Just a little tid-bit

Happy Valentine's Day! (Two days early)

It's funny how this holiday changes over time for me. For so long it was all about what guy would do something for me on Valentine's Day, and then it was just what surprise John had in store, and now it is all about my kids. I get John something too, but I'm lucky to get anything from anyone...and that just doesn't bother me at all. So never call it Singles Awareness Day...I HATE THAT!

Anyway, my life is getting harder and harder as time passes. Every night now, I have to put my feet up and make John do stuff for me because I always have swollen ankles and feet, and sometimes if I've worked too hard that day, I have contractions. I am trying my best to keep that baby cooking as long as she needs. I don't want any early surprises. At least not too early.
Brett is always asking me to pick up him up. He is not as heavy as Breanna, but he is more compact, and it wears on my back. I have to pray every morning for patience with the kids because they just don't understand what's going on and throw fits if they don't get their way. (Breanna is a little more understanding).

We are trying to get Brett used to sleeping in a toddler bed. He sleeps in it just fine for his naps, but he doesn't want to have anything to do with it at night. We are going to have to buckle down on this soon and take the crib down so he has no other option. I'm just worried about my sleep. If he's going to be up all night fighting me, I am going to be even more tired than I am now. Anyone who knows me knows I do not function well when I am tired.

For anyone who watches Survivor, I went to school with Joe. The moment I saw him on TV I knew him. He hasn't changed at all. Well, maybe a little older, and not quite so scrawny, but pretty much the same. I went online after I watched to make sure I was right, and I was. It makes me want to get out my year books for fun. I laughed because I still remember in 9th grade I had written on the bottom of my shoe, "Joe Dowdle is FINE". I had forgotten about it, and crossed my ankle over my knee and he saw it. He and his friends just laughed about it. He was always a nice guy.

Well, I'm sure it will be a couple more months before I write again, but at least I write here and there. Most of the time I forget I even have a blog.

It's a girl!

We found out we're having a girl. I'm not sure I'm ready for this, but I must say, I wasn't ready for either of the first two. At least I have experience handling two different kinds of personalities and am ready for almost anything. I hope she is mellow and sweet like Brett, but I'll be armed and ready if she's anything like Breanna.

I thought as soon as I found out the gender, I would want to rearrange things in my house immediately to make room for her, but I haven't found that to be true yet. I was ready to give Brett his own space the moment I found out he was a boy. I am running ideas through my head about where to put this one, and how to decorate, etc., but I am not anxious. I want to get through the holidays first, and then maybe tackle those things.

Unfortunately it's more than just clearing out a room and painting it for her. I have also discovered that I need to buy a new car seat because our infant seat is very old and probably does not meet safety standards anymore. Plus, this discovery has led me to research car seat safety in general, and I fear I need to buy another forward facing car seat for Breanna to sit in because she is just too short and small. My biggest problem with these, besides the cost factor, is finding seats that fit our car. There is always something.

We are excited the baby is healthy and doing well. We've finally come up with a due date of April 6th--whatever that means.

Merry Christmas!!

Pictures and birthdays

Yesterday was Breanna's birthday. We had a nice little party for her with party hats, pizza, watermelon, and cake. That was what she wanted. So I put in all the pictures we took of our cute little four-year-old.


She got a toy trumpet that she loves to play all the time. We had to put it in the music closet last night so she wouldn't start playing it as soon as she woke up in the morning.




Her cousin in the background.









Breanna's cousins


We bought the pizzas Saturday night, and cooked them when everyone got there Sunday.



Their grandparents came to visit us for Halloween. They have all the pictures from the zoo, so I'll have to get those later.


This is the kids bathroom after it was all textured, painted, and put back together.



This is the dining room that used to be a small living room.



The bathroom before the wallpaper came down.



The living room that is now a dining room.

Progress

I am finally starting to come out of the fog. I don't feel sick nearly as often as I was. Things are still going well too. I'm huge for being only 16 weeks though. I just noticed today that my feet swell a little if I'm on them too much. It's too early for this, right?

We are slowly moving forward on our house updates again. My nose isn't quite as sensitive as it was, and I have more energy now. So we stared work on our front yard. We had a small dead tree removed, and we have taken out three of the large bushes that were hiding the front of our house. We still have to remove the roots of all those, but along with all the weeding I've done, the outside of the house is looking a lot more tidy and big.

We've also hired someone to come out and texture all three rooms that weren't finished. John's parents are coming down for Halloween and we needed to get the second bathroom finished, so we decided to just get it all done. That will be nice. My in-laws will actually have a mirror in the bathroom. (It's been sitting in our dining room for months now.)

So I am back on my feet and the house gets cleaner every week.

BLAH!

I've been really sick since the last time I wrote. I don't remember being this sick with either of the first two, but then again, it has been a long time since I was pregnant with Breanna.
So all my house projects have been put on hold. The smell of just about everything makes me sick. I had to go on acid reflux medication about a week ago. That has now made me feel better. I do have my good days.
I had a doctors appointment today and another ultrasound. The doctor found a possible fibroid and wants me to do my best to stay on bed rest until the end of the week. Then I have to go back to meet with an ultrasound specialist who will check on things and make sure everything is okay. Hopefully I won't have to be down for too long. Other than all that, the baby is doing fine.

It's Official

I had my first doctor's appointment today, and it's official...we are expecting another baby the first week of April. Not that I didn't think it was official before the appointment, but it still makes everything seem more real when you can see the baby and the heart beat. I am a little sad to know that I am a week under what I thought, but only because that means I have an extra week of being sick ahead of me.
I really like my new doctor. She is really great and personable. I was worried, since I didn't have a referral or anything. She is very upbeat and she just loves the kids.
Breanna was very excited to see a picture of the baby. She asked to have one, and she carries it around with her. She really wants it to be a girl. I figure as long as it eats and sleeps well, I don't care if it's a boy or girl. John really wants another boy though.
So there you have it. Life gets interesting all over again.

Bored

I was bored for the first time in a long time yesterday, so Breanna and I built a little something out the mess of blocks she has scattered all over the floor. She wanted a house to put her princesses in, but as soon as she tried to put them in, it tumbled over. She wasn't very happy about that.I haven't been bored lately because I have been working so hard on the house. I have taken down all the wallpaper in the house, except the kitchen. It took me three weeks to do the kids bathroom, one week to do the laundry room, one day to do the front entry, and one hour to do the living room. I wish they had all been like the living room. I did the kid's bathroom last, so needless to say I am tired of messing with wallpaper and I will probably take quite a break before I attempt the kitchen.
John learned how to texture our walls as well. He has only done the entry from the garage, but we plan on tackling one room a week from here on out...I hope. It's all a matter of me nagging John to do it. He would rather do all sorts of smaller projects to wear himself out than one big project. I would texture, but I'm tired and now it's his turn. Besides, I am going to be the one to paint everything when he's done texturing.
We also put in all new black appliances. They look very nice. Especially compared to what was in here when we moved in. We put a french door in between the kitchen and living room to let more light in. It really makes a huge difference in the way both rooms feel. Now we just have to knock down one wall in the kitchen to really let the light flow through. I'm excited about that.

Well, here are some more fun pictures just to tag on from my birthday and other stuff: