Thanksgiving, shopping and meet Baby

**this was written a few days ago but I was waiting for the ultrasound pic to scan, there will be a more current post soon about how my husband is driving me crazy and might not want to hire movers :(

I am not looking forward to getting on the scale at the doctor this week. I cannot say no to pumpkin pie with a lot of whipped cream. I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. We had our standard family gathering complete with lots of Wii play. Apparently pregnancy has hurt my bowling skill, but my tennis has improved.
My mom and I hit the stores Friday morning around 8am. No way you were gonna see me at Kohls at 4:00. No freakin way. We went to Walmart first. I'm not a huge fan, but don't hate it as much as Liz and Judy. I like Target a gazillion times better, but if I am shopping with Ryan we have to avoid Target like the plague. Target is attached to the mall, and right outside the mall entrance is the dreaded, germ infested play area. YUCK. There is no way for him not to see it. There is a lot of kicking and screaming and it is best to avoid it. Target and Walmart both had the same things in their ads that I wanted, so we hit Walmart first because its in the same area as Bed Bath and Beyond. Plus, they had 1000 thread count sheets for $20. That was at least worth a peek.
The store was not set up well, and it was full of people which made me hot. When I'm pregnant I am a heater. They didn't have anything I wanted, or at least I couldn't find what I wanted (cupcake maker for my niece, Indiana Jones movie for Ethan, aquadoodle for Ryan's friend and those darn sheets) but my mom found some clearance pull ups for $10. Total score.
At BB&B we checked out the bathroom accessories and my mom picked up a few of the items I liked. Then I bought some decorate your own ornaments for Ryan to make for his grandparents. While standing in line I started to get light headed. Half a bagel probably wasn't enough to eat, but the heat, I'm serious, it was hot. Everyone is in coats and I just couldn' t take it anymore. I had a 3/4 length sleeve t-shirt and white tank underneath. I pulled off my tshirt thinking I was wearing my plain tank. My luck, its my "MOTHERHOOD, ITS HOT" tank. Lovely. Too bad at this point. I felt so much better and spent the rest of the morning walking around in that while everyone else was in parkas.
Then it was time for Target. Insert bells ringing and sun shining here! They store was set up very well, had a lot of their ad items at the front of the store, they had people around to help find stuff for you. I loved it. They had the aquadoodle and movie I wanted. They had some stuff my mom wanted, including some $3 and $5 movies for me.
Next I was off to Sears to get some jeans for Ethan and Old Navy to look for something I knew they didn't have, followed by a stop at Gottschalks for my mom to order Ryan's matress. I guess with her coupons, senior discount and a sale it was just as good buying it there and it was a much better quality matress than the actual matress stores. I'm not sure a 3 yr old needs that nice of a matress but whatever. My mom dropped me off and we headed to Ethan's sisters house about an hour away to have lunch with her family, his other sister, his dad and his step mom and her kids. Ryan napped for about 40 minutes. We had lunch at a philly steak place, then went to a fish hatchery to feed the fish. Ryan absolutely loved it. Then he got to play more with his cousins and we headed home. He fell asleep in the car and transfered great to the crib, but woke up 4x that night. This is getting super old super fast. I know I need to let him cry and "follow the rules" but when he starts coughing and gagging I can't take it. Plus, if he barfs who is gonna clean it up? You know it will be me so I'm trying to avoid that at 3 in the morning.
Ethan and I saw Twilight and lunch had lunch on Saturday. The movie was ok, but could never compare with the book. Some parts were so cheesy. Ethan hasn't read the books and he liked it, though he said it was "shmoopy." I guess I am bias.
And here is baby Skywalker. Luke happens to be a name in the running, though nothing is close to being settled. Ethan is ecstatic. I like it, but I also like others. I have accepted that if we named the baby Lucas he would only call him Luke so fine, its a possibility as it is. There are issues with it being a hard "k" sound. I think that requires a certain type of middle name, probably longer and can't end in an "r" because our last name ends in "r" and that makes the flow all wrong. That could just be me. Anyway, I started calling him baby Skywalker and it stuck.

Happy Thanksgiving

There are many things to be thankful for this year, and I decided a list would be the quickest. I love lists. This is ofcourse is no particular order, just the randomness of my brain.



1) My family

2) My friends

3) That we finally found a house that is move in ready and has everything we said we wanted (ok, Ethan didn't get a separate closet but COME ON)

4) That movers are going to move all the heavy stuff

5) My hard working husband who still tries to make it home in time to be a daddy

6) Health insurance

7) Grandparents, aunts and uncles who love my son and want to spend time with him

8) Veggie burritos w/ no lettuce and lots of sour cream

9) Play group

10) Starting the journey of motherhood all over again and hoping I handle the tough parts better this time around

11) That I can drive to my parents in 10 minutes

12) That my husband tells me he loves me every day

13) Ryan's laugh and smile

14) That we are generally healthy

15) Sleep when I get it

16) Cancer research that will hopefully allow my grandma and aunt to live longer and have a better quality of life

17) For my dogs who just love us no matter what

18) Target

19) Books

20) Pasta and bread

21) Freedom, choice, and the right to vote

22) Separation of church and state

23) That my friends are different than me

24) Teachers

25) That there will be more cars, trains and trucks in our house very soon!



#2 IS A BOY. Yay! Ethan is very excited that we don't have to buy anything, I think he actually said hallelujah. LOL. Little does he know, you cannot have a baby and buy nothing. Oh please. I am also over the frog crib bedding Ryan had so there is definately some shopping to do. And we need a new crib because the other one was recalled. Names. Don't ask. We threw some around at dinner tonight and we have a few on the "both don't hate it" list but nothing either of us loves. Happy Thanksgiving everyone from me and my boys :)

Tomorrow is the big day

Tomorrow (assuming baby cooperates) we get to find out if Ryan is going to have a brother or sister. Time really is going by fast. I will be 21 weeks and am already half way done. My gut says girl, just because when I think of the baby its a girl and I think in the "she" frame of mind, but the ultrasound I had at the doctor's office at 18 wks makes me think boy due to the "that could be a labia or scrotum." Sure looked like a penis to me. I guess we'll leave it to the professionals.

Woud you believe

that we had another leak? Ok, not on the magnitude of the water meter leaking into the street for 4 days and having no water, just a constant drip in the downstairs bathroom sink. It would fill up a gallon pitcher within 2 hours so it wasn't small. Ethan worked late the night I found it, I think Thursday night, but he took a quick look and said to call the property manager. NO FREAKIN WAY. I called my dad and he fixed it in about 5 minutes, then took Ryan to his house so I could meat with my nexting packing surveyor alone. I was embarassed about my mess of a kitchen but I explained I had just went through a period of no water, and we had cooked the night before so...anytime anyone cooks here it equals a mess. I swear my dishwasher is smaller than normal. Anyway, the estimate was even lower than the first. The guy threw in a discount. Yay for knowing people in the biz! Ethan is going to try and save us about $400 and pack up the kitchen. As long as I'm not the one doing it I don't really care, except for he already packed up my cookbooks and I was supposed to make beef and rice caserole tonight and I cook by the book. That just reminded me of "you kiss by the book"....Romeo and Juliet.

Saturday I went to a Christmas tea with my mom and her friend. It benefits the local hospital. Then we did some shopping. I was having new bedding issues and my poor mom is suffering because it is supposed to be a Christmas present from her. I found a great black and cream with a small stripe of red at Target, but that required our furniture to be painted black. Said painting cannot be done by me for a while due to my "condition" and after that I'm pretty sure I won't have the time til both kids are in college! Ethan told me "good luck" which is his way of saying NO. NEVER. My mom said my dad would do it but once the furniture is moved to the new house I really don't see it making its way downstairs anytime soon, plus not having dressers or a bed could be an issue. So, with a heavy heart I scrapped that idea and moved onto the brown and blue/teal motif. I hope it doesn't go out of style. I looked high and low and finally found something, though honestly, nothing is going to look super fantastic with rustic pine in my eyes, other than flowers and WE HAVE DONE THAT TO DEATH.

Bed Bath and Beyond had a great set but it was $200. Just seems pricy since I have been known to change my mind on those kinds of things...what happens if I decide to paint the furniture next year? I would feel terrible that my mom spent that $. Then we found an huge set with 2 sheets, all kinds of shams, throw pillows, valances. It was a SET. It would have been about $150 on sale. We looked at bathroom towels and accessories because you might as well do the bathroom too. I am a bit bored of the green anyway, I think I've had some form of a green bathroom in every apartment/house. Plus, the downstairs bathroom is already painted green so I can transfer my stuff down there. Then I get a call from my mom this morning "have you seen the Target ad?" They had a very similar set, not so many extras, for $55. And as I was looking through the Target ad I noticed they had some games on sale, Ethan noticed a great gift for our nephew, it just couldn't get any better!

Luckily the bed set was nice looking and feeling. It just wasn't cotton and scratchy. I grabbed the only king left since I like my comforters big, and called my mom to tell her I was getting it. Then she had me buy extra games for Ryan to keep at her house. $4 games! Also in the ad was the phone we were thinking of upgrading to but Verizon is a pain with that. Ethan has the main line so his upgrade was $49 for that phone, mine was $69. Totally fair, right? That is the online price, it is even more in the store. We got the phones at Target for $39 each and it took all of 5 seconds. We did have to go to the Verizon store to get help setting them up and the lady had a bit of a tude because we didn't buy the phone there but hey, I shop where the deals are. I am my mom's daughter. It was very productive. Now mistake lasagna (beef and rice caserole) is in the oven, Ryan should be home soon from playing with auntie, and I'm tired.

That is Ryan in his halloween costume at our play group carnival. Since he didn't get to trick or treat this is all I have. You can't see the tail but he was a dinosaur.

A few good things about having no water

1) can't do dishes
2) can't do laundry
3) you can pretend you were going to make a very fancy meal that required lots o'water but couldn't and then you make your son have Mac n Cheese and your husband a frozen pizza

The water meter leak is finally fixed. I had to call the property management AGAIN...what a surprise. The poor guy was here for 5 hrs and I had no water all that time. I was very nice and accomodating to him, though I think he was irritated he was the one sent out. I clipped a rose bush that was in his way, I offered him tools, when it got dark I brought out our huge spotlight, I offered him bottled water. My favorite was when he said he had to go to the hardware store and he would TRY to be back. Awesome. At some point he had to call in reinforcement and the city came out. I think he called the after hours emergency number, who knows. They will be paying a pretty penny for that! By 7:00pm he was done and we had water.

The other good news is that we have homeowner's insurance. Trust me, we thought of not telling them about the dogs. The dog question is new. Ethan doesn't remember them asking in 2002 when we bought our other house, or if they asked they didn't care that we had boxer mixes. We consider ourselves super responsible pet owners. We don't leave them in the backyard while we are gone. So, any damage they do is to our things. They aren't outside barking. They spend most of their time inside with us and that usually involves some type of laying down or licking. But, because we know that they are not social with other dogs and because they have a history of food agression around eachother, we wanted to be protected if for some reason they were to get out, or if a kid got hurt. Kids can be very persistant with dogs and though I put them upstairs when we have playdates, you just never know. I think most dog bites to kids occur when they are pestering the animal but still, it is our responsibility.

Farmers did not have a breed exclusion, but at a very high price. Another lady I talked to was super nice and she said to send pictures of the dogs so her underwriter could check them out. I was nervous and trying to find a good picture that didn't make Shelby look so huge and not show so much of her pit mix, but it all worked out. They were approved with no problem!

I also had a surveyor from a moving company come yesterday. I was super busy. Luckily for me MIL came to watch Ryan, but he was clingy and was all about mommy. Anyway, the estimate was for about 2k which is much nicer, but that did include us doing a lot of stuff for ourselves. I am waiting for the go ahead from Ethan to set that up. Its $140 an hr for 3 guys and a truck. The other costs are in fuel charges, insurance, and materials costs. Those darn boxes are pricy.

I got a lot accomplished, at least on paper yesterday. I have a feeling this weekend will be full of more packing. We're also hoping to go see Twilight. I am excited for that, and Ethan said he would see it because it has vampires. He really doesn't know the story line but I"m not going to tell him its more of a teen romance. If I do that I'll be stuck at the 007 movie and I can wait on that :)

I've been on the phone all day...

My mind is swimming in numbers. I feel like the phone has been attached to my head, except for the hour I went and got a hair cut. I have bangs now...Anyway, Ethan did a bunch of on-line quote requests for homeowners insurance. We are having difficulty because of the dogs. No one cares that they are mixes, and they are being counted as "attack" breeds. My boxer pit mix who is scared of paper and lets Ryan jump on her is an attack dog. The other dog is a problem because she is a shepherd mix. We have been told no several times so we are getting anxious now. I decided to field the calls today. Normally I would let them go to voicemail and have Ethan take care of it, but I was trying to be nice. I would answer the phone, take down the info, hang up the phone and the phone would ring again. I was trying to get out of the house to get my hair cut and running late. I like to do my makeup when I get my haircut so I get the "full picture" effect with the new cut. Maybe i'm just weird. Sadly I didn't have enough time so the hair is cute but my face looks so tired from being up with Ryan 3x last night and pregnancy fat face.

Then at noon I called the city because we have a water meter leak and I called yesterday at 8am and no one had come yet. Wouldn't you know it the call never got logged in. Imagine that. I'm sure that never happens. The lady was very nice, and even called me back to let me know someone would be out today. The guy showed up about 2:30 to let me know the leak isn't on the city side. Ofcourse its not, its about a milimeter to the left. So, we are responsible for paying for this leak that started on Sunday, and it took them a day and a half to come tell me its my own fault. Thank you. Then I got to get on the phone again to our property management company to let them know. I'm sure its just a receptionist and they don't care, but I wanted to stress to her that the leak started Sunday and that we have to pay for all of that water. And, please make sure you let the maintenance guy know that we already called the city...do not wait 3 days and tell me to call the city. She is noting it on her maintenance request. Oh good. Anyone need some water? Its in our gutter. We will be responsible for the drought next year.

I need a nap, but its just about time for Ryan to get up. I have a mover coming to do a survey tomorrow afternoon which means I need to hang up the heap of clothes on my dresser so we don't seem like slobs. Oh, and we're out of hangers because we never hang this many clothes at once. I get to spend this evening going over all the disclosures and hazard paperwork for the house. Fun. I'm going to do something that doesn't require any brain power.

6 ounces

I was reading in one of my pregnancy books that at about this time my boobs would have gained about 6 ounces. That is a big fat no. I had to go to Lane Bryant to buy bras this weekend because even the maternity extenders weren't working on my regular bras. Luckily there was a sale so I got some for $16.99 and 19.99 which is good. But...uh...let's just say I went up an entire cup, and 2 width sizes. Oh yes. And I'm 20 wks on Wednesday. With Ryan I went up a cup size but never width. I don't think Lane Bryant carries a bigger cup size than what I bought. This could get very scary indeed. Another motivation for me to lose weight after the baby is that maybe my boobs will shrink back down to a more normal earthly size.

Ethan is on a packing frenzy and it is cracking me up. He has never helped before, unless it was packing or unpacking the office--mainly to set up the computer. I remarked that the $4k estimate must have really scared him and his reply was that he was never around to help when we moved. Apparently he forgot all of the moves but the second one. Our first move was from a rental house to a house we bought across the street and I know he did not pack. When we moved from Sacramento to Oceanside he was already working in Carlsbad and living there for a month before I came. I supervised the movers. He flew back on a Friday night, and we got in the car Saturday morning with the animals and drove back. A little over a year after renting a house in Rancho del Oro we bought our house. Another move...don't think he packed anything. It is true he is the muscle behind the moves so he does deserve credit for that. We had professional movers last time (paid by the company). So even though he thinks he wasn't around to help (nice try) he was for all but one, which was a company paid move.

The good news is that the office and guest room are packed. The bad news is that anything I set aside was also packed. He packed the hallway linen closet, along with all of Ryan's medicines. Why he didn't think that it might be a good idea to at least leave some motrin out, I don't know. He knows Ryan gets raging fevers and we need to be prepared. He told me the box was easy to get to so I asked him to get the motrin so I could give Ryan a dose before his flu shot today...you know he didn't. There is no way I can get to the box either. I"m looking at them right now. Maybe if I was spider woman and could climb to the top which is almost to the ceiling.

We are supposed to get a formal estimate this week. Since we have already done two rooms, and weren't planning on having the movers pack the play room, I think we've decided to get a quote for them packing the kitchen and moving all the furniture. I think we can do the rest with Ethan's truck and my dad's truck. plus some help from other family members. My dad has agreed to paint the purple room which is going to be Ryan's room. I told Ethan and I thought he would be excited because he hates to paint. Apparently his idea to get out of painting was to put Ryan in the other bedroom and call it a day. I guess the room assignment discussion did not register very long in his brain. When I mentioned that his idea would possibly put a baby boy into a bright purple room it did throw a wrench in it. And, even if we are having a girl the color is too bright for me anyway, but I do like purple....much better than pink. So, painting will happen. I don't know why I am discussing logistics with him. I'm going to be the one home and coordinating movers and carpet cleaners and whatever else needs to be done.

Ok, something that makes me happy :) If you are going to be pregnant anytime soon, you need to check out Old Navy. I have been anti Old Navy jeans for a while, due to the fact that their sizing is CRAZY. Their lengths are never the same, even on the same cut of jean. For cheap jeans I like the Ana brand at JC Penney. Anyway, my mom had a 30% off coupon for Old Navy so we were there raiding the clearance for stuff for Ryan next year. They had some cute maternity trouser jeans with no panel. They are stretchy with a regular waist, and have small panels on the side. THEY WERE WONDERFUL. I will definately be able to wear them after baby and not be embarassed that I'm wearing maternity jeans. They did have some panel jeans but they were like low rise and then the panel...they were weird.

Time to get ready for Ryan's flu shot. Poor guy has been once a month since August. The virus with high fever and swollen gums, the weezing, the bronchitis and now the flu shot and his 3 yr check up. Let's hope they haven't run out of lollipops.

Movers are expensive

We have been professionally moved before, and man was that nice. We didn't have to deal with picking the company or anything like that. I told them when to show up and we moved. Gotta love it when the company pays for it. Well, Ethan's company already paid to move us out here, so its on us. And I know, I really know, how it makes everything easier. Just not sure its $4k easier! Holy moly! Or holy kamoly as Ryan would say. We're just moving across town. I want to say it was only 5k when we moved from Sacramento to Oceanside. Its by the hour, and thats fine, but then there is a fuel charge and another tax and a blah blah blah. My aunt was in the travel and relocation department of a major lab for over 20+ years. She gave me some contacts, and that was the $4k. Who knows what it would have been without the aunt discount. So, I really think this is on us. Hopefully I can convince Ethan to pay our entire rent for December and we can pace ourselves, and not try and cram it into a few days. Hello, we've got Thanksgiving and Christmas coming!

Did I mention Ryan is off track? Yeah. I am really missing my 6 hrs a week of alone time. He has been singing songs from school constantly and I think he is missing school too. His version of Twinkle Twinkle is hilarious. He has not been too helpful with some of the packing I started either. I made a box of baby toys to keep, stuff he got for his 1st birthday about and he doesn't really play with. He keeps taking stuff out of the box and saying "mom look at this...wow." Toys go out and in that box all day. The other problem is that we have nowhere to store any of the boxes I pack. I'm also donating some toys he never really played with or that annoyed me, and he keeps finding those too.

I should go pack, but I think I have some good stuff on Tivo instead. I took a nap yesterday and that was a big mistake, so I'm going to push through this afternoon and not nap. I didn't got to bed last night til 12:30, and then about 15 min later, just as I was falling asleep, Ryan woke up. His new standard is waking up about once at night. If I let him cry he starts the cough. Stupid asthma. Last night when I went in he told me he missed me. It almost made me cry so I sat in the chair with him and held him for a little bit, thinking of the song "You're gonna miss this." I had just heard it on the CMAs and while I don't think I will miss waking up at night, for what seems like years, nor will I miss 5 years straight of diapers (ok, i'm hoping #2 is better at potty training but it could realistically be 6), I will miss him being small enough to sit on my lap and knowing that I bring him comfort. I will miss knowing he thinks mommy and daddy can fix anything and that we are his favorite people. All to soon we are going to be annoying to him and his life will revolve around friends. So, last night I thought about that at 1am, eventhough I hadn't been to sleep yet, as I sat in the chair with him and he fell asleep almost instantly, and kept him close and safe because how can you not love that face.

Oh...Ethan cleaned our shower. I love him.

Room assignments

The house inspection went well on Friday, so everything should go through as planned. We didn't expect anything major in a house that is 6-7 yrs old, but you never know. It was the same inspector from the last house, and he kept joking that it was a terrible house and we should have kept the water damaged house, LOL. He said try as he did, he couldn't find one thing with the downstairs bathroom. He told us one of the bedroom closets was missing the track on the bottom, and that they are about $.39 at Home Depot and Ethan threw up his hands and said "that's it, we are backing out!" It really was funny. So, I think our biggest expense will be getting two windows fixed. They are dual pane, but have cracks in just one of the panes. Because the are on the stationary part of the window the entire window needs to be replaced. No idea how much that will cost, but the inspector said we could get a glass guy to come out and remove the cracked pane, and leave it a single pane til we were ready to pay for new windows. GOOD IDEA! There were other small random things like one of the sinks in the master didn't have a faucet. I have a feeling she used it as a make-up area, and didn't want someone turning the water on, but who knows. There also were some bonuses. We had only seen the house once, and it was getting dark then. It has a whole house vacuum which is awesome for the hard wood downstairs, a pantry in the kitchen I totally missed, and tons of shelves and cabinets in the garage for Ethan. Time to get packing.

We are getting quotes from movers, just to see if its worth it. Well, we know its worth it, but we need to see if its affordable with Christmas coming up, etc. We have started to pack a few boxes. The next thing is room assignments. Ethan is very "whatever" about this, but I think its CRUCIAL. One of the things we wanted was to make sure the kids rooms were away from the master. Its hard when they are small, but honestly, a few years down the road and everyone is going to want their space. We made the mistake of putting Ryan right next to us at this house, sharing a wall. He can hear us, we can hear him. I hate that we have to walk by is door to go into our room every night. It is literally 2 steps from our door to his. I can hear him roll over in his crib if he hits the side. No joke. We have a wooden bed rail and if you stand in his room with the door closed you can hear someone roll over in our bed.

There are a few ways to lay it out since we have a 5th bedroom. There are 4 bedrooms upstairs and one down. There is a full bath downstairs w/ a shower. The current owners use it as an office and Ethan mentioned he liked their set up. Fine by me. I hate having to go upstairs to use the computer anyway. Plus, after the baby gets here, it would be nice to be able to run in and check e-mail really quick downstairs while I'm doing other things. We discussed making that room a playgroom so we could close the door and not have to pick up EVERY SINGLE DAMN TOY before we leave the house (plastic eating dogs) but then the office would have to combine with the futon/guest room/craft desk and Ethan is not a big fan of that. I hear him. He doesn't ask for much.

So, I think we've decided the playroom will be in the formal dining room since we prefer the eat in kitchen style. The formal living and dining room is a very large space, but we don't think Ryan needs the entire area so hopefully we can keep him in the dining area. Its right off the kitchen and he can be easily monitored, better than the layout we have now. That just leaves the bedroom situation.

The master is right as you go up the stairs, there is a bedroom next door on the right, but the common wall is the master closet and toilet area, not the actual bedroom. Still, about 2 steps out the door and just too close for me. I think that will be our guest room with my craft desk and whatever else we store in there. Honestly, we've only had one guest in 2 yrs. I use the futon myself when its too hot and I want the fan on, or if Ryan is sick and he is in our bed and Ethan can sleep on the futon. I've also decided when we're gone that will be the room the dogs have access to upstairs, instead of our room. Tired of them sleeping on my bed all day.

There are two other bedrooms down the hallway, they are fairly far apart, and the wall they share is closets on both sides. I'm thinking of putting Ryan in the farthest room, and the baby in the middle. They are both across from the bathroom. This way I won't have to walk by Ryan's room going into the baby's room at night, but it also means we'll have to walk by the baby and do bath while he/she is sleeping, assuming Ryan goes to bed later. Can't really fix that, other than having Ryan take a bath in our room. In a few years after all the sleep stuff is taken care of, I think it is the best solution. Now someone needs to paint Ryan's room because its purple!

Other than that, we made it through Ryan's party. It rained about an hour before it was supposed to start, but then cleared up. We had to dry down the jumpy and all the tables and chairs outside, but it worked out. Ryan had a blast. He was so happy and full of smiles all day. He got some rockin gifts, which gave me permission to donate some of his old toys and box up the "baby" toys for #2. I'll post pics later...i totally always say that.

Woo hoo

I got a high 5 from the doc. 2 lbs in the last month, for a total of 10 so far. Not bad for 18 wks. She asked if I was proud of myself, and I kinda am, though I do miss the french fries. I keep telling myself its less to lose later, but at the same time, this is most likey (pretty much definately) my last pregnancy and I would rather not be preoccupied with weight. She did an ultrasound but it was so fuzzy. I'm glad they do the big ones at the hospital. I have terrible spatial skills so everytime she pointed stuff out I just couldn't figure out why that body part was where it was. I need to see the head first, then go down. I am pretty sure our baby is a frog because the legs were bent and then all of a sudden they flew out, like a frog jumping. And those were the longest baby legs I have ever seen. Long. When I told Ethan he said "better long legs than a big head." True. So true. We had a great open leg view, but it was blury. I saw something, but she was quick to say it could be a scrotum or labia...so, not helpful. Had she not said that I would have thought it was a penis, but she did not say penis. Now a little part of me is thinking boy, but then again, I have never seen girl parts on an ultrasound. 2-3 more weeks and then we do the one at the hospital, then we'll pay for a 3d/4d later on for some extra confirmation and totally cool photos.

Maternity clothes shopping is so not as fun the second time around. I remember wanting to wear maternity clothes way before it was necessary. Now, I'm pushing it off as long as possible. I wore some under the belly capris and shorts for comfort but now, there is no getting around it. I had a gift card for Motherhood so I grudgingly went a few days ago. I thought I should get some jeans since the two pair I have (one Old Navy one Motherhood) are under the belly and for some reason are annoying me, and they are tight in the thigh. Apparently I have moved up in size. Lovely. I also need some long sleeve shirts, nothing fancy. The girl was very nice and helpful but its hard for me to get excited about buying clothes that I'm going to wear for 5 months and then NEVER want to look at again. I don't mind paying $25 for jeans, but I tend to keep my clothes for years. I see a purpose in that. Its like these are almost disposable, though I'll give them away and I know someone will use them. I should say that if anyone is planning to get pregnant soon, you need to check out their Secret Fit jeans. I am not a fan of the belly panel, it feels too constricting and makes me itch, but this is NEW and Fabulous. I is very sheer and light, and you can roll it under your belly if you want. It was a definate find. So, I walked out of there with a pair of petite jeans I can wear with flats, a regular pair for boots, and 2 tshirts = $100. Not bad, but then I realized one of the "t-shirts" that has roushing ont he sides cost the same as the jeans. Come on now. Yes, the shirts are brown and black. Do not start on me about having color in my life.

Pest inspection today, house inspection Friday. Oh, and Ryan's big family party is Saturday. Still have not ordered the food...

The big weigh in

Today is my 18 wk appointment, and I am hoping to have a better outcome than the 7lbs in one month from last time. I also expect a better tude from the doctor, maybe even an apology. Ok, that won't happen. But i'm pretty sure I've either gained no weight in the last month, or 2lbs at the MOST. Too bad they can't weigh me naked. We will also be having the talk about the spinal. Part of me is just so drained I'll just deal with it. My insurance has said I can switch doctors if I stay in my group, but there are no female docs in my group near here. Well there is one but I've heard yucky things about her. There is also a payment issue because our "group" has a maternity plan where you pay about $300 total to the doctor, and that is it. Fantastic. No hospital bill either. BUT, the $300 must be paid by 28 wks, so its kind of a payment plan until then. I don't want to leave and screw the doctor out of money for the care I've received, nor do I want the new doc not to get paid. Its such a mess. But I am happy to have insurance. We'll see what happens.

This baby has not been very active which makes me nervous so hearing the heartbeat today will be good. I think within a week of about now Ethan was able to feel Ryan already. What I've felt I think was something else because it was too high up and I'm pretty sure the uterus is still very low right now. I'm kinda hoping she'll do an in office ultrasound...how awesome to know the sex first and then get to tell Ethan in a special way. Either way, the hospital ultrasound is coming up in about 2 weeks. I have not had any feelings or dreams, but when I refer to the baby in my head I say "she". It just comes out that way. I say baby or he/she whenever I'm talking to anyone because I truly don't know. I knew with Ryan, absolutely knew. This way we can paint at the new house if we need to, and I can order the new crib (ours was recalled and yes Ryan is still in it). I want a white crib if its a girl. Don't ask me why. There are no reasons these days.

Oh, I went to Motherhood Maternity a few days ago to use a gift card. More to come on that later!

Vote-House-Sleep

VOTE! Please vote so this whole election will be over with. I cannot imagine how draining it is on the actual candidates and their families cuz I'm worn out and have done nothing. This will be my first time at the polls because I usually vote absentee. Luckily I just have to walk down the street. And I say this and truly mean it, just vote, I don't care if you are voting against the candidate I'm voting for, I'd rather you vote the opposite of me than not vote at all. If we all meant that maybe there would be more understanding in this crazy world. I know Ethan's vote cancels out my vote, but I vote anyway. Its really hit me lately that not everyone can vote the way we can. SO GO ROCK YOUR VOTE. Be proud of your vote, and if your candidate doesn't win, give the other guy a chance. The job is brutal.

House...drum roll....we got it! Our offer expired at 5:00 last night and around 3:00 our agent called. She had some news. Apparently another offer came in at closer to what they wanted (can't go into all the details) but they gave us the opportunity to come up in price because we were there first, and because they know our agent. It does pay to know people. Ethan knew I wanted the house and didn't need much convincing. I'm just glad its over. Now he is in stress mode because he is the $ guy and all THAT stuff falls to him. It was a tense few hours because I couldn't get a hold of him and they needed an answer ASAP, but it all worked out. If the inspections go well, looks like we'll be moving in about 30 days. Another holiday move.

Ryan is getting better, but not 100% yet. The antibiotics worked great at getting whatever bacteria he had that made him cough, but he still has lingering cold symptoms--the original start of this whole deal. He still needs the albuterol and cough medicine at night, and wakes up several times. Whether its not feeling well or it has just turned into a habit, I don't know. I was up 4x last night, 3 of them were every hour. I AM TIRED. The bags under my eyes prove it. We decided to store the bed on Sunday, which was a good move. Now we can just take it straight to the new house. No reason to lug it up stairs here, put it together, then take it down again. I e-mailed our sleep consultant an update on Ryan. I do it every year around his birthday and she said he was going to bed too late and that was why he started waking up a lot at night again. This started way before he got sick. So, after he is sick we need to re-think bed time. I keep thinking, I'm going to be getting up with an infant in about 5 months and I'd rather not be getting up with the 3 yr old too.

Time for me to shower so I can drop of the check at escrow.

Our first urgent care visit and Happy Birthday Ryan

Ryan's runny nose turned into a terrible cough on Friday morning. It lasted all day and was pretty constant. No meds worked so around 7pm we went to Urgent Care. I figure our first visit took 3 yrs so that is pretty good. It seems that the asthma makes a regular old cold much worse. I was worried about the cough getting worse over night so it was worth the $20 co pay to see if there was anything to be done. Ryan was running a 101 temp, which isn't too high for him, since his normal is around 99.5, but its still something. The nurse took his temp in his mouth, first time ever, and he didn't even close it. She tried to tell him his temp was 99.8 and I just laughed at her.

The doctor said his lungs were clear, but that with the way it sounded and wasn't letting up, he was worried about bronchitis, especially with the possibility of asthma (which i'm pretty sure is a given from now on). He prescribed antibiotics, but no cough meds because all the good ones have codeine and he is too young for that--darn. He said to keep using the albuterol (which i had already tried once). By the time we picked up dinner, got home and put him in a steaming shower, it was 9:00. The antibiotic, along with the albuterol and cough medicine seemed to do the trick. He woke up a few times, but not coughing. It was his normal "i need help with my blanket" or "hold me in the chair." I said he could come lay with us, then regretted that when it took him 2 hrs to fall asleep after trying to sing songs and play drums on the headboard.

Today has been much better. He is hardly coughing at all, hasn't had any cough medicine since 2:30 am. He'll get another dose of antibiotic tonight. He's had one dose of albuterol, boy does it make him hyper. I can deal with a runny and stuffy nose. The constant cough broke my heart. He couldn't even eat. He would just cough up whatever he put in his mouth. Not to mention his coughing put my gag reflexes into overdrive. What a birthday!

We had birthday breakfast at my parents' house and he got to open his cool new mini bosch tool set. He loves it and has been "fickazing" everything in sight. Tomorrow we pick up his big boy bunk beds and we are trying to decide if we want to put them in storage or go ahead and make the transition. I'm a little worried about doing it when he is sick, plus, there is a chance we could move in 30 days so it would be easier to store them and only have to put them up once.

As for the house, we countered and now we wait. We did find out they showed the home to another couple yesterday who supposedly "loved" it and are gonna make an offer. I hope that as just a ploy to get us to do something. They also have an open house planned for Sunday. We think our counter is fair. If they get something higher, we know we lose it. I'm trying to be positive and if its the right house for us it will all work out.

Now, it is my nap time.