Only 7 weeks left!

How far along: 33 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: a net loss of 24 lbs

Sleep: some days better than others.

Best moment this week: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, just all around awesome.

Movement: yes, although walking and moving around at work seems to rock Odin to sleep, he's not really active unless I sit down.

Symptoms: Still some early morning nausea, oddly caused by brushing my teeth...(it's getting irritating)

Symptoms I don't have:  I'm skipping this one...I'm tired of answering it.

Food Cravings: oh my gosh yes! Mostly sweets (which I've cut down on majorly) and ice water.

Food Aversions: 3 bites and I'm finished

Gender: boy

Labor Signs: not yet

Belly Button in or out: still an innie

What I miss: not feeling like my hips are going to fall off from soreness when I get up in the mornings.

What I'm looking forward to: Not sure right now...I suppose mostly D giving birth. (my best friend is about a month and a half further along than I am

Weekly Wisdom: I'm not feeling very wise today so all I will say is, love one another, you idiots.

Milestones: Odin is now over 17 inches long and weighs 4 lbs (which is around the size of a pineapple)

Maternity Pictures!

Courtesy of my lovely mother, who stood out in the cold with me and took very beautiful pictures and then later took the time to make sure each of them looked awesome and had the 'right coloring'

Love all the snow/ice in these two pictures! I just love the winter (so long as I don't have to drive) 

Ber was trying to show Loki how to give Victor a kiss. It didn't quite work out very well, Loki was more interested in trying to play in the snow

She did pause her running around to give me a kiss

Loki giving Odin some sibling love

So many updates we're practically giving them away!

Before we get to the pregnancy update today I have good news! I passed the (worrisome) test and am now a Fidelity Employee! Technically I have been since Monday when I started training, but I was waiting until I got through the test and passed before I really let myself get excited. So yay! That's going good for me.

Also, (less world shaking and more house shaking) I got so much folding and putting away for stuff for Loki! I also got to get creative with my own clothing (and a few extras courtesy of Jem, D and the Goodwill) So I had fun pairing things together in order to have business type clothing, which is not easy when all you can wear is a few maternity pants and very few shirts that are appropriate. But As I said, Jem and D helped me find two cute pullovers that I can match with all sorts of things to help give me lots more options (plus they'll work well after Odin's born as well!)

And now for your regularly scheduled updated:

How far along: 32 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: still at a 24 lb loss I believe

Sleep: waking up about once a night, sometimes it's easy to fall back asleep, but not always.

Best moment this week: starting my new job (yes I know that's not really baby related, but still exciting)

Movement: had the first really painful kick today

Symptoms: Someone is not only taking up all the space my bladder normally holds, he's now moving around and taking up lung space and making it harder for me to breathe!

Symptoms I don't have: I'm tired of this question....

Food Cravings: SODA! which I'm trying very hard to stay away from (no more than one can a day, if that)

Food Aversions: anything spicy, the smell is bothering me lately.

Gender: boy

Labor Signs: not yet

Belly Button in or out: still an innie

What I miss: being able to slouch and still breathe.

What I'm looking forward to: cute maternity pictures, also I really enjoy when Odin gets the hiccups

Weekly Wisdom: There is a time and a place for everything, and if you have to think about it, this is probably not the correct time and place.

Milestones: Odin is now around 3 3/4 lbs and 16.7 in long, which is about the size of a large jicama (I had no idea what this was, so I looked it up)

the crisp, white-fleshed, edible tuber of a Central American climbing plant of the pea family ( Pachyrhizus erosus, family Leguminosae ), cultivated since pre-Columbian times and used esp. in Mexican cooking.

Odin is now gaining around half a pound a week, so he's starting to get nice and plump to be ready to come into the world. His fingernails and toenails are formed and he's starting to grow hair (hopefully red!) 

New Job

I had my first day of training today, and I am so excited! It seems like this (hopefully) will be a very good fit for me. I just have to buckle down and study in order to pass the testing at the end of training, which Husband has been helping me with, cause he's awesome. He had his first day of watching Loki all by himself for over 8 hours, and I think he did pretty well.
The only tragedy was the cabinets are now a little more marked up and Loki has lost crayon privileges for a little while. (Thankfully Mom gave me one of those Magic Erasers and it works awesomely to get crayon off white paint.) 

All in all I was very excited, I just hope I can keep this level of gung ho-ness up when the studying gets rough.

October 2012

I have been looking back through my 'drafts' folder her on my blog and found a few posts that I always meant to get up, but never remembered to, or I got distracted, either one is highly possible. So these next few days I'm going to post a few older ones (with the date they were from up above) and kinda look at my past a little bit. Not a whole lot, I mean I think there are only like 3-4 that actually made sense anymore. But here you go!

Ber and I went out to see Mom 

Lack of sleep is giving me raccoon eyes

How far along: 31 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 24 lbs lost

Sleep: normally only waiting up once a night, and not having too much trouble getting back to sleep thankfully.

Best moment this week: this week has been a little too stressful to have a best moment.

Movement: a lot

Symptoms: I am just so tired! And my hips are sore, no matter how I move.

Symptoms I don't have: everything else

Food Cravings: soda, lots of soda do I want.

Food Aversions: still don't like eggs

Gender: boy

Labor Signs: some braxton hicks, but I don't know if I'd really count that as true labor signs, more of an irritation when I've let myself get to worried about something. (and the whole thing about all information about braxton hicks supposing to be painless, is so much bull...they really need to change that.)

Belly Button in or out: still an innie, but a lot more shallow.

What I miss: sleeping on my stomach, or laying on the floor reading on my stomach

What I'm looking forward to: taking some maternity photos soon.

Weekly Wisdom: worrying does nothing to help you, nor does dwelling on what has already happened, or what is going to happen. (I actually feel rather wise for that...now if only I would listen to it)

Milestones: Odin is about 16 inches long and around 3 1/3 lbs, which is around the size of a coconut

and he's about to hit a big growth spurt. Odin is now able to turn his head from side to side and is becoming even more active.

Motivation

If you have been following me for a while, you have seen me post about things like FlyLady, my lists, and just trying in general to be organized. Well, Husband and I had a good serious sit down talk on Sunday night after a day which wore both of us out. (You always have the best talks when you're worn out, because you're too tired to try and sugar coat anything, so it all ends up being a little blunt, but very honest.) We were able to figure out things that we both needed to work on in order to keep not only the home flowing smoothly, but also our marriage.

So back to my lists do I go! Husband is helping to make sure I keep on track (and also helping me to finish parts of them) but on Monday D let me know about this great website called ChoreWars. It came out in July 2007 and the Dungeon Master can set up Adventures for the party (normally you force your house members to make characters so they can play along and earn xp) These adventures tend to be along the lines of "loading the dishwasher' or 'folding and putting away laundry' so not your typical DnD type adventures, but it's so much fun getting experience for doing chores and from there you are able to level up your character, and if you get treasure drops from your adventures you can stack it and then turn it in for family rewards (if you decide to do it that way)
There is just so much you could do to help not only encourage kids (and husband's) to do their chores, but to help them get some enjoyment out of it. It's fun for me even. Creating the adventures is fun, and Husband loves coming up with the names of the monsters you could chance upon while completing your adventure.

All in all, it was a great find, and I hope that we can keep up with it, and hopefully keep the house up as well.

By the way, if you look to the right, you can see my Character for ChoreWars. I started as a 1st level Shaman, and as you level up (depending on the chores you complete and what skills are used) you can change classes and earn new skill points automatically.

Sonogram pictures

Since Ber wanted to get the new pictures from my sonogram on Monday I figured I should probably get them out so everyone else can see them as well.
So here we go!

This weeks post is brought to you by the number *EDIT*

*Edit* I missed my update last week, which would be the 29 weeks mark, so I have updated the information that is incorrect due to that.

How far along: 30 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: total loss is 24 lbs

Sleep: stiff and sore, but I'm only having to get up once a night or so. However, it takes me forever to fall back asleep so that kinda sucks.

Best moment this week: had another sono on Monday just to make sure everything was progressing okay (I was measuring much larger than I should be) But Odin is doing very well, measuring almost exactly a week ahead, with much more weight on him than expected at this time.

Movement: good lord yes

Symptoms: just general soreness I suppose, some shortness of breath if I'm moving around too fast, and I am having trouble focusing (as usual)

Symptoms I don't have: I'm still grateful I'm not having nausea any longer.

Food Cravings: Not today

Food Aversions: still hate the smell of cooking eggs.

Gender: boy

Labor Signs: not yet

Belly Button in or out: still an innie

What I miss: sleeping/laying on my stomach reading.

What I'm looking forward to: Loki realizing what keeps kicking her in the side when she sits with me.

Weekly Wisdom: worrying really won't help, it just gets you worried and you don't sleep as well (now watch me not take my own advice because I don't know how to stop worrying)

Milestones:  according to the website about the 30 week mark Odin should be measuring around 15.7 in long and 3 lbs. (which is about the size of a large cabbage)

But according to the sonogram I had on monday, Odin is actually about 3.6 lbs right now, so a little bigger than expected. But, I honestly expected Odin to be bigger than Loki, so here's hoping that he doesn't decide to come to quick and prevent me from getting an epidural like Loki did.

so much has changed

Just a little over a year ago Sweetheart moved in with Husband and I. At first everything was awesome, we all adjusted well to having three adults living in a house together with one child.
But things didn't stay going well, it took around 5 months before things really started to fall apart, and I will admit that some of it was my fault, mostly because I realized that I wasn't poly enough for the relationship to actually work the way we all three wanted it to.

That being said there was trouble all around but mostly between Sweetheart and my relationship. (now while I say this, Husband and my relationship never wavered, Sweetheart came in knowing that if everything went wrong Husband was not going to choose to leave me to go with her, and I do think that knowing that going in actually ended up hurting Sweetheart a lot, she had said it made her feel like she would always be second best, which we tried very hard not to make her feel like. We always wanted her to know that she was important to the relationship and how much the both of us loved her.)

Now for this all I can really talk about it what I personally dealt with, I know what Husband has told me, and what Sweetheart said before she left, but the whole 'staying friends' thing really did not work for us at all. Which is kind of sad, but considering what I've seen since, it was probably for the best if we don't try to be friends for a while anyways, everyone needs time to get over the hurt and the emotions that come from a relationship.

Now for today, I'm only talking about the few things that I can think of that we got right. (and with all the bitter feelings left over I can only really thing of two things. Which really says how much hurt and bitter feelings will cloud the mind.)

*We all learned to communicate with each other - this is not only vitally important for a normal relationship, but a must have for a poly type relationship. Lord knows if you can't talk to each other you have no idea how bad everything is going to hit the fan.

*Weekly meetings - now this really ties in with communication, because it helped us to sit down once a week, go over the schedule for work and everything and also bring up anything that we felt we all three needed to talk about together.

Black Friday

Warning: This is slightly rant-ish. You may or may not agree with me, but good lord do I hate this 'holiday'

You can tell it's coming up soon, the posts on Facebook have increased, either with great deals people are advertising or with the posts about how we need to stay home (which is what I believe, especially on Thanksgiving day. Thus far in my life I have avoided not only shopping on Black Friday but going out on Thanksgiving day unless I really really need something (like diapers) I hate the crowds and I actually just despise the general idea. Making the day after being thankful for what you have a bloody mess due to people trying to get the 'best deals' for Christmas presents.

The main gimmick that bothers me is to 'get the perfect gift for your child.' I can completely understand wanting to get this awesome toy for your child so they can be totally surprised and excited for Christmas, but why not keep the deals going for a few days instead of having such a land rush of people that lead to humans getting trampled like cattle in a truck panicking?

why not do deals like this the rest of the year. I guess I can answer my own question with that by using the example of J.C. Penney (I believe at least) that did the whole no sales for the store, instead they did 'fair and simple' pricing but lost tons of money doing so. Which is disappointing, if I actually would shop at stores like J.C. Penney's I would have very much enjoyed that I believe. I thought the idea of doing so was a good one, it just didn't work with our sales minded society.

Even as I write this I know that there will probably be a time (in the next few years more than likely) that I start participating, so I can get those awesome toys at the ridiculous discounts that stores offer for black friday. Although I'm glad a lot of places will allow big sales online as well, because I much prefer going online to shop than to a store if I can help it. But then I'm kind of a recluse at times, especially around the holidays, people just seem to be more rude as it gets closer to Christmas for some reason.

I've hit the third trimester!

How far along: 28 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 28 lbs loss

Sleep: lots of tossing, turning and sore hips.

Best moment this week: Odin got the hiccups for the first time yesterday!

Movement: lots of it, but at least most of the time there's a pattern to the time of day for movement.

Symptoms: general soreness, crabbiness, and lack of sleep due to soreness.

Symptoms I don't have: still thankful the nausea is gone for the most part.

Food Cravings: yes, but what it is depends on the day.

Food Aversions: yes, but same as above, it depends on the day.

Gender: boy

Labor Signs: not yet

Belly Button in or out: still an innie

What I miss: sleep, and not having to pee every half hour it seems like.

What I'm looking forward to: Husband being able to catch the movements of Odin.

Weekly Wisdom: I'm too tired for any coherent wisdom...so for this week it's get more sleep

Milestones: Odin is about 14.8 inches and 2 1/4 lbs now which is about the size of an eggplant

Odin's eyesight is also developing, and he may be able to see light filtering through the womb at this stage. Right now he's focusing on adding some more weight to prepare for his birth. 

Loki's update

Since I've been posting so much about Odin, I figured Loki really deserved an update.

Potty Training
 - kind of at a halt due to her being terrified of the toilet and scared of her potty. No idea why the toilet is so scary, but it is. She's even lery of the training potty right now. So we've put it up for a little while, and will bring it out again soon when she seems more 'ready' to try again.

Talking
 - Not much around strangers, but you get her going and she's off just like her daddy. Her newest and most used right now are "we're here" "help" and "more please"
 - Most common thing for me to say to her...."Careful!" (she's started climbing, everything)

Almost 2
 - It's coming up so quick, only 6 days and my little girl will be 2. Where does the time go?

Comprehension
 - She may not have much more than 20 words she uses, but she understands most of what we ask or tell her. It was actually rather shocking when I realized it. It's kind of nice to talk to her like she understands and then actually have it start happening.

Crayons and coloring
 - Oh my does she love her coloring. So much so we have had to take crayons away a few times due to coloring on the cabinets. So she's on a strict crayon ration and is only allowed two warnings now before they get taken away (warnings come from coloring on anything other than the books, like for instance the windows or floor.)

Daddy's little girl
 - She loves her daddy, no doubt about that. Anyone who sees them together can tell. All she wanted to do on tuesday was sit in his lap and make him read to her. Needless to say he didn't really get much DnD reading done, but I think he read about the crocodile wanting to find his mommy at least 15 times. If he wasn't reading to her, she was happy to lay next to him on her tummy (same as daddy) and watch him work on his character creating.  Most of the time though she was just trying to steal his pencil to 'write' on the paper.

Eating
 - Loki is almost a picky as her daddy, but she's doing very well with eating with a fork, not as good with a spoon, but the majority of the food makes it to her mouth. Most of the time with the fork she stabs the food then grabs it and eats with her fingers, which is cute, but not exactly what's supposed to happen, but I suppose so long as she's eating and happy everything will come out in the wash and she'll get it eventually.
 - She does love cooked carrots, not a big fan of broccoli, but she can't get enough corn, and every once in a while we can sneak a green bean in without her noticing.

Doctor Update
 - She is officially 34.75 inches tall and 28.75 lbs. Her height has gotten much better than the last visit, and she's gaining weight well. (mom's scale had her much heavier, so I'm thinking mom's scale lies.)

Boys are so much more active than girls...good lord

How far along: 27 weeks 5 days

Total weight gain/loss: 28 lbs lost

Sleep: my poor hips start hurting if I lay on one side for to long, so sleep is kinda sucking right now.

Best moment this week: I was something behind the counter for a customer when Odin shifted and kicked really suddenly and almost lost my balance. He's starting to get really strong.

Movement: In a word - Yes

Symptoms: tired, and general soreness (mostly the hips though)

Symptoms I don't have: Life hasn't been too bad symptom wise I suppose.

Food Cravings: Apples! crisp slightly sour apples. Delicious. (My mom brought me some when she babysat Loki for me last week, they are AWESOME!!!)

Food Aversions: ? Kinda depends.

Gender: boy

Labor Signs: not yet

Belly Button in or out: still an innie

What I miss: sleeping all night long with no interruptions to pee.

What I'm looking forward to: Husband getting to feel the baby move. Also Odin getting the hiccups, Loki got them all the time around this stage.

Weekly Wisdom: Sleep while you can

Milestones: Odin is now on a (sorta) waking and sleeping schedule. He's awake some in the mornings around 11 till after lunch time. And then really active around dinner until I go to bed. Brain tissue is developing and so are those tiny little lungs. Size wise Odin is almost 2 lbs now which is almost as big as a head of cauliflower

and he's about 14 1/2 inches long fully extended. 

Boy Thoughts

As odd as it sounds, I'm actually nervous about having a little boy. I didn't have this same feeling of nerves with I was expecting Loki, mostly because -obviously- I am a girl, so therefore I kinda know how things work in 'girl world.' How girls respond to each other and what not. (Also I'm not quite so worried about 'the talk' considering Loki and I have the same parts, and yes, I am already thinking that far in the future.)

But I was never really around little boys either when I was growing up or when I would babysit. I know they're a lot more rough and tumble than girls, but I have no idea with how to deal with the 'guy world' and their way of doing things. I just worry that I would be able to help him figure social situations out because I have no idea how to do it myself.

Also, Loki has yet to pee on me, I'm not looking forward to Odin doing so. (Everyone says it'll happen, and I'm fairly inclined to believe them)

Strong baby kicks = Alien belly

How far along: 26 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 27 lbs

Sleep: uncomfortable

Best moment this week: Odin is kicking hard enough that I can see my belly move now.

Movement: yes, a thousand times yes.

Symptoms: yes

Symptoms I don't have: no more nausea and morning sickness (it went on forever, and I'm just so happy it's gone!)

Food Cravings: depends on the day

Food Aversions: two bites and nothing tastes appetizing anymore.

Gender: boy

Labor Signs: not yet

Belly Button in or out: still an innie

What I miss: sleeping on my stomach and not having to get up 4 times a night to pee.

What I'm looking forward to: Husband feeling Odin kick

Weekly Wisdom:  Some things are worth waiting for, others are all about the journey.

Milestones: Odin is able to hear us talking much more clearly now with the nerves in his ears being further developed. He is now about 1 2/3 lbs and around 14 inches long (which is about the size of a scallion - and no I had no idea what that was until I looked it up)

How I know she's really my daughter

Husband told me a fun little anecdote about Loki today. She was looking back at Husband while walking and babbling to him. Until she ran straight into a wall. Loki promptly fell on her butt and gave the wall a dirty look and made the obligatory 'I'm hurt' noise. After a moment, she got up, and then proceed to continue walking while talking and not looking where she's going.
Husband declares this proof that Loki is definitely my child (as if there were any doubts)

Actually good things

Things are looking pretty good lately, well finances are still tight, but when is that not the case. But things are finally slowing down at my work to where my schedule should start to even out and normalize so it's under 24 hours a week and on a routine schedule as to when I work (which will be very nice) And Husband's schedule has always been really even, so we don't have to worry about that.
Things are just actually looking hopeful once again. And I'm not going to spoil them by mentioning all the bad things that are still floating around in my head.

I believe there is a tasmanian devil inside my womb

How far along: 25 weeks 1 day

Total weight gain/loss: 27 lbs

Sleep: I get sore, but when I fall asleep I'm pretty much down for the count

Best moment this week: Feeling Odin move lots when Husband is talking to him

Movement: oh good lord yes!

Symptoms: sore hips, and cravings

Symptoms I don't have: nausea is gone!

Food Cravings: popcorn, sweets one day and nothing sweet the next

Food Aversions: still have the whole 'this tastes delicious!' but only for 2 bites.

Gender: boy

Labor Signs: not yet

Belly Button in or out: still an innie

What I miss: sleeping on my stomach

What I'm looking forward to: showing more

Weekly Wisdom: enjoy the peace while you can.

Milestones: Odin is looking very long and lean, but in the months ahead will start gaining the trademark 'baby fat' If we could see inside, we could also tell what color hair Odin will have when he's born. He is now around 1 1/2 lbs and about the size of a rutabaga (such an oddly named veggie)

And this week on the pregnancy update.....

And yes, I did think the title was clever.

How far along: 24 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: lost at least 25, will know more next week at the doctor visit

Sleep: better, still getting really stiff and sore hips every night.

Best moment this week: feeling Odin really start moving when Husband was talking to him

Movement: not as much lately, I think the stress has been affecting him.

Symptoms: tired, and sore hips

Symptoms I don't have: haven't had a lot of nausea lately (yay!)

Food Cravings: sweet things, and cheeseburgers

Food Aversions: anything tastes gross after about 3 bites

Gender: boy

Labor Signs: not yet

Belly Button in or out: still an innie

What I miss: being able to sleep through the night without having to wake up to pee

What I'm looking forward to: sleeping on my stomach again....

Weekly Wisdom: enjoy it while it lasts, right now I'm only having to wake up to pee, not wake up and take care of the baby a few times a night.

Milestones: Odin's starting to grow taste buds, and is very lanky, as long as an ear of corn, but will start plumping up soon.

lungs are developing into the 'branches' of the respiratory 'tree'  As for me, it's starting to look like I'm smuggling a ball under my shirt. 

Consistency and Change

Anyone who has gotten to know me, can very much agree with this fact about me: I hate change. I fight it with every fiber of my being. I like being set in my way, having my routine (thanks FlyLady) but with all the upheaval at work it's hard to keep everything in order. We are just having trouble keeping a full staff at work, which leads to more stress for everyone, and me having to schedule all sorts of arrangements for babysitting which is not always fun for my babysitters.
All in all I'm just hoping that the next person hired ends up working out and not being a flighty girl who says she'll show up and then never does, causing me to have to stay an extra THREE HOURS while my parents are waiting in my apartment for me to get home till 3am. It's just not an ideal situation.

Ugh, anyways, Husband has been helping out a lot around the house, and I have really been appreciating it. We've started to make a habit of not only cleaning the living room every night, but Husband vacuums it for me while I sweep the kitchen and take care of dinner dishes. He's really been stepping up lately, and it's been a big help to me, not to mention one less thing for me to worry or stress about.

Another week in the life of a pregnant woman

How far along: 23 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: still at the 25 lbs loss from last week (that I know of)

Sleep: I miss it

Best moment this week: feeling Odin move constantly even though I've been really stressed from work.

Movement: yes, lots

Symptoms: starting to get some sore joints if I'm still for to long.

Symptoms I don't have: nausea seems for have finally gone away, still have the heartburn though.

Food Cravings: sweets lately. Also still wanting lots of water.

Food Aversions: depends on the day.

Gender: boy

Labor Signs: not yet

Belly Button in or out: still an innie

What I miss: sleep, I really miss sleep right now.

What I'm looking forward to: Husband being able to feel Odin kicking.

Weekly Wisdom: naps are golden.

Milestones: Odin can feel movement now, as well as get familiar with noises that are around often. He's now over a pound, and about the size of a large mango.

Nothing really nice to say, but nice to get off my chest

I have been dealing with a lot of anger lately, and some days I would even say rage about things that are going on in my life. The way people are treating each other, my in-laws still sticking their noses up in the air and ignoring my attempts at even being polite. (not all of them thankfully) People yelling about politics more than normal calling each other wrong without even trying to talk about it.
Speaking of politics, I just want to line up all the democrats and republicans (and even the president) and just take a switch to their backsides, just 3 swats each and tell them that if they are going to argue and bicker like children they will be treated like children, given their punishment and sent to bed without supper to think about how they are treating the American people because they are to f-ing stubborn to even be civil to each other. UGH!
I am also just failing in talking to people without getting riled up and angry about things. Thankfully none of this has happened at work. Although if I get another call from the 'private caller' asking me if I've ever been to a bachelorette party I'm going to want to just hang up on him since it's not possible to slap him over the phone -yet-
Just GRR! It's probably a good thing I'm not allowed to carry around a switch, a very good thing.

22 weeks

How far along: 22 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: down a total of 25 lbs

Sleep: mostly better

Best moment this week: Husband talking to Odin and him moving around like crazy

Movement: oh yes

Symptoms: still have the nausea, and oh my goodness crazy hormones

Symptoms I don't have: Not a lot of pain this week.

Food Cravings: chocolate, but it gives me heartburn

Food Aversions: still don't really like the smell of eggs

Gender: boy

Labor Signs: not yet

Belly Button in or out: still an innie

What I miss: wearing my ring

What I'm looking forward to: feeling Odin start to get stronger

Weekly Wisdom: deep breaths, and if nothing else, find a good book.

Milestones: Odin is now about the size of a spaghetti squash and is almost a whole pound in weight

Question that I would like feedback on

If I were to start posting some of my scarves and cowls on Etsy, would there be any interest among my friends to buy them?

Fan Girl

Note-I am blaming all the *squeeing* mostly on my hormones, at least for now. I dunno what I'll say next year, probably the fact I don't get out much.

I am still having bouts of anger at people, set off at really crazy random times. But it's getting better, if only people would stop doing things that piss me off it would just go away, but that changes every few moments, so it's kind of impossible to do that.
But so much fun has happened lately, Castle started back up, I've been enjoying the new Agents of SHIELD show as well. Loki has been an angel (for me at least) most of the time lately. And Husband has been seriously helping me out with the house to keep me from feeling so overwhelmed all the time. Plus getting to know new friends, and finally getting some time with old friends has been just making my weeks all that much better.

Oh!
But why the title of fan girl - I have felt like such of one lately, it's been a little amusing. But my geeky crushes are pretty much all I talk about with people, even at work! (which makes for interesting conversation honestly, we have some fairly diverse people come in) But so much Joss Whedon things are going on, Castle's back up (and I am a total fan of Nathan Fillion.) Plus they are releasing new things about The Hobbit. And Thor will be out this year, (and I do so love Tom hiddleston) as well as Catching Fire.
Plus I'm reading The Book Thief, and have a small stack of books at home to read, not to mention a few on request that I'm so looking forward to reading.
So, all in all, I feel like I do a lot of *squee* ing lately. (for those of you confused, it's the universal 'fangirl/guy' noise.

So all in all the good really outweighs the bad. (finally)

not much to post lately

But a lot of it is due to what I want to write about is not constructive or helpful to putting into public. So I've been doing a lot of private writing, just trying to get through all my feelings (mostly anger at a few people)
But I'm still here, I'll try to post tomorrow or monday about some of the changes that are in progress (or at least on the drawing board) Plus Skittles has a whole plan for the kids room that I am really excited about. (Spoiler, there will be a tree in the kids room, and other really cool ideas) all in all I'm very excited to remodel that room, not to mention I'm trying to get the quiet/craft room into shape to where it's hang-out-able. Should be soon, just a few more things to tidy up and move around.
Plus I have a whole new way to organize bills to help keep me on track, and that's mostly because I've got a new printer (thanks D!)

So lots of positive, just being dragged down by the anger that I'm having a hard time getting rid of at people right now. It would be easier if people weren't so frustrating!!!!!

My daughter is adorable. Husband is awesome, and my friends are the best I could ever ask for. (my family's pretty awesome too.)

Big baby news

How far along: 20 weeks 1 day

Total weight gain/loss: I'll know next week

Sleep: getting better

Best moment this week: We found out the sex!

Movement: Hasn't stopped...good lord it's a kicker.

Symptoms: Not much anymore, the nausea is almost gone.

Symptoms I don't have: The nausea's almost gone!!! So happy.

Food Cravings: Subway, oh good lord do I want some Subway

Food Aversions: not really, although it kinda depends on the day as to if I enjoy everything that I think will taste good or not.

Gender: It's a boy!

Labor Signs: nope

Belly Button in or out: still in

What I miss: wearing my wedding ring.

What I'm looking forward to: Husband feeling the baby move

Weekly Wisdom: take things slow and enjoy the kicks while they're still soft and not killing your insides.

Milestones: Baby is now the size of a banana

I'm now halfway there! 

Exciting News!

How far along: 19 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Don't have a scale at home, so I don't know till I go to the doctor again

Sleep: better most of the time. If only the switching shifts would stop soon.

Best moment this week: I felt the baby kick!!

Movement: First kick of the pregnancy happened today (like an hour ago)

Symptoms: still have the nausea. Loki was very nice and patted my back as I threw up this morning.

Symptoms I don't have: I suppose pain?

Food Cravings: Subway sandwiches....

Food Aversions: Lots of things.

Gender: We'll find out next tuesday morning.

Labor Signs: none yet

Belly Button in or out: in

What I miss: my ring still. It's still odd not to wear it.

What I'm looking forward to: More movement, and finding out the gender soon.

Weekly Wisdom: All good things come to those who wait..and sleeping is a great way to wait.

Milestones: First Kick! (yeah, I'm pretty excited) Baby might be able to start hearing voices soon. And is now the size of a large heirloom tomato.

Starting to really grow, and soon I'll really start showing as well. It's all so exciting! 

Baby Update

How far along: 18 weeks 1 day

Total weight gain/loss: At last dr appt I was down 21 lbs.

Sleep: Up and down a lot at night. When work isn't requiring an odd sleeping schedule I'm doing better, not quite as much of an insomniac.

Best moment this week:  Feeling Peanut swim around a bit more.

Movement: ^ see above

Symptoms: I am blessed with still having some morning sickness.

Symptoms I don't have: I suppose pain? A lot of my preggo friends are just in pain, and I'm not having to suffer through that right now.

Food Cravings: I really want a subway sandwich.....I love their Italian Herb and Cheese bread.

Food Aversions: after about 3 bites nothing tastes good anymore

Gender: couple weeks to wait

Labor Signs: nope

Belly Button in or out: still in

What I miss: wearing my ring still

What I'm looking forward to: feeling that first kick

Weekly Wisdom: water is your best friend.

Milestones: Peanut is now the size of a bell pepper

and doing a lot of flexing and movement right now. Sex organs are now in place, although not the easiest to see on a sono just yet. 

Finally

Starting to feel a little organized this morning! Got the finances mostly updated. Talked to the apartment complex about the weird charge on our account (still getting the info on that one though) And now i am finally updating my blog.

Whew, this last week has been more than a little hectic. But in fun preggo news I'm starting to show a little bit (well more than just looking overweight at least) which I enjoy. I'm starting to hit the 'pee every hour' stage, which I don't enjoy much, especially when I have to work.

I'll be honest, having two preggo friends really helps, one is about to burst, and the other is just about a month further along than I am. So it's interesting to see how they are doing at each stage, especially in comparison to my first pregnancy. Good lord I had such an easy first pregnancy after the horrible start. So I suppose after the first 3 months I had a easy pregnancy.

Alright, I'm just babbling now. I'll try to keep on a better update schedule. I'm going to go over and review my lists, trying to get everything caught up and in better order. Hopefully that helps me out.
Yeah, okay, bye bye now.

*cough cough*

Yeah, poor lady me is sick. That being said I've gotten a wonderful amount of shit done today. The garage is completely emptied and off our lease, so yay that saves us $60 a month. I've started setting up my craft room/future quiet room for the new baby where I can nurse peanut or let peanut sit in the swing. I'm going to set my sewing machine up in there on the table Grandpa and Grandma N made, using the hole in the middle that was for the spinning lazy susan (I think that's the name of it)  to put the cords down and keep them out of the way. Plus this will free up the space in the master bedroom closet so Husband and I can have our own 'sides' once again.

I am just so tired, and worn out. This pregnancy is not going very easy so far. But I think it's the combo of work, stress, and morning sickness that is making it so bad. Anywho, that's enough complaining from me today. Hope everyone has a wonderful day and I'll try to update again soon.

16 weeks!

How far along:  16 weeks today

Total weight gain/loss: Not sure, will find out tomorrow.

Sleep: horrible night insomnia, I can sleep all day if I wanted to though

Best moment this week: Getting some rest/relaxation time where I'm not having to work 44hr weeks anymore.

Movement: Not recently, but there were some flutterings last week. Hopefully some definitive kicks and movement will come soon.

Symptoms:  Nausea, eat two bites and nothing tastes good, insomnia.

Symptoms I don't have: actual throwing up (thankfully)

Food Cravings: lots of ice water again, plus lots of sweets, suckers or chocolate.

Food Aversions: cooking eggs smell gross

Gender: I want a girl, Husband wants a boy, no clues yet

Labor Signs: not for a while I hope.

Belly Button in or out: in

What I miss: wearing my wedding ring

What I'm looking forward to: Having a pronounced baby bump

Weekly Wisdom: naps aren't just for kids anymore.

Milestones: baby is now the size of an avocado, and is almost ready to hit the first big growth spurt.

Goodness Gracious

I have been a horrible blogger lately.
I'm letting you know I'm alive, kicking, and tired as hell. But hopefully will be back to posting regularly very soon.

More of an Update that's not quite so stressed

Well, I'm just going to jump right in. Tomorrow I'm meeting with Cara to go grocery shopping. Unfortunately we're not going to be able to do meal prep together tomorrow. So our girl time will mostly be just shopping. That's just fine too, it just means we might not be able to see each other for as long, which is kinda sad, but this weekend is my two 12 hour days, so lots of rest is really good for tomorrow.
My brain is moving slowly, I can't really think of anything else to say. But I will try to keep you updated more regularly. (I know I keep saying that)

A little bit of a complaint post

Work has been particularly grueling lately. I've finished my first week of 44 hours, and am part way through my second. And sadly there looks like no end in sight. The girl who was supposed to move down from KC in 3 weeks now can't for one reason or another. So we're stuck with insane hours and only 4 people working to cover a store that's open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It's more than a little ridiculous to expect us to be able to do this all the time. I'm in a constant state of sore body and exhaustion. Plus every other weekend I'm having to work 12 hours on both Saturday and Sunday, and that totally sucks.
But at least the payout will be nice. Would be nicer at more than minimum wage, but I guess it's better than nothing.
I can't wait till my schedule slows down. Hopefully I'll be able to research more on phlebotomy and how to get my certification. (which is proving to be most difficult.)

Cooking day seemed to be a success

First things first, Doctor's apt went well. Got to see the baby again, and Peanut is growing nicely. We saw the little arms wave and listened to the heart beat. 

It's a little blurry, but there is little Peanut.

All in all, the doctor's visit was short, everything looks good and we have no worries so far. Also, I need to start writing down my questions or something because I never remember them when we arrive.

In cooking news, Cara and I got our lists and menus together (okay, in truth Cara did most of the work this week, I'll have to help out more next week) Went on a big grocery shopping excursion. And then got to the cooking!
I made:

2 Lasagnas

Alfredo Pasta Bake

Chicken and Rice Bake

7 Marinated Chickens

4 Marinated Steaks 

5 bierocks 

Now I didn't make any sides to go in the freezer with the main dishes, but that won't be too hard to put together while a dish is cooking. So I will count this first experiment of freezer cooking a success! (Now hopefully everything tastes as delicious as it looked when we put it all together.)

Peace Out! I'm gonna drink my decaf coffee with french vanilla creamer surf the web for just a bit and then I'm off to bed, cause I work early in the morning.  

I feel like a zombie....

So, this was my first of three 44 hour weeks. (hopefully only 3, I dunno if I'll be able to make it past 3 weeks of this especially since Husband will be starting work next week.) But I just feel like a zombie lately, unable to keep up with anything because I'm so tired.
But it's good, we need the large influx of money. And as I said, Husband starts working on Wednesday, and we're both very excited about it.
Oh! and tomorrow is my 2nd Doctor's apt and I will be 12 weeks along. Very exciting. So I will be sure to update tomorrow about the doctor visit as well as my weekly progress.
Plus tomorrow Cara and I embark on the fun of freezer meal planning. So...that should be interesting if nothing else.
Also I think before bed I'm going to update my daily schedules so I don't have to add things every time I go to the library to print things off.

I hit 10 weeks!

I haven't' been feeling the best, plus thursday, friday, and saturday I was helping to run a garage sale. We didn't do too bad, and may even throw another one next year. (probably earlier in the year though, it was too dang hot most days to even move.) But I should have updated Friday, due to that being my official 10 week mark!
In lieu of my disgraceful forgetfulness I am updating now.

How far along? 10 Weeks, 3 days

Total weight gain/loss: loss = 15lbs

Sleep: much better than last week, although still getting some tossing and turning. 

Best moment this week: Husband and I have picked out full names for both sexes, so now we just need to wait another 8 weeks or so until we know for sure. 

Movement: I hope soon, but not so far.

Symptoms: nausea, hiccups, little bit of hormonal crazy and bitchiness. 

Symptoms I don't have: I haven't thrown up this week, which is nice.

Food Cravings: Mostly ice water, although I'm craving sweets more than I normally would. 

Food Aversions: Still not a fan of the egg smell, although I'm getting over it.

Gender: Kinda hoping for another girl, but wouldn't be unhappy with a boy.

Labor Signs: thank God, no.

Belly Button in or out? still normal.

What I miss: no nausea.....

What I'm looking forward to: baby's first kick.

Weekly Wisdom: Enjoy dancing in the rain. (yes I did that on Saturday when we got that evening rain)

Milestones: Baby is starting to move in the womb, and is now the size of a kumquat. 

What you have all been waiting for!

Here is the little peanut, my adorable little Dragon baby.

At the time this was taken I was 8 weeks and 5 days. Here is a closer look without the heartbeat

Dragon is an adorably tiny little sucker, but they told me I'll be due around February 13, 2014. 

But, in true pregnant fashion, I am going to put up one of those awesome pregnancy question answer things every week, starting today! (Aren't you all so luck)

How far along? I am 9 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain/loss: I've lost 9 lbs. So kind of on par with my last pregnancy.

Sleep: Nightmares lately, but I'm getting naps in the middle of the morning when loki takes hers. 

Best moment this week: No further spotting! And the cramping seems to be slowing down by a lot. 

Movement: Dragon's moving (we saw an arm wave on the sono) but I just can't feel it yet.

Symptoms: Nausea, morning sickness lasting till lunch, including losing everything I ate, and some I didn't. And Hiccups (weird symptom, I know.)

Symptoms I don't have: No more spotting for me!

Food Cravings: None really so far. 

Food Aversions: Eggs, I hate the smell of eggs. 

Gender: No idea yet, although I keep thinking of the baby as male.

Labor Signs: Good Lord I hope not.

Belly Button in or out? Still normal, probably will stay that way for a while. 

What I miss: Not being nauseous

What I'm looking forward to: Not being nauseous. And also the first movements. 

Weekly Wisdom: Husband thinks this child is not a ginger, due to all the pain and how much harder this first few months have been. He says I'm in so much pain because this child is growing a soul, and me being a kind of ginger myself it's hurting me since I don't have a soul myself.

Milestones: Morning sickness is a definite check. Getting to see Dragon and hear the heartbeat at the first Doctors apt was amazing. 

This is what Loki has to say about it all so far 14/;kl,l;];\];/'.;,l;556j n n 

For-ev-Ver

I know it's been awhile since I wrote. Sorry, life tends to get me busy and I kind of forget about everything else. But I promise, tomorrow I'll post some pictures of the sonogram and details about my pregnancy. Tonight though, we'll play a little bit of catch up.

Good news: I have a job. Right now I'm working part time minimum wage at a video store. It kinds sucks at times, but it's something, the plan is for me to work until we have caught up with bills and pulled a little ahead and then I'll be enrolling in phlebotomy classes.
Husband is attending job fairs and trying extremely hard to find a permanent job. I'm very proud of how hard he's looking and trying for this family.

In not so fun news, our relationship with Sweetheart ended. I don't really want to talk about it much yet, but we are going to try to remain friends. At the beginning of August Sweetheart will be moving back to her hometown. As sad as the parting is, I do believe it's for the better.
We just didn't all want the same things.

Not the best news in the world

Warning : This post may be too much information for some people.
We will be talking about the not pretty parts of pregnancy.

I started with very light spotting yesterday. Not very much, just a few blood specks here, a little bit of pink there. I'm a little terrified to be honest. But this is close to when my normal period would come, and I haven't really had any cramps involved with the spotting, so I'm trying my best not to worry. Mostly failing miserably, but trying not to worry. 

I'm also trying not to change much of my behavior, because if it's going to happen, there really isn't much I can do to prevent it from happening. Although I'm hoping I'm just going to bleed every month for the first four like I did with Loki. 

So just keep your fingers crossed and keep us in your prayers. 

One of those days

It's only 9:30 and I'm unable to concentrate, it's just going to be one of those days where I don't really get anything done in one sitting, which means everything will take over twice as long. Gotta love hormones.

Today I'm not cooking diner in the crock pot, however I am making something yummy and delicious and I can't wait to see how it turns out. Apple Crisp I am so excited. I've been craving something a little sweet, and I think this will hit the spot just right.
I haven't really had many cravings to be honest, I've been drinking a lot of orange juice, because I tend to be anemic while pregnant (also I had been donating plasma, but the last few times they had to turn me away because my iron was too low, which made us really believe I was pregnant) I've been wanting a lot of water, like having 4-6 of the 32 oz QT cups full of water every day. Peanut butter tastes excellent once again, but I don't want to make food specifically so I can put peanut butter on it like last time.

Next topic because I'm bored with the previous one.....I dislike my wandering mind.

I'm waiting for the server to be updated and back online for Neverwinter, it has fast become one of my favorite games. It's close enough to WoW that I really enjoy it like that, but has a lot that reminds me of Neverwinter Nights which I used to play all the freaking time. And the biggest awesomeness, is the game is free to play. The few things I don't really like are:
1) can only have 2 characters unless you buy slots for more (with real money) I dislike this because I tend to want to play different characters depending on my mood.
2) no ranger class yet. The only 'ranged' classes are the wizard and the cleric, and I have one of both of those right now.
See, not that many things I don't like about the game.

I've been browsing around the internet a lot lately, due to my mind not being able to settle on anything. And I somehow made it back to Etsy. I do have a shop there, but right now it has nothing for sale, and really needs an overhaul before I start posting again.
Which I do think I'm going to do, probably in the next few months. I have a bunch of scarves that are made and needing to find new homes, and that is what I always planned on my store mostly selling. And then when I get my reuseable plastic bags stocked

I'll go ahead and post those. I think they're pretty cool, mostly because I've finally found a use for all those tons of plastic bags you get from the grocery store. (aside from using them as small trash bags, which works well too)  I am very careful not to use the bags that carried meat or anything else that may have leaked, cause that's kind of gross.

Ugh! Random mind! Now I've just started rambling. I suppose I will finish my breakfast and drift from one project to another. Thank goodness for my list to keep track of what I need to do.

Updates

Well I still haven't heard from the nursing home, and am starting to loose hope. I have called some days 2-4 times and never reached her, and have not received any calls in response to my messages. So I've started applying at other places. Husband and I both have applied at the local school bus barn, and were both told that we were offered tentative jobs after we take the CDL class they offer for 3 weeks and pass the test. However, if we do that neither of us will be paid until August, which really doesn't work for us. So we're thinking Husband will go ahead and get the training, and even though I am very mentally suited to being a school bus driver, physically it would be better for me to have a job where I moved around more. So I'm trying to find a 3rd shift CNA job right now, although I'm applying other places as well. Well, we're just very hopeful that things will turn around in our favor very soon.
We dearly need them to.

On to more tasty subjects -yes, I am aware just how awesomely clever I am- tonight we're having sloppy joes which is awesome, cause I freaking love sloppy joes. It's actually the first time I've ever really made it from scratch, normally I would just brown some meat and then add the canned 'sloppy joe mix' in and eat it that way. However Husband has never been a big fan of that, and hopefully he'll like it better this way. (I have high hopes considering that he has already been begging me to let him have some of the yummy smelling food already)

My crazy mood swings are getting a little better, now it's not just switching from one emotion to another with no real reason between it. Instead the hormones are just amplifying my moods, which is actually easier for me to deal with and calm down from rather than my 'mood meter' being set on random. The other fun thing about this pregnancy so far is heartburn. Like seriously, I think I'm going to start breathing fire any moment. As such I have decided that the little ball of cells that is growing into my next child needs a nickname. And so I have hereby declared that from henceforth until gender is known -and maybe after- this child shall be called Dragon.
Yes, I do realize it's a bit odd, but let's be honest, everyone who knows me even the slightest knows I'm nothing if not a little bit odd. Besides, Loki was nicknamed that after only a month of pregnancy, and I'll be honest, this time around I'm not going to turn the nickname into the middle name of my child, unless I come up with a better one than Dragon, so I guess I can't honestly 100% promise that, but I can say I'm pretty sure I won't be doing that.

I feel special

I've gotten so many views recently, it's quite nice. Even if people aren't reading a lot, at least they're visiting.

I personally did NOT like the Orange Chicken, but I think I have figured out as to why the chicken was dry for this occasion ( and for when I did my first crock pot meal) those were the only meals I have cooked on high. So I just need to make sure that I keep it on low, and make sure that I have enough time to get it in the pot and cooking for the low time. So that's good to figure out.
I just really wish that I had liked it better, I miss Promise Thai orange chicken, it was just so good! And I was hoping that this would kind of imitate that for me, but not at all.
If this pregnancy is anything like with Loki, I think I'm about to hit the phase where nothing sounds appealing to eat, and I just don't feel hungry. It's not a very fun phase to be honest, because Husband makes me eat, and it never tastes very good. HOwever, if I don't get much morning sickness again I'll be very happy.

For dinner tonight I'm being 'lazy' and we're having an oven baked pizza, It seems like we do an average of 2-4 crock pot meals during the week, and then leftovers one night and just average meals during the rest of the week. It seems to be working really well for us so far.
But anyways, I actually have a questions for you guys today:

What is your favorite recipe, crock pot or other, What is your favorite thing to make that everyone loves?

For the record, mine is Lasagna, I love making it, eating it, everything. (Plus everyone else likes it pretty well too.)

I'm horrible at titles

I never really know exactly what to say for them. As for us today we're doing pretty good. Sweetheart stayed up all night in order to try and get used to the third shift schedule since she starts tonight. I've been falling asleep before 11 now, and waking up before Loki does in the morning, which is kind of nice so I can wake up a little bit before I have to be in charge of a child. I guess Flylady does know what she's talking about. : )

Tonight we're having one of our friends from our monthly dinner group over for Orange Chicken, I'm so looking forward to how it turns out, it was always my favorite dish at Promise Thai before it was closed. It's another chicken dish were I have to brown the chicken before putting it in the crock pot. But thankfully it didn't need to be cooked all the way through, just browned a little bit. I'm having to cook it on high, because I got going a little late on the meal prep, which is kinda silly considering I've been awake since 6am.

Still can't focus worth anything, unfortunately. which makes it a little hard to do anything. Husband is helping a lot though, and has been much more supportive than I could ever wish for. He's also been helping watch Loki when my temper starts getting short with her explorations as I'm trying to clean or cook. My hormones are affecting me earlier and more severely than they did while I was pregnant with Loki, I don't ever remember feeling this out of control of my moods.
But Loki's been pretty sweet and cuddly when I'm not feeling good and all I want to do is just lay on the couch because moving takes too much energy. I suppose I'm really lucky to have such a wonderful (mostly) calm daughter.

So Much Chicken!

There are so many crock pot recipes that use chicken, it's a little ridiculous. But alas, we are enjoying it, it's kind of fun discovering how yummy chicken can be.

In more mundane news, Sweetheart is at her first day or orientation for the CNA job, I haven't heard back as to whether or not they are going to offer me the job as well. But I placed a call out today, and left a message with her to get back to me.

In more cooking type news MawMa is coming over for dinner tonight, which will be nice, we haven't seen her for a few weeks since she was sick last week. So tonight we're making Chicken and Potatoes I didn't realize that I would need to actually cook the chicken before putting it in the crock pot, so it's taking much longer than I thought it would originally. But it looks like it's going to turn out tasting pretty good, or at least I hope so.

**The chicken turned out great, almost everyone had seconds, and there was barely any we could have for left overs. MawMa had a good name for it - Chicken Roast - it seems to fit, so I might keep that for the name.**

In pregancy news, I hate irrational emotions, it's just so not fair or nice and it doesn't make any sense why I am just angry for no damn reason. I'm getting rather sick of it to be honest. But, for all the hardships that I have had emotionally, I am very glad to be preggers.