Eloquence

How's that baby!

2012-01-18T18:25:00.003-05:00

We get lots of questions about what/how Kaelyn is doing. Is she crawling? Does she have any teeth? Is she eating well? Does she sleep well?

Well, she isn't crawling. She does do a little scoot thing, but it doesn't take her very far. Just over this past week she had a tooth pop through and shortly thereafter the other one popped through. So the 2 bottom teeth are working there way up. She is still struggling with solids. We have found that she really likes yogurt so she's been eating that every day for over a month. (I discussed this with her doctor, he was fine with it. He did suggest pushing the rice cereal so we add it to the yogurt.) Usually once a day I try to give her something new (and we have tried many different combinations and have also tried to add them to the yogurt). I made a miniature breakthrough with mango/banana puree. The texture is very close to yogurt and she willingly took a few bites. Her next appointment is February 7th. The doctor (and I) were hoping she would widen her range of food intake by then. He seemed to be concerned about it. :(

As for sleeping she does well. We have our ups and downs, but she is usually sleeping through the night without any issues. Right before her little teeth made their appearance she was sleeping poorly, but that was expected.

She's still a little peanut. She probably weighs about 18 pounds and is wearing 9 month size clothes (she'll be 9 months old in 11 days).

She's a great little girl. She has started to clap which is super cute. In the morning when she wakes up she cries mamamamama... or at least that is what it sounds like to me :) She's doing so much better with other people holding her. She likes to hit the windows and squeak her hand down them. Tim puts her on his shoulders and she loves it - she squeals and slaps his head. One super fun little lady baby!!

A blog about what I'm NOT blogging about...

2012-01-16T14:50:00.002-05:00

I've actually started several blogs recently, but decided against posting them. Let me begin by saying that I Google everything (as maybe most of you do as well). Sometimes I get really caught up in things and go on a googling frenzy. For instance, I was totally consumed by Beyonce and Jay-Z having their baby. Yes, I do follow some celebrity gossip, but I don't normally get too wrapped up in it. Well, I started reading these reports about whether Beyonce used a surrogate (based on my research, I vote No on this issue). Then I started reading about their extravagant hospital renovations (first it was half the maternity floor, than they said it was the whole floor... who knows). Then there were reports about the security being too tight for the "normal folk", and reports of people saying they didn't have a problem at all, then about the name Blue (as if their baby is the Blueprint for all other babies as Jay-Z has said HE is the blueprint for all rappers, ugh). Anyway, my afternoon (at work mind you) became about this family. It's stupid and I hate that I wasted my time reading about it. It was short lived and I'm totally over it.

As most know I'm breastfeeding my daughter, Kaelyn. We're reaching the 9 month marker and I'm proud of it. I've done a lot of research on breastfeeding especially since I struggled with it in the beginning. I've become a mini-nazi with the whole "breast is best" attitude. I try not to have conversations about breastfeeding because I swear my eyes widen a 1/4 of an inch and I become a little dictator-ish. And rather than being informative I just sound like I've lost my mind. So, anytime I've read negative comments or ignorant view points (haha) about breastfeeding I immediately want to set that person straight. Many blogs have been started about this...but I refuse to let myself post them. But I'm sure, just like the Beyonce and Jay-Z fiasco, I will get over my obsession. I imagine I will always support breastfeeding, but probably not with the same psychotic-like attitude :)

Ornaments are my fav!

2011-12-08T20:42:00.006-05:00

For the past 5 years my husband has always picked out a new ornament, wrapped it, and had me open it on Christmas Eve. This year we decided to go together and pick one out. The tree ornaments are one of our favorite parts of Christmas. Each are always wrapped in tissue paper (Tim's doing) so as you open it, it's like a little surprise. We have a few from our honeymoon in Disney, a wedding cake my Mom got the year we got married, our childhood ornaments, and now our family ornaments. My sister has always stayed with us Christmas Eve night so her name was included on many of the ornaments. Obie of course has been included as well. This year was extra special because we got to add Kaelyn and rather than saying 'Kristie' and 'Tim' we said 'Mom' and 'Dad'. This will be the first year Karen doesn't stay with us Christmas Eve. She has her own thing going on now. :)

So, a few changes this year. I look forward to when Kaelyn gets to choose her own ornament for the tree.

I love this time of year...

2011-12-02T20:56:00.003-05:00

It's hard to believe that Christmas is coming right up. Tim and Kaelyn picked out a Christmas tree yesterday. I felt a little sad that I didn't get to tag along, but with our schedules being completely opposite it made sense for them to do it during the week. This way it gives the tree time to settle and then we can decorate it this weekend. Tim said she was a little afraid of it at first, but she seems to have adjusted to it quickly. I can't believe Kaelyn will be just about 8 months old by the time Christmas rolls around. I've been debating on what to buy her (if anything) for Christmas. It's not like she has any idea what will be going on. She'll probably just chew the wrapping paper and be super happy about it! I did find a toy that we're going to get her - Bat and Wobble Penguin. It's perfect! She can hit it and we don't have to keep picking it up, it has balls that make noise on the inside, and it plays music when you hit it. She loves music!! She has a little doggy that makes music and she'll rock back and forth when we turn it on. Super cute stuff. We hardly watch any TV while Kaelyn is up because she is glued to it so we just turn the station to a Sirius Radio Christmas station (the picture is only a title bar telling you what is playing). We definitely get our fill of Christmas music each and every day.

Needless to say I'm looking forward to getting the tree and the house decorated. I think this weekend we'll find Kaelyn's first ornament! :)

Mental Health Day

2011-10-31T08:55:00.004-04:00

Poop, Poop and more Poop!

I woke up at 4:50a.m. to Kaelyn wanting her breakfast. No biggy. I crawl out of bed, grab my glasses and take one step *hmm...that seemed a little wet*. Keep in mind it is very dark at 4:50 a.m. and I don't turn any lights on because Tim is in bed. I head to the bathroom and step in some more wet, cold squishy stuff - this time I'm SURE it's poop. I turn the bathroom light on and find a small piece of poop outside of the bathroom door. I clean my foot off, go to the bathroom, wash my hands, and go into Kaelyn's room. HUGE poop in her room! UGH. I bypass the poop and get Kaelyn to take care of her needs first. Afterwards I pick up Obie's poop (obviously it wasn't like Tim pooped on the floor, right?) And I head back to bed...but wait, I stepped in something in the bedroom too... or so I thought. Again, Tim is sleeping so I don't want to turn the light on so I grab my cellphone and shine it on the floor. OH MY GOD OBIE RUBBED HIS DIRTY ASS IN A CIRCLE NEXT TO MY BED. Lord please help me. Tim hears me say "oh my God" and he says "what" in a worried voice. I'm like Obie friggin' pooped in the house and wiped his butt next to the bed! What do I do? Crawl back into bed.

I wake up again at 7:00 to Kaelyn chatting and kicking in bed - she's getting ready for second breakfast. I take care of Kaelyn and get myself some breakfast. I begin to clean up the poop stains while Kaelyn plays in her ExerSaucer. I leave the bedroom for later so Tim can keep sleeping. After the difficult weekend and waking up to poop all over the rug I decide to call in for a mental health day. Fast forward to about 8:00 and Kaelyn's sick of the ExerSaucer so I take her out "hmm, did you poop". I set her on the changing table and as I begin to pull back her diaper .... OH BOY! is this up your back sweetie? I start to clean it up... oh this is WAY up your back. I manage to strip off her clothes and clean her up a little with a wipe. By this point Tim is up and helps me run a bath. I clean up the poop monster while Tim cleans the circle/streak of crap in the bedroom. Not exactly what he (or I) was hoping to do after waking up.

If the events of this weekend/Monday morning are not a good enough reason to take a Mental Health Day than I don't know what is.

A not so happy weekend

2011-10-30T17:14:00.004-04:00

This weekend has been kind of miserable. Obie went to the vet on Thursday for something he had on his eye lid. At the time he also had a mild temperature. They prescribed him an antibiotic with penicillin in it (Clavamox) to clear up what they guessed was a clogged tear duct. Sure enough Obie had one of the severe allergic reactions to it. Let me point out that the vet doesn't give you anything explaining the possible side effects, they just give you the medicine and tell you how much to give him. My mom and sister were here so Karen looked up Clavamox online and we found out that an uncommon reaction to the medication is bumps on the skin (like hives), heart palpitations, and panting. We knew Obie wasn't being himself so to find this we got a little worried. I called the ER vet and we went over to get him checked out. It turned out that yes he had an allergic reaction to the medicine PLUS his fever had gotten worse. He also had several pustules on his body which may or may not be causing the fever. The vet doctor thought these may be caused by the prickle bushes in our yard and the seeds that come off of them are poking his skin. He may have sensitive skin and this is why he's getting these small infections. She popped some of them - YUCK! Her face was inches from it while she was doing it and I said I wouldn't want any of it to pop in my face. She said they get all kind of stuff on them during the day and it didn't bother her. GROSS - bloody puss is NOT something I would want in my face. *gag*

So - the end of the visit he got a shot of a different kind of antibiotic and some to take home with us. We also got some ointment to put in his eye to help heal the thing on his eye lid which was NOT a clogged tear duct, but looked more like one of the pustules on his body. *gag* He seems to be doing a little better today. He still isn't really eating much, but he has taken several treats which is an improvement from yesterday.

Then to make things worse I woke up at 4:15 to no power. I didn't worry too much about it at the time, the house was still warm and I knew Kaelyn would be up in a couple of hours so I went back to sleep. at 6:30 the power was still out so I started to get concerned. The temperature was about 61. By around 9:30 the house was down to 59 and just as I started to really get worried it came back on!

The rest of today has been focusing on paying a lot of attention to Obie. The spots where they popped the pustules they had shaved him first so he looks like a freak with long hair and these random shaved spots. Plus his eye looks awful. If he isn't better tomorrow we need to go back to our regular vet. :(

Best Buds

2011-10-22T18:03:00.001-04:00

Before Kaelyn arrived we were afraid that Obie wouldn't be very good with a baby in the house. I never thought that he would hurt Kaelyn, but I figured he'd start marking the house or whatever. He's been great! Many times he'll jump up on us if we're holding Kaelyn and he hasn't seen her for awhile. She's starting to grab his fur which he's learning that it hurts him a little so once he sees her hand come up he moves. After I get home from work I play with Kaelyn on the floor and I throw Obie one of his toys. She will sit with me for about 20-30 minutes and watch Obie run back and forth. If Kaelyn is acting upset I've used Obie to calm her down by leaning down next to him with her in my arms. She spends a lot of time watching and studying him. It's super cute!!

Colleen and Nicole made their blogs pretty...

2011-10-14T21:40:00.002-04:00

So I guess I wanted to do the same :) YAY to pretty blogs!!

Lately I have been so sucked into the computer it seems ridiculous. After Kaelyn goes to bed I usually putter around the house; do laundry, make dinner, whatever. But lately I'll spend my entire evening glued to the computer. I think I have become obsessed with researching everything and anything about breastfeeding. And this Mom Grieves Baby's Loss by Filling Breast Milk Bank in His Honor put me right over the top. I couldn't sleep the night I read it. I just love breastfeeding. I don't just mean the act of breastfeeding, but everything about it. If it wasn't for my sister in law, Colleen I probably wouldn't have been able to cut out formula early on. (for those who don't know I supplemented for the first couple of months because I didn't think I could produce enough, I was W>R>O>N>G!) I'm a fan of the Medela page on Facebook and Colleen was kind of to tell me that all my posts were showing up on her News Feed. I'm usually pretty open with my comments on other peoples posts/questions. Little did I know my friends were seeing every word. sigh* I've kindly requested Medela to make their page private so this no longer happens. I'm proud that I breast feed my daughter, but not everyone needs to see my comments about my "let down" cycle. :)

Shopping!

2011-10-09T19:33:00.003-04:00

Recent tub picture ----->

Nothing says 3 day weekend like shopping some major sales with coupons! My Mom and I scored some good deals and bought a ton of stuff for Kaelyn! I did manage to get 2 Christmas gifts, but my main focus was getting some warmer clothes for Kaelyn. We got her a pink snowsuit , plus 2 hats and a pair of mittens. I bought several 9 month size outfits. She's still wearing 6 month size, but I want to be ready for the next growth spurt - although I see her wearing 6 month sizes for another 2 months or so. It was pretty busy out, but we had a great time! Had some pizza for lunch and shopped for about 5 hours. Time flew by! I wanted to be home in time to put Kaelyn to bed. Not that Tim couldn't do it, but her and I have a good routine going and I don't dare break it up just yet. I've been searching online for a Patriots jersey onesie for Kaelyn. One of my FaceBook friends has one for her daughter and I really would love one. So far I haven't had any luck. I imagine it would be a little expensive, probably $20-$30 for something she can only wear for a few months. My practical side says "RIDICULOUS". I checked ebay and couldn't find one there either. Maybe I'll check out some of the local sports stores.

Screams, Rolls, and Laughs! 5 months old

2011-09-29T20:28:00.006-04:00

Kaelyn is healthy and continuing to hit her milestones - I couldn't ask for anything more! :) 5 months in and she is still breastfed. We decided against starting solids yet. We felt that she was doing fine, sleeping through the night, and didn't show signs of needing to nurse more than normal so we figured we would hold off. The American Academy of Pediatrics says to wait until 6 months so their digestive system is properly developed. Although, the doctor said 4 months is fine which I believe it is but like I said we didn't think Kaelyn needed solids just yet. Once we start it will add a whole new piece to the daily routine so why change it when things are working well? The past

couple of nights she has been waking up around 3:00, but I'm finding she isn't hungry she just
wants to play! She starts throwing her legs up and kicking the side of the crib. It rattles a little so she does it again, and again, and again. I finally just shut the baby monitor off and let her go to town while I went back to sleep! :) She must have fallen back to sleep because I heard her a couple of hours later around 5:00 (her normal time to wake up) and she was ready to eat. For those who don't know our house is fairly small so we really don't NEED the monitor, but I keep it on anyway.

She loves to play (grab!) Tim's go-tee. He said that she's starting to pull a little too hard so I don't see him leaning it to let her play with it soon. Still no teeth. I thought for sure they were coming in a couple of weeks ago by the way she was acting, but nothing. The teeth I wont rush - I don't look forward to be bitten if you know what I mean! :)

Oh geez - 4 months big!

2011-09-09T19:58:00.002-04:00

Kaelyn is 19 weeks! It's crazy how much she has changed even since my last blog. We had her 4 month check up last Friday. She weighed 13.3 pounds, was 24.5 inches long, and her head was 40 cm. Her weight and length are in the 50th percentile and her head is in the 25th. Her head has been a little small, but it's finally starting to catch up! (It was only in the 10th!) She had two more vaccine shots and did really well. Fortunately, no side effects! The doctor mentioned that we could start solids if we want to. Usually solids are started between 4-6 months. We're not sure she is ready for them yet, but we bought some rice cereal and I think we may try it soon. (well, we bought it last weekend...and haven't exactly tried it yet haha!)

She's hitting all her milestones. She just started rolling over this week. Except she rolls from her back to her belly. It's normal, but not common for babies to first roll from their back to their belly. Once on her belly she just hangs out for a bit then starts to get annoyed because she isn't a fan of

tummy time! It's pretty exciting though - watching her roll over. Obviously it isn't nearly as exciting (or at ALL) for others. She's laughing a lot more and does this really high pitched squeal thing. She does it when I do "num num num's" on her belly which kills my ear. :) And I'm very happy to report that she's sleeping through the night like a champ! We have had a couple of nights (I literally mean a couple, like only 2!) that she had a hard time getting to bed and woke up a little early, but she still slept 6 hours those nights.

Work is going well. I think I may finally be getting into the swing of things. At home we have a fairly good morning routine. I'm not really a morning person (unless of course it's for Kaelyn) so I tend to be about 20 minutes late most days, okay, every day. But I usually feed Kaelyn at about 5:00 she goes back to bed, as do I, then she gets up anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30 (haha as do I). And I feed her once more before I leave for work. Tim does about 3 bottles

during the day then I nurse when I get home and again before bed. Breastfeeding is going well! I pump 3 times a day at work, again before I go to bed at about 9:30, then I wake up at about 1:30 to pump again. It usually provides enough milk for Kaelyn each day. I read about keeping your milk supply up and also found out that it's actually common to pump several times during the day and have only enough for 1 bottle - I usually pump 1 1/2 bottles worth. Anyway, I find it worth it so I will continue!

To wrap up this long winded update: Kaelyn is doing great as is Mommy and Daddy. :)

We be Laughin'! 16 weeks

2011-08-19T20:11:00.004-04:00

She laughed - like really laughed - for the first time earlier this week. I was changing her into her PJs and I took her feet, stuck them on my nose then said "stinky feet stinky feet peeeuuuu" in my highest possibly voice. It made her smile so I did a few more times and sure enough I got the best little giggle I had ever heard! I teared up a little and said "you're laughing, you're laughing at mommy". Unfortunately, stinky feet hasn't worked since. My Mom got her to laugh a bunch and my sister also got some laughs. Tim and I haven't had as much luck. I think we're trying too hard :)

She's almost out of her size 3 month clothes. Fortunately, we have plenty of 3-6 and 6 month size clothes. I've started picking up a few 9 month size clothes just to have. Her next doctor's appointment is her 4 month check up on August 30th which is coming up. She'll have 2 more shots. I'm excited to see how much she weighs and how long she is.

She's still sleeping through the night. I just keep waiting for it to end. I'm sure there will come a time when she starts getting up in the night again, but maybe that won't be until she starts teething. Tim is doing great with her during the day. They recently started taking short walks together outside (Obie too!). She enjoys the outdoors and it really has helped with her fussiness during the day. Plus, it seems to help her nap a little better as well. She's not real excited about belly time. She hasn't rolled over (belly to back) yet. Usually that milestone is reached in the next couple of weeks. My guess is she'll be a little "late", but I'm not at all concerned. I think she's doing great reaching and exceeding many of the other milestones. I think Tim and I can handle it if she's immobile for a little longer!

Amazon Mom

2011-08-12T20:44:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I found out about Amazon Mom. It'll save us 30% on diapers and wipes!! Like a REAL 30%, not like a, I-jacked-up-the-price-by-30% first. Plus it'll save us 15% on things like Diaper Genie liners - which by the way are $6.00 per liner regular price and they last maybe 2 weeks I consider that to be a little expensive for the purpose that they serve. I did a little research and found Wal-Mart and Sam's Club to have the cheapest in-store diapers and Amazon Mom is even cheaper! Anyway, all I had to do was sign up with a user name and e-mail on Amazon Mom to get 15% off then I get another 15% off for using the Subscribe & Save option. Subscribe & Save is an automatic delivery option. PLUS it ships for free in 2 days! It's all free and I can cancel anytime that I want.

I'm excited to start using this. (Did I just say I was excited to buy diapers and wipes for a discounted price? - I'm a dorky Mom). Tim and I were really fortunate to get a "shit ton" of diapers (it always makes me laugh to use "shit ton" in a sentence with "diapers" hahaha) and wipes from our friends and family. Kaelyn is 15 weeks old and we still have at least 2 if not 3 months of diapers left! YAY!

Best Baby EVER!! 3 1/2 months

2011-08-08T19:58:00.004-04:00

I've been back to work for 2 full weeks and so far I can't say it has gotten any easier. At least for me. Tim and Kaelyn are doing great spending their days together! Tim usually ventures out of the house at least 2 or 3 times per week. It helps break up his day. Kaelyn's on a great schedule! She is going to bed about 7:30 and gets up around 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning to eat than goes back to bed for 2 or 3 hours. She's amazing!! It really helps that she can put herself back to sleep - that is KEY! I was asked what I was "slipping" her before bed. I swear she is getting ONLY breast milk! And she is breastfed for her last 2 feedings of the day. AND she sleeps in her own bed (which she has from day one). Seriously people, she should win some kind of award or something.

She is learning all kinds of new things. She is grabbing her feet, talking more, laughing and
smiling more. I think she is starting to recognize our voices. While she is breast feeding after about 5 minutes she starts to pull off a lot if we're talking. She looks at me, smiles, then opens her mouth and pops back on. It makes me smile. Sometimes she does this continuously!! On that note: breast feeding is going really well! I'm finally to a point where I enjoy it! I'm still not pumping quite enough at work so she is averaging 2 formula bottles per week (ya, that's right, per WEEK) - which is so MINOR! I LOVE IT! I also pump once before bed and often times once in the middle of the night. She's great, she's healthy, and she's totally amazing! We've been great about getting her around new people and letting people hold her, but she still is unsure of it. After a little bit she gets fussy and wants Mommy or Daddy. I feel that as long as we continue to expose her to people and show that being held by others is safe then she'll get used to it. We are working on more tummy time. She is not a fan of it so she's mastered batting at toys while lying on her back.

So I may be a little bias, but Kaelyn is probably Baby of the Year! :)

12 weeks - back to work

2011-07-23T21:06:00.002-04:00

I went back to work on Thursday. My first day back went well, but the second day was a little more difficult. When I left the house in the morning Kaelyn was crying which made it very hard to just walk out the door (Tim was up "tending" to her). So the second day included a few Mommy tears. I wish I didn't have to work or could work just part time, but that isn't possible for us. booo! I think the second day I was gone was harder for Kaelyn too. She really enjoys nursing and as most baby's do she finds a lot of comfort in it. A 10 minute bottle isn't as cozy as a 40 minute boob!

Kaelyn hasn't been sleeping well lately. The last 2 weeks have been a mess! Some nights she'll sleep 4 straight hours, eat, then sleep again for 4 hours, other nights she'll get up every 2 hours. I thought maybe she was hungry so I would feed her every time she woke up, but I'm now thinking she just can't get herself back to sleep. So we've been doing a little tough love the past few nights. When she wakes up during these times she doesn't really cry much she just has a constant fussy noise that she does. Unless I hear serious cries/screams than I let her stay in bed. I'm not real excited about the "cry it out" method, but I think in this case it will work for us. I do find she is learning to soothe herself by sticking her finger(s)/hand in her mouth. She still refuses to take a pacifier and most times it just makes her more mad! I'm guessing she'll turn into a thumb sucker. Unfortunately with thumbs you can't control them not sucking it as easily as a pacifier. O well, she 3 months old I guess I'll worry about THAT later.

I think otherwise she is doing great. Still breast feeding like a champ! Pumping at work is so annoying, but it's worth it! I wasn't really able to get a supply before going back to work so on Friday Tim had to give her a bottle of formula. MINOR! I was okay with that. It may take me awhile to get into a routine of pumping at work and actually pumping enough. I get impatient and can see myself saying "that should be enough" and just stop the pumping session a few minutes earlier than I should.

Well Kaelyn managed to soothe herself to sleep tonight. I had put her to bed asleep at 8:15, but she woke up 10 minutes later. She managed to do it in about 25 minutes with a few hiccups after, but she seems to be out now so I'm going to go to bed. Let's hope she sleeps a little better tonight.

11 Weeks - Bumbo fun and more smiles!!

2011-07-13T21:46:00.003-04:00

We have been getting plenty of smiles these days! And what parent doesn't love getting a ton of smiles from their newborn?! We have also recently started putting her in a bumbo seat (the blue thing she is sitting in). It's great for building neck/head strength. I don't keep her in there too long because there is nothing for her to rest her head on and it gets pretty floppy after awhile. She has become a TV addict! Even when she is on the floor playing on her play mat (which is underneath the TV) she turns her head and looks up at it! And if you're holding her she will follow it with her eyes as you rock back and forth.

Bed time has become a production. I'm trying to get her to go to bed earlier than the usual 10-10:30. It's been a little bit of a struggle. Before I knew when to do her last feeding and now I don't. I want her to be in bed by 8:30 which has worked a few times. When she has gone to bed earlier it results in multiple wake up times during the night. I think we need to cut out some of her day time naps to help make her more tired when bed time comes. She's been all smiles and wide-eyed at 12:30 a.m.!! That's not ideal when I go back to work!And by 4:30 she no longer wants to sleep in her crib instead she sleeps in her swing for a few more hours.

More recently she started rolling onto her side!! She usually does it while on her play mat, but there are little bars that go up and over the mat which prevent her from rolling onto her belly (not that I think she is ready to go that far yet!)

Also, breastfeeding seems to still be going well. I'm planning to pump when I go back to work. Hopefully pumping will go well so we can continue with the b-milk!! :)

Camping Trip was a flop

2011-07-03T05:05:00.003-04:00

We took Kaelyn to camp for the night on Friday. It was our first overnight in a new place as a family. We left our house around 9:30 and went to my Mom's first to pick up an air mattress. Once we got there Kaelyn needed her diaper changed and while Tim was changing her she ends up peeing all over her clothes! So before we even get to camp we do an outfit change. And at this point she's being really fussy - I imagine it's because we were ruining her morning routine. She goes back to sleep in the car for about an hour and then she wakes again to eat. I pull over and nurse her for 40 minutes!! We get to camp around 1:30 which is almost 2 hours later than originally planned. She continues her fussiness through the afternoon and hardly naps at all. She also wanted to constantly nurse which was difficult since I'd go in the other room for 30 minutes or more while everyone else hung out together. At one point everyone got to go for a boat ride while I stayed at the camp to continue nursing. Which was no ones fault!! I felt awful that Kaelyn was so unhappy. By early evening she was becoming very difficult. She didn't want to be held by anyone other than me. Even Tim couldn't get her to calm down. Her bed time rolled around (10:00) and she falls asleep. We brought her play pen so I swaddled her up and set her down. Within just a few minutes she wakes up. So needless to say she hardly sleeps during the night which meant Tim and I didn't get much sleep either. I didn't bother putting her back in the play pen instead we used her Boppy and put it in between us. We have never co-slept so neither one of us felt comfortable falling asleep. Although, I did manage to get a couple of hours, but poor Tim was too concerned to fall asleep. Anyway, by 7:30 a.m. we decided to just pack up and come home. Kaelyn slept almost the whole ride (2 1/2 hours) Thank God! When we got home I nursed her and she took about a 3 hour nap, woke up, I nursed her again, and she went back to sleep for another 4 hours! Poor girl was so exhausted. I guess she isn't ready for overnights outside of her home. She has set a nice routine for herself and we obviously disrupted that with new smells and new sleeping arrangements. Her big grins after we got home were more than enough to make us realize that home is where she wants to be right now.

2 month check up

2011-06-30T16:41:00.004-04:00

We had Kaelyn's 2 month check up today. She gained about 1 1/2 lbs bringing her up to 10 1/2 lbs. Length wise she didn't grow very much, only 3/4 inches, so she is 22 3/4 inches long. Her head is still small for her size. She had 2 shots today and did very well. After the second shot (what the nurse called the "stinger") she screamed so Mommy teared up a little. She quickly recovered once Daddy picked her up and held her tight. She is basically on target with simple milestones like following things with her eyes, responding to noises, gaining eye/hand coordination - all that good stuff. She is still doing well with sleeping 6-8 hours each night! And today marks the third day of me feeding her ONLY breast milk!! I F'in ROCK!! :) I feel so excited to have her only eating breast milk. One of the hard parts is that she likes to nurse for a long time usually about 30 minutes (sometimes longer). I read that baby's can nurse from 15-60 minutes and to not let the clock determine your baby's feeding. Although, it can be challenging when we are out and about doing things to have to stop and nurse for 1/2 an hour! But it's worth it!!! The first night after only having breast milk she woke up every 3 hours, but the second night she did her normal routine (sleep from 10-10:30 until 5:00ish)! Formula tends to digest a little slower than breast milk so I was concerned she wouldn't feel as full through the night so she'd want to get up more often to eat. She also hardly ever spits up anymore. With formula she would spit up almost every time she ate it (which is common for formula fed babies) - and if you've ever smelled formula it is disgusting and is even more gross when it comes back up!!

We're heading out tomorrow morning to spend the night out to camp. After talking about Kaelyn's great sleeping habits I'm sure it won't be so great in a new place. I'm really looking forward to it though! I think I have everything packed for Kaelyn. I'm sure I over packed, but you can never be too careful with a 2 month old! :)

And there goes the hair - 2 months!

2011-06-23T21:56:00.006-04:00

Kaelyn is definitely starting to lose her hair. There is a distinct line between where the hair has fallen out and the longer hair is still hanging on. She has been sleeping great! Usually about 7 hours each night from 10:00-10:30pm until about 6:00am. She's also starting to drool more. I read about this and although it is associated with teething and it is possible for an 8 week old to cut teeth it's not likely. However, it is common for baby's around this age to start drooling. She has her 2 month check up next week. I think she weighs about 12-13 pounds - at least based on our scale at home with me holding her. We found that if you tickle her chin or her cheeks she will smile, well not always, but most of the time (especially if her belly is full). She doesn't usually nap very well. She almost never naps in her crib, but we have found she likes her swing. I read a little bit about creating a schedule. I really haven't done anything to create a schedule. Kaelyn has set her bedtime and when she gets up in the morning she usually eats then sleeps for another 2 or 3 hours, eat again and maybe stay up for a little bit and go back to sleep. By 12:00 the "schedule" is gone and I think it's because usually by then the days change. We either go some where and she falls asleep in the car or we play here at home. Once I go back to work I think Kaelyn will fall into a routine of her own.

I had a doctor's appointment this week. My BP looks good! I haven't been taking my medication as I should be. I forget about it now that my schedule is so different. When I was working it was easier to remember to take it because it was part of my routine. Despite the lack of medicine my BP was 124/82! My weight looks pretty good. I'm 4 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight.

We are taking our first over night trip with Kaelyn next weekend. Tim and I are going to spend the night at a camp with some friends. I'm looking forward to it! I'm sure I will over pack, but the camp isn't very close to any shopping so if I forget something it'll be a hassle to get it.

I've decided to try a little harder with the breastfeeding. I thought that I wasn't able to produce enough breast milk so I had been supplementing with formula. I believe I was wrong. After a little talk with my sister-in-law who convinced me YES YOU CAN MAKE ENOUGH MILK! I said I WILL DO THIS! :) After 3 days I have significantly cut out formula (Kaelyn gets about one 4oz bottle each day). I am noticing a huge difference in my milk supply and I expect within a couple more days I will not need to use any formula. When I had gone to the doctor's this week they gave me a prescription for something I could take for 1 week to increase my milk supply. I haven't filled it since I think I can produce the milk without it. I'm more than excited about this! I really wanted to breast feed for at least 3 months, preferably 6 months and now I truly believe I can do that!! And even longer if I want!!

Getting Easier - 6 weeks

2011-06-09T08:33:00.004-04:00

It seems that Kaelyn is starting to sleep a little more through the night!! I can't say every night is "great", but since the One Month blog most nights she is getting up only once or twice during the night. And she is starting to eat a little more during each feeding, but eating less often - we're down to about 8 feedings per day. I think the past several days she was going through a growth spurt (from what I read there is a growth spurt around 6 weeks) and was eating and sleeping more. She is starting to discover her voice (more than just crying). When I put her down on her play mat she gets her legs and arms going and starts to chatter some. It's beyond entertaining!!! :) She is also smiling more and does so when we least expect it. And I love all the facial expressions that she makes. :) Soon I'll be able to get her in her bouncing saucer seat and use the Bumbo! She's doing great with her head control. I've already started to pack away some clothes that don't fit her anymore, mainly the newborn size stuff. She's finally starting to fit into some of the cute summer clothes we have though.

Three cheers for being a Mom! I think it's really starting to grow on me! :)

Free Stuff Rules!!

2011-06-05T05:13:00.005-04:00

Tim and I were recently given a bunch of free stuff! I'm super excited about the stuff we got for Kaelyn - we got an Automatic Bouncer seat that she really seems to like, a bumbo seat, and a stationary jumper. I had wanted to get a bumbo and the jumper, but just hadn't done it yet. She isn't ready to use them yet, but once she has a little more head control I'm sure we'll be using both regularly! With all these kids toys it makes the house feel even smaller - they take up so much space!! The stroller alone is like the size of the kitchen table!! haha Hopefully we'll be able to get a bigger house before we get a bigger family! :)

As for the adult free stuff - we were given a weed whacker and a vacuum! The vacuum needed a new belt, but that was easy and now it works like it's brand new! All this stuff within 2 days! LOVE IT!!

Daddy and Kaelyn snoozing on the couch! :) (pic was taken just a few minutes ago!)

One Month

2011-05-31T21:45:00.003-04:00

Kaelyn had her 1 month check up today. She grew 2 inches in length - she is now 22 1/2 inches long which puts her in the 90th percentile for length. Her head is still kinda small and is in the 10th percentile. She weighs 9.1 pounds which is in the 50th percentile. Overall she seems to be doing well!! She got her 2nd Hep B shot and did well with it. Next month she'll have 2 shots.

Kaelyn got to meet he Nana (my mother-in-law) this weekend. Nana found that Kaelyn loves to suck on your finger. We had attempted to give her a pacifier before, but she wasn't really that interested. The finger calms her down and often puts her to sleep.

She isn't anywhere near sleeping through the night. She is usually up every 2-3 hours. Sometimes she'll go 4 hours, but not often enough!! She eats about 9-10 times per day. We give her about half breast milk and half formula each day.

Kaelyn seems to enjoy her baths. We use a wash pod which is difficult to use right now since she can't hold her head up. It's almost impossible to give her a bath without the help of another person. The soap and water make her slippery so it becomes challenging to hold her up. :)

Things are getting easier for us. I still have 2 months of leave (I return to work the end of July). I'm looking forward to more warm days and getting out more often.

2 1/2 weeks after birth

2011-05-12T16:09:00.004-04:00

People always say how fast time flies when you have a baby, but so far these past couple of weeks have been very slow. These past couple of weeks have also been quite challenging. Newborns cry about everything so it's like a stressful game trying to figure out what 'this' or 'that' cry really means. I've been concerned that I'm not producing enough milk. We have been supplementing with a little bit of formula to be sure she is putting weight on. I'm anxious for her next doctor's appointment. Since she lost 12% of her weight at the hospital (10% is common, more than that is a little concerning), however, she did gain about 1.5% back within 2 days of leaving the hhospital I just want to be sure she has continued to gain. One of the things I keep reminding myself is that she is peeing and pooping every day so that is a good sign she is eating.

Being a new parent is hard. Everything is new and there is nothing to compare anything to. I don't want to be one of those mom's who calls the doctor every other day with ridiculous questions. Although, Tim did remind me that it's okay to ask questions especially since we're first time parents. I just tend to research things online rather than pick up the phone to call the doctor's office.

I've been feeling pretty good. I'm finally able to drive again. I had a doctor's appointment today to follow up with my blood pressure and my cesarean incision. The incision became infected on one side and come to find out it was caused by a stitch that did not dissolve. The doctor numbed the area and took it out - YUCK! It already looks a lot better though. I'm down 23 pounds since delivery - just 10 more pounds until I'm back to my starting weight. I managed to button my regular jeans, but not comfortably!! haha

Yesterday Tim and I went grocery shopping while Kaelyn stayed home with my Mom and Step Dad. Although we were only grocery shopping it was nice to get out of the house together. :)

Well - the boss is waking up (Boss = Kaelyn) so I must go change her diaper and fill her belly!! :)

My Birth Story

2011-05-06T18:49:00.004-04:00

Kaelyn was born April 29th at 3:02 a.m. via c-section. Here is the story of how we got to 3:02 Friday morning.

April 28th, Thursday contractions started around 1:00 while Tim and I were hanging out at home. Around 2:00 I mention to Tim that I think things are starting. By 3:00 we start timing them and the contractions are about 5 minutes apart and last for about 1 minute. We call the doctor and they say to come in to the office. I was only dilated 2 cms (same as I had been for 2 weeks), but the doctor forces me to 3 cm *ouch* and sends us to the hospital.

We get into our labor room at about 4:30. I get an IV for the antibiotics because of the Group B Strep. I used a birthing ball along with my breathing exercises for a couple of hours or so to deal with the contractions. Tim helps by pushing on my lower back and breathing with me to help keep me going. My BP is checked occasionally as well as the babies heartbeat and all looks fairly well. I switch to getting on all fours on the bed and rock my butt back and forth which helped for awhile as well. By 9:00 the nurse checks my cervix again and I'm only 4 1/2 cm dilated. I cry. I couldn't imagine the pain getting worse at this point and I decide to go for the epidural. I felt like I was letting myself and Tim down, but he was very supportive of me doing what I felt was right. By 9:30 I get the epidural and I rest the best I can in hopes of dilating a little quicker. With the epidural I need to have constant BP monitoring and the baby's heartbeat and my contractions are regularly monitored.

By about midnight I have dilated only 1/2 cm more!! And at this point I start to feel the back contractions. The doctor starts me on Pitocin (I cry more because nothing is going as planned!) Which increases my back contractions to almost unbearable. (come to find out she was facing up which causes back contractions to be worse). I begin to throw up and dry-heave almost nonstop. By 2:00 a.m. I've dilated to only 6 cm. By throwing up my water starts to leak and the doctor checks me and finishes breaking my water. At this point we know the baby has had a bowel movement. By BP has been rather high and my heart rate was between 95 and 110 beats per minute. I had to stay on my right side because the baby's heart rate went down if I was on my back or left side. At this point the doctor is considering a c-section because of the extra strain that is being put on the baby (High BP, heart rate, and the sign of stress from her bowel movement). After another 30 minutes or so I practically beg for a c-section (along with the tears because I couldn't ever imagine myself 'wanting' a c-section). They increase the dosage of the epidural so I'm completely numbed from the waist down. I'm wheeled into surgery, prepped, and then Tim is allowed in to sit beside my head. The baby is out in a matter of minutes. To hear her cry was heartbreaking because I couldn't hold her or even see her right away. Doctors from the NICU were there to look her over and suck out the meconium from her mouth and nose. Tim was allowed to cut her cord and then she was brought over to me so I could talk to her and kiss her. The entire process was 45 minutes, with the first 10 minutes spent actually getting the baby out and the rest was to stitch me up.

I was taken to recovery where I was able to breastfeed within the first hour of her birth which I was really happy about. We stayed in the hospital for 3 nights. I don't regret a single decision I made. I'm just happy Kaelyn is here!!

38 weeks 4 days

2011-04-25T19:46:00.002-04:00

Why is everything just so hard!? haha I've been debating on whether or not I want to start my maternity leave a little early. I'm having a hard time focusing and getting anything done at work and half the time I come home early because I can hardly keep my eyes open. I even fell asleep the other day on the lunch room couch!! (Why was I even lying down on the lunch room couch you ask? Because I just couldn't sit at my desk anymore, I needed to lie down!)

As of Friday there was no change - still just 2 cm dilated. The doctor said that my placenta has some calcium deposits which tends to be more common at the end of a pregnancy. It means that the placenta is starting to weaken a little. He said it wasn't all that bad and nothing to be concerned about. If it was to happen mid-pregnancy than it would definitely be a concern. I asked my doctor about when he would induce me (if necessary). Because of my BP issues he doesn't want me to go over my May 5th due date. So I think if there is still no change at my Friday appointment (April 29th - 39 weeks 1 day) than we'll schedule an induction for the following week (the week of my due date). This is the LAST thing I want. I really want to go into labor naturally. He did say that we'll induce sooner if the baby is showing signs of stress or my BP starts to increase too much.

My appointment is at 10:30 tomorrow morning, think they'll be any change? I haven't noticed any contractions the past couple of days. Although sometimes I think the Braxton Hicks contractions can go unnoticed. My appetite has been insane! And by looking at these pictures you will notice that my belly is also insane! Sometimes I don't think that it feels that big, but other days I'm like "holy crap, who put this here". :)

Nursery and Belly Update

2011-04-19T20:26:00.006-04:00

The nursery pics above include when friends of ours helped paint the room a few months ago. Everything seems to be in its place now we're just waiting for the little lady to get here.

I ended up having an ultrasound at my doctor's appointment today. The baby weighs about 7 1/2 pounds and if I go until my due date she will definitely weigh more than 9 pounds! She looks great though. I'm still 2cm dilated - no change there. (boooo) I could still "go" at anytime though! Fortunately, my blood pressure has been staying relatively low. My weight gain is a little more than I had hoped for - 32 pounds. Not much I can do at this point! And the time has come to say I've got stretch marks. Yes - on the underneath part of my belly. It makes me very sad. The first 3/4 of my pregnancy I felt like things were *perfect*. I was loving every second of it. Then this past month things got "hard". Physically I'm tired, but emotionally I'm like on a crazy roller coaster and it's not fun. The weight gain started to bother me and more recently the stretch marks made their grand entrance! I can admit to the constipation, the extra gas, or even the extra "discharge"! but to admit I have stretch marks is uncomfortable for me. sigh*

Once our little girl is here I'm sure these stretch marks and this weight gain will be the furthest thing from my mind. The stretch marks I can only hope will fade quickly. I plan to breastfeed which tends to burn a lot of extra calories so I don't feel I'll have trouble getting the weight to come off.

37 Weeks I'm ready I'm ready I'm ready

2011-04-17T21:19:00.002-04:00

This weeks Doctor's appointment went fairly well. Tuesday my BP was a little high. My first reading was 128/86. The nurses did a second reading after I finished up my appointment and it got higher - 136/92! The Doctor debated on increasing my medicine which was the last thing I wanted, but he decided to wait and see what it would be like Friday. Fortunately on Friday it was a little lower at 130/82 so still no increase in my med's - thank God! On Friday I was 2 cm dilated and 50% thinned out (effaced). YAY! Yes, I know I could be 2 cm for weeks, but I'm excited just the same. I'm hoping maybe things have changed a little by my Tuesday appointment.

Tomorrow night I have my breastfeeding class from about 6-8:30. I'm not super excited about going - it's going to make for a very long day.

Tim and I went out shopping today and picked up a few more baby things. The baby's room is ready. My bag is packed. I wanted to make a couple more dinner things to freeze, but I just didn't have the energy left to do it this weekend. O well! Guess that means my family will have to make us stuff! :)

36 Weeks - Time for Child Ed Classes!

2011-04-10T08:08:00.004-04:00

No, they don't call it Lamaze class anymore. We do go over breathing exercises though among many other things like the birthing process, child care after the baby is born, we get a tour of the labor area/nursery, pain meds, and we talk about the questions we have. We also got a ton informational stuff. Yesterday was our first class, 12-5 and today we have another class 12-5 and then there is one more class Monday, April 18th from about 6-8:30 and that class goes over just breastfeeding. Most of the class yesterday kind of went over stuff we already knew, but I'm still happy we're taking the class. There are 10 other couples in the class -"interesting" couples. The instructor is really great! She's really animated which makes most everything funny - at one point Tim and I were the only ones laughing and we both had to make a conscious effort to stop! :) I guess not EVERYONE finds her as funny as we do.

My Dr's appointments this past week went well. Everything seems to be staying right around "normal". I'm noticing some swelling in my feet and legs. Right now my feet look better - ankle bone has reappeared and my toes will spread a part again. My hands also look a little less vienna sausage like. I wonder how long this will last?

Less than 4 weeks to go until our due date. I think we're pretty much ready - with the word ready used very loosely. There are still a couple of things I'd like to get before she gets here, but they are not "must haves". I'd like to get a few meals cooked and in the freezer so when we get home we have some dinners that will be easy to thaw and reheat. I did make some banana bread and blueberry muffins so far. Next weekend I'll probably make a larger grocery run and get some things made up.

My hospital bag is almost ready. I need to get some stuff together for Tim (not that he can't pack for himself, but there are some things I don't think he'll consider to pack). I'm going to be a Mom - I think I'm getting scared!

35 weeks - Ultrasound!!

2011-04-01T19:20:00.003-04:00

We had another ultrasound today! It went really well! Our little girl is weighing in at 6 lbs 4 oz. They measured her limbs and those seem proportionate to her size so that's good. Her organs look good, she did what they call 'practice' breathing, and she's in the head down position (which she was at the last ultrasound too, 3 weeks ago). We say her sucking on her fingers and open up her mouth. She has hair!! We weren't able to get a picture of her full face, but we did get some good profile pictures. She's got chubby little cheeks that I plan to squeeze as soon as she gets here! The last ultrasound pic is of her hand! She had her fingers spread right out.
Everything else looked good as well - my BP was 118/78 and my weight and urine looked good too! On Tuesday I had the Group B Strep test done and it came back positive. About 25% of woman have Group B Strep as one of the bacteria's in their vagina and I just happen to fall into that category. This means I'll need to have an IV of antibiotics during delivery. If I don't there is a chance I could pass the Strep onto the baby during delivering and she could get very sick.
Hopefully she decides to come a little a early so that way I'm not delivering a 10 pound baby! She's going to continue to average about 1/2 pound weight gain for the next 5 weeks. I had a couple of dreams last night about delivery and having her here. One of them I don't remember much about, but I do remember the due date being April 21st or 22nd! Wouldn't that be crazy if that really happened? The other one I think was a due date of April 1st (today!) and in the dream I remembered me asking Tim a ton of questions because I couldn't remember anything about the birth of the baby. In the dream it just seemed like she was all of a sudden here, but he remembered everything about the birth - weird.

I think I swallowed a basketball!

All is well in the world of The Belly

2011-03-27T18:48:00.006-04:00

I'm definitely having an emotional 3rd trimester. I think most of it is brought on by limited sleep. I do struggle a little during the work day. I've talked with my boss and fortunately he's really understanding. I have left a little early a few times (usually only a couple of hours or so) and he's fine with that. I take a nap in the afternoon on the weekends which makes a big difference!

My doctor's appointments (still every Tuesday and Friday) are going really well. My blood pressure has stayed relatively low and was 112/78 this past Friday! The nurse actually doubled checked it because it hadn't been running that low. The previous visit was 128/88. My urine has been good and my weight is staying on track. We'll be having another ultrasound this coming Friday. YAY! :)

Once again this woman at work (not the same one that said "wow, you're belly is getting really big") asked me how many weeks I had left, I told her six, she said I wasn't going to go that long (because clearly I'm like the size of a monster or something *sarcasm*). She said either that or "you're having twins" - are you for freakin' real lady!!!! I felt I had to defend my swollen belly by telling her that maybe it's because I'm not a big person to begin with and the weight is all in my belly so it just LOOKS bigger. Plus, I said to her that my weight is on track and that my belly actually measures pretty average. She gave me the look of "ya, right". Bitch please! I will slap you!!

Last weekend I had my family/friends baby shower. I don't have many pictures because my Mom took most of them and they're on her camera - maybe I can post some at a later time. We received so much stuff it was really awesome! We got a lot of the big items from our registry actually we got a lot of the stuff from our registry. There wasn't much left when I looked at it after the shower. We surprisingly didn't get many duplicate items either. We received a lot of books which I was really happy about. There was also a "diaper tower" so we received a TON of diapers!! LOVE IT! Tim came by later to help load up the car. I think he was excited and surprised to see all the stuff we got! And he got to put his amazing packing skills to good use by packing everything into the car with strategic precision!

This picture is after everything was opened and we were trying to consolidate it into some of the larger gift bags.

"WOW, you're really getting big..."

2011-03-17T18:23:00.005-04:00

Seriously, when is it ever a good idea to say this to ANYONE!! If you feel you must point out the obvious than please follow it up with some sort of compliment. And by compliment I don't mean you talking about how HUGE you were when you were pregnant over twenty years ago. I'm
tired, emotional, and uncomfortable. And unless I mention it first I'd rather you didn't say how big you think I am.

I'm 33 weeks along today! Just another 7 weeks to go. Unless of course the little lady decides to make an appearance early! :)

Tuesday I had a doctor's appointment and had a non stress test done on the baby. They put a heart rate monitor on my belly and record the babies heartbeat for about 15-20 minutes. I also had the standard things checked - BP, urine, and weight - all of which looked good! I go back late morning tomorrow to do the same thing all over again! With all these visits I've been making I've gotten to know the entire office really well! :) My calves have been tight the past couple of days - more so in the morning. They cramp up during the night so the next day they're sore. And I've been having some Braxton Hicks contractions. They don't hurt, but it's really uncomfortable to sit while your belly feels like a steel ball! Just when I thought my heartburn couldn't get any worse... it has. Sometimes it hurts so bad I feel like I'm going to throw up. Sure enough, in my sleep I threw up a little in my mouth which of course woke me up IMMEDIATELY! I have also been trying to drink as much water as I can possibly choke down. It's not always difficult to drink a lot of water because I feel thirsty all the time, but it tends to be an issue when I wake up 6 times a night (sipping my water every time I wake up - I can't help it, I'm SO THIRSTY). :)

Tim said my belly looks really white. Do I need to point out the obvious (I'm white).

8 Months - All is well*

2011-03-11T18:56:00.005-05:00

We had our 32 week ultrasound today! Little lady weighs about 4 lbs 13 oz! That's about 2 lbs more than 4 weeks ago. She looks great - her weight is slightly above average, but we weren't able to get her length measurement because she was all bent up so hopefully she's not below average on height :) . You could even see the beginnings of a little chubby wrist wrinkle that babies sometimes have. I've been having good movement and she was doing lots of her practice "breathing" which is one of the things they are looking for at 32 weeks. I'm also doing pretty good. My BP was 120/82 which was good, but the doctor thinks we'll need to increase my medicine again soon. I can only take 3 more pills and I'll be maxed! My weight was also pretty good. I didn't gain anything from last week, I actually "lost" .4 pounds. I say lost very loosely considering time of day and the clothes I wear can obviously make a difference. My weight gain is 23.7 pounds to date. I should gain about 1 pound per week from here on out and 1/2 of that will go right to the baby. I think I may be starting to retain a little water, but it's difficult to say for sure. Occasionally my hands feel a little swollen and sometimes I take my wedding ring off. I think it's normal though to start retaining water at this point. Anyway, now that I've hit my 32 week mark I need to have 2 visits PER WEEK! This is normal for high risk pregnancy's, but holy crap dude! 2 times per week!!

My next visit is Tuesday, March 15th at 8:45.

31 Weeks -

2011-03-05T19:22:00.006-05:00

My doctor's appointment went well yesterday. BP was 134/78 which the doctor was happy with and my urine came back good too!! I'm up 24 pounds now. Sigh* Still got 2 months to go! I'm looking forward to our next appointment Friday, March 11th - 32 Week ultrasound! The last one we had done at 28 weeks she weighed about 3 pounds, this one will help determine if she's going to be a monster or a peanut. :) Tim and I were both monsters haha!!

Tim and I went through the stuff I got at the baby shower this week. I did my first load of baby laundry. :) There's at least one more load to do. People have been good about getting different sizes so we have quite an array between 0 and 9 months plus a few things up to 12 months. Tim got the diaper genie set up. I still have to pick up a few things in her room, but we got most of it taken care of.

Tim's been so amazing around the house. He knows I've been extra tired and not feeling so great. Plus I've been pretty emotional lately so he's being really good to me. He cleans the house, DOES THE DISHES, he even made dinner tonight. Even if dinner was just hot dogs and beans! :) haha!
I consider myself pretty lucky!

In this last picture I can't believe that is my belly! And it's only getting bigger!!

Baby Shower @ Work!!

2011-03-02T19:56:00.002-05:00

I was thrown a very successful baby shower at work today! LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! :) I got two homemade quilts that came out really nice! Plus lots of clothes, a diaper genie, books, humidifier, hamper (that matches the theme we have), a diaper cake :), 3 more blankets, and lots of other really great stuff. There was a ton of yummy food too! I'm anxious to go through all the stuff with Tim.

Update on other stuff: I went to the doctor again on Tuesday and my BP was good at 119/78. I also had blood work done which came back fine and my urine was good! So things seem to be going well and staying under control which I'm obviously very happy about. I go back to the doctor's on Friday to just follow up again.

The baby has been moving around a lot in the night. Usually around 2-2:30 I get up to pee and that's when she starts to get active again! I tend to lie awake for at least 30-45 minutes re-settling myself and the baby! This past weekend Tim and I watched my belly and could see the baby moving. I loved it! It was the first time Tim actually "saw" her move and not just felt it. Just a couple of more months and she'll be here!! :)

Blood Pressure Issues - Week 30

2011-02-26T20:12:00.008-05:00

Thursday morning I wasn't feeling so great and got a little lightheaded so I thought it would be a good idea to check my Blood Pressure (BP). It was 149/95. Not good! This was after the doctor had increased my medicine from 750mg to 1000mg per day (Aldomet comes in 250mg pills) about two weeks prior. I had a nurses visit scheduled for Friday (yesterday), but I thought I should call anyway. They had me go in to get some blood work done, but fortunately everything came back fine. The Doctor increased my medicine by another 500mg, so I'm up to 1500mg per day! That's double what I was taking prior to getting pregnant. This medicine, like most BP medicines, causes me to be tired, lightheaded, dizzy... blah blah. Plus I'm tired from my restless nights (frequent bathroom breaks) and the fact I'm carrying an extra 20 pounds! I know it sounds like I'm complaining... haha! I promise that I still love being pregnant! :) So, anyway, the appointment on Friday went okay. My BP was down to 117/62 - which the nurse and doctor were happy about. The nurse also checked my pee and sure enough there was a little bit of protein in it. This can be a sign of preeclampsia if my BP was high too. I have to keep monitoring my BP at home and if it gets at all high than I need to call the Doctor. For now my next appointment is my normally scheduled 32 week check up - WITH ULTRASOUND!!

Family photo!
I love this picture minus the fact that from this angle I look "wide".

Sometimes my back just hurts so I gotta do a little stretching. ;) Tim actually laughed out loud at me, but obviously snapped a photo at the same time.

Nurse Nancy's Bran Muffins

2011-02-20T16:25:00.004-05:00

I know everyone is anxious to know the bran muffin recipe that I got from the nurse the other day. :) I made some this afternoon and they are delicious! I even got Tim to try one! He liked it, but then he said they gave him heartburn. I don't think he knows what heartburn is because even I didn't get heartburn from these!! haha

So - if you're looking for a healthy fiber kick with a ton of other GOOD stuff (and maybe a couple of bad like sugar, crisco, buttermilk) than these muffins are perfect for you! According to nurse Nancy the last 4 spices in the recipe are key factors in helping you stay "regular". The recipe is large and depending on how big you like your muffins than this could make up to 4 dozen muffins!! I got 3 dozen plus 5. Some of the muffins I made were a little larger than others too.

Nancy's Bran Muffins

1 - 150z box Raisin Bran
1 cup melted Crisco
3 cups Sugar
5 cups Flour
5 tsp baking soda
4 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 qt Buttermilk OR 1 qt whole milk soured w/ 1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg

Mix dry ingredients, add egg, milk, stir
Optional: add 1-2 cups blueberries
Pre-heat oven 400 degrees
Bake 20 mins in greased muffin tins
** I used buttermilk rather than the soured whole milk and I used 2 cups of blueberries, but would have preferred more. And I think she said something about replacing the Crisco with sunflower oil to cut out some of the badness, but I didn't look into that. :)

29 weeks and feeling better

2011-02-19T19:07:00.006-05:00

I went back to the doctor's on Thursday and saw one of the nurses to check on my blood pressure. It was down to 127/78, not as low as it had been but still good! I had them check my at home BP cuff too to be sure it was correct (which it is). I'm going back to see the nurse again on Friday to make sure my BP is still in check. The nurse gave me a recipe for muffins that are "guaranteed" to keep me "going" :) She said to eat about 2 every day and it should help me stay regular. It's a HUGE batch and I don't imagine Tim will be eating any so I'll probably freeze some. I'm going to make them tomorrow! YUM :)

I had my first prenatal massage yesterday after work. Tim set it up for me for my Valentine's Day gift. It felt really great! I hope to go a couple more times before the baby is born. Then of course I'll also need to go AFTER she's born :)

Tim and I went shopping today and I got some new baby outfits and a few books for the baby. Tim thinks that the baby already has more clothes than he does, but what he's not considering is that her clothes are in different sizes since she'll be growing so quickly. I also FINALLY got some new bras for myself! Everything I had just didn't fit well and was uncomfortable.

Obie was giving little lady a hug :) ... or not.

oh geez!! constipated...what?

2011-02-11T17:04:00.006-05:00

This doctor's visit was a little less then perfect. Before I get into the embarrassingly honest part of the check up I'll start with the ultrasound. The baby looks good!! She weighs just over 3 pounds. She continues to measure slightly above normal, but it's not a big deal. Tim and I both weighed a little over 8 pounds when born so the doctor's expecting a big baby! YIKES haha! She refused to move her hands out of her face so we got a bunch of shots that look identical to the one above. This one at least has a little eye poking out :) I found out that because I have high blood pressure (again, I have been treating this with medication for several years) is the reason they are doing extra ultrasounds. So I'll have another one at our next appointment, March 11th, 32 weeks!! Often times women with high blood pressure have baby's that don't grow as well, but apparently our little girl is doing just fine!! YAY!!

My blood pressure was a little high, 130/81. Nothing major, but higher than the doctor would like at this stage of pregnancy. I had been running 115/74 or so. The doctor is increasing my medication dosage and I need to keep a closer eye on it. I have a blood pressure cuff at home so I can check it and he wants me to stop in sometime next week to see how it is. sigh* Weight gain. Oh, the weight gain!! 10 pounds my friends... I gained 10 pounds in one month!!! Not ideal!! I gained 2 1/2 months worth of weight in 4 weeks. In my defense the last appointment when I was weighed I was doing my glucose test so I hadn't eaten breakfast AND I normally have my appointments after lunch so I'm guessing I had really gained more at that point it was just the timing of the day that threw things off. With that said...I'm up to a total weight gain of 19 pounds. Not horrible since the doctor wants to see me stay between 25 and 35 pounds. Also, when the doctor did my exam to be sure my cervix was still closed as it should be he immediately says "you're constipated". I was a little surprised and said "I am?" and he again repeats yes haha! I said that I'm pooping every day or so I thought, but he said it just isn't enough poop! He made a lovely estimate of about 2-3 pounds of poop is in there! Which my first thought was "thank God, I didn't ACTUALLY gain 10 pounds, part of it is just POOP!" He said to take some Metamucil or another fiber supplement OR take a suppository. And in the doctor's words the suppository "would blow you right out" HAHAHA!!! Guess you guys know what I'll be doing this weekend! But seriously, how he knew in a matter of seconds that I was constipated without doing any type of rectal exam or even asking me if I was going to the bathroom is beyond me! haha! Tim was even a little surprised when the doctor just blurts it out!

Not my best doctor's visit. I am concerned about my blood pressure. I had noticed myself getting a little light headed once and awhile. I'm just going to keep taking care of myself, maybe cut out a few sweet :)

Waddled my way into the 3rd trimester!

2011-02-10T18:58:00.002-05:00

Today was one of my more emotional days. The same woman that had asked me about my due date and suggested that I looked bigger or further along then I was about a month ago once again asked me the same thing! With the same suggestive attitude! I'm sure she isn't trying to be rude, but today it just made me feel a little upset. I went to another lady and asked her to please reassure me that I'm not too big for 7 months. Never once have I felt too big or unhealthy and when I look at myself in the mirror I never thought that I looked further along than I really am. By no means do I feel sexy with this big bump on the front of me, but I feel good! Anyway, the lady I talked with made me feel better along with a couple of other co-worker moms. I just don't understand why the mean girl says anything. She's a mom!!! Granted her son is probably in his late 30's, but that doesn't mean she completely forgot about what it is like to be pregnant. Then to end the work day I got a bloody nose.

So...apparently I have a waddle. :) Couple of people at work tease me about it. haha! And I'm to the point that if I drop something I actually think about whether I need to pick it up or if I can just leave it there. :) Not that bending down hurts, but it's uncomfortable.

Tomorrow we have our doctor's appointment which I'm really looking forward to. I haven't been paying as much attention to my weight gain, but I feel I'm still pretty much on target. I'll post another update with some pics after the appointment! Hopefully we'll be able to get another video of the baby so I can post that too!

27 Weeks - about 3 more months to go!

2011-02-02T15:56:00.008-05:00

My friend who is 13 weeks ahead of me just had her baby on Tuesday. I saw some of the first photos taken of the baby and the three of them as a family and I practically bawled my eyes out. I have never been a mushy baby person, but seeing them together as a little family it made me want our baby to be here right now!! It's so special to see a new family that's just like us. I went to visit them Thursday after work and got to hold the baby for awhile. I loved it! It made me feel a little less scared and more excited for the day to come when we bring our little girl home.

I went shopping with Mom and Karen today. We spent some time walking around Burlington Baby Depot. I bought the bed set for the baby's room - it's in the dryer now so I'll get the crib set up as soon as it's dry!! I need to iron the crib skirt which I'll probably do tomorrow. I picked out a pack n play (play pen) that Mom is going to get for us. And I had shown Karen the changing table we want so she's probably going to get that! YAY!! We spent most of our time looking at little girl's clothes. Mom bought a couple of outfits - one of which I just LOVE LOVE LOVE! :) She won't be able to wear it until she's 6-9 months, but that's okay. I saw some of the sweetest summer dresses too!! LOVE.

Not a lot has changed physically for me since last week. The baby tends to move as soon as I lay down to go to bed. Her kicks/movement make me jump sometimes because she's obviously getting bigger and stronger. This is the time that I end up talking to her asking her what the heck is going on in there! :) Tim continues to point and say 'look at that belly'. haha! And I keep reminding him that it WILL be getting BIGGER! :)

Hello 6 1/2 Months

2011-01-29T18:10:00.005-05:00

I know "most" research says Pregnancy Brain is a myth, but like many other mom's I disagree. If it's not real then I could possibly be in the early stages of Alzheimer's! Or not, but still!! I haven't been sleeping as good as I used to. I've always been the kind of person who sleeps 8 hours straight most every night. As I've said before I get up at least twice I night now to go to the bathroom and getting back to sleep can be hard. I've also noticed my crazy dreaming has come back. On the nights that I've been dreaming a lot I get really hot so when I wake up to pee I'm even more uncomfortable! I know - these things are minor, but it's all I've got to complain about so far! Well - other than the heartburn!!

I've been having my moments of wanting to eat myself out of house and home! Sometimes I give in to the need for a little while, but fortunately even as a pregnant woman I do get full! :) While I'm at work I stare at the clock to figure out how long it's been since I last ate so that way I can eat again. I don't want to eat all the snacks I brought before lunch so I need to space them out!

Couple more weeks before our next appointment. My mom and sister are going to come with us to see the ultrasound again. The baby has been moving around a lot more this past week or maybe it's just that I can feel her more because she's getting bigger. I love feeling her move around. And I like it even more when Tim gets to feel her. I don't care for the kicks to the bladder so much :) But I love her so much I don't care!!

6 months 1 week

2011-01-20T19:20:00.003-05:00

The baby is about the size of an eggplant this week. She's going to start putting a little bit of fat on now - right now her skin is kind of transparent. I'm definitely starting to notice my belly. I'm not nearly as graceful as I once was especially getting out of bed which ends up being about 2-4 times per night. More people at work are starting to mention my belly. Today I had a belly "comparison" with a guy that I work with. A bunch of people from my department were gathered around (food was involved) and I stood beside him and he stuck out his belly (which he didn't really need to since it was already bigger than mine haha!) Everyone cracked up laughing. A couple of days ago one woman I work with asked me how far along I was. She said I looked big for 6 months. THANKS A LOT LADY!! haha!

My heartburn has begun to intensify. Everything but water can trigger it at this point! I'm trying not to overdo on the Tums, but there are times it hurts really bad and if it's before bed FORGET IT - I have to take something. Still no stretch marks and I haven't noticed the dark line under my belly button although not every woman gets these. I'm tired today probably because I was up 4 times last night! (Or maybe it's the fact that I'm GROWING A BABY!) Fortunately I'm able to get back to sleep fairly quickly. I think I should invest in a maternity pillow. I've looked at them before, but decide against getting one. I couldn't justify spending the $40-$50 on one. I had stopped using a pillow between my legs, but started again last night and it made a difference; I felt more comfortable. But now I need the support under my belly too and the maternity pillow would help both these issues. I could just use a second pillow to wedge under my belly, but when I'm getting up and down in the middle of the night it's such a pain! I hate just readjusting the pillow between my knees let alone mess with a second pillow for my belly.

My doctors office called this week and said they want to do another ultrasound at my next visit, February 11th. They want to do a growth chart. They said it's normal to do it between 28 and 32 weeks. At my next appointment I'll be 28 weeks, so I'm kind of surprised they called to have me come in earlier instead of just waiting until the appointment after. Not that I mind!! :) I love seeing my little girl.

Starting the Nursery

2011-01-17T19:37:00.004-05:00

Our friends Mike and Libby helped us paint over the "Purple Room". When Tim and I moved in to this house the room was a light green color (probably a kids room :) ) and we decided to paint over it and went with a fun purple color. It felt like we had just painted it purple yesterday, but actually it's been almost 3 years since we've been in this house. The color we chose is a cream/beige/tan like color - pictures tend to throw off color a little bit. We used the same color that the theme set uses online. It's a safe and simple. We plan to move in the next 2-3 years since this house is only a 1 bathroom/ 2 bedroom home (with a "bonus" room in the basement). By going with a more simple color we won't have to paint it again before we move. I'm happy with the way the color came out. We have some wall decals to put up which I think we'll do together this weekend. Tim can be a perfectionist on some things and I'll just end up throwing the decals up randomly. I see him moving them around right up until the baby is born. :)

I spent some time this afternoon re-organizing some of the baby clothes I have been given so far. I hadn't taken any of the tags off so I did that. I've hardly bought any clothes for her, but I'm surprised at how much I have been given from others already! :) It's awesome! Each week when I go grocery shopping I buy either a package of diapers or wipes. Diapers are expensive!! So far I've had a coupons to use. The coupons have been for Huggies brand, but I have heard that Pampers are superior. I guess I'll end up finding out when she gets here.

Holy Crap - 6 months!! Just 111 more days to go!

2011-01-14T19:09:00.009-05:00

Seriously people I can't even tell you how well this pregnancy is going! The baby looked great today, she weighs 1 pound 11 ounces and the pictures that they were unable to get the last time they were able to get easily today (pics of her spine). Although she didn't move around much because she appeared to be sleeping. We did get a short video of her tapping her feet against my belly. :) (That video is at the bottom of this blog). My weight gain is PERFECT - about 12 pounds gained so far. I past the glucose test with flying colors (my number was 125 and they want it under 140). Her heart rate was 139 BPM which is normal. I'm starting to see some of her movement through my shirt which is just crazy! I LOVE IT!! I love pregnancy, I love my belly, and I love this little baby girl!! Our next appointment is February 11th.

I took the day off (and Tim always has Friday's off) so after the doctor's appointment we went out to breakfast (I spoiled myself with the biggest Dysart's breakfast EVER!), we picked out paint for the nursery, we added some more things to our registry, and Tim got his hair cut. While Tim was getting is hair done I went over to The Children's Place and bought a couple of things for the baby. :)

So far my belly button hasn't "popped" despite my uterus being about the size of a soccer ball. My back has been a little sore and my hips occasionally hurt. I haven't had any swelling yet which I'm happy about (duh). I'm only getting up in the night about 2 times to pee - this I'm sure will increase near the end of my pregnancy. Some nights it's worse because when I get up to pee I also end up getting a drink - I'm just SO thirsty! I haven't had any major cravings other than a very serious need for Swiss Rolls. I have fought this need because once I have one I'm not sure how I will be able to stop myself from eating the whole box. Swiss Rolls were my all time favorite snack as a kid. I considered buying the individual packs at a convenience store, but these never taste quite the same. I have a feeling that I'll be breaking down soon and buying a box... :)

5 months 3 weeks

2011-01-06T19:07:00.006-05:00

Still going strong! Belly is a little itchy sometimes, but I'm moisturizing with Bella B Tummy Honey Butter twice a day and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!! It says it's not greasy, but it is a little bit. I try to let it absorb a little before I put my clothes over it. I'm finally getting over a nasty cold! I stayed home from work on Monday. I was hardly sleeping because I was up coughing so much and I couldn't get comfortable. I'm supposed to sleep on my sides at night, but my hips have been hurting so I'm up at least every 2 hours to switch sides (and usually while I'm up I pee). My calves are super tight too - maybe that's not a pregnancy symptom HAHA! :) I think I'm going to make an appointment for a massage soon. I totally deserve it - I'm friggin' growin' a baby here! :)

This weekend we got our registry started at Burlington Baby Depot. I still have some things I'd like to add, but I think we got a pretty darn good list going! We're going to go with a Safari theme. It's mainly purple with a monkey, giraffe,
and an elephant. It's cute and we both agreed on
it which is good! I'm not sure when I'll go back to add some other stuff...maybe Sunday. I don't think Tim would care to go again. We got a little overwhelmed at one point with all the stuff that we would "need". Next weekend friends of ours are going to help us (minus me) paint the nursery. I think we're going to go with a simple cream/tan kind of color and maybe put up a chair rail. We haven't actually picked the color out yet, but that's what we have agreed on as of yesterday.

Our next doctor's appointment is next Friday at 8:00. I'm having my blood sugar tested so I can't eat after midnight - this is major!! I eat breakfast at about 6:30 and then I eat a second breakfast (small snack or something) at about 8:30. I will be so starving by 8:00. So I get there, they have me drink some sweet, syrupy drink they prick me, then I get to have another 3-d ultrasound because at the last ultrasound they weren't able to get certain pictures because the baby wouldn't move into the right position. YAY to seeing little baby girlie again! Then after (about 9:00) I get to drink more sweet, syrupy stuff and get pricked again - THEN I CAN EAT!! I'll probably bring a snack so I can eat it while Tim and I are driving somewhere for breakfast.

My first little baby! Mr. Obie!

22 weeks - Lil Miss Papaya

2010-12-27T20:08:00.010-05:00

I started a Prenatal Yoga video this week. So far I really like it. In some ways it just seemed like glorified stretching, but it felt good and I was shaking through some of the poses. It's about 30 minutes long which is reasonable and it isn't difficult to follow along. My inner thighs and baby-delivering-area have felt it the most :) I suppose there is a reason for that! I've done it 3 times this week so far - I'm hoping to stick with it. I think my body really needs this kind of exercise and yoga has such a calming way about it, I love it!

I read Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy this week. It was okay. It was super short (only like 160 pages), and just lightly touches on different symptoms that women experience during pregnancy, but nobody ever really talks about. Quick and easy read and it wasn't as funny as I thought it would be.

This weekend we're going to Burlington Baby Depot to work on getting a gift registry together. YAY! I'm super excited to start looking at little girl stuff! :) Hopefully we'll be able to settle on a theme (or color/colors... something!) I'm hoping we'll also get around to moving some stuff out of the nursery and find new homes for it. And it's a must to get that room painted LIKE ASAP! :)

I went shopping on my lunch break today. I got a couple of new outfits and some extra tops! It'll be nice to have more than 3 pairs of pants I can wear to work! Plus having a few more top options will help. Hmm...what to wear tomorrow?

Christmas!

2010-12-26T10:48:00.003-05:00

Another successful Christmas is now behind us. Tim got more books, cd's, and concert dvd's than I think he could have imagined. I got a Kindle, a waffle maker (that I used this morning and made delicious blueberry waffles), I also got an air purifier for my office which I'm very excited about. My office is in an area where NO fresh air will EVER enter. Last winter was the first time I had been in that office and I ended up with three colds/sinus infections which is not normal for me. Hopefully this little contraption will help some. I made a super yummy breakfast Christmas morning with french toast, blueberry pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, english muffins, and cinnamon buns! It was OVER THE TOP good! Today I'm going to spend some time playing around with my Kindle and buy a few ebooks for it. My brother-in-law got me a gift card to Amazon.com so now I just need to decide what books I will be spending it on!

And of course I have to mention that the little baby girl got a fair share of gifts for herself! She ended up with diapers, a diaper bag, clothes, blankets, toys, and this sweet little sheep that plays soothing sounds. Tim and I are really lucky to have such awesome family and friends.

Now that Christmas is behind us we're going to be focusing on getting the nursery together. It's a little bit of a mess right now because I used it as my Christmas wrapping station. :) We need to get the stuff moved out of it soon so I can have the room re-painted before we put more baby stuff/furniture into it.

Well, I need to get myself motivated. After two days of homemade breakfast I've got a ton of dishes to do, plus there are pine needles all over the carpet AND gifts that need to be put away. :) I don't know if we'll get around to taking the tree down today or not. We'll see!

21 Weeks!! Halfway there...

2010-12-23T19:00:00.006-05:00

Can't believe I'm already halfway through my pregnancy! I have loved every moment of it!! And I have felt really great. I've been making an effort to "move" more and stretch before bed and a little at work. I'm usually good about making reasonable food choices, but it's been a challenge this week at work. One girl had a birthday and someone made her a 2 layer chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. I love, love cake so I had a piece. I swear there was so much sugar in the cake that it took maybe 10 minutes for me to go from "normal" to "crazy-sugar-high". I felt awful because obviously that meant the baby was also on a sugar high. :/ She moved around a lot that day which continuously reminded me that I had fed her too much sugar! Tim kinda laughed at me when I told him haha!

I've talked to a lot of women and many have mentioned their delivery experiences - in a non-horrific way. Ya, I get it... it's going to hurt like f'in crazy! It's amazing how no delivery is the same though. I have heard about 30 minute deliveries (meaning she barely made it to the hospital on time, her hair was still in place, and her make up didn't have a single smudge!) And I've heard about 24 hour deliveries!
Tim and I have been discussing day care. I really would rather not put my baby in day care, especially when they are only 3 months old. I'll have 12 weeks maternity leave, but we don't really have a plan as to what we'll do with her after that is over. Not working is unfortunatly is NOT an option. :( I suppose we'll figure it out and hopefully we do so within the next several months. For now I'll just focus on nursery theme and baby names! :)

Pants, Free Stuff, Nursery...etc.

2010-12-18T19:32:00.003-05:00

I feel like my belly has definitely popped over the last week and half! My uterus is now up to my belly button so my belly button is starting to flatten out a bit, but is far from "popping" haha! Tim and I went to the Motherhood store in the mall today and got my first pair of maternity jeans. My regular jeans were beginning to be uncomfortable especially while sitting. I got a few free things at Motherhood for giving my name/address/phone number. It wasn't anything major, but I did get a $20 card to Shutterfly, some coupons, and a couple of sample Sunsweet dried prunes! hahaha!! YUM? They also threw in some pamphlets (because I seriously don't have enough from my Doctor's office!) :)

Tim and I have been discussing the nursery theme. We had agreed on Lady Bugs, but when I showed him the set I liked at Burlington Baby Depot he wasn't really feeling it. He's looking for something a little more "fun". :) He pictured more cartoon like lady bugs and Burlington doesn't have any like that. Needless to say we've gone back to the drawing board - although I love the lady bug idea :( Tim did say we could go with it, but that was after he said how much he DIDN'T like the one I had chosen! haha - how could I go with it knowing he didn't like it? I keep saying that once Christmas is over we'll focus on the nursery, but I can't wait! :) We went to Target today and I peeked at some of the little girls clothes and decided to get a little shirt. I haven't really bought many clothes because I know I'm going to get a bunch from family and friends (LOVE you guys!)

I'm still mentally registering that we're having a girl. It's crazy to finally KNOW. I loved being able to look at just girl stuff today. As we walked around Target I was thinking about Christmas next year and she'll be 7 almost 8 months old! I have always loved Christmas, but I expect that after this year it will forever be different - more special - in so many ways!

MERRY CHRISTMAS*

We're having a GIRL!!

2010-12-15T18:42:00.005-05:00

Little baby feet!!

We had our 20 week check up and ultrasound today! We found out we're having a girl! Everything looks good, she's healthy and active. She weighs in at a whopping 14 ounces! :) I swear she looks like me and totally has Tim's legs! (his are longer than mine and I'm thinking her legs look long). My mom, sister, and sister-in-law were there to share in the moment with Tim and I. I loved having them there, as did Tim, it made it even more special. Many people at work were surprised that I wanted to know the sex of the baby. They asked "why don't you want to be surprised"? But really, it's still a surprise whether I know now or in another 4 months. And they really don't know me because I would definitely prefer to know and
"plan" than to have a bunch of yellow and white
things for the baby.

I always know that Tim is super excited about our appointments, but while we're AT/IN the appointment he tends to not show his emotions. After it's over we usually hang outside for a bit and just digest what happened. That's when I see the excitement. :) He says he's just trying to take it all in and then once it settles he gets excited. haha On his way home from work tonight he bought me some flowers. And he kept saying how there was a little girl in my belly :) AND he took tonight off from work so we could spend the evening together! YAY!!

Now it's time to figure out the nursery and decide on a name. We have a first name in mind, but I don't want to formally announce it until we're 100% sure. Once Christmas is over we'll register for baby gifts and start getting the nursery a little more organized. We haven't decided whether or not we're going to change the wall color. Right now it's a purple, but it may be a little too dark for a baby's room. The sun doesn't go into that room at any point during the day so I'd rather have it a little brighter of a color.

One thing I'm a little upset about is that I thought I was going to have video on the CD they gave me. I knew we'd have pictures from the ultrasound, but my friend who is pregnant got a video on hers. :(

My little Mango!

2010-12-09T20:22:00.004-05:00

I'm 19 weeks along today! The baby is about the size of a Mango - 6 inches long and 8.5 ounces. Each week I read up on what is going on with the baby. One of the things that the website said was that this week there is "A waxy protective coating called vernix caseosa that is forming on the baby's skin to prevent it from PICKLING in the amniotic fluid". I found this rather funny - to think that the baby's skin would pickle without this protective coating.
Today also marks the first day I wore a full maternity outfit - that means both the pants and the top were maternity!! I'm really enjoying being pregnant, well, honestly I don't always 'feel' pregnant which makes it easier. :) I really need to start exercising and stretching more. Especially where my job has me sitting most of the day. :/

I've had a little cramping and some mild lower back pain. All probably from the ligaments stretching around my uterus. :) I know I'm dreaming every night, but I just can't seem to remember them (like I did earlier in pregnancy) or they all blend together. Heart burn continues to flair up most every night.

The picture isn't the best, but Tim was in a hurry because he was running a little late getting to work. :) But I insisted I get at least 1 picture!

I can't believe we find out WEDNESDAY what we're having! Which I've been so wrapped up in the date of our ultrasound that I *almost* forget Christmas is like 2 weeks away!! I'm going shopping this weekend which I'll be able to hopefully finish up most of it. I'll probably need 1 more trip out after this weekend.

Excuse me... have you seen my button?

2010-12-05T09:26:00.006-05:00

This has been another some what average week. However, at work the button of my pants did "fall" off which actually made me smile. I wasn't wearing the belly band, but these pair of pants fit comfortably underneath my belly so I've continued to wear them. What I probably don't realize is the extra strain that is being put on the button especially since I need to sit down most of the day for my job. I managed to locate a needle and some thread (after sharing the "my button fell off" story, because naturally people want to know why you need needle and thread at work). Come to find out there are actually a lot of people who bring mini sewing kits to work - interesting.... probably not.

Today I'm 18 weeks 3 days - 4.5 months. The pictures were taken last night. After the Anonymous comment on my last post about my belly pictures only being "side front", not total "side" and that they all looked the same I decided to switch it up and go CRAZY with some sitting pics!! I suppose we could have done the pictures with the camera lower to be more straight across from the belly, but really my belly is little so it's like...whatever!

Christmas update: we bought our Christmas tree Friday night and we're waiting until tonight to decorate, well so the branches can settle a little. We don't normally have the tree in front of the living room window, but we decided to this year. Our living room is a little small and so a fat tree is now making it smaller. But it's all in the name of Christmas so I can easily get over it (I say easily, but not after a couple of small huffs and puffs).

This is the classic "annoyed Kristie" look. I probably was annoyed because Tim was giving me a hard time about my fear of the flash (or it could be that he takes forever to take a picture so by the time he takes it I look like a serial killer). Now come on people, I have high cheek bones therefore my eyes squint up, and I'm just "preparing" for the flash so my eyes practically close. Note: this is why the sitting shots are done while I look lovingly at my growing belly. hahaha!!

JUST 10 MORE DAYS UNTIL WE KNOW WHAT THE SEX OF THE BABY IS!!!!

Week 17... Onion

2010-11-27T18:16:00.003-05:00

Today is actually 17 weeks 2 days. I'm starting to notice more baby movement which is really exciting! I've felt great the past several days - the cramping has gone away for now! I haven't really noticed my appetite "taking over" my life which for some reason I had expected it to...maybe that comes a little later? As I've mentioned before I have to at least eat a small snack every few hours or I don't feel good, but other than that I don't feel as though I need to eat and eat and eat.

I checked out The Growing Place on Hammond Street and I kinda liked it. They had a small maternity section, but everything was only lightly worn and some things looked brand new. Many of the pants were L and XL with hardly any Mediums so I'm going to check out the one on Broadway and see what they have. I did decide to buy a pair of small jeans which fit great minus the tight elastic waist that gives me more of a muffin top then a cute baby belly! :)

I'm looking forward to Christmas this year...as I do every year. Tim brought up the Christmas decorations from the basement. We have a few things out, but I may spend some more time decorating tomorrow while Tim is working. I think we will get our tree next weekend!

UPDATE: for those who read my previous blog regarding the envelope at Christmas time. It's a no-go. We will know the babies sex December 15th as will all of you! :) That's only 18 days <3

My little Avocado

2010-11-22T19:15:00.007-05:00

I bought my first pair of maternity pants - for work. I'm going to get a pair of jeans on Wednesday. Although, I do have 2 pairs of jeans that I can still wear they tend to hurt my belly if I sit down too long. I'm noticing my hair and nails are getting a little stronger and growing a little faster. I have the weakest nails EVER so the little difference is nice. I'm still having a lot of cramping and sometimes it wraps around from my lower belly to my back. Not the most comfortable thing, but it usually doesn't last very long.

I'm starting to feel the baby move a little bit. It feels like little pops, similar to a gas bubble...but different. :) Most people say it feels like a flutter, but I'm not sure I agree with that description. When I was the doctors office the nurse asked if I was having "good movement" I was unsure what she was asking so I said "Am 'I' having good movement?" She said no, the baby, is it moving around. I'm like " I guess so" HELLO LADY, most people don't feel a thing for like 2 more weeks. How the heck am I supposed to know if I'm having good movement when I barely know what I'm feeling! Seriously though, I do love my doctor's office I just thought her question seemed silly. For those who are excited about knowing the sex of the baby on Dec 15th... well you may have to wait about 10 more days. ya, that's right... you'll have to wait until Christmas! I mentioned to Tim while we were at the Doctor's that some people have the Doctor put the sex of the baby in an envelope so it's a surprise they can open Christmas morning. Well, little did I know he was going to LOVE this idea. I'm totally not into it, but he's pretty admit. UGH! As Tim says "it's only 10 more days" and I'm like "IT'S TEN MORE DAYS"!!

Nothing could be sexier than pants that tuck under your boobs! I'm sure they'll fit a little differently once my belly is bigger. I just folded the GIANT waist down so it wasn't so uncomfortable. It felt much better than wearing the belly band.

4 months 1 day

2010-11-19T19:12:00.002-05:00

As of yesterday we hit our 4 month mark! We had a doctors appointment today which went really well. We finally got to hear the babies heart beat - 160 bpm! I have gained 1.5 pounds. I thought I had gained more based on my scale at home, but apparently not. The doctor wasn't concerned so neither am I. The next few weeks the baby will do some major growing so I expect to put on a little more weight by Christmas. And with Thanksgiving around the corner I will TOTALLY be putting on more weight! :) All my blood work tests that I had done came back normal, and my blood pressure is doing good (I've been taking medicine for this for at least a few years now) Our next appointment is December 15th at 1:00 - we will FINALLY get to know the babies sex! We're really looking forward to it! We promise to share with everyone as soon as we know!

My heartburn has been full force lately. Usually it acts up most at night. I'm continuing to eat tums before bed. I've had some cramping lately, but the doctor said it was normal and that it's only my uterus expanding. Go ahead uterus, expand away!! :)

About the size of an Apple

2010-11-11T18:58:00.007-05:00

15 weeks along today!!

I always used to dream quite often, but since I got pregnant I dream non-stop all night (or so it feels that way, I read that each dream actually only lasts like a matter of seconds!) Last night I had a dream I decided to smoke a cigarette. As you all know I don't smoke and really never have. During the dream, while I was smoking, I remembered I was pregnant and immediately put it out! haha Another night I had a dream I ended up giving birth to TWO babies!! All Tim had to say was "there is only one". Most all of the dreams center around kids, pregnancy, or giving birth.

Tim and I are going to see Kings of Leon this weekend at the TD Garden. I think Tim's more excited then I am :) I'm not looking forward to the driving/riding and the many pee stops we'll need to make!! Regardless we'll still have a good time! The concert is Sunday night so we'll drive down Sunday, go to the concert and drive home sometime Monday. Normally we stay at a hotel across from the Garden, but this time we're going to stay with Tim's Aunt and Uncle who live outside of Boston. It'll give us a chance to visit for a little bit and it'll save us some money!

I swear that this picture makes me look a little bigger than I really am - I think there is some major shadowing that's ENLARGING the belly!! But I wanted to post it because it's a cute one! :) The picture further down is a little blurry and the flash wasn't used, but the belly looks a little smaller. -- no shadow caused by the flash.

Either way little baby Dunn is growing! :)

Baby Crib

2010-11-09T19:12:00.003-05:00

It seems a little soon to already have the babies crib (which we've had for a few weeks now), but Tim got it for $75 from a guy at his work. It's in almost perfect condition! It matches the dresser exactly! Or at least super close! ( it's the dresser in the picture). The mattress can be lowered to 3 different levels, and it can turn into a day bed when the baby gets too big for a crib and needs a big boy/girl bed! :)

We'll probably end up changing the color of the room, but I don't know to what color yet. We'll make that decision once we know what we're having. The room is pretty much cleaned out, but we still need to find a place for some of the furniture pieces (chair and 2 desks).

Ya, I'm totally pregnant!

2010-11-08T20:33:00.006-05:00

This is for my family and friends looking for up to the minute pregnancy updates. :) I don't feel like I talk to many of you as often as necessary to keep you updated on little baby Dunn. And many of you have asked for pictures. Here is ONE! :)

Let's start from the beginning... I had a very easy first trimester. No sickness - I know, it's crazy. If anyone is going to throw up over something it is totally going to be me! :) I was super tired between Week 6 and Week 10. I'd lie down for a nap on the couch and wake up 2 - 2 1/2 hours later and feel like I slept 20 minutes! Work was difficult, a few days I went out to my car during lunch and lay the seat back to "rest". The over active bladder seems to just get more overly ACTIVE. I read after the first trimester it starts to get better... we shall see! The past few weeks my appetite has increased! If I don't eat for a few hours I start to get a little nauseous. Nothing major, so I just keep snacks with me all the time.

We've had two ultrasounds. The first showed an estimated due date of May 5th. Our next appointment is November 19th. We don't have an ultrasound scheduled for our next appointment, so it'll be mid December before we find out the sex of baby Dunn. We definitely want to know what we're having and we'll be sure to share it with everyone!

Today I'm 14 weeks 4 days! I have MAJOR pregnancy brain. I'm a complete moron at least 65% of the time. Heartburn gets the best of me many nights, but tums usually helps :) I recently started sleeping with a pillow between my legs. My lower back, hips, and butt were killing me - I decided to try the pillow and after the first night I noticed a big difference. I'm still wearing my own pants, but most of the time I have to use a belly band because I can't comfortably button my pants. I bought a few maternity tops, but really haven't worn them yet.

I guess this catches everyone up on how things have been going. Check back often for more updates! :)

East Grand Lake

2010-07-05T18:14:00.006-04:00

We had a great time out to camp, but unfortunately it rained quite a bit. I read about a book and a half which was fine with me. We played Yahtzee and Phase 10. :) We went out on the kayaks as much as possible despite the choppy water. Obie seemed to also have a good time, he loved attempting to get the ducks. They would tease him by floating just far enough away so he couldn't reach them (Obie would only go in the water up to his belly). We had a few campfires and lots of yummy smores! We never got a chance to swim which I was looking forward to. We left early Saturday afternoon and if we had stayed it would have been a great day to swim!

New Camera!

2010-06-05T21:44:00.003-04:00

I got a new camera for my birthday - it finally came in the mail a couple of days ago. I'm getting a little frustrated with it. Tim insists I NEED to read the guidebook, but I hate reading those things. So I hope if I complain enough he'll read it and just tell me what to do. :) OR maybe I'll make Colleen tell me how to use it! haha Otherwise, I think I'll like it. It's smaller than my old camera which I was looking for. Something simple and lightweight. I'm looking forward to taking it to camp in a couple of weeks.

Black Bear eating OUR bird seed!

2010-06-01T18:40:00.004-04:00

The other morning Obie had started barking out the window like a crazy animal so I peek out and see this black bear running back into the woods. He must have heard Obie and got scared.

Fast forward to this evening: Tim and I look out our kitchen window often to see if we have any birds at the feeder. I looked out and couldn't seem to figure out why the feeder was "gone". Then I frantically told Tim "come here, Come Here, COME HERE!!" As you can see from the pictures the bear had bent the feeder right to the ground and was devouring our bird seed. We decided to go outside for a closer look (staying on the deck of course) and the bear could have cared less that we were watching him. We could hear our neighbors talking and come to find out they were watching him too. There was some water in one of the chairs on the deck so I dumped it out which for some reason scared him and he ran off for a second, but came right back to finish the rest of the seed. Then he lazily walked back out into the woods. Tim's been dying to see wild animals in our yard so I was happy he was home at the time to see it! :)

A much needed new front porch!

2010-05-30T19:46:00.003-04:00

Tim and I have a little list of some improvements we'd like to do to the house (as do most people) and one of those things was to build a new front porch. The porch that WAS on the house was ugly, painted white and gray - that was chipping ridiculously, sinking into the ground, and just looked bad! Everytime I pulled into the driveway that's all I could see.

My step-dad came by today to help Tim build a new one. Or should I say Tim helped my step-dad build a new one? :) All that is left is to add hand rails then next summer we'll stain it (it's pressure treated wood so we have to wait for it to dry...Lew said we should wait about a year). Needless to say I'm very pleased with the new porch. Hopefully we'll also do a little bit of landscaping to dress it up some. Nothing fancy...I don't want flowers and stuff, but maybe just a little greenery, mulch, some rock. I also need to repaint the cement around the house. I hate that it was previously painted and now is chipping, but I have no choice but to repaint it. With these few changes the front of the house will be looking pretty sharp! :)

Shrub Removal

2010-03-21T20:10:00.002-04:00

First day of Spring and it was hitting 70 degrees! LOVELY!! Tim and I spent some time outside cleaning up around the yard. I suppose Tim did most of the cleaning while I took pictures and played with Obie, but I believe my presence was encouraging. Well, I decided to trim up the (ugly) bush/tree things in front of the house (I hated them ever since we moved in...they grow out of control and are uneven), as I got to chopping I looked up at Tim and said "lets just dig'm up". He said okay so we did! I would have felt awful if we had only dug them up and then not replanted them. Even an ugly tree deserves to live - yes? So, after much discussion we went with a corner of the back yard. Hopefully they are able to re-root themselves. It's supposed to rain the next couple of days so I suspect they will survive.

Now that the trees are gone I need to decide what to do with the front of the house. I'd like something simple. The sun doesn't hit the front of the house so I don't want to mess with flowers and stuff. I think before I do anything I'm going to have a new front porch made. The one there now has sunk into the ground and looks like poo!!

I LOVE HOUSE PROJECTS!! :)

Mexican Night 2!

2010-01-23T12:07:00.003-05:00

We had some friends over last night for Mexican food and drinks! We had a great time, food was great, people were great. :) I made way too many enchiladas! I forget about all the appetizers that people fill up on and they don't want to eat much for dinner...and then of course there is also dessert! I need to come up with another theme. Although Mexican food is yummy and easy - I'd like to change things up a bit!

C A M P

2010-01-17T22:03:00.003-05:00

Last summer we didn't end up going to East Grand Lake (Danforth, ME) because we were planning for the wedding/honeymoon and Tim's vacation time is pretty limited. (Background: Tim gets 1 week at a Freightliner owned camp for free! All he has to do is go up one day in the Spring to help clean up, paint, and get the camp ready to open back up. It's a gorgeous camp, but the beds SUCK!) I'm super excited because this year we are going to go! We put in our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice weeks (1st choice is the week before July 4th). Hopefully we'll find out which week we got within the next several days or so. Obie will be coming with us which should be interesting.

a couple of christmas pics

2010-01-10T15:02:00.004-05:00

I finally changed the batteries in my camera so I could load the few pictures I took from Christmas. Came across a few I thought I'd share.

Mickey's Christmas Carol - Tim's favorite Christmas movie. Karen gave it to him Christmas Eve so we could watch it before bed. :)

This is so cute! I'm not sure when the star trek hand gesture or the "scissors" became gang signs, but what do I know!

Welcome to Another Year

2010-01-02T22:40:00.003-05:00

New Years turned out to be fairly quiet for us, we had a few friends over to play Wii and watch the ball drop. (I must say, with all due respect, it's time for Dick Clark to retire the whole stroke voice thing is rather distracting). I made some delicious Gaucamole from The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook. Very easy and VERY yummy. There was a little (maybe more than a little) left over in the morning so I ate the rest of it after my bowl of cereal. Totally going to need to try out some more of her recipes.

I mentioned to Tim today that come the end of March we have had our house for 2 years! AND I still love living here. :) Come spring we'll put a new porch on the front of the house, but other than that the improvements will be limited if any at all. Dream improvements would include remodeling the kitchen and installing new carpets throughout the house. (The porch that is currently on the front of the house has sunk into the ground so it leans foward, was painted white and gray and has chipped beyond belief! I'd like to have it match the side porch.)

My New Years resolutions: spend less and moisturize more!

Christmas Clean Up

2009-12-27T14:51:00.002-05:00

Tim and I worked amazingly well cleaning up the house together this morning. We got all of the Christmas decorations taken down, the tree has been thrown somewhere in the woods outback, and the living room is WAY less crowded! Vacuuming with a shop-vac is so much better than a regular vacuum. It seems to take longer, but it totally sucks EVERYTHING!! Then we ate some leftovers from my gram's, YUM!

I got some space saver bags (the ones you suck the air out of with a vacuum hose) for Christmas and stuffed one full of blankets and throw pillows that we don't use. IT IS AMAZING!! I've been trying to keep the spare bedroom closet fairly organized and cleaned out so that way when we do have a baby come along I won't have a lot of organzing to do in order to get that room ready for Junior :) I've been on the fence about starting to pick up little things for the baby, like when I see deals and stuff. A friend of mine has a little drawer that she has put some baby stuff in (she has no kids and is not pregnant!) Maybe...maybe not... kinda weird? We have a spare dresser in the purple room we got from Tim's Nana's. It is currently empty. :) And it would eventually be a baby/kid dresser...

Christmas Tree

2009-12-07T19:54:00.002-05:00

Karen came over this weekend and we decorated our Christmas tree, watched Christmas movies and ate Chinese (what? nothing says Christmas like an egg roll!) Oh ya, and did a ridiculous amount of farming - haha! We also bought a new couch this weekend! YAY!!

Tim was happy because we had 2 more strings of white lights - he's all about the lights! This year Tim picked the tree out on his own (due to my hectic schedule I was unable to attend the tree picking :) He always does such a great job choosing a nice tree.

Merry Christmas!

<><><> Halloween Party <><><>

2009-11-01T12:16:00.006-05:00

We had a few people over last night to celebrate the scary holiday. We decked out the basement with some spooks and plenty of food! Had a best costume contest - Lady GaGa (Leigh) won. :)We also had 3 contestants play for a prize by seeing who could eat the most of an apple that was hanging from the ceiling AND with no hands in less than 1 minute. It was hilarious to watch!! 1 kid went right for the wall and positioned the apple between the wall and his teeth. He ate half the apple in 30 seconds - literally half!! Karen and Jared were the other 2 playing and neither one got a single bite just a couple of teeth marks haha!

I ended up with 6 trick-or-treaters - that's 2 more than last year!! I know we are still fairly new to the neighborhood, but maybe after 2 years of NOT handing out apples and allowing fist fulls of candy to be had by each kid they'll realize the Dunn's are worth a stop!

Obie was beyond pissed off that we put this on him. Eventually I took the vampire cape off and he just wore the bow tie. He sat in this position forever and just glared at me while I took a few pictures.

Best costume!

Too late for wedding talk???

2009-10-24T18:47:00.003-04:00

Love this picture!! It's a blow-up contender (blow-up contenders are pictures that could potentially be blown up and framed for our house haha)

This one is my favorite of Tim.

Tim and I had a wonderful time at the wedding!! I was really happy with the way things turned out. Before the wedding I had pictured the way things would look and tried to imagine something going wrong, but to my surprise almost nothing went wrong and it truly looked as I had pictured it!! I did find out that the bar upstairs was charging more than the bar downstairs which kind of irritated me, but I've decided to just let it go and not throw a stink! My co-workers have loved looking at the pictures in the book Colleen had made for us. I've looked along with people at work so I've probably gone through the book no less than 30 times! I haven't thought much about what I'm going to order for pictures. I'm not sure how to choose which ones we'll blow up ... I think our house will be full of blown up wedding photos haha! We'll look like we are in love with ourselves.

I think we need to be in a magazine or something!! For real!

Only 1 person noticed I was missing my veil. I had almost forgot ... Karen, my dad and I were waiting by the door and Karen goes "where's your veil" I say "UPSTAIRS" so she runs to get it!! I didn't spend that money to NOT wear it for all of 30 minutes haha!!

Acadia National Park

2009-10-11T21:10:00.004-04:00

Karen and I went to Acadia yesterday - we spent about 2 1/2 hours hiking/sightseeing. We hiked up Cadillac Mountain. It was beautiful!! I love this time of year - the smells and the colors. It was a cool day, but perfect for hiking. Once we were at (near) the top it was super windy, but the majority of the hike the trees are surrounding you so you never even notice the breeze. I slipped once - no major injuries. We lost the map at the top because of the wind, luckily the trails are well marked - haha :)

We both had a great time. The 2 of us hadn't done anything together for awhile - since I'd been spending so much time planning for the wedding. We passed a winery on our way down and thought we might check that out sometime soon!

It's all over...

2009-10-05T19:32:00.003-04:00

The wedding was amazing!! I had a great time and I feel like everyone else did too. I'm beyond anxious to see the pictures Colleen and Nicole took!! SERIOUSLY, I'm totally impatient about it!! haha Tim and I had a great time on our honeymoon. Nothing was rushed, there was no set plan (that's a surprise since I'm a planner), we just really enjoyed being away together. We were already talking about going back for our 1 year anniversary before we even got home. We had some great food and ate at some really awesome restaurants - the 50's Sci-Fi, 50's Diner (both in Universal) and Yak & Yeti (in Animal Kingdom) were our favorites!! I go back to work tomorrow. I'm not really looking forward to it, but I can't wait to tell everyone about the wedding and the honeymoon - I probably won't spend much time "working". AND we went shopping and I bought a new outfit - totally hot stuff - for work. PLUS I got my hair cut today AND as Tim says , I've got more diamonds haha! I wish I had some wedding pictures to take with me, but I don't... (joking) haha! I'm ordering my honeymoon pictures tonight. I bought an album to put them in while we were in Disney.
We are going to watch the wedding video tonight. My step-dad did a homemade video and I'm excited to watch it. I think it'll be nice to have come 20+ years down the road. I'll have some extras made up if anyone wants one. :)

<3 Mrs. Dunn

Overnight at my Mom's

2009-09-20T19:50:00.002-04:00

Since Tim's bachelor party was last night I figured I should probably stay far far away haha! I spent the night I my mom's. My stepdad was working so we had a fun girl night just hanging out, talking and watching movies. They live on Little Pushaw Lake and I caught the tail end of the sunset. It's really nice out there - very quiet except for the creepy Loons!

My stepdad (Lew) made me breakfast which was a nice treat since nobody ever makes me breakfast (throwing a poptart on the table for me to take to work does not count Tim). I came home around 1:00 to find the house relatively clean and in order! Nothing broken and no mysterious stains to get out of the carpet! :) Now the bachelor/ette parties are behind us it's time for the REAL party! WOOT*

so much life happening!

2009-09-18T20:44:00.007-04:00

Last weekend was my bachelorette party. Karen surprised me with a limo that picked us up at my house and we had it until 1:00 a.m. We went to the Ground Round for dinner, then drove around for a bit (with a quick stop at Shaw's so one of the girls could buy herself some alcohol for the limo) then we went to Pete & Larry's which we were the CENTER of attention while we were there! Lots of army boys haha! Then after we finished off the night at Barnaby's. I had a great time - by no means was I drunk at the end of the night. One thing I'm NOT is a heavy drinker! :)

So the wedding is in a week - Umm, I know, holy crap right? Tomorrow I'm going to the Muddy Rudder to talk about napkins, seating, check out the lighting (a last minute assignment from Colleen and Nicole), and confirm the food I've selected. I also need to go to Frank's to pay for the rest of the cake. I'm going to call the florist to confirm the delivery of the flowers. I've got to buy a cake knife and server, table numbers, and I think that's it. I'm still finishing up the music - I need a song to dance to with my Dad. Amongst all this wedding stuff I need to grocery shop and get a few snacks made up before Tim's friends get here. This will be a busy weekend!!

The Basement Room is DONE!!!

2009-08-04T18:30:00.004-04:00

Last night Tim and I finished up putting the trim on in the basement. The carpet was installed this afternoon and we've been moving stuff downstairs since! :) I'm excited because that means I get to have my own room now too! Although, hopefully it won't be mine too long because it'll need to be converted into a nursery! :) It's really great to finally have the room finished (I say finished, but the window needs to be framed in and we would like to make a box around the pipe that runs across the ceiling to make it look better - those are minor things at this point). Tim did an awesome job figuring things out on his own. He under estimates himself sometimes, but once he starts doing it he realizes he CAN do it!

So now it's just a matter of getting everything organized which I'm sure he'll have most of that done by tonight. My room on the other hand will probably be a little bit slower of a process.

New York!

2009-08-02T14:47:00.004-04:00

Karen and I drove down to Long Island last Friday after work (left work early, 2:30). It was about an 8 1/2 hour drive. We split the driving and of course had a GPS!! My dad is from Long Island - my grandfather, 2 aunts and 2 uncles, and 3 young cousins all live there. We had a great time. We went to Duck Walk Vineyard and learned about wine and tasted a few different ones. We went into the city for a day as well. Took a water taxi on the Hudson - saw the statue of liberty, ellis island, the brooklyn bridge, the twin towers site (from the water and on land), and drove to Time Square, but it was so rainy and it was getting late so we headed back. We left late Tuesday morning and had a pretty good drive home - hit a little bit of traffic, but it wasn't bad. I'm hoping most of my family from NY will be able to make it to the wedding. My grandfather is 80 so I'm not sure he'll be up for the travel. my aunt and uncle might be moving to Florida around the same time so I'm not so sure they will make it either. I'm already planning the next trip down -hopefully Thanksgiving!!

Mexican Night!

2009-07-11T23:29:00.002-04:00

Super fun night tonight! Had some friends over for a mexican themed (food) party which included tortilla chips and a variety of dips (homemade guacamole, salsa and something else yummy!) I made chicken enchiladas, tacos and for dessert apple enchiladas. It was my first time with the enchiladas, but I must say they both turned out DELICIOUS! Jared said "it's so good it's ignorant" haha! And no Mexican night would be complete without margarita's!

Karen's Birthday!

2009-07-05T19:43:00.002-04:00

Today is Karen's Birthday! She turned 26. I went to mom's for a BBQ and decided to take Obie. He (surprisingly) was good haha! He chased and got chased by mom's dogs and seemed to have a good time! :)

I mowed the lawn when I got home. And while I mowed my mind was racing over the different things I wanted to have done to the house this summer, but it seems almost all of them are not even started YET! I'm constantly playing the waiting game and it's annoying. After mowing I had to come in and start my list of stuff I am hoping to get accomplished by the end of the summer. If I didn't write it down I was likely to have a mental explosion! But there are a few things on the list that I (or Tim) can do so I figured I could at least focus on those things.

Cheers to the nice weather!

Dinner with Friends

2009-06-28T18:38:00.005-04:00

Jared and Leigh came over Friday night for Pork Tenderloin - YUMMY. Our table is totally not meant for dinner with 4 people. I had also bought some strawberries from Hannaford's that were on sale. They were so damn good!!! I'm kind of hoping they are still on sale tomorrow because I totally want to go back and get more. I had also bought some fruit dip to go with them and I've got some left over. We had spent most of the night hanging out, watching MJ videos, and talking about the wedding. We decided our next together is going to have a Mexican theme... Mexican food, Margaritas... mmmm! Looking forward to it!

BREAKING NEWS!

2009-06-16T20:40:00.003-04:00

Wedding plans are coming along really good. A couple of small things I'm working on (or now Colleen is working on haha). And I've been getting some music together for the reception. Jared is going to be our DJ and he's going to use my laptop and we'll rent speakers from Marks Music. So I need to get music together which is actually harder than it sounds and super time consuming. Tim and I went and picked out his ring this weekend. That was a little bit of a struggle but he picked out a really nice ring that fits his personality well. I already picked mine out about a month ago :). Within the next month I'll be working on the wedding favors. I have a hair appointment in a few weeks to try out some hairstyles for the wedding. I seriously can't believe there is only 3 months left! I'm excited!!

Engagement Photo Shoot

2009-05-30T22:16:00.004-04:00

I know this is a little late.

I had such a great time at our photo shoot. I had to practically drag Tim out to do it though. He asked "why are we doing this, what are we going to do with the pictures, why are we doing this" haha! It didn't take long after we got there for him to relax and have a little bit of fun. I kept saying "what next" :) I was ready to go back out the next night and do it again! We both are so happy with the way the photos turned out. Colleen really did an amazing job!! I got great reviews from people that I work with - they were asking if she was going to do the wedding photos as well. :) I was a little unsure of the location at first, but I don't think we could have chosen a better spot! I LOVE the gravestone pics!!

interesting-ly enough...

2009-05-16T16:58:00.002-04:00

Nothing says happy-good-mood like a sunny (partly cloudy) warm Saturday! mmmm <3 I had to babysit this morning and got home around 12:15. Tim had the dishes done and had made screens for the bedroom windows and kitchen window. YAY* We finally have a cross draft from the kitchen through the living room! We went to Lowe's and checked out carpet, trim and storm doors (ours really need to be replaced). We also bought groceries - i love a house full of food! Tim's out digging up rocks from the backyard and adding them to the rock wall. haha!

Tomorrow Karen is going to come over so we can plan a girly long weekend to Hampton Beach this summer. We are also planning a trip to visit family on Long Island we haven't been in over a year so it'll be nice to visit.

It's been almost 4 weeks since Tim quit smoking!! So proud of him!!

So, I lied...

2009-05-07T21:47:00.002-04:00

So, we didn't exactly end up going with the orange. We had bought the paint quite awhile ago and I could have sworn we had decided to get the orange, but I guess Tim went with this blueish color instead. We finished it all up tonight. Lew will be over this weekend to do the wiring. Hopefully next week we'll do some carpet shopping! Tim was getting a little annoyed with me tonight because I was friggin' off too much! :) I was just trying to have fun - come on!! haha*

Basement Room Update

2009-05-02T18:33:00.003-04:00

Feeling Super pumped! Lew came by today and finished the sanding downstairs. Tomorrow I'm going to clean up the room and wipe down the walls so we can start painting. Once the paint is done then Lew will come back and put the outlets in (which will be next weekend if Tim and I get the painting finished!), then it's carpet, trim, and the door needs to be put back on. We're so close!! YAY* I can't wait to get Tim downstairs so I can have the purple room!! We've picked out an orange color (i think it's like a burnt orange) for the room downstairs - it'll be fun! We don't have any carpet yet, but I think we're going to go with a dark gray color. We've been talking about going couch shopping. Honestly, we don't have the money, but our futon/couch is so uncomfortable and since one of us HAS to sit on it at night it's time for an upgrade. Just to note I'm the one who gets stuck on the couch at least 6 nights a week! And then we'll just stick the futon in the purple room. CAN'T WAIT!!!

MS Walk today

2009-04-25T16:12:00.002-04:00

It was an awesome day for the 5 mile MS walk! Karen and I raised a total of $320 (so far). YAY!

OMG! I forgot about blogging!

2009-04-19T19:53:00.003-04:00

I might as well hook up an intravenous feed from facebook to my brain because I will probably die without it! I was anti-facebook anti-myspace for years! But finally after a little push from some friends I decided to create a page with the idea I would hardly ever go on it. Those of you who read this also have a facebook so you KNOW I've done more than "hardly" get on facebook!

Wedding planning is going super wonderful! We finally decided to go to Disney for our honeymoon! I'm super excited about it! I haven't been in about 10 years. I've been worried about the cost of food, but I'm finding some coupons online and mousesavers.com has a list of some places that don't cost an arm and a leg just to eat at. We bought out plane tickets last night and I'm not sure if I want to go to a travel agent to book the resort or just do it online along with the park hopper tickets. What do you think? We're also going to get Sea World tickets for 1 day. We'll leave the day after the wedding and come back on Friday. Tim has to work on Sunday so that will give him a full day off at home before going back to work. What's great though is we are going at a slower time of year. Kids are just getting back to school so there will be less families. It'll still be pretty warm outside which Tim's not too excited about, but I think the nights will be really great! YAY* I can't wait!!! Who cares about getting married, I want the honeymoon! haha (kidding)

UGH....

2009-03-29T12:38:00.004-04:00

I just can't seem to stress it enough. I HATE DOING DISHES!!! For about 2 years Tim did ALL the dishes and I did all the cooking. It was a great deal because I enjoy cooking. Well since we moved into the house Tim put his foot down and said he was tired of being in charge of the dishes. So, we started alternating EXCEPT I am still doing all the cooking and now I have to do half the dishes! I hate this deal. (to be fair Tim does plenty of other stuff to even things out). Tim finally nailed it on the head the other day - I hate to get my hands wet. It's not that I don't get my hands wet, but I just don't like the feeling of it when they are wet. And if anyone was to touch my hands within 1 hour of my hands being wet YOU WILL DIE! But I'm so practical I can't stand spending the money on a dishwasher! I'd rather post this blog and bitch about washing dishes the rest of my life then spend the money on a dishwasher! (I am 99% sure I will eat these words at a later date haha)

YAY SPRING IS COMING!! The boys played outside for a little while in the middle of their jam yesterday. Although Ben was wearing only a T-shirt it wasn't THAT warm.

Healthy Veg Out Day

2009-03-22T19:19:00.004-04:00

Karen and I decided to spend the day doing NOTHING! Yes, there was a plan to actually do nothing all day. We didn't want to just veg out on a bunch of crappy bad food so we bought some fruit and veggies and pigged out on that (as you'll see by the photos). We watched Bridezilla and Amazing Wedding Cakes in our comfy PJ clothes. :) Along with watching TV we did lots of laughing and internet browsing. Karen brought her laptop and just connected through my wireless network. It was a good day, good day!

What's New?

2009-03-20T21:07:00.002-04:00

This past weekend Karen and I ordered her bridesmaid dress it'll be in sometime in June. She looks so hot in the dress! She might just out hot me haha - ya right! I decided to go with a dark red color for her dress. It's about knee length and strapless. I'm kind of sticking with Fuchsia, Orange, and Red for the wedding. I think it'll all look really amazing once the room is put together at least it looks amazing in my imagination. I have a few days off next week and I'll spend it working on the wedding. I'm going to go to my hair salon to look over some possible hair styles, I'm going to the Muddy Rudder to set up a table the way I think I want it to look along with deciding on how to decorate the rest of the room, I'll also be renting chairs for the ceremony and doing random wedding shopping. LOVE IT! The planning seems to be going really well!! Tim hasn't had a lot to do with the wedding, but he did get excited looking online for the kind of tux he wants. He'll probably stick with just a black and white tux, while Chris will have a red vest and tie to match Karen's dress.

So, what's new? nothing.

That's NOT my dog!

2009-03-06T19:33:00.002-05:00

I dropped Obie off at the groomers this morning. His hair was ridiculously long and was starting to mat up kinda bad. I under estimated how often a Bichon's hair needs to be brushed. Tim picked him up on his way home from work today so when I got home I had this rat running up to me. I was speechless!! Not exactly the haircut I was looking for! He looks so awkward - long legs, long skinny body and big rat eyes! His hair grows pretty quickly so hopefully in a couple of weeks he'll be less freakish! And the positive side is I don't have to brush him for awhile!

What Wedding Show is your FAVORITE?

2009-03-03T19:07:00.002-05:00

OMG! I'm obsessed with tv shows about weddings. Whose Wedding is it Anyway?, Bridezilla, Platinum Weddings, Rich Bride Poor Bride! LOVE IT! It was so totally worth getting cable just for these shows! I watch at least one of them every day! Although I haven't pulled any ideas from them it's really so much fun to watch and it keeps me super motivated. Tim's not a huge fan. One night we flipped back and forth between Ultimate Fighting and Rich Bride Poor Bride haha. Isn't that what love is though... compromise? :)

We've asked Paul to play acoustic guitar at our ceremony and thankfully he said yes. I'm taking a few days off the end of this month I'll spend the time coming up with decorating ideas. I'm having a super hard time deciding on what to do for centerpieces. I'll stop by the Muddy Rudder and check out the room again to help brainstorm. All in all everything is going well. We're still struggling on where to go for our honeymoon. Once I think we've settled on a place he says "well, I don't know" ugh! Friggin' Boys!

Friggin' Snow

2009-02-23T19:24:00.003-05:00

Tim under estimated the amount of snow we would be getting and decided to take his time getting out of bed this morning. We ended up being over an hour late for work because there was so much friggin snow! The end of the driveway took awhile for Tim to clean up. And to top it all off the wind was blowing right in his face. These pictures were take from the comfort of the living room while I watched the weather on tv. The driveway is still a mess, but Tim's going to wait until tomorrow to clean up the rest of it. We're FINALLY gettin cable tomorrow so Tim's going to stay home. As everyone knows you can't make an "appointment" with the cable company. So they'll be showing up between 7 and 12. Which means when I get home from work I'll have CHOICES! Not, local news, national news or King of the Hill.

Padiddle

2009-02-21T19:39:00.002-05:00

Tim and I went out to dinner at Chili's tonight with Karen and Jason. We had a good time as always! When we had left I reminded Tim that I had a headlight out, but we decided to take my car anyway. We were less than 3 miles from home and BOOM blue lights! My stomach did 103,409,287 flips. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE EVER BEEN PULLED OVER!!! Luckily I wasn't speeding. I was less than 1/2 mile from the Bagaduce Road (the left you take off of Route 1A.) I IMMEDIATELY pull over. I've had the light out since about Tuesday. Anyway, the cop comes up and takes my license and Tim's. I'm completely confident he is going to let me go because my license is 103% CLEAN, but I'm still nervous none the less. After the cop goes back to his car I mention to Tim that this cop does the robbery training at my bank. Tim's like you got to say that to him, that's how you'll get out of it. Tell him you know him from some where and mention the training. I couldn't even think straight let alone play Mrs. NiceGirl. My license has our Holden address so if he knows Holden at all (which he should, he's a friggin' Holden cop) than he knew we were 5 minutes from home. He spent an eternity in his car and came back to give our licenses back and say "You're all set Kristie, just get that light fixed". Sigh* I made friendly eye contact and say "Thank you". Then proceeded to almost side swipe someone while trying to get back onto the road. I'm like that's exactly what I need to do, get into a friggin accident right here while the cop is right behind me. ugh*!

Our Wedding Site

2009-02-15T20:09:00.003-05:00

Kristie & Tim

Not Much Going On

2009-02-08T19:04:00.002-05:00

Other than the wedding I just don't have anything to blog about. Karen and I went shopping yesterday we had some gift cards from Christmas we wanted to use. I ended up buying some wedding invitations at AC Moore the print your own ones. They were on sale so I got 50 invitations for $29!! And they're awesome!!! :) Karen and I looked around for ideas on the centerpieces. I have different ideas in my head, but I'm not really sure what to go with. I got time to decide so I'll keep looking around!

I've started working out again... ha* I have a treadmill in the basement and some light weights I'm using. The dress I got fits PERFECT so I can't gain anything! While I'm trying to keep my weight down friggin' Tim is trying to get his weight UP! Over the past 6 months he has slowly lost weight and he lost even more right after he got his wisdom teeth out. If only I was so lucky!

HAPPEEEE

2009-02-01T15:54:00.002-05:00

I decided to get the dress I wanted at House of Brides. I'm going back this week to pay for the rest of it and try it on 1 more time. I love the dress and I'm really happy I decided to get it! A lady I work with is going to make my wedding cake for super cheap! She does catering and occasionally makes wedding cakes as a side job. I'm so excited for the wedding! I know it's over 7 months away, but I can't wait! It's going to be so much fun and unfortunately it'll go by so fast!! Next weekend Karen and I are going to do some shopping for a bridesmaid dress. She tried on a couple at House of Brides and we both really liked the first one she put on, but we want to look around a little bit more. I think I'm finally getting Tim to lean a little more towards Mexico for our honeymoon! WAHOO*!! A friend of mine and her husband just got back from Cancun, it's their 3rd time going and she absolutely loves it there!

SUPER BOWL day! I think the Steelers are going to win, but I plan to cheer for the Underdogs a.k.a Cardinals.

THE dress

2009-01-25T14:53:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I went to the Muddy Rudder with Karen and Mom to show them the place as well as put down a deposit (Karen, being the sweetest sister paid for the deposit!) Then we went dress shopping. This was our 2nd time shopping and again we had such a great time! I feel I may have found THE ONE. I'm nervous though. It seems so soon to pick a dress. I thought for sure I would be like "okay, this one will do" and boom I'd buy it. The dress I found is within the price range I want and I look absolutely fabulous in it!! But there are just so many dresses to choose from so many different options! I find this all a little funny that I'm even fretting about it because like I just said the dress wasn't a big deal to me (or I should say as big of a deal as it is to others). Only one other dress did I get hung up on, but it was $800! I guess I'll admit the dress is important to me but still not THAT important! :) I'm going to try the other one on again on Tuesday (the shop's not open Monday's) and see if I get that same Oh My God This Is It feeling.

My Game Camera

2009-01-21T18:15:00.002-05:00

Snip Snip for Obie

2009-01-20T18:54:00.004-05:00

We got Obie fixed yesterday. Totally NOT a happy camper last night. He cried all night!!! I felt like I had a newborn and a worthless husband haha (okay okay to be fair Tim wasn't feeling good)! :) I spent the night on the couch with the dog. I took the cone off his head and held him while I slept. He was up and down all night crying therefore I was up and down all night, annoyed! Hopefully tonight will be better. yawn* He seems to be okay when he's not moving around too much. So I'm wondering if I dare not put the cone back on his head and just let him sleep in his crate. Poor little guy.

Wedding Stuff:
We decided to have the ceremony/reception at the Muddy Rudder. I have a couple of quotes being mailed to me for flowers. I got my first quote today, $400! YIKES* We'll see what the other quote comes in at and go from there. This Saturday I'm going dress shopping again with Mom and Karen. :) YAY*