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.