show a little bit of interest in letters. I have no clue what's normal for an almost 4 year old, M was writing her name and knew all of her letters and numbers by 4, where R just isn't interested it in. His teachers assure me it's normal, partly because he's a boy too. :) He likes to play with the letters on the fridge and ask us how to spell things with them now (even though he doesn't know what most of the letters are), but he's not into writing at all like M was. I'm just glad he's asking about it, I figure it's a good start.

M is doing great in school. We had a parent-teacher conference a week ago and they really didn't have much to say except good things. The one thing she has an issue with is interrupting, so we're working on that. lol Both of her teachers love having her in class and one even said that she would have done just fine in 1st grade this year (if it wasn't for her age). I think she's right on track for the reading stuff, it's so much fun to watch her read a book and sound stuff out now that she couldn't read a few months ago! I think the math is way too easy for her though, she was doing 1st grade math books over the summer before she started kindergarten, and she's adding and subtracting double-digit numbers at home now, so the 3+3 stuff is a little easy. The hardest part of it is that she goes to fast and misses whether it's a + or - sign. lol

Sorry, I haven't gone through birthday pictures yet. I really haven't done much of anything that I was wanting to do. I'm hoping that I will keep feeling okay and finally be able to get back in the swing of things here now.

Back from the doctor

And everything looks fine!

He said that whatever was going on doesn't have anything to do with the pregnancy and isn't hurting it at all. He thinks I either passed a small kidney stone (small because I didn't feel like I was in labor), or I had an irritated balder. Whatever was going on seems to have stopped... no more blood and I'm actually not in pain for the first time in over a week! I even went to Costco after my appointment and I had no problem walking around for a bit (and buying a GIRL outfit! I have a friend who's having a girl in May, so if this one's not a girl I'll give it to her).
It took him a minute to find the hb which totally freaked me out, but once he did it was very strong (162), and we could here the little one moving around in there too.

He told me to keep my appointment for Tuesday for now and if everything is still okay to cancel it on Monday and reschedule for 4 weeks from today.

Oh, and he told me that the babe was measuring 13w4d at the ultrasound when going by the 7 week ultrasound I would have been 12w6d, so I'm thinking my original guess of being due on the 14th was closer to right. I know a couple days really doesn't matter, it's just good to hear the baby is growing well!

Scrapbook Thursday

Yep, it's a day early this week! Britt has an AWESOME colab out today with Mira Designs called Totally Buggin' (and it's 20% off for today only!). This kit is totally jam packed with fun stuff (and as you can see I crammed a lot of it on my LO).

Anyway, here is my page, it's from when we went to Bonfante (I mean GILROY... still doesn't sound right to me) Gardens in November. I'm not sure if I ever posted pictures from that, so if not, here's a bunch (click to enlarge).
I had to take that picture of Matthew walking with the boys because I have one just like that from a few years ago where he's walking with those boys' big sisters, I thought it was cute.


That's about it for now. I'm going to the doctor this afternoon, so maybe I'll have more of an update when I get back. The office did call the other day to say the kidney ultrasound looked fine, so it wasn't/isn't stones. I'm actually feeling pretty okay right now, but I'm afraid if I try to do anything I'll start hurting again, so I'm trying to take it easy still.

Sorry!

I know I said I'd be back with pictures and then fell of the face of the earth.

Last week was not the calm and mellow week I was really hoping it would be. After the skiing weekend and that whole week of M's birthday I was ready to have a "do nothing" (or very little) kind of week, but it turned into pretty much the opposite.

Monday was fine. I took M to school, went grocery shopping with R, and took M to her 6 year appointment (I didn't know they don't need to go every year anymore! They said they didn't need to see her again until she's 8! ...She's 43lbs and 44.5" -almost square says the nurse- 39th and 35th percentiles).
Tuesday morning I woke up in pain. I couldn't tell if I was having cramps or what, but it was not good. After I took the kids to school things got worse and I had some spotting. I called Matthew and had him come home and my doctors office got me an ultrasound for that afternoon (the same afternoon the kids were scheduled for dentist appointments). We took them with us to the ultrasound and then headed straight to the dentist's. Everything checked out okay with the baby (thank God!!), but there was no explanation for my pain.
Wednesday... I don't remember. lol I'm sure it was a mix of being in pain and stressed and scared all day...
Thursday morning I was still in pain and I started having a ton of braxton hicks contractions. I ended up going to urgent care that afternoon where they did nothing. Seriously, they tried to get my weight, the scale was broken, they tried to listen to the baby, the doppler was broken... They were going to send me home without doing anything at all, but I made them check to make sure the contractions weren't doing anything so I could feel like it wasn't a total waist of 3 hours!
Friday I went in for a kidney ultrasound to see if it was kidney stones (still don't know the results of that). My mom took the kids for the night, and I finally started feeling a little bit better Friday afternoon. I took it easy most of the weekend though, I can totally feel it if I try to do too much (such as church and walking around the grocery store in the same day).
This monring I woke up with some pain, but it hasn't been too bad today. I have an appointment on Thursday afternoon with my doctor, hopefully they'll be able to give me some answers!!

I had all these plans to relax and catch up on life last week, and it doesn't feel like any of that happened (in reality I guess I did do a lot of relaxing, but it wasn't quite what I had in mind). I didn't even get to play with Britt's new stuff from last week, I couldn't sit up for long enough to scrap a page.

So, I'm really hoping and praying that this week is a lot more uneventful!! I would like to get M's birthday pictures up, get my Valentines wreath off the front door (lol), and vaccum my house (not sure that one will happen). We'll see though... :)

I'll leave you with my 10 and 12 week belly pictures. I'll be 14 weeks on Wednesday, this pregnancy is flying by! I'm really excited for the next week, 14 weeks is when I first felt both M and R move. :)

10 weeks:

12 weeks:

So, I will try to get some pictures from M's birthday up soon, but no promises at this point!