... When No One Else is Watching

Change... She is a Coming

This beautiful girl will become a big sister on Friday.

Status

I have officially completed 13 items on my list of things to do this week. Not bad considering I've also accomplished some other things that I didn't put on my list... like cooking dinner for my family and taking my girl to playgroup. Hey... it counts. All I can say is my house is looking awesome. And the insurance rates for our cars and house? Even better. That was one of the items that  was at the top of my list. When we moved into this house we simply transferred our policies from Texas and never shopped around. Well... I shopped around after getting my car insurance renewal and seeing they had raised our rates for no reason, at least not a good enough reason for me, "the price of oil, people being under-insured so we have to pass those costs on to everyone else, blah, blah, blah." Well now that insurance company can pass off the loss of our business to their other clients because I got some killer rates from a better insurance company. I LOVE saving money!

So, all in all, it's been a successful week so far. But tomorrow I have promised myself I am doing nothing but taking Avery to the park and having a fun day with my family. Why? Because I turn 32 tomorrow. Funnily enough, I hadn't written that down on my list.

Still Cooking

Yes, I"m still around. And STILL pregnant. I am officially 36 weeks pregnant and once I get to 37 weeks - the magic week doctors consider full term - I will happily welcome this child at any point. I'm hoping she has the same idea and would like to come a little bit early because wowza! this pregnant is so much different than my first. I'm sooo big (I'll post another picture soon to prove my largeness) and am feeling a lot more pain this go 'round. Also, breathing? I'd like to be able to do that again, yeah, breathing is good. I feel like I'm constantly trying to catch my breath.

The good news is that the Olympics have started and I absolutely ADORE watching the Olympics. I find it so exciting and exhilerating to see so many people expereince their dreams and fulfill so many life goals. I get chills every time something really exciting happens or any time one of those damn musical montages come on showing all the wonderful moments that have happened. Also, I love hearing the stories of athletes that have overcome incredible struggle and oppression to fulfill their dreams. But I also love the competitiveness of it all. Rob and I jumped (okay, Rob jumped, I tried to jump but it really wasn't attractive) off the couch and cheered tonight when we saw the US men's swim team win the 4x100 relay and just barely out-touch the French team. It was so much fun to see since the French team had been trash talking the past few days about how they were going to smash the US team. I LOVE me some good trash talk and I love it even more when people are put in their place! That's why I love the Olympics because in the end, it's all about the competitive spirit and the athletes pushing themselves harder than they ever thought possible. And it provides this very pregnant lady with some good entertainment while I'm sitting on the couch because walking seems to be too much work.

I'm also still in the nesting mode. You should see the list of things I am planning on accomplishing tomorrow. Insane! Why is it that high dusting and spot cleaning the furniture don't seem as important when you don't have a newborn on the way? Now that I have four weeks to go before this little one's arrival I seem to have radar vision and I want to make sure everything is cleaned perfectly. I have a list of about twenty items that are to be accomplished this week and I figure if I can get five or six done per day they will all be finished by the end of the week and the baby will be allowed to arrive. I will have the cleanest house on the planet! And the most organized one as well! Then I will be on to figuring out the photo wall I want to do in my living room... that's the fun stuff.

I will update with photos and stories of what we've been up to around our household within a couple of days. We've actually had quite a fun summer and Avery is growing and learning something new every day. For a girl who's mother was scared about her lack of speech six months ago she sure is catching on quick. And now I sometimes hate my name. Do you know how much a two year old wants their mom to play with them in a day? And now she can tell me what she wants to do and where she wants to go and who she wants to see. I have created a mini-me. The world should cringe and be very afraid.

Proving my Point

I got in my car this morning, armed with a list of errands I wanted to accomplish and a child who allowed me to put her in a dress, which is no easy feat these days, only to find my car operating really freakishly. I got about four blocks away from my house before I called Rob to tell him that the car was not running to my satisfaction and asked him what he did to it this past weekend when he did some routine maintenance on it. He had rotated the tires and replaced the coolant and everything should be just fine he told me. Well, everything was not as fine as he thought it should be and he told me to ditch my plans and drive home and he would look at it when he got home from work. Me, being the hormonal pregnant woman that I am, was completely bummed that I wouldn't be able to run my errands and had to remind myself, before I acted completely ungrateful, about having a husband who would be able to fix my car and save us the hundreds of dollars we would otherwise have to pay a mechanic to fix whatever was wrong. At that exact moment the "check engine" light started flashing and I decided to heed Rob's advice and head for home.

Usually, I would not be aggravated by something like this, it's just that I had spent the past few days in my house cleaning and doing laundry and anything else I could think of and hadn't stepped foot outside my home. This is not normal for me. I am someone who can usually find something that needs to be accomplished outside the home, or even think of an activity to do with Avery away from the house because I'm not a good 'home-body' type of person. I like to be out and about. And now that I have less than six weeks before the new baby comes I am constantly jonesing to be out of the house, because I know there will be plenty of days when we'll be slaves to the 'three hour increment' schedule. The only thing I worried about today was, "what if Rob can't fix what is wrong with the car and I have another whole day inside my house, or worse, at the mechanics?!" Selfish people.... selfish! There are many worse things that could happen than my car breaking down!

Well, I shouldn't have worried because just like I said in my previous post, my husband can fix anything! Rob came home, and being the efficient man that he is, went straight to work on my car finding that my spark plugs needed to be replaced. He went to the auto parts store and do you know what this whole car trouble issue cost us? $14.00! If we had taken it to a mechanic I'm sure we would have had service charges and other fake charges up the wazoo and walked out $500 poorer. I love my husband. Did you hear me internet? I LOVE MY HUSBAND! He doesn't get the praise he deserves so here I am, praising him publicly. And do you know what he will say to me when he reads this? "Jen, you're embarrassing me, you should delete that post." Because if you didn't know all ready,,, he's humble too!

Resisting the Urge

So, I'm trying something new nowadays. Because I'm so ornery and huge and just an all-around miserable pregnant woman, I've decided that I don't want to put up with hand-washing my dishes. For the last two days I've been using my dishwasher. Yes... me, the woman who doesn't use the dishwasher except for maybe once every two weeks because I don't want it to break due to lack of use - which I hear can happen. Don't ask me why this has concerned me, it's not like I need the dishwasher since I don't regularly use it. But I really don't like things breaking in my house, even though I have the world's handiest husband who can fix anything... really folks, he can fix ANYTHING, he's amazing that way. I just like to know all household appliances are in working order, my life is just better this way.

Okay, so back to using the dishwasher. I feel like I'm making progress; letting this appliance do it's job, the job it's born to do. But I'm having a hard time with the voice in the back of my head saying, "the dishes aren't clean, you haven't run the dishwasher yet because there isn't a full load of dishes and the dirty dishes are going to sit in there all night and not be washed until tomorrow afternoon... HOW CAN YOU LIVE LIKE THIS!?" I so badly want to fill up the kitchen sink with some hot, soapy water and clean those damn dishes. But I won't.

I need help. Professional help.

Nesting

Yes. It has begun. I am definitely in full nesting mode. I lay awake at night thinking of all the things that need to be done before this newest daughter of ours arrives and you would think I was having her tomorrow by the sense of panic it strikes in me. This past weekend I brought up all the 0-9 month clothing I had boxed away and washed them all and they are now hanging nicely in the closet. By the way... that was actually ridiculously fun. I forgot how many cute little clothing items I had for such a small baby! It was like going shopping without having to shell out the cash at the register!

Today it was deep cleaning our refrigerator and mopping all the floors. Don't ask me why this was of such importance as both of these tasks will definitely be done many more times before Hadleigh's birth, but it makes me feel better knowing that it's done. I also went and bought formula and diapers today because those are two items that will obviously be needed. I'm also on a mission to find some really comfortable slippers for the hospital because walking around barefoot anywhere but my own home freaks me out, and my tootsies won't be touching a bare hospital floor. I'm also looking for a great set of pajamas to wear in the hospital because I don't like wearing a hospital gown any longer than I absolutely have to.

Tomorrow's items of note will be deep cleaning the bathrooms, dusting every crevice of my house and vaccuuming every square inch of carpet. I'm also going to make a list of everything I may need to have at hand for when the baby comes home.

Next week I will be packing a hospital bag because I am terrified of going into labor and then running around my house like a chicken with it's head off because I can't remember what to bring with me. I will also be placing extra towels underneath the sheets on my side of the bed so that if my water breaks I won't have to put "buy a new mattress" on the list of things to do after I have the baby.

So... am I being completely anal about all this and you would swear by reading this post I have never done this before? Sure. But at least I'll be prepared. And on another note, if it's all done in advance you can bet a million dollars that this baby won't come naturally and I will have to be induced a week overdue, just like Avery. Because that's my luck.

Now... a few pictures. For those of you who think I don't really show that much while pregnant I had Rob take a picture of me today. I'm 32 weeks 1 day pregnant. It's interesting to point out that I believe I am about as big as I was a week before I gave birth to Avery. I feel massive! The good news is I am still four pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight. For most people this isn't such a great thing but since I started the pregnancy overweight it's actually a good thing for my body. My doctor isn't worried and the baby looks great in all the ultrasounds so we're doing good. Also... I hate my arms and don't ask me why I am posting a picture of me in a tank top but I guess you can say I'm "living on the edge!" I'm completely aware of my horrendous tan line. And yes... my nose is a bit red... it seems I've developed some pregnancy-related rosacea... it sucks. My dermatologist says it can be treated after birth... he's a good man.

How happy can a pregnant woman look?! I'm cheesing it up in this photo!

And for those of you who only visit to see pictures of Little Miss Avery, here are some new photos for your viewing pleasure! (This is another thing I did today... I uploaded a massive amount of photos I had sitting on my memory card!)

A Study in "Personality"

Decision Made

I know some people will completely disagree with me but I have finally decided on how I'm going to spell our newest family member's name. Rob said "this is all you" so I went with it and our little girl's name will be Hadleigh Evelyn. I think the spelling is more feminine this way and I like it so much more than any other spelling I've come across.

*Disclaimer* -  I'm pregnant, I reserve the right to change my mind.

Yummy!

Food and I are becoming friends again. I just ate my weight in chocolate flavored rice cakes... probably not the best thing to devour but I know plenty of people use rice cakes as a treat during dieting. Sure, they don't eat an entire bag but I'm not going to feel badly about it because I am still down six pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight with only nine more weeks to go. Now I'm off to go drink a bunch of water; puffed rice can make a girl thirsty!

Energy to spare? I'll buy it!

Sometimes there just isn't a lot to say, is there? Okay, well, if you know me, you know there is never a time where I have nothing to say. The better wording would be "there's nothing to blog about." And I know that's not true either. My absence can only be explained with one word... laziness. I just don't seem to have any energy and even the smallest task can seem huge. Fixing dinner? WAY TOO BIG a task. Cleaning the house? Nope, it's just not something I have the energy to do (the house is not dirty, I just don't do it all at one time like I usually do.) Getting up to get some water? Really? I have to go and get a glass out of the cupboard, fill it with ice and then fill it with water? Wow... that's asking a lot. You get the point.

I'm seven and a half months pregnant and I'm still waiting for that nesting instinct to kick in. You know the one... where women get exhorbitant amounts of energy and conquer all of the world's ills in one day. Still waiting. Sure, I think about all the things that need to be done, but that doesn't really get me off my heiny to start accomplishing all those tasks. I'm giving it two more weeks and if I don't still have the desire to get my backside off the couch then I guess I'm just going to have to muddle through and get going whether I like it or not. Because this baby? I'm hoping she comes a couple of weeks early. I figure I was pregnant with Avery for 41 weeks, I at least deserve a few weeks less this time. And if that's what I want then I better be ready for that to happen. Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to nesting I go!

Exhausting!

Yeah, this is going to be a wussy post but it's all I've got. Do you know how hard it is to be pregnant and also be a mommy to a very active two year old? It's exhausting people! Ridiculously exhausting! Yes, this is me whining. But... she's a cutie, and when she smiles at me or does something silly I am so thrilled to be her mom!

Avery enjoys a good cupcake!