Post-baby things-Great job, Pinterest!

While waiting for Sophie to wake up from her nap today so we could go buy diapers & windex {yes, my life IS that glamorous}, I came across a useful post one of my friends "pinned" regarding some things you can do for new moms. A few friends of mine have asked recently what I needed or wanted the most after Sophie was born. Honestly, the answer was not to be taking a final less than 72 hours after giving birth and my mom but that just didn't work out with the time of year and everything. So, in my standard "I don't have a good answer but want to try to help" way, I mentioned a few things like helping with laundry, good snacks and pretty much whatever the individual mom would appreciate most. This lady has put together a good list complete with suggestions for various levels of friendship. If you have a friend or family member who is about to have their first, I would recommend reading this. Even if not, it's pretty amusing in parts so you might enjoy reading it anyway. :)

http://www.nicegirlnotes.com/ways-to-help-a-new-mom

I'm Over It

Life may be really good (see post from May 22nd) but I am quite "over" being pregnant. I have finally hit that point where I just feel like a whale, clothes are really depressing- especially Sunday items, I spotted a new stretch mark this morning after making it 34 weeks without any new ones, my bellybutton is gone and gosh darn it, this "stay down and don't do anything you absolutely don't have to do" thing is getting REALLY OLD! I just want to be able to clean my own house, climb the stairs without being completely out of breath, have a day- even half a day would be nice- without contractions and fit into my clothes again. I'm too close to being done to justify buying more clothes and just far enough away to feel like it is never going to end. And with that, I'll get back to sitting on my backside dreaming of the day when I can start going to the gym. Really, even being able to take an evening walk around our neighborhood again without feeling like I'm breaking rules will be so nice!

A little overdone and a Sophie video

Someday I might learn my lesson. Maybe. When our doctor said to stay down I think that's really what she meant. We did some very light walking last night at the mall- just to a couple stores with Craig- and by the time we got home, I was hurting all over and had some seriously hard contractions. No more walking around. This morning, I had a fair bit of energy when I woke up {I'm sure a HUGE part of that came from waking up to a CLEAN bathroom and a clutter-free bedroom} so I decided to finally use the few bananas that have moved beyond their Sophie-munching prime to make some banana bread. I figured that while the bread was baking, I could throw a load of laundry in to run. And finish the dishes. And sweep the floor. And water the plants. And play with Sophie.  Probably poor choices.

One load of laundry turned into two. Sophie wanted to play mountain climber and kept going up and down the stairs and would sit and cry if I didn't follow her. {Sophie woke up less than happy this morning so just about anything is setting off the water works. Including blocks falling over.} The contractions have been almost nonstop for two hours now. I've been sitting if I was standing when they started or standing if sitting. Drinking water, eating, going potty and everything else I've been told to do to try to get them to stop. I have a feeling we'll be spending the rest of the day very much down. Sophie is in her room now for rest time- which means at the moment she is playing with her dollhouse and airplane- and will likely nap from about noon-2:00. Beyond that, I don't think we're going to make it to the park until Craig gets home to take her, to Walmart to get eggs or really anything that might involve me not being on my bed or on the couch in the playroom. At least it's Friday, right?

In honor of it being Friday, here is a little video of Sophie discovering a laughing dog toy.

Thursday thoughts

Maybe I shouldn't be allowed to go for walks, even just to the Ladybug park. I tend to think about odd things. This morning it was about things that make life a whole lot less stressful:

-A well-stocked kitchen
- Check lists
-Checked off check lists
-Written goals
- Living in a clean, organized house
- Being a month ahead financially

This list then made me think about budgets and such. Has anyone else noticed that a budget makes you the boss? We all know I like being in charge and don't like being told what to do most of the time. I really like having a set budget because then we get to essentially "boss the funds around" rather than being controlled by them. Craig found a site not too long ago (tied to some nifty software that I didn't want to buy but would make everything into pretty graphs and reports and whatnot) that basically said that every dollar needs a job. I suppose I knew that but hadn't really thought about it in those terms. While walking home from the park with Sophie, I thought about "dollar jobs" and compared it to having new employees come in just labeled "other." I guess I wouldn't really expect them to know what to do or do anything correctly if I didn't give them a specific job but somehow some people expect their funds to magically manage themselves. Nope. Not going to happen. Well, it might happen but the end result probably won't be what you want.

And so the random thoughts continued. Believe what you've heard about how much stress is taken away when you have a months worth of expenses put away before the month begins. All those lessons in school, at home, church etc. about taking little steps and getting a little put away gradually but purposefully really aren't pointless.

Poor Sophie. I probably could have gotten her home and settled into bed a whole lot faster if I hadn't been thinking so much. :)

Life really is good.

I'm afraid from the last post or few that some people have gotten the idea that this whole pregnancy has been unbearable miserable and basically life, the universe and everything hates me. Nope. It hasn't and doesn't.

-I wasn't sick with the typical 'dispose of everything you eat, drink or think about consuming' morning sickness, just felt sort of off and had many food aversions. That is not bad at all. One can live on anything but meat.

-My back, which I thought was going to absolutely do me in when I was pregnant with Sophie, has not been an issue at ALL since we discovered the joys of chiropractor adjustments. ONE lower back & hip fix (think 2 minutes) and I can say I haven't felt better in quite a long time. Seriously, it even took away the back pain I have felt for a long time even when not pregnant.

-With Sophie, I felt run down, worn out and generally overwhelmed by life. Those physical symptoms came back around 24 weeks but this time, I was told I had extremely low iron and as soon as (took a couple weeks to get back close to 34) a simple iron supplement was added to my morning, I started feeling much better.

-I am not diabetic. I still don't believe I had true gestational diabetes last time since even on the diet I was given, I was fighting hypoglycemia but this time, I don't even have to mess with that. I just get to watch my sugar levels, which are still generally low.

-Little sister Olivia was even so kind as to get herself fully engaged head down sometime between 30 and 32 weeks. What does this mean? It means that while I may be getting kicked in the ribs, I can breathe a lot easier because I don't have a head up in the way of my lungs. Sophie didn't turn until quite a bit later and that sure made things like carrying a basket of laundry up or down the stairs a full body workout.

-I haven't gained too much or too little weight.

-We haven't had any scary ultrasounds or other tests to suggest there is anything wrong with our baby. The questionable things that have been happening have all been regarding my body and its desire/ability/whatever to be pregnant. I can deal with that.


-We have a great doctor who has a couple really great experienced nurses working for her. We've been able to get the help and care we've needed.  Our insurance is even much better this time taking away the stress of "how much is the BYU insurance actually going to cover?"

-We are going to be bringing this baby home to our very own home. Complete with painted nursery, new crib, lots of diapers and we won't have to worry about unexpected guests showing up and sharing the bathroom during late night/very early morning bottle refills. That's just awesome.

There are lots of other things but there's my pre-breakfast list for now :)

A little bit of everything

I keep writing big, long posts about life, Sophie, projects, Craig being Craig, guard, ice cream sandwiches (my latest pregnancy vice) and the things that have been going on lately with this pregnancy. Most of them have ended up in my pile of "no one wants to read this so just keep it to yourself" drafts. And here I am again, wanting to just write and wondering if I have anything really worthwhile to share.

Sophie "potty training" her doll.
Thankfully, this was after a
use & bleaching!

Sophie in her doll bed
with her doll.

I could tell you that Sophie has officially entered the "language/speech explosion" phase and I love it. New words or correctly pronouncing ones she has been using seems to happen every day. Just this morning, we were reading books together and she pointed at a puppy and said "doggy." She loves playing little mommy with her dolls and animals- honestly with no or extremely limited suggestions/guidance from us- every day. This morning she fed her doll, tried putting a diaper on her, took her to the bathroom, shared her sippy, showed her pictures of balloo-s (balloons) and before nap time, put her in her doll bed (a giant wipes box) and covered her up. I sat back and watched.

Those hanging poofs are
"baloos."

New shelf in Sophie's room.
She loves it and so do I.

As for projects, I've pretty much given up on getting our kitchen cabinets refinished before little sister is born. That was the last major project I wanted done. I'm not going to be able to do it myself and I flat out refuse to pay someone to do something that I could do. The cost difference between me doing it and hiring someone to do it is just ridiculous. As for other projects that have been on my list, I believe I can say without knocking on wood that the nursery is 99% ready for a new addition. I do need to sew some ribbon on the crib bumpers which have been made since February (thanks, mom!) to make them safe but otherwise, we have the new crib together, closet stocked through 6 month clothes, toys pulled back out, we've been stocking up on diapers on sale and have 300+ right now and a wonderful table Craig got me for mothers day. Oh, I guess I do need to get a lamp base to go with the bulb and shade.

Sophie & daddy at Costco.
That is her new ARD toggle
and she seems to enjoy it.

Speaking of Craig, he's pretty much being ... Craig. Most days I think he deserves a medal of some kind for cheerfully putting up with my irrational mood/taste/life/energy swings. Even after he has worked a full day, driven to and from AF, dealt with frustrating corporate stuffs he will come in with kisses and hugs and help with dinner (recently, that has often been making dinner), taking Sophie to the park, emptying the trash, taking care of the garden and cat stuffs. Before bathing Sophie, watching some Sesame Street with her and putting her to bed. Really, how many husbands/daddy's do that regularly? {I really hope more than I know about.} He is even mostly great about my occasional zealous bursts of "this has to be done RIGHT NOW" regarding cleaning or some project.

As for guard, I'm quite pleased with how things have been going so far. We haven't even finished the school year but our summer team is doing great. We've had some "pre-season" clinics and those have gone quite well. The flag corp already knows their parade routine and the majorettes (baton twirlers) are doing a fantastic job learning a new craft and their routine. I'm feeling very confident about their ability to continue to learn what they're taught throughout the rest of the summer and going into the Fall competition season. Unfortunately, until I've had this baby and recovered, I won't get to be doing a whole lot of the teaching. I am so thankful to have some really incredible instructors for friends who have offered their time to come and help my team learn with my teaching limitations.

Why the limitations? Because this little peanut is important. And my body doesn't seem to want to cooperate quite perfectly this time around. When I was visiting my parents in February, I was put on pelvic rest because of some questions with what my body was up to. After a check-up and ultrasound when I got back, we knew everything was fine and that restriction was lifted. I can't remember the exact time but the Braxton-hicks contractions started months ago and have been pretty constant. For a long while, this wasn't an issue and we (me, Craig and our great doctor) didn't worry about it. I was told to stay hydrated and change my activity when they started. I just figured little miss was starting out as an over-achiever and wanted to be completely ready when her time came. We did find out a few weeks ago, though, that some of those contractions (thankfully, not all) have been what my lovely book calls "productive" as opposed to "practice." At our 32 week appointment this last Wednesday, my doctor seemed concerned, which is very unusual for her. She had me go in for observation and a test which I had never heard of before at L&D yesterday morning to make sure my body wasn't trying to deliver soon- specifically, within the next two weeks. The test came back negative, thankfully, but I am supposed to be taking it very easy.

I'm sure it's some combination of the pregnant hormones, the fact that I could potentially unintentionally do something that might encourage preterm labor just by taking care of Sophie or things in our home, really shouldn't be "doing it all" (though, I know for a fact no one can and I certainly haven't ever) and so much more that doesn't seem to correlate with words sort has me feeling... whelmed. I haven't ever felt like things won't work out and I still don't but the situation isn't a pleasant one to be in. I'm not even sure that I know what "working out" means.

As for now, my goals are to not live entirely off of the Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches/not gain more than 35 pounds total (a healthy weight based on my pre pregnancy size), read lots of stories with Sophie, be happy and make sure our house is clean enough for my mom to visit.

Mothers Day in Pictures- Take 1

I wrote a big, long post about our weekend and realized it wasn't really anything anyone else would care about so I tucked it away. Instead, here is my first picture version of the other post. There are a few other pictures I'd like to share but haven't gotten off of my phone yet. I'll share those in a couple days. For now...

Craig took me to get a pedicure
on Saturday. So nice to have clean cuticles, rubbed feet &
legs and the added benefit of colored toes! Ps If you have
never had a pedicure, you should know it is about SO
much more than getting a little paint on your nails. 

Sophie made me breakfast in bed Sunday morning.
She even taught daddy how to make deeelicious homemade
quiche and from scratch blueberry muffins. After she brought
it to me, she wanted to make sure it was good and dove right in!

Sophie is turning out to be quite the little chef.
For dinner, she made us some amazing grilled tiger
prawns, bugs-in-rice and a big salad. Yummy!!!

Sophie waking me up with yummy breakfast.
I think she was excited about it, too! 

Aaaah, Friday

Dear Craig (aka the absolute best husband I could have asked for):

Thank you for insisting I not do anything today that I don't really have to do. Sophie and I have enjoyed watching a movie snuggled in bed, reading to Sophia doll, playing in the basement (I sat on the couch with my feet up) and even having a snack of goldfish and cheese sticks at the table in the playroom by the crayons (Sophie.) When you get home, please don't be too shocked to see the toys that have been creatively placed around the house, dishes Sophie was helpful enough to dump in the sink (some dirty, some not), clothes she was helpful enough to drape decoratively around our room and pretty much everything else that hasn't been touched. I'm feeling much better this afternoon than I've felt all week. Too bad the house looks worse than it has looked in weeks. Amazing the difference a few hours can make! In good/other news, I did notice the ice cream sandwiches have expiration dates on them so I've made sure to do my part to ensure we don't let them go bad before December 28th.

Love you!

Nananas and the Grocery Store

Sophie woke up this morning very happy. The first thing she said to me as I opened her door was "nanana" (banana). Uh, oh. We were out. And we couldn't go to the store since we are now watching two little girls Tuesday-Thursday each week and we had limited time before we needed to head out and pick them up. I'm up for a lot of things but a grocery trip with 3 little girls 3 and under isn't one of them so, sadly, no nananas for Sophie.

When Craig got home this evening, we did head out for a quick trip to Walmart for a few things, among them, nananas. Sophie spotted them pretty quickly after we got in the store and was quite excited when I put a bunch in the cart next to her. She pointed at another bunch. And another. If I had let her, she probably would have taken the whole display home with us. I should have pulled my phone out sooner but here is a little taste of what nanana shopping is like with Sophie.

After we got home, Sophie sat happily on the front porch eating her Sophie-size nanana while I watered the plants. We had a very pleasant evening following her snack. :)

A Few Lessons Learned

Sophie learned today that mommy likes art that she has made. She learned that art in mommy's house belongs on paper that can be hung on the fridge. She also learned that if you color on the wall, mommy won't clap for your drawing but rather hand you and daddy a sponge and wash cloth to clean it off the wall. Oh, and then crayons aren't left on the table with the coloring books anymore.

Lesson #1
Crayons work on many surfaces

3

Lesson #2
"Mommy! Look what I did!"
No clapping involved for this art.

Lesson #3
"This is how you wash it off, Sophie."

Lesson #4
"So, if I wash it off when I'm done, does
that mean I can always color on the wall?"

Picture Post

Just some pictures to prove we've been getting something done around here... other than shocking tomato plants. Oops. Pictures of our garden once we deal with the weeds around our plot. Ps anyone have a weed whacker we could borrow for an afternoon? We are completely surrounded this year with unused plots (and a farmers alfalfa field on the other). 

Sophie helping plant seeds (or just tear the seed packets)
 in/at the garden

Colored tissue "poofs" in the nursery. Turns
out they're not hard to make. This picture is at
an odd angle. Sorry. 

Turning our inexpensive IKEA dressers into
something a little less plain...

By adding some fancy knobs that coordinate
(you'll just have to trust me on this) with the
lamps Craig picked out. 

Nothing too exciting- we've lived here almost a year but
we are finally at least hanging some pictures up stairs. 

Made some flowers for headbands, clips
and other assorted uses. 

Nursery door

Sophie's door

A Dry Diaper!

I don't like the term "mommy-blogger" but I suppose the fact that I am a "ma," according to Sophie, and considering the topic I'm about to write about might put me in that category. Boo on you label-makers.

In any case, I am VERY happy to report that my cute little 16 month old Sophie has had, for the very first time, a DRY night. (Yes, we got her to bed without downing a couple cold ones.) We had to wake Sophie up early this morning since I had an early appointment and as Craig was getting her dressed, he found a completely dry diaper. Go Sophie! But that's not all. Sophie then successfully used her big girl potty. Correctly. She seemed a little surprised but we were all pleased with her accomplishments today.

And what better way to celebrate a milestone than with leaving the house with a fabulous purse, fully sippy of ice water (don't forget the ice) and your very own baby?