Giving her a bath...

Makes me want to cry especially tonight. As soon as we put her in she started crying. When I washed her hair (w/daddy’s help) she started screaming “ma ma” along with crying. Unfortunately it is so hot outside and she gets so sweaty and dirty that she needs to hve a bath and hair wash pretty much daily now. Tonight we used Selson Blue hoping that would make her skelp feel better (she has bee poking/pulling at her hair a lot so I think it was itchy) This is about as fun as it sounds. Getting this stuff in her eyes would really suck. Luckily with J’s help we avoided that despite her crying and squirming. It was a quick bath and early bed with little crying thankfully as I couldn’t deal with much more crying. I still don’t feel like myself I guess I’m tired too.

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Happy Birthday to Sarah - well and me too! I had a great birthday complete with a call from Grandma :) at work I left my desk to get something done and when I got back I had a card, cake (Wegman's Ultimate Chocolate) and flowers from a coworkers garden on my desk! My co workers broke into a great rendition of "Happy Birthday" when I walked back in. It was so sweet and made my morning.

Once I got home J was there which was nice I really missed him. We all spent a lot of time playing and even though Evelyn resisted getting in her high chair she ate a great dinner. We still need to get her a booster! After Evelyn went to bed I ate my dinner and Grandma called which made my night! All in all I couldn't ask for a better birthday!

Moving forword

We have decided to go with the house even with paying half of the cost of the flu fix. I am excited but still a little sad we didn't end up in a better school district. Though some of the schools in the area have better ratings than the others. Some are close to the rating of the better school districts so hopefully they will work out for the kids.

We sign the paperwork tomorrow and send it over.

Week 23!

He is still a Papya - He is not growing as long now and is filling out instead. He is around at approximately 11.8 inches and 2.2 pounds - Depending on where you get the estimates from! He is starting to produce white blood cells, an important component of blood that is responsible for combating disease and infection, and may respond to touch or sounds. Expect to gain about a pound per week this month.

This has been a busy time for our little guy - nipples are starting to sprout, and that cute little face is fully formed, including functional ears! So Watch what you say -- baby is now able to hear outside noise from down in the womb. Studies show that baby finds gentle music and your own voice most soothing, though he has heard quite a bit from his daddy so I'm sure that is comforting as well. She is also starting to settle into sleep cycles, snoozing about 12 to 14 hours a day.

Total weight gain/loss: Lots

Maternity clothes? Yes - this question is getting redundant...

Stretch marks? No - I hope this one stays redundant.

Sleep: When Evelyn lets me :)

Best moment this week: Seeing movement from the outside.

Movement: Starting to see the moment on the outside. When it is more regular I will post a video :)

Food cravings: Nope tough I am still eating too much sugar - I cant seem to escape it it follows me everywhere and I of course can't say no.

Symptoms: Shrinking bladder syndrome especially when baby moves.

Gender: Still a boy.

Labor Signs: No thank goodness.

Belly Button in or out? Still in for now.

What I miss: My body I'm feeling fat and blubbery this week :P

What I am looking forward to: Holding our little boy and seeing Evelyn interact with him!

Weekly Wisdom: Long days lead to short nights.

Milestones:

The Inspection

The inspection on the house went well there is one major repair that the sellers are going to have to do and several minor repairs (a few of which I wanted J to ask them to do but he didn't want to) but they are minor enough that J will (should) be able to do them himself. I would have been willing to ask them to do a credit of some sort just to see if they would go for it. We got our one request in and they will be making the fix which should not change our current close date. We still have to do the radon test this weekend but as long as that goes well I don't see any further problems. I am starting to collect boxes and trying to get things ready at casa de Hirsch as I want to push our house on the market ASAP! I'm just not sure what to do with all of our stuff - we have way too much!

Week 22!

Total weight gain/loss: I am now even with what I gained with Evelyn at this point. I am going to work hard to make sure that I do not exceed the high weight from my pregnancy with her.

Maternity clothes? Yes I even had to get another pair of jeans so I can have a play pair for running around with Evelyn.

Stretch marks? not yet!

Sleep: Doing ok still but tired though that may be because of the lingering illness.

Best moment this week: Putting in an offer on a house and having it accepted (ok not really pregnancy related but still exciting!) I also did lots of clothing shopping :) also refuring to the baby as "ours" rather than mine to Jason!

Movement: More and more regular and if i really want a kick I can eat some sugar and he goes nuts!

Food cravings: none really though still eating lots of ice cream with Carmel and walnuts and made brownies this weekend (this may be the reason behind the weight gain).

Symptoms: my bladder is shrinking :), my belly is growing and I am having mood swings which usually include being very irritable pretty sure Jason is going to start avoiding me soon.

Gender: baby boy!

Labor Signs: None thank goodness!

Belly Button in or out? Still in

What I miss: There are lots of things that I wish I could do cleaning wise and carrying wise (J would kill me). I'm sure I will miss it even more in the weeks to come as we prepare

What I am looking forward to: Moving into the new house and having it set up for the kids! Holding the new little baby and cuddling with him since Evelyn is more into playing than cuddling now.

Weekly Wisdom: Sleep is over rated!

Milestones:

Offer accepted!

So tonight while I was on the walk with the neighbor (and Evelyn) J called on my cell the reception sucked so I couldn't hear him but I was pretty sure he said the 30days was not needed. meaning they accepted our offer. We continued our way home and talked about what he said and the neighbor agreed that it sounded like we got the house. we continued walking and J came up on his bike and said that they accepted our offer! And the neighbor offered to help take down the wallpaper :) I'm definitely taking her up on that since we couldn't make the owners take it with them (we joked while writing the offer to have that dis-included) So now we start the legal process and do what we can to get our place ready to sell!

Blur...

Time is going way to fast. I don't know what happened to it! I barely remember what Evelyn and I did with our weekend. Let alone 2010 - how is it May already?

More Rollercoasters.

Today had some good points but also the bad. Evelyn decided she didn't want to go down for her nap today. We had a hard go of it and after an hour and a half we gave up and went to see our Realtor. Hoping that she would fall asleep in the car and she didn't. Lately as we are putting her down to sleep she is saying that she wants to eat. I'm thinking that we may need to delay dinner in hopes that she will eat more at the time but I'm not sure that will work. anyway she did that at nap time (after eating a decent lunch). So we played and she ate 2 carrots, some veggie puffs and some graham cracker bunnies for a snack (big snack for her) and she almost fell asleep on the way home. J put her in her crib and she was asleep. I am very worried about bed time tonight and hope that we can run her ragged so that she will still sleep on time. and hope that she will eat a good dinner and not be asking for food as I read her good night story.

Right now I am just feeling anxious and sad for some reason.

The Offer

Today we went to put in an offer on the house. This is a process that I have never been through before and it proved to be interesting. I ended up playing with Evelyn and swinging her for a lot of the process so I missed well alot of the finer points but I trust Jason to make sure it is all in order. I think the offer that we made on the house is a good one and well if they don't take it there will be another - it is still early in the season...

Today should have been a great day

and it was until I had a mood swing at the end of the day.

We started the day trying to let J sleep in but that didn't work so well. Evelyn did sleep until 7:15 after waking up at three. It seems she had a night terror as she was crying in her sleep - poor girl. Around 10:00 we went to see the house on Iron stone and I liked it so we are going to put in a bid! There are a few things that I would or would like to change but it is a house that we could move into with out doing anything. Though I am Hoping that J takes down the wall paper instead of just painting over it as he said he wanted to do. And there is the issue that we would not get occupancy until mid august. The positive outweigh the negative so we are going to put in an offer.

After viewing the house Evelyn and I went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for lunch and a nap so that I could run my errands. I went to Kohls and switched out the clothing that I bought for the bigger discount. (with no hassles - one of the reasons that I like Kohls is I never seem to have a problem there). then on to carters to check out their clerance sale. I got lots of great clothing for fairly cheap though I'm sure J will be surprised when he sees the credit card bill. still clerance plus 30% off with an additional 20% off coupon is totally worth it in my eyes. also I found out that at carters if you have your receipt you can return the purchase NO MATTER WHEN YOU PURCHASED IT! This includes clearance items... carters already was a favorite store and is even more so now!

After that I gathered Evelyn and came back north to discuss the house and we did a lot of playing and went for a long walk. Evelyn can now get in and out of the stroller all by herself and I think she spent a good half hour or so getting in and out of the stroller... good times. we put her to bed and that is when my mood tanked. Hopefully a good night sleep is all I need.

Week 21!

That's right our baby boy is a banana! He is now 10.5 inches and 12.7 ounces but I have gained more than that! The baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, for hydration, nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies are most interested in tastes they've already experienced through amniotic fluid. Meaning, my baby is going to love fruit (especially strawberries), chocolate, ice cream and spicy foods like jalapenos (sorry honey).

Total weight gain/loss: More than I care to admit publicly.

Maternity clothes? Definitly though I do have one pair of jeans that I fit into comfortably that is not maternity.

Stretch marks? None yet (knocking on wood).

Sleep: We slept well this week though Eveln has been sick the last few nights waking us up. Poor girl!

Best moment this week: Ultrasound Thursday (It's a BOY!)

Movement: More and more though no real pattern yet.

Food cravings: None though I will eat whatever you put in front of me no matter how much it is.

Symptoms: None!

Gender: BOY!

Labor Signs: Not Yet!

Belly Button in or out? Still in.

What I miss: Exercising - Not that I can't now I dropped my gym because I hated it so the only exercise I get is walking with Evelyn I miss my cardio machines and weights.

What I am looking forward to: Having Evelyn feel the baby move for the first time :) kind of hope I get it on video!

Weekly Wisdom: "An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory" Friedrich Engles

Milestones: The big ultrasound!

Daycare vs. Staying Home

I never thought it would get harder to leave Evelyn at daycare. I know she has fun and only cries for a little while. After I leave but days like yesterday (even though she was sick) make me wish I stayed home with her. I know if I had not all of the days would be as great and I'm sure I would need to get out more often for me time but I just hate to leave her everyday. When I first left her I cried It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I don't cry anymore (she does enough crying for the both of us) yet it seems to be harder and not just because she cries. Sigh I just wish there was another option...

Great days

Ok I know Evelyn was sick but other than not eating you really couldn't tell. We had a great day playing and I even napped when she did giving me the rest that I needed. I rocked her to sleep because she resisted her nap and it felt great to have the cuddle time. I know this is not going to be a trend as she normally does not like this but it is nice for both of us when she is not feeling well.

My cough is virtually gone though I am still congested - I feel a lot better. I am so happy to be home with Evelyn today though I wish she didn't have to be sick in order for me to be with her.

Mothers Day

I can't say that today was the mother's day that I thought it would be. Jason took Evelyn and let me sleep in. I woke up thinking that J must have taken Evelyn on a walk to keep her that quiet. nope she was not feeling well and went back to sleep 10 min after she woke up. She slept until 9:30 which she NEVER does! The rest of the day she wasn't feeling well so we did alot of reading and cuddling (before her nap we read Polar Bear, Polar Bear What do you hear 4 times! Then I rocked her to sleep, which also usually does not happen.

Poor thing had another 2 hour nap. The rest of the day was just like any other though she was acting better a while after her nap (initially she was fussy and crying). We ended up canceling on mom and dad, which I feel bad for (and was disappointed about) but I know they understand. I can't say it was the mother's day that I was hoping for though I did enjoy the cuddling and I loved the card that Evelyn made for me!

The sling saga continues...

So today I got a visit from CPSC to sign my story about what happened. Apparently they reimburse you for the product so no money is lost :) They guy was very nice and appreciative of the contact (rather then us just returning the sling). So I think this is the end of our involvement however he did say that he will be talking to the stores to be sure that they are in compliance. It was great to hear what had been happening and what was going to happen in the future. I feel like I accomplised something by letting them know even though it was Jason that did most of the work ;) So that ends the saga I'll let you know my decision about getting a wrap...

The Big Ultrasound!

What a great day today was after getting in to work early for a breakfast meeting (and a great breakfast) I cut out to get my ultrasound and doctor's appointment. The doctor's appointment was first it was only a "belly check". She said I am right where I am supposed to be! Then we quickly listened to the heart beat which was perfect at 150!

Then it was time to wait for the Ultrasound. I was drinking more water because I wasn't sure I had had enough - Then it hit me! I didn't have to wait too long but Jason was well on time and we were early. the tech was great and did the not so fun stuff (non baby views and some measurements) while we waited for him to show up. We didn't have to wait long :) The tech was great she even let me go to the bathroom after the stuff that needed a full bladder was done.

We got some great pictures of the little guy! GUY you say? Well yes we are having a boy!
He was so cute kicking around and even moving his mouth and tongue (we thought for a little while that he may stick his tong out at us but he didn't). It the ultrasound took an hour so we got to see lots of our little guy. I left ecstatic that we are having a boy :) Though truth be told I would have been just as excited for a little girl. He is very healthy and seems quite content. He even gave us a great view of his parts so there is no doubt that it's a boy! And now I get to shop!

The sling saga continues...

So tonight after the meeting for the AIDS Red Ribbon Ride J was on the phone with CPCS. They had sent someone to the TJ Max in this area with out telling him which one had sold the sling. So apparently he went shopping but didn't find anything but after the first store he had to say who he was and what he was doing. which probably did not help. In the mean time we can't return it because i guess it is proof that they sold it to us and the guy is worried that they will not let me keep the receipt. Jason is pushing this along and taking it as a personal insult/injury so something should become of this other than me just loosing my $20 - maybe I can contest the charge. Oh well...

Half Baked!

Belly bump was taken last night on J's camera so it will be uploaded ASAP!

That's right at 6.5 inches and 10.6 ounces our baby is the length of a cantaloupe and officially half baked!. This week Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion and dead cells) Yummy! This will fill the first diaper after birth (and what a great diaper it is to look forward to!). And, speaking of the diaper situation... baby's genitals are now fully formed! That's right Thursday at the ultrasound we are hoping to get a glimpse of the goods to tell us what gender our baby is!

Total weight gain/loss: 19 lbs - yes already that's 1 lb per week! I think I need to stem my cravings a bit.

Maternity clothes? Definitely!

Stretch marks? None that I have seen so far (fingers crossed!)

Sleep:Wake once or twice to go potty most nights but not consistently yet.

Best moment this week: Jason feeling the baby move on Thursday! Also me seeing the baby kick my stomach during the weekly meeting yesterday. (We have one strong baby)

Movement: Getting more frequent but still not enough for me to know his/her schedule yet.

Food cravings: Ice cream and soft pretzels with natcho cheese sause - no not at the same time ;)

Symptoms: None!

Gender: Unknown but the big ultrasound is this Thursday!

Labor Signs: Not for a while yet!

Belly Button in or out? Still in.

What I miss:

What I am looking forward to: Surprisingly enough I've been looking forward to delivery (though I hope it is a long time off!). I have even been reading birthing stories again.

Weekly Wisdom: Time flies try to make the most of it!

Milestones: Jason felt the baby move on Thursday night!

Problem Solved

The sling that I found and purchased is one that was recalled. So Jason has contacted the SBC and is actually pretty pissed about the whole thing. He said that I am not supposed to return the sling to the store. When asked how I would get my money back he said not to worry about it - I think I will end up taking it back. It was cheap but not that cheap. He mentioned liking the moby wraps but I'm still not sold on them they are expensive and I would worry about not wrapping it correctly. I've seen instructions on making your own (it's just a long section of cloth anyway) but don't want to hassle. Besides what type of material would work best?

Maybe I will get one we will see. I really think that a sling will end up as a necessity as I chase Evelyn around. The carrier we have for her I love but can't be used for 4 weeks at least.

Sling carrier

Today I found a sling carrier at TJMax for $20 which is very cheap. I just goggled it and found that the company had recalls on some of their slings (I remember this it was just last month that it was announced). Since It is illegal to sell a recalled product I think we will be safe but I'm going to check the info once I bring it in to be on the safe side. If it is recalled I can send it in for a free exchange plus they send you a rattle.

Yeah that seemed a bit odd to me but hey why not? In the mean time it took the sling 7 years to get recalled sigh I wonder what products are going to be recalled when my babies are 7... maybe I should rethink this purchase. But it just seems that with Evelyn around it may be nice to have both hands free sometimes and the pack like carriers really can't be used until the babies can use their necks and hold their heads up. Well it is something to think about first to check the recall list.