Fill in the Blank Friday

1. This weekend I'm hoping to get rid of the last of my garage sale items by hosting one at my house (I had done one with a friend for the last two weekends and think that I might have better luck in my own neighborhood) and going to a sweet one year old's birthday party at the park!

2. My last vacation was to Hawaii. *happy sigh* Hawaii is just magical.

3. My next vacation will be to visit my parents in MN next summer!

4. My favorite way to relax is with a magazine by a pool. But since that isn't very realistic very often, I also love reading with a cup of coffee when my house is clean and my family is happy.

5. When vacationing one should always remember to RELAX!! So many times vacations are go go go and we forget that they are intended to help us relax! You should also remember to take lots of pictures!

6. When vacationing one should never stress about money or bills.

7. The best part about a vacation is how refreshing it is and how wonderful it feels to come home, especially if you left your house sparkly clean! :)

28 Weeks

I had my 28 week appointment today.

The good news: Everett has turned and is no longer breech. I know it's still early in the game to *worry* about his position but the dr. had expressed mild concern at my last appointment and I just like knowing that he is head down where he belongs, even if it means I have little feet lodged in my ribs rather frequently. :)

The not so good news: I had to get the Rhogam shot (for having O- blood) in my bum and I've gained........dun dun dun 18 pounds so far. Bummer. Considering how far along I am, 18lbs isn't bad at all. However, I only gained 19lbs with Emersyn total and I was hoping for that same result this time. Doesn't seem like it's going to happen. I did start out a good 30lbs lighter then when I was pregnant with Ems so that could have something to do with why I didn't gain as much the first time around.

The dr. reiterated that she is happy that I passed my glucose test, however, she said I didn't pass with the flying colors that the nurse had told me. She said that one of my values out of the four was higher then it was supposed to be. She said that if two of the values were higher, I would have the GD but since it was only one, I am fine. Kinda. With that said, I have decided to put myself on a GD diet because 1. it can't hurt, 2. it will help with not gaining as much weight towards the end, and 3. it will start getting me on the right track for losing weight after the baby is born. I think the last time I was pregnant with Emersyn I was so terrified that the GD was going to harm in her in some way that I was REALLY good at sticking to my diet. This time around I don't have that fear so I think I may have been being more liberal with what I eat. Thankfully, this time of year brings great fresh produce to eat and that's what I plan to live on this summer, along with some lean proteins. I'm currently obsessed with those little watermelons. We've eaten like three of them this week, Ems and I can't get enough!

Last night we took the tour at the day spa hospital where I'm going to have Everett. It is SO much nicer then the one I had Emersyn at. For one, you get to stay in the SAME room for the ENTIRE process, hallelujah!! At St. V's (where I had E) I had her in a nicer bigger room, then 3 hours or so after I had her I had to be wheeled into another room which was TINY and then like 3 hours after that, wheeled into another room. The postpartum rooms are SO small which really stinks for having visitors and the bed that Brett had to sleep on was so uncomfortable, not that I had a lot of sympathy for him, ha! He even tried to climb into bed with me at one point the night after I had given birth and although it was comical, I was not overly amused. The floors are like a hardwood finish, there's a flat screen TV, mini-fridge, etc. I know it's kinda silly to be all dazzled by these things but trust me, when you check in to a room, it's nice if it's more hotel like then hospital like.

I'm still hoping for an induction. I've told some of my friends that who I can tell think I'm crazy but I was induced at 39 weeks with Emersyn and I was already dilated to a 3 and 70% effaced. Obviously my body was ready to go into labor and I never really tried to get it to because my mom arrived on August 26th and I wanted her to be there for the birth. My dr. has said that she will do an induction at 39 weeks IF my cervix is favorable like last time. I am hoping to be induced on the 22nd and have him either that day or the 23rd. That would put his and Emersyn's birthdays 5 or 6 days apart which is better then one day or *gasp* the SAME day. I'm mentally adjusting my due date to August 22nd and that's what I'm planning on for now. I'll know more when the dr. checks me at 37 weeks.

Okay, I think that's it for now.

P.S. Say a prayer for my friend Tyler whose baby is breech. She's farther along then I am and they are already talking c-section. I'm praying that sweet Piper decides to turn around like her buddy Everett!! :)

Wordless Wednesday- "Is this thing attached??"

MIscellany Monday

{1} I passed my three hour glucose test with flying colors!!! I can't believe it! I had gestational diabetes with Emersyn, though she didn't exhibit a single symptom of a GD baby in anyway. She was totally average (7lbs,13oz), not a hint of jaundice, and I had an incredibly easy induction. I did have to be on insulin and as my pregnancy progressed, I was up to three shots a day in my tummy which was NOT fun. Plus, I was on a moderately strict diet when I was pregnant. Again, no fun. The plus side, however, is that I only gained 19lbs during my entire pregnancy. Judging from the weight I've gained so far, I have a feeling I'll be slightly over that amount this time. I blame the weather and all the darn rain that has prevented me from taking walks. A lame excuse I know, but an excuse nonetheless. Anyways, I digress. Praise the LORD for no GD this time around!!!!!

{2} On Saturday we had a garage sale over at my friends house who has a much bigger garage and driveway then myself. We did *okay*. I made about $50 which isn't much but I did sell a lot of stuff. I'm selling Emersyn's old clothes for pretty cheap. I've given away a lot of her clothes but still have lots left. It turns out, babies don't need quite as many articles of clothing as I once thought. :) We're going to try the garage sale again on Friday. This last weekend was the first REALLY nice weekend all year here in Oregon and I think that might have affected our traffic. I do have to say one thing though, garage sale hustlers crack me up. I know there is an art to negotiating but let me tell you, you picked the WRONG pregnant lady to mess with when you offer me half price for things already marked ridiculously low!! :)

Emersyn enjoyed the sunshine at the garage sale!

Emersyn the cashier!

An after garage sale treat on a hot day....a Jamba Juice!!! This is one of Emersyn's favorite things in the world. We like the Orange Dream Machine...tastes like a creamsicle.

{3} After the garage sale, I was determined to spend the evening outside! We headed to the Grand Lodge with our good friends for dinner and some fun in the huge lawn. The Grand Lodge has a big bar/grill outside with picnic tables. It's super family friendly and a place where kids can run pretty far and still be safe.

We brought a ball to play catch with. Emersyn is SO proud of herself when she catches the ball!

Emersyn and Sophia

{4} Our parenting class is over with at church. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot about how my unique personality plays into parenting. One of the concepts that we discussed the last week was called "descriptive praise". Being a major words of affirmation person myself, I don't struggle in the area of praising Emersyn at all. In fact, this is something I consider myself to be pretty good at. But this concept was more intended to praise specifics which I can work on for sure. I tell Emersyn that she's beautiful, smart, a big helper, etc. all the time. But citing specific examples will empower her as she grows up. Basically you say "I noticed __________. It made me feel _________. You are ________." So last night Emersyn took her ice cream bowl into the kitchen and put it in the sink without me asking her too. "Emersyn, I noticed how you put your ice cream bowl away with me asking you to! It made me feel SO proud of you. You are such a responsible little girl!". She totally beamed with pride when I told her this and then looked around for other things she could pick up and put away. If you've ever been to my house you'd know that there are always lots of opportunities for clean up. :)

{5} I'm 28 weeks today!! We're taking our hospital tour on Wednesday night! I'm delivering at a different hospital this time and I'm excited. Last time I had to change rooms twice after Emersyn was born. At this hospital, you stay in the same room the whole time, whoo hoo!!

{6} Today Emersyn and I have NOTHING planned. This rarely happens. Emersyn keeps asking me where we are going this morning and I keep reassuring her that we aren't going anywhere but she seems skeptical. She asked if she could stay in her jammies all morning and I said sure and she was absolutely delighted.

Enjoying the morning sun in her jammies! :)

Hopefully today I'll be able to get to the daunting laundry pile that's in my room. I neglected my house last week in an attempt to pull together our last minute garage sale. This weekend we're hoping to paint the nursery finally and I gotta get organized for that to happen!

Happy Monday everyone! It's going to be a GREAT week!!!!

Fill in the Blank Friday

1. I love weekends because getting to spend them with my family is a dream come true Running errands, Starbucks, the Farmer's Market, naps, movies, the park, etc...such a wonderful life.

2. A time that mama knew best was right after my daughter was born. She was just so great about knowing how to support me, through keeping up with laundry, cleaning, groceries, meals, etc.

3. My first kiss went a little like this I'd like to say that Brett was my first *real* kiss, or real kiss that meant anything. My first actual physical kiss was really unfortunate due to a series of poor choices. However, Brett and my first kiss was amazing. We had tried to not kiss and hold off as long as possible and that lasted about two weeks. It makes me smile just thinking about it.

4. My celebrity crush is oh I don't have celebrity crushes. I am a happily married woman. That being said, I think Michael Buble is very....talented. :) :)

5. My splurge of choice is spa treatments or vacation/getaways.

6. My biggest accomplishment is Hmm...this is hard to say. I got my CNA in high school and that was a big accomplishment. I've had a successful career in real estate, another accomplishment. I've been happily married for 8 years, yet another accomplishment in this day and age. I have a well behaved and darling toddler, another accomplishment.... :)

7. My dance jam of choice is I, like my daughter, love disco music for dancing. :) We also like some fun country songs. :)

Wordless Wednesday- Memorial Day 2011

Miscellany Tuesday

1) Rain rain, go away!! So many of you are all posting about your incredible weather and I think we all know how I feel about that. :) Yesterday it was actually decent out, a high of probably 60ish. Today it was raining and cold. Ems desperately wanted to wear a skirt though so I let her even though her legs were probably chilly. She wears these Crocs just about every day too. :)

2) I've started letting Ems help more around the house. She LOVES it and totally thrives with being appreciated and completing a task. I let her empty the silverware (after I empty all the sharp knives). Does my silverware drawer look a little messy? Yes. But do you see the little girls face up above? Totally worth it. She actually does a good job putting each utensil where it goes, she just doesn't make it all go the same direction. I can live with that.

3) Ems has learned to catch a ball and it's so cute. She would play catch outside for hours if we let her. :) I'm so excited for her to have a little brother to play with.

4) I had SUCH a fun weekend with my little family. It wasn't quite as productive as I would have liked; I still was having ear pain on Saturday and Sunday which lead to headaches so I actually napped both afternoons with Emersyn. It was still fun though, we did some shopping, went to breakfast, and enjoyed each other and the long weekend.

5) Have you ever gotten such a good deal from a retailer that you almost felt kinda guilty about it?? So we went to Lowes on Saturday to order a screen storm door our front door which I'm totally jazzed about. In the store, they only carry the white one. We decided to special order a color that would match the trim of our house, which costs a little bit more but worth it in the long run. Well, we go to the store and the display price for the special order door is $364. Brett quickly looked on my phone and saw that online the door was only $346. The guy that wrote up the invoice honored the online price of $346. On the way to pay for the door, we noticed that in the Lowes ad, the brand and size of door that we ordered was on sale down from $298 to $268. We went to customer service and showed them the ad. They said that the sale price only applied to the white doors in stock (which are usually $298). Being the savvy shopper that I am, I pointed out that this wasn't stated anywhere in the ad. It just said that the size and brand of door that we ordered was on sale, period. I wasn't rude about it at all, just persistent in a friendly way. Guess what? They honored the ad price for our special order door. So they rang up the door, advertised in the store for $364 and they honored the $268 price. Well, then I did what I didn't think I was going to have the courage to do........I gave them my 10% off coupon that I had printed off online. I was almost embarassed but hey, money is money. So we got our door basically marked down from $364 to $242. Thank.You.Lord!!!!! I am 100% certain that He blessed us and we are so excited to enjoy the door and the fresh air and light that it provides!!!!! I'm proud to say that I did the bulk of the negotiating too while Brett chased Ems around the store. :)

6) I failed my one hour glucose test last week. Bummer. I'm taking the three hour tomorrow morning at the wee hour of 8am. Three.Hours.Ugh. The nice thing is, Ems is spending the night at her Nana and Papa's tonight so that I don't have to take her over there at the crack of dawn tomorrow which means that Brett and I can go on a date tonight, whoo hoo! We're just going to dinner, toddler free. *happy sigh* Cross your fingers for the test tomorrow. I'm not actually *too* hopeful since I had GD last time around but I am hoping that if I do have it this time that I can control it without insulin. We'll see.