MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Hey!!!

Well, we made it to AR safely!!! Let me start off with Saturday morning -

So we got up at 4:15 Saturday morning and were backing out of the driveway by 5:15. We had everything we needed in the car, and Pebbles was all settled into her bed in the back seat. On Saturday we drove from our house to Sikeston, MO.

Indiana is the ugliest state I have ever been in.. Sorry to every one that lives there, I'm not trying to offend anyone. Illinoise was a little prettier then Indiana, but not by much, not until we got into the mountains closer to the Missouri boder.

We had perfect weather. Although it was cloudy and overcase all day Saturday there was no rain until the last hour or so of the drive... And boy did it pour!!! Our visibility dropped to pretty much nothing. And we slowed from 70 mph to about 40. So we decided that we would stop as soon as we found a good place to.

That brought us to Sikeston, MO.... Big mistake, we won't be staying there again!!! We ended up staying at the only hotel we could find, which was a Days Inn. That was the mistake... We have vowed to never stay at a Days Inn again. We've stayed in a few different ones, all in different states and had nothing but trouble. But I'll focus on the one in Sikeston, MO. First of all the room smelled like dog pee, horribly!! It was so terrible. So I decided to take a nice hot shower before bed... OMG!!! I ended up with a cook shower and cried the whole way thro it... It was horrible. I don't think I've ever taken a shower so fast. lol... So it was not going well!!! We put a blanket on the bed to sleep on cause it just looked so nasty in there, and used our own pillows to sleep on, then covered with another of our own blanket... Thank god I brought blankets with us!!! lol ... It was terrible... I did manage to get about 6 hours of sleep, I don't know how though!!

And this isnt even mentioning the fact that it was POURING down rain, but of course that's not Days Inns fault lol...

So we set the alarm for 6 a.m.... which was 5 a.m. to us. And we were on the road by 6:45 Sunday.

It was such a gorgeous day on Sunday... Sunny and about 40 degrees... We made it to Russellville at noon... We made excellent time...

Pebbles was such a good girl the whole drive... She mostly stayed in her bed, but sat in lap for a while at times. Which was fine. And everytime we stopped she tinkled so that wasn't an issue. But I know it was stressful on her because she just ate today for the first time since Friday night. But she is fine... just pooped.

So as I said we got to the hotel (Comfort Inn - we have stayed here before and enjoyed it) around noon on Sunday. Our room wasn't ready yet, so we headed on out to Mommas to go to lunch with them. Pebbles didn't like Momma's dogs (I knew she wouldn't). So Momma kept them on the back porch while Pebbles was inside with us.

We went to lunch with Momma and Andy and then headed back to her house. We hung out there for a while and then came to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner with my Daddy. It was great to have a HOT shower!!! And we love the shower head!!! It's better then the one we got at home!! We gotta get us one of those! lol...

After we showered and I prettied up we went to La Huertas!!! I tell ya, I've been looking foward to this since frikkin July!!! This is my favorite restaraunt... They have amazing mexican food.... I swear I could eat there every day! lol...

We met my Daddy and Carolynn at La Huertas and had a nice dinner. Then my Daddy did something that put me in total shock. He gave us a $500 check for the baby!!!!!!! I'm still in a lil shock over it and don't know what to think. It's just such an amazing gift. I thought he was writing a check for our bill which was $35. It looked to me like he was writing a check for $50 and I thought "how nice to give the waiter such a big tip". And then he handed me the check. I was a little confused at first and just said "thanks" and then when I looked at it I kinda shouted "Oh My God"! lol.. My Daddy explained that it was to help us get whatever we needed for the baby and that he was done "baby shopping" (except for a snoopy fish pole of course!). lol... I was just so shocked to see that he had done that. It was truly amazing.

After dinner (and the big shock) we went to my Grannys. We totally surprised her, for some reason she didn't think she would see us until Christmas Day... She's weird like that. lol... And takes everything personally. She asked if it was okay for her to fly up on March 12 or 13 next year and stay until Momma left on April 5th!!! I was like "yea sure that should be fine"... OMG!!! I hope this doesn't happen... I just don't think I could handle her for that long, and I really don't want her around when I go into labor. I don't want to hurt her feelings or anything, so I'm trying to find a nice way to get out of this. I'm thinking about telling her that it's WAYYYY to close to my due date and we are not driving the hour and a half to the airport to pick her up. So why doesn't she fly up on March 28th or 29th? By then I should have had the baby and she can spend a week with us and leave when Momma does. I really hope this doesn't upset her. You never know with her cause she has that depression problem and takes everything you say as a slam against her. I know she's going to think we don't want her there and then just not come at all... I don't mind her being there for about a week, but that's it. And honestly, that's pushing it a little. But I'm working on not feeling guilty about this, because this is our time and it's not going to be an easy time on us, so I really don't want to deal with her feelings on this issue... It is our decision... But I will tell her the nice "Why not wait until after the baby is born" way. Hopefully it will work and she won't get upset about it. It kinda pisses me off that I feel like I have to do it this way. I should be able to just say "we want it to be just us" and leave it at that, but I can't do that with her cause she'll take it personally. Anyways, whatever.... We'll find out tomorrow when I tell her.

Today we went to A to Z with my Daddy and Carolynn. We left Pebbles at my Mommas house while we were there, and of course she was fine! Momma said she searched the house for me and kept wanting to go outside (cause she saw me go outside when we left). But the other dogs were kept away from her and she was fine. But didn't nap at all today! lol... When we got back from A to Z we just hung out at Mommas house till almost 330.

At 330 we headed to my Grandma and Grandpa McCurleys. Honestly, I was really nervous about this because of the relationship with my Grandpa since I've been with Paul... I used to be a Grandpas girl, and since I've been with Paul he won't hardly have anything to do with me, and won't say two words to either of us... It's such a stupid thing, but that's the way he is. Of course there's a lot to the story, but I'm not going into that right now. So the point is I was nervous about this. Especially knowing Lyndon was going to be home. (Again, a whole other story I'd rather not delve into right now).

But we went out there and things went fine. Of course Grandpa didn't say two words to either of us, but Grandma talked and talked. Lyndon saw our car there and I'm sure got upset and has let Grandpa know this.

My Daddy had just killed two deer and Lyndon was bringing them up to the house. He didn't see us cause we stayed inside, but he saw our car. Paul got to see the deer, this is the first time he's seen anything like this.

So we sat and talked to Grandma, Grandpa went and layed down (left the room) when we went in the living room. I gave everyone their Christmas gifts. And everyone opened them right away, except Grandpa... He hadn't opened it by the time we left, so I don't know if he will or not. I knew we wouldn't be invited to Christmas Eve dinner because Lyndon and his brood were going to be there, and I didn't ask. Grandpa started barking orders at Grandma that dinner needed to get made so of course she jumped up and started doing what he said. And he took off into the kitchen... This was his way of telling us it was time for us to leave, so we did. I went to say goodbye to him and all he said was "yea, we'll see on Wednesday at your baby shower". He never said anything to Paul... Of course Grandma was all over us hugging and stuff. Dad was covered in deer blood (from cleaning them) and we gave a little hug and left.

Dad said he would call in the morning to wish us a Merry Christmas and stuff. They are heading back to TX tomorrow and we won't see them again. He's talking about coming up to see us in September. That'll be a nice time. And Cooper will be old enough for him to play with a spoil by then lol...

After we left Grandma and Grandpas we went back to Mommas... Pebbles was still there. And when we got there all the dogs were together in the house. So Maisy and Booger must have settled down around Pebbles and they were doing fine. As soon as Pebbles heard my voice she came running full force and jumped right in my arms!!! It was so cute. She was fine there, but I know she is so nervous and anxious all the time, especially when I'm not around. But Momma said she did great. And just laid on the couch with them and stuff.

Of course because of all the excitement, Pebbles didn't nap today. So now she is sound asleep on the bed next to me as I type this... I mean she is CRASHED!!! It's so cute. She's just so tired. lol... I have never seen her this tired... Its kinda cute!!! Her eyes are glazed over and she's just so relaxed and tired... Sound asleep!!!

And damnit, she got fleas!!! Just a few, and we picked them all off of her, but damn!!! I'm so upset about this. But atleast we got them all off of her. And we'll give her a flea bath in a few days... It totally sucks.

Tomorrow we are going to my Grannys for Christmas to open gifts and have the yummy lunch she always fixes on Christmas day... Turkey and Ham and mashed taters and mac n cheese etc... YUMMY!!!! lol

Well, I'm going to go be like Pebbles and crash... I am so tired! lol... I think I've written everything here that I wanted to. So I'll write more later when I get a chance.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

WE'RE TAKING PEBBLES!!!!

YAY!!! We are taking Pebbles with us tomorrow!!! I am so happy about this. I always wanted to take her but Paul really didn't want to.

I was doing okay with having to drop her off at Beths today because I was so busy. But when Beth called and told us to remember to bring her cage I lost it. I just couldn't do it. I told Beth that we haven't crated Pebbles in about 3 months and have had no problems with her. Beth just wouldn't listen. She said that she didn't want Pebbles peeing and pooping in her house and that they wanted to crate her on Christmas Eve. I said okay and we hung up... I just started bawling. I couldn't do it.

I cried for about 15 minutes before Paul finally said we could take her with us. He said that I was going to miserably miss her the whole trip and that would make him miserable and in the end we wouldn't enjoy ourselves. So we might as well take her with us... He's so sweet and knows me so well!!! lol

So Paul called Beth back and told her that we wouldn't be bringing her over and we were taking her to AR with us.

It's been such a busy day. But we are all set to leave in the morning. We just have a few lil things to do like set the heat to 67, set the water heater to vacation setting, pack Pebbles' bed water dish food dish... Not too bad!!

I am so pooped though. my feet hurt too. I did way too much today. But I guess it's okay since I'll be sitting in a car for the next two days!!! lol I should definitly sleep well tonight.

Well, we're going to watch todays AMC and then go to bed.

My next post will be from AR!!! woo hoo!!!

xoxoxox

Mandy

Busy Busy Busy

This is the first time I've sat down since I got up at 9 this morning... it's been such a busy day. Cleaning the house, doin all the laundry... I cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom and now no one is allowed in there!!! Don't dirty any dishes or make any messes!!! I actually yelled at Paul when he fixed a bowl of cereal LOL!! It's hormonal... I apologized and then he washed his bowl and spoon LOL...

We're going to eat an early dinner at Applebees in a bit and Pauls gotta return his dads saw and wants a hair cut.

I don't wanna leave Pebbles too long since this is the last day we'll be with her for a while. She's already had 2 panic attacks today!! I feel horrible when that happens. She knows something is going on, just isn't sure what.... They sense so much!

So I'll just go to dinner and have him drop me back off at home while he does all his other stuff... there's still stuff that needs to get done around here anyway. And I can spend some time with Ms. Pebbles.

I'm having a hard time packing pebbles though. I know it's cause I don't want to leave her, but it's so hard. I've been packing one thing at a time and then doing something else, then pack something else of hers... Its just hard.

I plan on calling everday and having Beth put me on speaker phone so I Pebbles can hear my voice!!! I swear if we had an answering machine I would call home sometimes while I'm running errands just to tell her I miss her!!! lol

We'll probably leave to drop Pebbles off around 6 or so... Awww only 3.5 more hours with her!!! That makes me so sad. But I'm actually doing somewhat okay with that today. I know its for the best. And since I've been so busy today I haven't really had too much time to think about it. It's going to be hard after we drop her off and come back home without her... That's going to be the rough part, being home wihtout my Pebbley Poo!!!

We are completely packed... even our tooth brushes!! lol... I didn't pack Pauls deoderant yet though cause he'll need that for tomorrow. And we have spare toothbrushes to use tonight and tomorrow.

Well, looks like the floors are dry so I better get back to work!!! Paul's in the shower now and then we'll go to Applebees..... Yummy chicken fajita roll up!!!

Well, off I go!!!

xoxoxo

Amanda

Busy day

Man I'm pooped!!! I had a busy day today!

First off Paul woke me up at 9... not 9:30 like I had asked him too!!! So I was a lil grumpy, but got over it. I haven't gotten up before 1030 in months and it wasn't easy getting up that early! lol But I got up and showered.

Pebbles had her grooming appointment at 11. I picked her up at 2 and she is sooo pretty!! She's so soft and smells like a cookie!! They even put a Christmas bandana on her, it's so cute!!! She's pooped though and has been sleeping since I picked her up. I can only imagine how stressful that is on her. They gave her a hair cut, bath, oatmeal bath, massage, clipped her nails, trimmed her face feet and butt, cleaned out her ears, squeezed her anal glands... Sounds stressful to me!! lol

So after I dropped Pebbles off at the groomers I headed to Salvation Army. I had 3 bags of clothes I wanted to donate and have been meaning to do it for so long. I finally got around to it today.

After Salvation Army I went to Chrysler to get my oil changed. I got to Chrysler at 1130. After waiting over an hour and almost crying a few times because I was so hungry and didn't want to wait... It shouldn't take longer then 20 minutes for an oil change! I mean the sign says "QUICK OIL CHANGE" lol. So at 12:40 I went and asked the guy how much longer it was going to be. He was a little surprised that I was still there and said he would go check and see what's going on. So I sat down at his desk and he came back a few minutes and said that it would be 5-10 minutes and the oil change would be free!!! 10 minutes later my pager went off saying that my car was ready. I went to the counter and true to his word I didn't pay a penny!!! It was nice that they ended up covering the cost, but I'm still peeved that I sat there for over an hour for a frikkin oil change!!! lol...

By this point I'm STARVING!!! lol... So since the oil change was free I stopped at Subway and got a 6 in. cold cut trio for myself and a 6 in. tuna for Paul.

On the way home I stopped at CVS to drop Paul's prescription off. Then came home, ate my Subway and then it was time to pick Pebbles up!

Pebbles was so happy to see me!! On the way home I stopped at CVS (drive thro) to pick up Pauls prescription. We had to sit and wait a few minutes, but that was okay, Pebbles was enjoying looking out the window. And then the lady gave her a doggie cookie, so she was fine!!!

After CVS I stopped and filled my car up. I figured it's the last time it'll be driven before we leave for AR and I wanted to make sure the tank was full so we don't have to bother with that at 5 a.m. on Saturday.

When I got home I did some more packing, organized things a little better.

Paul and I just got home from Kroger. We had to return the movies to Blockbuster (Nanny Diaries was pretty good). And we wanted to return bottles and go to coin star in Kroger. We had almost 17 bucks worth of change!!! Woo hoo!!! lol

So now I'm just relaxing. Paul is sitting on the other end of the couch on his laptop, the cat is laying between us on a pillow, and pebbles is sound asleep on the blankey lol... Yep, those are my babies!! And I'm proud to say it!! I'd shout it from the roof tops! lol Love them all soooo much!!!

xoxoxox

Amanda

Thanks Daddy!!

So I managed to talk him into going to Babies R Us!!! Of course the Starbucks helped! lol

They didn't have two valances so we just got one... Here's what we got -

* Patchwork Pooh Hamper
* Patchwork Pooh Valance (just one)
* Patchwork Pooh Wall Art
* Tigger Robe and Booties
* Pooh Bear Hooded 2 Pack Towel Set (Paul picked this out!!!)

Since they didn't have two valances we were able to get the rob and towels!!! It was so much fun walking around Babies R Us... We went to a different one then usual... We usually got to the one at M53 and Hall, but we went to the one at Masonic and Gratiot... it was nice. Paul likes the one we went to tonight better because he hates driving down Hall road... It wasn't bad, but the shelves were pretty empty, most likely because it's the Holidays, but still...

I totally enjoyed myself. I swear I could live in that place. It's like pure heaven... Just seeing a the little baby stuff, and touching all the soft blankets... Love it!!

Paul was such a sweetie too... He just followed me around and of course agreed with everything I said. This is what he usually does when we go shopping together... I guess he think it'll make me move faster, but it really doesnt. lol... He even picked out the pooh bear towels!! It was nice.

Anyways, I got onion rings in the toaster oven and they just dinged. So I'm off to go get our onion rings!!! YUMMY!!!

Dad's Christmas Present

So I got my Daddy's card in the mail today... And I was right!! He sent money. Not as much as usual, but it's great. He sent a hundred instead of two... I was a little disappointed at first because this meant that we won't be getting the crib set, but I'm over that. I think I've decided that we'll get the wall art, 2 valances, and the hamper!!! How does that sound?! All we'll have to pay out of our pocket is like 12 bucks!!! Not too shabby if I do say so myself! lol..

Of course I could change my mind on what to get when we get to the store, and it depends on what the store has and what kind of shape the stuff is in.

Paul is on his way home from work and I'm trying to talk him into going to Babies R Us tonight, but I don't know if he'll want to. Well, I know he won't WANT to but I don't know if I can get him to go tonight. He said he wants to wait until tomorrow, but I have the oil change and Pebbles grooming tomorrow... I guess we could go tomorrow night... The money's just gonna burn a hole in my pocket till I get baby stuff though!!! I wanna go tonight!!! It'll get me outta the house...

But we should wait until tomorrow. I still have a little bit of packing to do, and I can get that done tonight if we don't go. I dunno... I can get it done before Paul gets home!!! And then we can still go to Babies R Us!!! Lol...

We'll see I guess. I hate having money, knowing what I'm going to spend it on, and having to wait!!!

I keep thinking we should use half on the baby and the other half for a nice romantic dinner, but we'll have nice dinners when we're in AR and we really need to spend the money on baby stuff.

And then I worry that if I buy too much stuff off our registry that people won't have enough choices... but there's a lot of stuff on our registry... Plus I'm not really having a baby shower, so I dunno... Most people have already said that they are going to wait until after the baby is born to get something, that way they can get gender centered gifts.

Well, I'm going to go finish up our packing and after Paul gets home I'll beg REALLLLY hard for him to take me to Babies R Us. lol.... I know, I'll bribe him with Starbucks. "If you take me to Babies R Us we can go to Starbucks"... Think it'll work?!!? I do!! I know my hubby and he'll go anywhere as long as Starbucks is involved!!! lol

Gotta love him!! And I do!!

Mandy!

Getting ready to pack....

So I'm going to start packing soon. Woo hoo!!!

Yesterday was a pretty busy day.

I went to Lenox library to get some books, of course they only had two of the books that I wanted. And she said that with the Holidays it could take up to two weeks for them to arrive if they ordered them, but that three of the books I want were at the Romeo library.

So I figured I would make a big circle... I went to Old Navy at 23/Gratiot. Then the Old Navy at Hall/Schoenherr, then Bath and Body Works at 26/Van Dyke. And the library was at 30/Van Dyke!! So not bad!! Then I just came back down to 26 and cut across 26 to Gratiot till I was home... One big circle!!!

I bought my Christmas gifts from Paul... Yep I bought my own Christmas gifts Lol... Nicole said that Old Navy was having a 40% off sale on all maternity clothes, so I told Paul that I would spend $50 on clothes and that could be his Christmas gift to me. So I rerturned a pair of pants and got $35 so I could now spend $85 on maternity clothes. I ended up spending $79!! Sweet!! I'm good! lol... I got a new pair of jeans, which I love, a sweater, a zip up fleece soft cozy sweater, and two long sleeve shirts. Not too shabby!!! lol... I had to go to two differnt Old Navys but that was okay.

After I shopped at the Old Navys I went to Bath and Body Works because Paul told me he was out of cologne. And I wanted to make sure he had some... I love the way it smells!!!

Then up to Romeo Library I headed... I got the books I wanted and then came home. It was such a productive day yesterday! lol

Here's a list of all the books I'm taking on our road trip with us... It should be enough right?! lol

Here's the pleasure reads-
Sleeping with the Enemy - by Kay Hooper (I'm actually in the middle of reading this one)
Angels and Demons - By Dan Brown
The Tenth Circle - By Jodi Picoult
Stalemate - By Iris Johansen

Here's the educational reads -
Gentle Birth Choices (in the middle of this one too)
What to Expect the First Year
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Vaccinations
Vaccinations: A Thoughtful Parents Guide
Naturally Healthy Babies and Children
The Womaly Art of Breastfeeding
Change Your Thoughts - Change Your life

That should be enough right?! lol Think I'm overdoing it? I mean it's going to be about an 18 hour drive one way!!! So that's approximately 36 hours!! In a car!!! lol... And then I'll have time to read at the hotel at night... So we'll see... I may not get around to reading them all, but I like to have options!!!

I didn't sleep so well last night... In the end I got 9 hours of sleep, but it took me 14 hours to get that!!! Crazy huh! lol...

Not much going on here today... Just going to start packing, do some laundry (wanna wash all my new clothes!!), check the mail to see if my dad's card came yet... If the card came then it's off to Babies R Us!!! Woo Hoo!! lol...

I'm off like a prom dress!!!

xoxoxo

Amanda

Road Trip Reading Material - Vaccinations

So I've started my reasarch on not vaccinating Cooper. I am definitly leaning towards not doing it. It's just so icky.

I've been looking for books that I can read. I also want to make sure I have books to read on the drive to AR. But so far this is what I've got -

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Childrens Vaccinations - by Stephanie Cave

Vaccinations: A Thoughtful Parents Guide: How to Make a Safe, Sensible Decision About the Risks, Benefits, and Alternatives - by Aviva Jill Romm

Naturally Healthy Babies and Children: A Common Sense Guide to Herbal Remedies, Nutrition, and Healthy - by Aviva Jill Romm

How to Raise a Healthy Child... In Spite of Your Doctor - by Robert Mendelsohn

And I'm also gonna get

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by Le Leche League International

So I'm off to the library tomorrow to get all these books. I'm hoping to get most of them. I checked online and they are all available in libraries in the area. But I don't know how long it takes for the books to get to my library after I order them from another library. If it's going to take longer the Friday obviously I can't do it. There's only one of these books that are at the library right up the street from my house. I think theres another of the books at a library that isn't too far, but the other libraries are far away. So hopefully I'll be able to get a couple of them....

I also ordered Eat, Pray, Love last Thursday from the library and that should be in soon.

I just wanna make sure I have tons of books to read for the trip lol... I'm also gonna get Stalemate by Iris Johansen... Hey they can't all be educational books!!! lol.. Gotta have something for pleasure. Altho I do enjoy reading about stuff that is concerning my pregnancy or the baby.

Also Nicole called me and told me that Old Navy is having a huge 40%-50% off sale on all their maternity clothes. So I told Paul that I would go to Old Navy tomorrow and get some more clothes, and that could be his Christmas gift to me. At 40%-50% off I should be able to get tons of stuff for $50. Looking foward to that.

Lets see.... what else....

I talked to Paul about when he wants to get Jacob. We decided to get him on January 11th after the interview with the Ped. And the weekend we get back from AR Paul agreed to pain the nursery!!! YAY!!!! I can't wait till it's all done!

Here's my 27 weeks picture!! I'm so excited about being in the 3rd trimester... It's the final stretch. The last phase till we meet our lil baby!!! It's so exciting!! But stressful too because it makes me realize how much more we have to do to prepare for the baby. I've calmed down a little on that front though. Now that I have my lists and know when I will get certain things I'm not as stressed about not having all the stuff we need for the baby... As long as nothing changes from my list I'll be fine! lol..

Geeeeez, I'm getting big!! I am getting that big belly I've been allowing to come. And it's totally comming!! I just wanted to have the pregnant belly for when I saw my family this week... Wow!!

I can't believe we're going to be in AR in just a few days. Christmas is a week from tomorrow... CRRRAAAZZZZYYYYYY lol

Well I'm off I guess... Nothing more to write...

xoxoxo

Amanda

I'm done procrastinating....

Well, I'm done procrastinating!

I called and made two appointments to interview pediatricians. We have an interview with Salvatore Ventimiglia on January 17th at 6 p.m. And an interview with Shirlee Kuhl on January 22nd at 4:15 p.m. So on top of the interview we already have with Shirley McManus on January 11th at 1 p.m. we have 3 interviews for pediatricians... Yay!! Two of those pediatricians are DO's!!! Those are the only two pediatric D.O.'s in the area and I've got an interview with both of them!!! Yippee!!! lol

I cleaned out the fish tank... It was so nasty that I had to vaccum the gravel 3 times!!! Ewwww... It hasn't even been that long since it's been vaccumed. I don't know what's wrong... I hope I didn't kill any of the fish, because I had to vaccum, fill it back up, vaccum, fill it back up, vaccum, and then fill it up for good. They were all looking a lil peaked when I got done. But they look fine now and are swimming around. Of course I put some Stress Coat in there and they all rolled around in it for a few minutes... It's so cute when they do that. lol... But the fish tank is definitly clean now.

Pebbles is also scheduled for her grooming on Thursday at 11. And after I drop her off I'll go get the oil changed. I called and found out that I don't need an appointment for the oil change. Yippee! LOL

I loaded and ran the dishwasher as well....

And then when I got done with all that I went outside and played (shoveled) in the snow!! I love it!!! It was so much fun... Of course Paul is going to kill me for shoveling the sidewalk, but I just couldn't help it... It's so much fun!! lol... I was only out there for about 15 minutes, and stopped for breaks every few shovels, so I think I'm okay... Coopers moving around a lil right now, but he's fine...

So now all I have to do is shower... Woo hoo!! Which I am about to do right now... I might even find all of our luggage, bring it upstairs and clean it off later. Depends on how I feel after the shower.

January is going to be a busy month!!! I'm just looking at my calendar and it's crazy!!

I'm trying to find a time for us to go get Jacob and spend a weekend with him and give him his Christmas and Birthday gifts. It's just so crazy though. I was thinking about going to get him on Friday Jan 4th after my midwife appointment. I dunno though, because we'll have just gotten back from AR the day before and I'll still be unpacking and doing laundry and stuff... Ugh... Plus I kinda want Paul to start painting the nursery that weekend... I know he won't be happy when I bring this up, but he knows that when we get back we're painting the nursery... Don't think he knows I mean the day after we get back!!! lol

The next weekend Jan 11-13 we have to interview a Ped and Jenny (doula) is coming over on the 12th. We could always go pick him up after the interview on Jan 11. And he could just be here when Jenny is here. I don't see that being much of a problem. Hmmm...

Other then that the first FREE weekend we have is Jan 18-20. Do we want to wait that long before we see him after Christmas? I mean he won't know when Christmas is... He'll only be 1. But still... How long do we want to wait... We haven't seen him since October 7... So it'll be 3 months since we've seen him.

I'll have to talk to Paul about this...

Well, I'm gonna go take a shower... That's gonna feel good!! lol... YAY!!

Talk more later!!!

xoxoxo

Mandy

I'm Procrastinating!!! lol

So I'm procrastinating today... Something I hate!!! Procrastination is one of my biggest pet peeves, but mostly when Paul does it... Because he does it with everything!

So what am I procrastinating? Hmmmm Lets see. Here's my to do list today -

- Make interviews with Pediatricians
- Clean out fish tank
- Schedule Pebbles' grooming
- Call to find out if I need an appointment for an oil change and 23 point check
- Clean the kitchen
- Take a shower lol

So yea, I'm procrastinating... Which is crazy cause most of those things can be handled over the phone lol.

I just had a snack... peanut butter, apple, and hershey kisses!! Yummy! lol... And atleast I'm getting protein from the peanut butter. Yep, that's how I rationalize! lol

I slept okay I guess. I was trying to go to bed around 930 with Paul because I was so tired. But I couldn't sleep, so by 1015 I got up and checked my email, and then read until midnight. At midnight tried to go back to bed. But Pebbles decided she had to go outside... So I bundled up and outside we went. She peed and poopied a lil. Then back to bed... About the time I got all snuggly warm again she decided she needed to go again. So back outside... She just wanted to be outside lol. So I stayed out there with her for about 5 minutes. She just ran around. Then we went back inside. By this time it was almost 1230. LOL!!! I finally fell asleep around 1. I wanted to be up by 10 today, but that didn't happen... Well let me rephrase, I woke up at 10 and then laid in bed until 1130. I didn't really sleep, but I just couldn't get myself up.

Okay, I've run out of stuff to write about, so I guess I have to go start on my to do list... I'll start with making the phone calls, then segway into the fish tank, kitchen, and then shower... LOL!!! UGH!!

hmmmm wonder if Pebbles needs to go outside?!?! LOL!!

27 weeks... Let it snow!!!

So I'm in the third trimester!!! Yay!!! The final stretch. It seems like so long ago that we found out I was pregnant, but at the same time it seems like it was yesterday lol... Weird how that happens...

Its so amazing to think that our baby started off as microscopic cells and is now over 2 lbs!!! Awesome! It's not a peanut anymore!!!

It started snowing last night around 7 o'clock and snowed until 2 o'clock today!!! We got about 9 inches! It's great. Pebbles was so funny. I wasn't sure how she was going to react to all the snow, and she didn't like it at all. First of all, Paul had to shovel out a little spot for her to potty. And she didn't move from that spot. lol... She tried to look over the snow and couldn't see anything so she just wanted to go back in. When Paul shoveled most of the driveway I took her back out and she still didn't like it. I was even trying (pretending) to take her for a walk and she wanted no part of it. She did her business and ran back to the door. She ain't dumb!!! I guess it was a little too cold for her with all the wind and everything, even though she had her coat on.

Of course we knew the storm was coming, so we went to Fay and Jerry's yesterday instead of today. Since this was the last time we would see them before Christmas they wanted us to open our gifts yesterday. So we did. We got some baby stuff off our registry from them. We knew that's what we would get, since we told them we only wanted stuff from our registry this year. We got our Soothing Seas Aquarium with remote, our Patchwor Pooh diaper stacker (to which Paul goes "What's that?" lol), the Patchwork Pooh blankey, Patchwork Pooh crib sheet, Patchwork Pooh pillow, and another lights and sound maker. It's great!!! I got everything all organized in the nursery today.

I made Paul "help" me do this. lol And of course he just stood there with his arms folded and said "well what do want me to do"... Nothing really, I just wanted him in there with me. So he kinda just stood there and watched me do everything. It was nice having him there. Even though he didn't do anything. lol

After Paul shoveled and I unburied our cars we came in and took a nice relaxing warm bubble bath together. It was nice.

Well, my daddy just called so I'm gonna go talk to him. Will write more later!!!

xoxoxo

Mandy

EDIT - I just got off the phone with my daddy. He said that we should be getting our Christmas card from him soon. Which means MONEY!!! lol... Which then mean BABIES R US!!! lol... Paul and I already decided that whatever money we get for Christmas will be used for the baby. Usually my daddy sends us a couple hundred for Christmas, so I'm thinking we may just get the nursery crib set. It's about $200. I figure that'll be good. But I'll have to look thro my list. I can either get one big thing, or tons of little things... but either way we're still spending the same amount of money... So do I want tons of little stuff, or one big thing?!? I like buying little things cause it always makes it seem like you've gotten more, instead of just ONE item! lol.. I'm weird like that. We'll see. I don't wanna get my hopes up though, but he usually send a couple hundred, so that's what we're hoping for!! I'll be searching the mail box everday...

Okay, off to find food! lol

Mandy

26 wks 5 days

So I went to Babies R Us today!! Woo hoo!! I swear I could live in that store... LOOOOOOVVE IT!

I got one package of 96 Pampers Swaddlers diapers, one package of 420 Pamper Sensitive wipes and the closet organizer... And this one was clean!!! That last one I bought had stains on it so it had to go back, but this ones spick-n-span lol...



Isn't it pretty?!!? lol... That's the old one tho, but the new one looks the same!! I'll have to get new pictures.

And I also got a couple outfits for Jacob for Christmas... I had a total brain freeze while I was trying to pick out Jacobs outfits.

Thank goodness I called Paul. I called him and said "I'm getting some outfits for Jacob for Christmas but I don't know what size. Should I get 24 or 36 months?"

Paul paused for a second and said "He's only 12 months" lol...

Well that answered that question. So I got 18 month clothes. I figured he may be a little big (He was the last time we saw him) and if not he can grow into them.

The baby moved up today. I felt the kicks a little below my ribs instead of even with my belly button... Its such a different sensation and feels so cool lol. I still feel the kicks around my belly button, but sometimes feel it a lil below my ribs... So amazing!!

After Paul got home we went to PetCo, Ulta, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Meijers...

My back is hurting tonight cause I did so much standing and walking today.

We're supposed to get a ton of snow tomorrow... but they've been saying that for 3 weeks now and we've gotten NOTHING. However, we're right on the border of 4-8 inches and 6-12 inches, so I have to believe we'll get SOMETHING... We better damnit! I've been waiting for snow since April!! lol... I wanna take Pebbles out to play in it! And possibly build a snowman!!! I love the snow!!!

Well, I'm gonna go... Paul's pacing and I'm sure he'll say he's ready for bed any minute... lol..

xoxoxo

Amanda

Pediatricians....

Man who knew it would be so difficult to find a pediatrician?!!? I never really thought about it until a couple weeks ago and it hit me like a brick wall... "We can't wait until AFTER the baby is born to have a pedi, we need to start searching now, otherwise we could end up with the Pedi from hell because we didn't do our research..."

So today I started our search... But it's a little tricky for us. Here's why -

The hospital we are giving birth at is around 20 miles from our house. That's a 30-40 minute drive. I'm already having to drive that far every time I go to my mid wives. We don't want to have to continue driving that far after the baby is born for Pedi appointments. But we need a Pedi that is affiliated with the hospital I am giving birth at, otherwise we'll end up with the "house pedi" while we are still in the hospital...

So I found a couple Pedis that aren't TOO far from our house and are affiliated with my birthing hospital. They are still around 20 miles away though. I made an interview for January 11th with one of them. And am going to call tomorrow and set up a couple more interviews.

I also found several Pedis much closer to home (within 5 miles) and they are affiliated with a hospital that is closer, but I am not giving birth at the hospital.

So I'm thinking I'll go ahead and set up an interview with a couple close Pedi's and a couple far Pedi's.

Now you may be wondering why we aren't giving birth at the closer hospital... Simple, because the midwives we are currently seeing came highly recommended and after meeting them once we fell totally head-over-heels in love with them. So much so that we are willing to drive that far for all my appointments and when I go into labor.

If we happen to fall in love with the Pedi that's farther away then so be it... We will stick with her, if not we will continue our search and try to find one closer to home.

I'm thinking in the month of January we'll interview the Beaumont (far away) Pedi's and pick one. Then in February we'll interview the Henry Ford Macomb (closer) Pedi's and pick one. Then we'll decide between the two which one we like the best after the baby is born and stick with that one... How does that sound?? Does it make sense?! lol

I'm sure I've totally confused everyone that is reading this right now. But it makes sense to me. Lol...

We also have to find a pedi that will respect our decision not to vaccinate. I know we may not find a Pedi that is FOR us not vaccinating, but we want one that can respect our decision as parents not to. And of course there's other issues. Such as - do they support breast feeding, how do they feel about boys not being circumcised, are they okay with alternative medical care, etc. Which is why I'm trying to find a DO not MD... But I'm finding that is a little difficult with Pedis. It's not so hard with General Practioners, but it is with Pedis... atleast in our area.

And me being the organizational freak that I am (I have to have something to obsess about!) I typed up a list of questions to aske Pedis and have it all organized... I'll post it here for other soon-to-be-moms that are going thro what we are.

Here's what I have so far -


Background, credintials, and experience

How/Why did you decide on pediatrics?
How long have you been in practice?
Where did you complete undergradute school?
Did you recieve honors?
When and where did you complete medical school and residency?
Did you serve as Cheif Resident? (If so that shows that they were at the top of their class and good with people)
Are you board certified?
What are you doing to continue training?
Are you a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics or any other organization?
How long have you been in practice?
Do you have any areas of specialty?
What hospital are you affiliated with?
Are you a solo practice? Partner? Or group?
Who covers for you when you're on vacation?
Do you stay current with medical trends?

Office and Policies

What are the office hours?
How long in advance must we book appointments?
Does the office mail out reminders for scheduled appointments?
Are there any diagnostic facilities on site?
What lab work can be perfomed in the office?
Is there a Pediactric Nurse Practitioner?
Is there a Pediatric Physicians Assistant?
How are phone calls handled? Is there a call hour? Call back system? Nurse call system?
Can we email questions in?
If there's a call back system, how long does it usually take for a call to be returned?
Is there a 24 hour call service? If so, whom will we talk to? A nurse, another doctor from a different practice, you, a different doctor from this pracitce?
How do you feel about us calling over "little things"?
Can I schedule an appointment with the pediatrician of my choice?
How are emergencies handled?
Does the office take same-day appointment for sick children?
Does the office accept drop-ins for sick children? If so how long is the average wait?
How does the office handle after hours emergencies?
Do you accept Blue Cross Blue Sheild?
How are insurance claims handled and will the office bill my insurance company directly?
Do you accept checks and credit cards?
Is payment due at time of visit, or will I be billed?
Are payment plans accepted?
What happens if we miss a scheduled appointment? And can we easily reschedule?

Philosophies and extras

Breastfeeding?
Early release from hospital?
Circumcision?
Good nutrition?
Imminization?
Antibiotics?
Alternative medical care?
What tests are routine after the baby is born?
How do you feel about eye prophylaxis?
How is jaundice handled?
Can I immediately breast feed?
Can you tell the hospital staff not to give our baby bottles or formula?
Will you come to the hospital when the baby is born? Or will we see you at our first well baby check up?
How soon after the baby is born will you come to visit? Will you come or another doctor?
Do you have an recommendations for health supplies? Aceteminophene? Thermometer? Diaper rash cream?
Do you have a suggested reading list?

Questions to ask yourself

Is the staff courteous, friendly, and helpful?
Is the staff responsive and patient with young children?
Were we kept waiting long?
Ask the receptionist what the average wait time is. If she is vague or noncommital, ask some parents that are waiting.
A long average wait can mean a disorgnized office, overbooking, or more paitents then the doctor can handle. But doesn't tell you much about the quality of care.
Is there a clean, comfortable play area in the waiting room?
Is there a seperate waiting room for sick and well children?
Are there bold colors and intriguing patterns on the walls?
Are there bright colorful pictures on the walls?
Are there clean, well maintained toys in the waiting area?
Are there age appropriate books?
Do we feel comfortable with the doctor?
Do we feel we can ask any questions without embarassment?
Did they take time to talk to us?
Did we feel rushed?
Did they answer all our questions?

Not much is going on here today. I shopped at Kohls a little today, I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have to stand in line for 2 hours to pay... There was only 2 people in front of me! It wasn't bad.

I got a new bra (pebbles chewed my old one), a long sleeve shirt (I love it), a 2008 calendar (which I have filled out and hung up), and I got Aunt Capri something for Christmas... I finally got her something. I don't know if she'll like it or not, but I do. It's a big fleece lap throw for the couch... Soooo soft!!! lol I spent $35.00!!! Woo hoo!!!

Tomorrow (well I guess it's today not since it's 1 a.m.) I am going to Babies R Us to get the diapers and wipes. I'll get two things of diapers and two things of wipes. So woo hoo!!! lol

So nothing new here - I'm gonno surf the net a bit and watch Golden Girls until I fall asleep! lol... I haven't been sleeping well... I stay up till 2-3 a.m. and then wake up every hour or so. I try to sleep late but I get so restless I'm up by 11... It totally stinks!!! lol... And I have the weirdest dreams too.

xoxoxo

Amanda

Glucose Test - 26 wks 3 days

I called the Mid Wives office today to get the results of my glucose test.

I PASSED!!! YAY!

She said that everything came back normal. So I shouldn't have to take another test through out the pregnant. I'm so happy.

I was a little nervous because diabetes runs so high in my family. But everything turned out fine.

WOOT WOOT!!!

I'm so excited that I'm almost in my third trimester!! How freakin crazy is that!! Seems like yesterday I found out I was pregnant, and now I'm almost in the home stretch. I'm so excited about it!! It's crazy!!!

YAY!!!

So tomorrow I'm going to Kohls. I have a 15% off total purchase coupon and I wanna get a couple long sleeve shirts to wear on our car ride. I wanna make sure I'm comfy and my velour pants are my most comfy ones, but I don't have any regular shirts that go with it. So I'm gonna get some. And since Pebbles chewed my bra a little I'm going to get a new one. Kohls has maternity bras for like 15 bucks. They looked really comfy too... and NO UNDERWIRE!!! Yay!!! I'll give it a try. I'm excited... I get to get out of the house.

And then on Friday I'm going to Babies R Us to get diapers and wipes. I atleast get to use my $5.00 off Pampers coupon and my $2.00 off wipes coupone. My limit is $60-$100 (I'm not sure yet) for baby this period. And I'm including my shirt and bra in that.

Shirt - $9.00
Bra - $16.00
Diapers - $37.00
Wipes - $22.00

This total is $84.00...

If I can use $100 then I'll get the closet organizer too. With my 15% off coupon the organizer is $22.50... Not bad!!! I'll be just a few bucks over.

Well, I'm gonna go read some of Gentle Birth Choices.... I love that book!!

xoxoxo

Amanda!!!

Dr. Wayne Dyer

So on Monday night I went to yoga at Sallys. We had a blast and relaxed for a few hours. Love those girls!! Cindy was there as well. I haven't seen her in over a year. It was great to see her. She said she's going to try to come back to our Monday meetings, I hope she does. I really enjoyed having her there and have missed her presence for the past year or so.

Laura got me the next book we are doing. It's a Wayne Dyer book. I'm so excited about this book. It's called Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao. I've read the prefact and the first verse and am practicing the first verse adamently. It's making such a huge difference.

I was so stuck there for a while on my self improvement and this has given me a new light. I've stopped "wanting" things and started "allowing" things into my life (the first verse). I've stopped wanting money for the baby and am working on allowing wealth into my life. I've also stopped wanting a big pregnant belly and am working on allowing it to happen... I swear I woke up this morning bigger then I was yesterday!!!

It's making a big difference just letting things happen. And it takes the pressure off as well. It's great. I'm truly enjoying it.

Sincerly,

The self-loving Amanda!!

I'm sure it's hormones....

I'm not doing so well today!!! I'm sure it's just hormones, but still...

I hate being at home all day long with nothing to do. I feel like such a disgusting blob. I just sit on the couch all day and do nothing but surf the net. It's horrible. I am so bored and feel terrible about it all the time. I feel like I do nothing.

I slept till 1 today!!! Why not, I have nothing better to do today. I've started staying up really late again... I didn't go to bed until after 2 a.m. And then didn't sleep that well... I woke up every hour, and had very weird dreams...

I just don't get it!!! Why don't I have anything to do? I feel like I should have a ton of things to do, I mean we do have a baby on the way, but I don't. Paul's always telling me we don't have money, so I can't go buy stuff for the baby to prepare the room.

He's telling me now that I shouldn't buy baby stuff on the 15th. I've been looking foward to this for 3 weeks!!! It's a chance to get me out of the house! I get to go to Babies R Us and actually DO something. I have all these great coupons that expire on Dec 16th. I have two $5.00 off Pampers coupons... two $2.00 off pampers wipes coupons... and four 15% off coupons. We have the money for our trip to AR. I am just looking foward to getting out of the house!!!

I'm getting really frustrated right now. I wanted to get online at the bank account and just see how much money we have right now... and I can't fucking sign on. Paul has all these security questions set up and the one it keeps giving me is "What's your favorite teacher" I know the answer, but obviously I'm spelling it wrong or something because it's not letting me in. And now I'm getting even more upset. Okay I finally got it.

We have $86 to get us till Friday. I'm just so mad that I can't work. And I feel like I'm not contributing anything to the house. If I was working then we'd have the money... It's so stupid that I can't work. I mean, I really don't want to work, but I want the extra money. I was bringing in pretty good money when I was working... and now nothing...

That's how I feel.... Nothing... I feel like a big nothing right now. There's nothing I can do to help, there's nothing I can do period. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. I just don't know what to do with myself.

I'm feeling so sad about not taking Pebbles to AR with us. I'm going to be away from her for 12 days. What if she runs away from Beth and Mike (like she's been doing lately with me)? Or what if she pees in Beths house? Beth is such a neat freak, I would feel terrible if that happened. And I just have a feeling that it will. Pebbles hasn't been holding it all night lately. And at our house she goes in our bathroom and pees on the puppy pad... She can't do that at Beths house. Pebbles will be in their bedroom with them at night, and they don't have an attached bathroom. And what if they have a lot of company (which I know they will for New Years atleast). Pebbles doesn't like loud noises or a lot of people. And what about while they are gone? What about Pebbles then? We haven't been crating her lately... she hasn't been crated in a long time. Beth is probably going to want to crate her. I hope she doesn't cause I don't want her crated for 7 hours. I'm just so worried about her...

But we really can't take her with us. She'll be in the hotel room by herself sometimes (granted for just short periods of time, but still). What if while we are gone the cleaning people come by? And she runs out the door? I can not have Pebbles locked in the garage at Aunt Capris house either. It's way to cold for that, and Pebbles has never been locked away from us when we are there. It's not fair to do that to her.

I know leaving her at Beth's is the best thing, it's just tearing me apart.

I just want this week to go by fast. I was Friday to be here, so I can do some shopping... SOMETHING!!!

Next week will be pretty busy. I have to get the oil changed in the Pacifica and the 16 point check up for the car trip. I wanna get Pebbles groomed. Clean the house from top to bottom before we leave. Shop for snacks. Make sure Mister is okay (another thing I worry about). Pack everything up...

Why can't I find something to do today?!!? I looked online for some mom groups in the area. I found one for pregnant women and inquired about that. Hopefully I'll hear something back soon. I also looked in to water aerobics close by, and there's nothing. There is a rec center in Macomb (not far at all) but of course there's a fee... I don't know what the fee is though. Maybe I'll go there one day this week and check it out. I don't know......

I just feel like nothing... and big blob of nothing. I just feel like crying all day today....

Maybe I'll get dressed and take Pebbles for a walk. I still have to go ask our neighbor if she'll watch Mister while we are gone. Guess I should do that today. It'll give me something to do...

Another thing, I have to buy a new bra... Which I feel guilty about because that's me spending money again...

I just keep feeling like if we didn't go to AR we'd have like $1000 to spend on the baby... But we have to go to AR to see my family. I haven't been there is so long. And I really want to go... but it's getting harder and harder to deal with... I keep feeling guilty for wanting to go. I don't want to waste money, and I feel like we could spend that money on baby stuff... We could get sooo much baby stuff with that money.

I get so mad at Paul for being such a dumb ass with his money for all those years, and having so much debt.... It's stressing me so much... And it affects me so much. He thinks it doesn't because I don't pay the bills... But when I can't do anything all day, and have to sit at home because I don't even have gas money to go to the library or something, it affects me... Pisses me off is what it does. I get so mad at him for that.

I just want to get like 5,000 credit cards and go nuts one day... But I can't even do that since I don't really have credit... Hell we didn't even get approved for a fucking Babies R Us card... Now that one pissed me off...

We should have never gotten the basment finished... I knew it wasn't a good idea at the time, but Paul really wanted to, so I went with him... It was such a bad idea... We would have an extra 300 bucks a month, and I wouldn't have a $29,000 loan on my credit report... PISSES ME OFF!!!

I just don't know what else to say. I am so done today.... Just sad and feel like nothing... I'm useless and there's no point to my life at this moment. I just want to have something to do. Somewhere to go. People to see and hang out with... I don't have any of that. It's so frustrating.

I am going to Sallys tonight for Yoga... I am so looking foward to that. I haven't really been out of the house since Friday. And that was for grocery shopping....

I just feel like crying. I sit here an feel sorry for myself... when in reality I don't have anything to feel bad about.

My dreams are coming true. I'm married to an amazing man and we are expecting a baby!!! It's everything I've always wanted. It's a dream come true. We have an amazing house, amazing pets, and amazing love....

Okay the UPS guy just came and brought my Kohls package... That's the highlight of my day so far!!! And it's just granny panties!!! And a baby outfit. But still... So sad....

Well, I'm gonna wash my new panties and take Pebbles for a walk. Go to the neighbors house and talk to her about watching Mister while we are gone....

I just need to get out of the house and feel better... It's crazy!!!

I do love Paul! And I do love my life. I wouldn't change anything for all the money in the world...

xoxoxox

Mandy

25 WEEKS 3 DAYS

I had a midwife appointment today... YAY!! Got to hear the babies heart beat again. I love that. It's great. Plus the baby always kicks the thing and it's great. We hear this loud thump and everything. She said Cooper was the most active baby she's seen in a while... That made me happy! lol..

She said I'm measuring perfectly and baby is doing great. I asked if I was gonna get another ultrasound and of course she said not unless something is wrong. And as of now everything is going perfectly.

Pauls drinking a beer right now, and I want a sip soooo bad!!! lol... Of course I won't. But I wanna!!!

I asked the midwife about driving to AR in a couple weeks, and she said that would be fine. As long as I drank tons of water and stopped to walk around every hour. She said the drinking of the water would remind us to stop every hour cause I'll have to pee! lol... So that shouldn't be a problem. I just feel better knowing that she okayed us taking the trip.

I asked about my itchy nipples and she said to start using lanolin. I have a free sample that I got from Babies R Us. So when I got home I thought I'd give it a try. I opened it and it's this REALLY thick yellowy brownish waxy looking stuff... Really gross looking... I thought "Oh god no". But decided to try it cause my nipples were just killing and I know scratching them is not good. So I put a little on my finger and was like "gross" but rubbed in on and it felt sooo good!! lol... I didn't think it was going to absorb into my skin, but it did after a minute or so... and man it feels good!!! I am totally recommending this to anyone with itchy nipples! lol...

I also asked about my discharge and horrible vaginal itching. Of course she said "well lets take a look" which is not what I wanted to hear... Ugh... I hate having internals now, they are so uncomfy. But she did what she needed to do and said I have a yeast infection. So she gave me a couple prescriptions. One for the yeast infection, I guess it's like Monistat 7. And the other is for the itching, Nystatin, I think is what it's called. I have to do the Monistat thing for 7 nights, and I can use the Nystatin twice a day for itching. It's gonna be so icky, but it'll feel great to not have the itching down there. So no sex for 7 days.... Not that sex went well last time we attempted it...

So on Sunday we tried to have sex for the first time in 3 weeks and found it to be extremely difficult with the expanding belly! Lol... I don't think we've ever laughed so hard. We laughed for about 45 minutes. It was so difficult to find a position that was comfortable. Of course Paul couldn't be on top cause my belly felt crushed. And when I was on top it was pretty uncomfy, I guess cause my cervix is more tender and we can't go as deep. In the end we both got what we wanted, but it wasn't easy to get there... LOL!!! It was pretty comical. We tried all sorts of positions, some where quite funny, and some just flat out didn't work. lol... Very interesting.

So here is my 24 week picture.



We've decided to not take Pebbles to AR with us. Which makes me really sad. But I know it's for the best. Aunt Capri doesn't want Pebbles in the house, and said that Pebbles could stay in the garage. I think it's way to cold for Pebbles to be in the garage for a week. Plus it'll be akward having her in the hotel with us. What if we want to run out to eat or go to the store? We don't want to leave her there by herself, so we would drive all the way to Mommas, back to town, and then back out to pick up Pebbles for the night. It'll be too much. So we're going to leave her with Beth... This makes me very sad though, having to be away from her for so long. :( But it'll be for the best.

As far as Mister goes, we're going to get an automatic feeder and set that for him. And ask the neighbor lady to come by and check on him everyday, maybe give him some wet cat food if she wants. Just spend a little time with him... he likes attention.

I feel so sad leaving my babies for 12 days. It makes me sad... But it's for the best. And I know they will both be very well taken care of, so that's not a problem. I'm just going to have issues leaving Pebbles at Beth's and leaving Mister... It's so sad!

I have an ortho appointment tomorrow. They are going to put rubber bands in going from the top to the bottom to try to close a gap... ugh... i'm not looking foward to that. It's going to be such a pain in the ass to deal with something else in my mouth. Seems like they've done so much to me over the past 8 months... wow I can't believe I've had braces for 8 months. Doesn't seem like it's that long.

Well, I'm gonna go find me something to snack on. I'm always hungry!!! Seems like all i do is eat!! lol... But that's fine... I'm slowly (very slowly) gaining weight. I've gained a total of 9 lbs. and that's counting the 4 that I lost right after I found out I was pregnant. So it's really only been 5 lbs... Lol... If that makes any sense...

xoxoxo

Amanda!!

Ready to cause permanent scars!!!!

I was going to title this post "ready to shoot Paul", but I thought someone might see it and think I'm serious and call the cops... Don't want that...

I'm so upset!!! I told Paul that I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to take the hypnobirthing classes. And of course the first thing he says is "How much is it"... Who the FUCK cares how much it is, if this is going to help me give birth, and keep me comfortable I want it. I'm just so mad that everytime I tell him I want something to help me thro labor he says "how much is it".... everytime I tell him we need something for the baby "how much is it"... it just pisses me off... Why is everything money with him?! I just don't get it. I'm just so mad at him right now. I don't even want to look at him! lol... UGH!!!! He's not the one giving birth... you can be damn well reassured that if he had to push out an 8 lb baby he'd take whatever classes, hire whomever he needed, and did whatever he needed to do to be comfortable, and he wouldn't think twice about how much it is.

I know money doesn't grow on trees, and we dont have an endless supply of money. But we can afford it... He's pretty much telling me that if I want to take the hypnobirthing classes then we can't go to AR for Christmas. It just makes me so mad that he's asking me to choose between the two. Do I want to see my family (whom I haven't seen in over a year -almost two years) or do I want to be as comfortable as possible when I give birth? I just don't see how he can ask me to choose between the two. It makes me so upset.

He thinks that because we hired the Doula we don't need to do anything else. Don't need to take any birthing classes or anything like that... It just upsets me so much.

I want to be so comfortable giving birth and I think taking the hypnobirthing classes will help. I just get so upset because if this was him he would be taking every birthing class available to him, hire 12 doulas, and do whatever he wanted... but I don't get to do that.

Don't get me wrong, I love my husband, and for the most part he is supportive. But sometimes he drives me crazy. Everything is money with him, and I just don't get it. I've never been all about money. And never will be. But that's all he thinks about.... "how much is this going to cost? how much is that going to cost? can we afford that?"....

This is something we're going to live with for the rest of our lives, and this is a HUGE decision (how to birth our baby). He agreed to help me go all natural and whatever I wanted. But now he's not letting me do everything I want. I just don't get that.


UUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Pregnancy freak outs...

Okay, I'm going to try to write up all the things I worry about with this pregnancy. And the worries that I have after the baby is born. So here they are -


I worry about losing the baby. If I don't feel a kick for several hours I get nervous.

I worry about how the pictures are going to look right after I have the baby. I worry that I'm going to look freaked out in all the pictures and not know what to do.

I worry that I can't breast feed or that it's going to hurt so bad that I can't breast feed. And then we'll have to spend money on formula (another huge expense! lol)

I'm really freaked out about post-partum depression. Even Paul has asked about this. He's a little nervous that this will happen to me because I let him see my freak outs sometimes. And of course it freaks him out.

I worry that Paul is going to totally freak out on me in the delivery room. He hates it when I stub my toe and am in pain... what the hell is he going to think when I'm pushing an 8 lb baby out?!?! This is part of the reason we've hired a doula. To try to help keep him calm during all the commotion, and if he can't handle it I'll still have someone with me. Someone who is trained and knows what's going on.

I worry about when I'm going to shower after the baby is born. I already sometimes get so busy and forget to shower. I can't imagine finding time to shower when I have the baby. And I worry that if I do shower while the baby is sleeping something will happen and I won't know it cause I'm in the shower LOL!

I worry that something will happent to Paul. Paul is much older then I am and I hate to say this, but financially I am completely dependent on him. We have talked extensively about how much his insurance policies and such are. They are just enough to cover the house, debt, and funeral. I would have to work to pay the normal bills. And that I won't be able to afford day care if I do have to work... lol So then I'll have to move in with my mom or something.

I worry about going days without speaking to Paul because I'm so busy with the baby. I worry that he won't help with the baby any (which I know isnt' true). I worry that he'll just come home from work, lock himself in his office, and stay there.... even go as far as sleeping on the couch in there...

I've also had thoughts of what if this is all just a dream? Am I really pregnant? What if it's just really bad gas I feel? And something else is seriously wrong and that why i haven't gotten a period since June. And then i hear the heart beat at the doctors and I'm okay for a couple weeks on those thoughts. lol

I worry that hubby won't get the sleep he needs. He's such a light sleeper already that I know he's going to hear the baby cry at night. Of course there's nothing I can do about this. Which brings me back to him sleeping in his office... His office is on a different floor of our house and he would still hear the baby, but it would so much quieter.

I worry that the cat will suffocate the baby. Or that the dog won't like the baby and try to bite Cooper. I worry that the baby will be allergic to pets and I will have to get rid of my "first born babies"... i love my pets like they are my babies, and would hate to get rid of them... This is a big worry for me.

I actually worry that I'll never get to watch Greys Anatomy again becuase I either wont' have the time or will be sleeping.

I worry that I'll never cook again, which is something that I love doing. We're going to live off pizza for the rest of our lives and gain 400 lbs.

I worry that i won't be able to lose any baby weight after the baby is born. And I'll be 200+ lbs for the rest of my life.

I worry about getting our baby christened. We want to christen baby catholic but I am not catholic and have never been christened or baptised myself. So I worry that the church (that we don't go to) won't christen our baby.

I worry about not having clothes for the baby. Since we currenly only have about 5 outfits. I worry that the baby will have to wear the same outfit over and over again.

I worry that our baby isn't going to have anything!!! Diapers, wipes, nothing... Scary though. That we aren't going to be able to afford anything. This is a big worry I'm having at the moment. I had a huge freak out about this over the weekend.

I worry that the nursery won't be done in time. And we'll have to rush around after the baby is born and finish it.

I worry that the baby will be early. And we won't be prepared at home for the baby yet.

I worry that our doula won't be able to make it to the birth.

I worry that something will go wrong during labor and we won't be able to have the natural, intervention free birth we want. Or the baby will be sick, or die.

I worry that something is going to be wrong with the baby. Down Syndrome, MS, anything...

I worry that we wont be able to take birthing classes because they are too expensive.

I worry that my mother is going to try to bust her way into the delivery room, even though she knows we don't want her in there for atleast 3 hours AFTER the baby is born.

I worry that my mother is going to take over raising my baby since she will be staying with us for a few weeks after the baby is born. I worry that my mother won't be as supportive as she says she will be. I worry that my mother will try to take my baby back home with her.

I worry that I'm going to lose the baby. Forget about it and leave it in the cart at a store or something. lol

WHEW!!! Okay I think that's it for now...

And then of course I hear Sally saying that everything works out in the end as it is supposed to. I should enjoy my pregnancy while I can and try not to worry...

Something that p!sses me off real quick - When other mothers ask how my pregnancy is going and I say "It's great"... because it is. I have had a very easy pregnancy. I tell them that I feel the baby move all the time and I love it. I HATE it when they say "oh just wait, you won't love it so much in a couple months. you'll be begging the baby to stop moving, etc". For some reason that one little statement alone p!sses me off!!! I can't imagine not loving feeling my baby move. But even if this is true, why can't people just let me enjoy the stage of pregnancy that I am at now?!?! Why dont they understand that everyone, and every pregnancy is different. I would think mothers with kids already would know that too.

Another thing - When people say "you don't look THAT pregnant"... So what, You saying I look fat?!!? lol Or telling me I'm not doing something right with this pregnancy?

Wow, I really went off there didn't i?! lol.. It felt good to write all that down.

xoxoxo

Amanda!

Baby Stuff 24 wks 3 days!

Everything is going good here... Baby Cooper (cause we don't like "it") seems to be doing great in there... Moving around tons. But then again, who wouldn't like it?! It's 98 degrees all the time, all you can eat buffet, and a nice comfy, squishy bed... Sounds good to me! lol

I'm starting to panic about the fact that we don't have much for the baby yet. lol... It's just my pregnant brain, but I actually said on Saturday that the states gonna take our baby away!!! lol... Of course, I've calmed down now! Paul suggested I make a list of everything we NEED for the baby and break it up into his pay periods and when we will get what. So I spent about 4 hours on Saturday making a spread sheet with everything we need and when we'll get it. lol.. I like to make lists, and work better with visual aids! lol..

So I went and bought a few baby things the other day. I got some burp cloths, recieving blankets, onesies, and no scratch mittens. I also got a couple new outfits... that gives us 7-8 outfits I think. I got a closet organizer as well, and love it, but it was stained so I had Paul return it today. He said the store only had one other one, and it was even dirtier then the on I bought. So on Saturday we'll probably go to a different Babies R Us and check it out. Otherwise I could just order it online... May even find it on ebay...hmmm

It just makes me feel better knowing we have SOMETHING! lol... I've made sure that everything we buy is things that are off our registry. I'm trying to stick to the small things, that way people still have things to buy us if they want. I don't think I'm having a baby shower, but I've told everyone we only want things off our registry (or for the baby) for Christmas.

So for now my panic is over... we'll see how long that lasts!!! LOL..

I'm still a little nervous about not getting our furniture until Febraury. We've decided to wait until Paul gets his bonus to get the furniture, since we were both denied the babies r us card. Pauls going to call and dispute his though because they said he was denied because of overdue credit, which is NOT true!! lol

I called and signed us up for CPR classes today. Wanna be safe!! And we have our hospital tour on Feb 17th. So I'm glad I got that stuff done.

I wanted to take the hypnobirthing classes but they don't have one close enough to our house. They have one that is starting Jan 3rd but it's like an hour drive... And we really don't want to drive that far, let alone in Jan and Feb, not in MI anyways. So now we're looking for another class. Thinking of maybe taking just a regular class since we've hired the doula for the relaxation techniques. I just don't want to go into this with NO preparation.

I have my next Midwife appointment on Dec 5th... Can't wait!! I love hearing the heart beat!!! It's amazing! lol... Paul always has an amazed look when he hears it too. Last time Cooper was kicking the doplar (as usual) and Paul asked what that thumping was. When she told him it was the baby kicking he was like "wow" lol... I'm going to ask the midwife if we get another ultrasound or not... I'm hoping for another chance to find out the sex! lol...

We haven't had sex in a while... maybe 3-4 weeks... I hate it!!! It's all Paul's fault!! lol... I was even thinking that since he had a long weekend last weekend I'd get some, but nope!! Nada, zilch, zero!! lol

I took Pebbles for a walk today... It was like 34 degrees outside, but we bundled up really warm. I had my long johns on and 2 long sleeve shirts, gloves, scarf, etc... It wasn't bad. And then I took a nice warm bath today.

Ugh, I just called transunion to get a copy of my credit report... that's a pain in the ass...

Well, I'm gonna go. I'm surfing ebay to see what kind of baby stuff that have. I have become addicted to ebay!!! It's great!!!

xoxoxo

Amanda!

Pebbles Ran Away....

You're never going to believe what Pebbles did last night. SHE RAN AWAY! I haven't been that scared in such a long time. It was like 1245 at night and we were getting ready for bed. So Paul took her out to pee and I went to bed. Paul was gone for a few minutes (longer then usual) and then I heard him come in the house and start banging around. Then he ran upstairs and said "I can't find Pebbles. She was in the back yard and took off running and I can't find her".

Of course I jumped out of bed and ran straight outside. It was about 20 degrees with snow and ice on the grass and I was in jammies and house slippers. I didn't even stop for a jacket. I asked him which way she went and I took off in that direction. I

was so scared because the direction she went in she's never been before. And there are woods right there with a creek in them... I don't know how far back the creek is and neither does she. I had all these visions running thro my head of her falling in the creek and freezing. I was so scared.

I ran thro people back yards, along the woods, hollering her name (not too loud tho cause it was 1 a.m. and all the houses were dark). I was just so scared that if we didn't find her soon we never would and it was so cold last night she would freeze.

So I get to the end of houses (about 15-20 houses away from mine) and am standing at the woods crying. I get to the sidewalk and start running back to the house to get my jacket and a flash light. I'm looking down all the streets thinking maybe she's just walking down the sidewalk cause she doesn't like walking in the grass. I guess she doesn't like the way it feels on her paws.

Pauls standing on the sidewalk in front of our house and my first thought is "What the hell is he doing? Go look for her". Well he tells me he found her and she's inside. Of course I start crying harder (happy tears) and run inside.

When I make it inside I collapse on the stairs and sob. Pebbles comes walking down stairs like "what going on?"... i was so pissed at her, but so happy to see her too. lol.

At this point I can't breath from all the running, yelling, and breathing in the freezing air so fast for so long. My throat was so raw cause it was so cold. Oddly enough I wasn't cold though. I guess the adrenaline and everything kept me warm.

So then Paul tells me that he was worried about me. He apparently found Pebbles just a couple minutes after I took off looking for her. She had cut thro someones back yard and was standing on a side street across the street from our house. I often take her there when we walk.

Anyways, Paul got scared cause he couldn't find me.. He thought I ran into the woods looking for her and was ready to call 911 to get them to search for me. I was ready to call 911 to get them to search for Pebbles! lol

This all took place in 15-20 minutes. This was the fastest 20 minutes of my life. All I did was run, cry, and freak out. It was just so scary.

So now we don't take Pebbles outside without her leash anymore. She can't be trusted. Paul thinks she took off after something (a squirrel or something like that). He heard a rustle and then she ran.

Pebbles looks so sad today. It's probably because she knows she scared us and feels bad. But my pregnant brain keeps saying that she's sad cause she had to come back home. I keep thinking that she wanted to run away from us and was just waiting for the right time to do it. I know this isn't right, but my pregnant brain says it is... And it makes me sad.

23 weeks 2 days!! Christmas Shopping

There's a lot to say today. I don't even know where to start lol...

Pregnancy is going amazingly well. I'm feeling Coopers kicks and punches get stronger by the day. It's amazing to feel. I love it. It's just great to know that everythings going good in there and he's getting bigger. Woo hoo!!!

It seems like my belly popped out over night. I swear I'm bigger then I was yesterday... It's great tho and so far I'm not minding. I've just started putting on weight. I'm only 4-5 lbs heavier then I was when I found out I was pregnant... So that's not bad.

We have our first pre natal with the doula this Saturday. I'm so excited about this and can't wait. I love her to death!!!! She's going to help us have the most amazing birth possible. And it's going to be such a special moment for us.

I've bought a few baby outfits for Cooper... They are so cute. And all green of course lol.
We wanted to get the baby furniture on last Saturday and went to Babies R Us and applied for the credit card so we can get the furniture. Of course it came back and said that our entry was pending and it could take up to 30 days for us to get an answer. Paul applied and so did I. So we'll just have to wait and see what happens. I'm sure one of us will get approved and then we'll get the furniture. I'm hoping we'll even have the nursery painted and finished before we get the furniture... I think we will.

I ordered some maternity clothes online from OldNavy.com and they came today. They are so great. I love them. Got them all washed and hung up. I wanna make sure I'm pretty for the turkey on Thursday... I should be all done buying maternity clothes. I now have 4 pairs of pants (3 that are totally comfy) and like 5 shirts. So I think I'm set! lol

I can't believe Thanksgiving is in a couple days. It totally snuck up on us this year. We're going to Beth's for Thanksgiving this year. Cause they are having Mikes family over too, but much later (like 5-6). We're having ours at 1. And will prolly just hang out and eat again with Mikes family LOL!! I'm trying to figure out if we should put the tree up before we got to their place or wait until we get back. I don't know when we'll be back. I can't imagine it being later then 11-12. And that will give us plenty of time to put the tree up before bed. So I'm thinking we may just wait until we get back. hmmmmmm.... we'll see.

I'm pretty much done with our Christmas shopping... YAY!!! Done before Thanksgiving. All I have left to get is something for Uncle Glenn and Aunt Capri. I'm thinking we may just send them something from Hickory Farms. And then we're gonna get Jen a gift card from Ulta... And we'll be all done!! YAY!!! Oh yea, and we gotta figure out what to get Jacob. And Paul's gonna get me something... which he'll do Christmas Eve afternoon LOL!

So here's our Christmas list -

Paul - Jeans, shirt for work, and The Secret DVD. I also want to get him "You Staying Young" by Dr. Oz. Prolly get that on Dec 15th.
Jen - Ulta gift card.
Fay and Jerry - Money
My Dad - Pocket watch.
Carolyn - Gift basket from Bath and Body Works.
Grandma and Grandpa - Uncle Buck on DVD and a calendar.
Granny - Calendar, spoon, and angel.
Gloria - Bath and Body Works gift basket.
Trista - Ulta make up kit.
Momma - Unicorn and calendar.
Andy - Harley Davidson clock.
Uncle Glenn - Calendar and fishing sign.
Aunt Capri - ?????
Sally - Bath and Body Works gift basket.
Jesse Lee - Probably cigarettes. He can't get the kind he likes in Iraq.

I'm thinking I'm forgetting someone. But I have a written list in the dining room so I know I didn't forget buying for anyone.

For our Christmas cards this year we're going to do a picture and put it in the card. I want to do one of Mister, one of Pebbles, and then one of Paul and I. Put them all on the same card and put those in our cards this year. I can do this thro Walgreens.com... Yay!! I got Pebbles and Santa costume and she looks so cute in it. And I got Mister some reindeer antlers. Paul and I will stand in front of the Christmas tree. And I'll make sure that I'm sideways so everyone can see my belly sticking out. hehe

I put all our Christmas decorations up last week. Lol.. Paul thinks it looks like Bronners threw up in here. lol... I like it though. Can't wait to get the tree up though.. only a few more days tho!!! YAY!!!

Hmmm I know there's more...

Oh yea, Paul is redoing our side door landing. I will definitly have to post pictures when he's all done. It's looking great. He should be done by Sunday!!! He put a slate looking floor in, and is putting wooden panels on the walls. They go about 2.5 feet up and look amazing. It's great. I just wish it didn't take him so long to finish these lil projects... remember the stairs? It took him 2 months to purgo EIGHT stairs!!! I'm really pushing him to finish this project though becuase the next one is the nursery!!! YAY!!!

This time next month we're going to be getting ready to go to AR. That's just so crazy to think. Christmas isn't that far off... YAY!!! lol... I can't wait.

Well, I can't think of anything else to say.

Pregnancys going good, life is going good, everything great!! lol

love my pooky!!!

xoxox

Amanda!!

(I was feeling colorful today!!! lol)