Baby boy update

Well, yesterday I had to have one of those "special" ultrasounds where they send you to a ultrasound guru (or whatever you'd call it) and they do a very detailed ultrasound where they measure everything with the baby to make sure that all is well....

Well...the reason I was sent there was because my blood pressure has spiked (the same reason I'm on modified bedrest) and it was just to check and make sure that the hypertension wasn't being caused by something else and that Freddie was growing and functioning just fine. And it was just what we had thought, it's strictly some last minute pregnancy induced hypertension and it hasn't done anything to Freddie! This doctor actually kind of laughed at the thought that this baby had been adversely affected by anything! Freddie was moving ALL over the place, he was working his little diaphragm and his little heart was beating like a champ!!

My favortie part of the whole thing though was this....

At some point when the Dr. said that I only had short term hypertension, and that the baby was fine, Greg asked "what would have happened if the hypertension was affecting the baby" and the Dr. looked at him and said that the baby would be smaller than normal. Then the Dr. laughed and said "which most definitely isn't the case with this guy." Then Greg asked the question I was thinking..."How big do you think he will be?" The Dr. looked at me and asked how big my daughter was, and I told him...and I jokingly added that we don't have tiny little 6-1/2 pound babies....and he laughed and looked at both us and said "no, you certainly don't....because that's how big this baby is NOW!" Then he said that this baby would be at least 8-1/2 pounds as a safe guesstimate. So...I'm definitely excited that Freddie will be a big, hearty baby!!

So, everyone is healthy...my hypertension looks like it's just pregnancy induced, and Freddie is big and healthy and head down (of course the second baby is going the right way...oh well, right?!?). I will keep you updated in the future with anything else. For the next few weeks I am just going to work on letting him grow and trying to sleep despite the little feet that are nestled up in my ribs!!

Ah Man.....

Well, it's getting closer, and that wasn't more apparent than after my Dr.'s appointment yesterday. Apparently my blood pressure has decided to spike and I've been put on what my Dr. called "modified bedrest." Before anyone asks, Freddie is perfectly fine =) They monitored him for a little while and didn't even finish the entire 20 minute test since he was so active.

Something new I learned...apparently babies try to breath in utero?!?! They were watching his chest and ribs contract because babies apparently practice breathing, I had no idea!?!?

Anyway, Freddie is perfectly fine, and VERY active. And, he is facing the right way (why couldn't Karyl have done that??).

So, mommy has been told to stop working and to take it easy...I feel fine, but I will try and obey orders. And if any of you need company during the day, I have a lot of free time the next 5 weeks and I'm sure Karyl would love to see some other kids instead of just me all day =)

Bummer...but Monday night redemption...

Well, the inevitable has happened...remember how I mentioned a few posts ago that I was so happy to still be wearing my wedding rings this far along?? Well, Saturday night we were sitting in bed and, well, I have a bad habit of playing with my rings (pulling them on and off)...and I suddenly realized that they weren't going to come off. Well, I got the engagement ring off pretty quickly with some painful persuasion...but had to hold my hand above my head for a few minutes to maneuver the band off.

So, they have been put away...so sad....BUT, since I was able to wear them so far into the pregnancy I know I'll be able to wear them again quickly after Freddie's born. I was so scared last time that they would never fit again, but that was obviously a silly thought.

Well, we pulled out the blue light special ring I had bought last time, only to discover that cheap (probably not even real meta) rings don't stay silver looking over 2 years locked up...so I wore it to church on Sunday (luckily I don't think anyone noticed)...and this afternoon Karyl and I headed to Kohl's to get another cheap-o ring. Karyl was so cute, and so excited to help me choose a "place holder" ring. I told her it would be quick, and I even surprised myself...we were in and out of there in less than 5 minutes!! I found the cheap rings, found the first one in my larger size that was just a band (don't need a gaudy fake jewel...) and hit the checkout line.

So here I sit, with my new ring...it was only $10!! I know, most people probably think I'm nuts for spending that to replace my rings for like 2 months, but I just hate walking around pregnant and not having a wedding ring (and I hope I don't offend anyone that's not married with children) but I just feel like people are starting at me when I'm pregnant and not wearing a ring. $10 is a fair price to pay for peace of mind =)

Oh, and on a side note...it's Monday night and there should be a new episode of The Big Bang Theory on tonight!!! YAY!!!!!!! Redemption!!!

Wow....

OK, so I noticed the countdown to Freddie....5 weeks and 4 days...we have 5 more Saturdays (not including today) until he's here!!!

That's not that far away!! With Karyl I was getting really nervous right now, and I think even maybe freaking out just a little bit. This time, it's business as usual...it just means that in 5 weeks I stop waking up 5 times in the middle of the night to pee and instead I'll be waking up to feed a crying baby...

This time we know what we NEED to get ready, and what we don't...and we have Freddie's room all ready to go and everything we need ready. Now we just need to get some clothes in his closet....

Proud Kitchen Moment

This post is for my Mother-In-Law....

I have been trying LOTS of new recipes the past 2 months since we moved and MOST of them turned out, well, edible....but that was about it. I've been getting better though and last night I decided to make her VERY DELICIOUS Broccoli and Cheese Soup. The only problem I had was that I wasn't sure if my pot would be big enough....it was a close call, but it just barely all made it in!!

I have been meaning to make this soup for over a week but just because of stuff happening have not been able to do it...I cut up the carrots and broccoli on Friday morning and they have been waiting to be used since then in the fridge. I was then going to make it on Sunday, but the Elders in our ward apparently enjoyed the Chicken Pot Pie the last time they were here and asked Greg if they could come over for dinner Sunday night...so being that I wasn't sure about the pot size we opted for meatloaf (which is a recipe, along with chicken pot pie and a few others that I have gotten down pretty well in the past 3 years of marriage). So, I knew I had to do it last night or those veggies I spent forever peeling and chopping would be lost to the abyss known as the back of the fridge.

It looked good didn't it?? And you want to know the best part?? It is a scientific fact that this soup tastes better the next day, so guess what I'm having for lunch today?!?!?

Oh my goodness!!

OK, so I've been kind of stressed out the past few days with just random stuff...Unfortunately life doesn't slow down or stop when you're tired and pregnant =)

Anyways...now that I've gotten that out I just realized a few things in the past week that have made me smile!!

Number 1 - Have you looked at the baby countdown?? As of today it says 6 weeks and 6 days...that's REALLY close!! While I am already uncomfortable (this kid has nestled himself up in front of my rib cage, so anytime he moves it puts pressure on my ribs and sometimes lungs), I can still remember the day that pregnancy test came up positive...I can't believe it's already been almost 8 months!!
A really scary way to look at it...we have only 7 more Saturdays before this little guy makes his official appearance!! That's not very long!!

Number 2 - Whoever invented the public playground should be immortalized. The past 2 weeks we have been meeting a few other moms from our new ward at the local parks and I have realized that kids this age will play on a playground for HOURS if you let them. And when you go with other moms (that you actually WANT to talk to) you not only get a much needed physical break, but you can sit and talk with other adults!! I love that Karyl is old enough to just let play while I watch her...although I have had to get used to her getting kind of dirty, all our playgrounds here have that wood mulch stuff (never understood why, it's not terribly forgiving when they fall!) and she loves digging in it. For anyone that knows me, I hate getting dirty...which means I hate seeing my kids get dirty...but I'm learning to relax and let her have some fun - although I did bring some of those big red plastic cups for her to use this last time and she did use them, most of the time, so that made it a little easier to watch!
I love our new ward...no offense to anyone in our old ward, but I was never invited on playdates or park days back in OC, but here we have already made some great friends and I have a great group of women with kids the same age that I can relate to and hang out with...and they at least pretend to like having me around...and that's good enough for me =)

Number 3 - This is kind of a random thing, but it stunned me when I realized it....at about 6 months with Karyl I had my fingers swell so bad that my wedding rings got stuck and I had to maneuver them off with soap and a few other maneuvers, after that they were packed up, I bought a $6.00 Kohl's "band" and didn't see my rings again until about 2 months after having Karyl.

I am at 8 months now, and I can still get my rings on and off with no problems!! I thought for sure I was going to have to pull out my blue light special ring, but so far, I have been able to continue to wear my favorite pieces of jewlery!! With Karyl, my feet also swelled so bad the last 2 months that I was confined to only wearing sandals and one pair of tennis shoes if I loosened the laces and barely tied them. This time, I think I have only seen my toes look like snausages once, and that was after walking around at Disneyland for a few hours. Otherwise, I can still fit into all my shoes!!

Now I know you're thinking "what's the big deal about your feet swelling, that goes away after the baby comes"...but most of you may not have realized that I have HUGE feet. Before having Karyl they were a size 10-1/2..then they got longer while I was pregnant, and never went back, so I am now a size 11. Those of you with nice size 8 feet will have no idea what a pain it is to try and find cute shoes in anything over a size 10...I guess that's why I've never been a shoe person, I can never find them in my size!! And it was making me nervous thinking that my feet were going to grow a 1/2 a shoe size with every pregnancy!!

OK, so I'm done ranting...I've been inside too long today I guess!!

1-800-TERMINIX!!!!!

Well, the time has come. I had to wake Greg up this morning again to rid our home of a few "pests" and he had finally had enough....he said we needed to call Terminix. You know it's annoying if Greg finally gets tired of killing bugs =)

So, I have VERY happily offered to call a few pest control companies today and get some quotes!! Hopefully in the next week or so we can hope to be "pest" free for a VERY long time!! I can't wait to be able to come out to work in the morning without having to worry about putting something on my feet =)

Until next time....

Christmas Part II

Alrighty, so here is the rest of the fun from Christmas Day...

After opening presents here at home we headed to the house of my mom, "Grandma M" and had some fun with her and Uncle David. Here are some pictures from that afternoon...

This was Grandma and Uncle David's Christmas Tree...Karyl loved all the fun little ornaments on it!!

Here is Grandma and Karyl watching "Santa's Marching Band" (See the picture below)....David and one of his friends hung them from the blinds on the window and Karyl was smitten with the all the noise and movement!!

Below...Santa's Marching Band....usually you hang them from a tree, but Grandma and David got creative. I remember this from when I was little, I can't believe that thing still works!!

Karyl's favorite gift that morning...she calls it "lip gloss" and makes me carry them around in my purse for her. I'm serious...ask me to reach into my purse, and that exact package is in my purse all the time!!

For those of you who don't know, my mom is a VERY artistic person and when she makes something, you know it will be worth checking out...hence this Gingerbread house. I have a picture of it at every angle, but I just put the general picture on here.

Now, also at my mom's, Greg and David decided to try out one of Greg's Christmas presents...a bag of clothespins. The reason for the gift was from a video on one of Greg and I's favorite website - below is the link for the particular show

http://www.whatyououghttoknow.com/show/2008/12/11/day-3-guns-and-ninja-stars/

Anyway, Greg had the innocent intention of simply attempting to shoot clothespins, but of course, my brother had heard of another way to up the stakes and make things more interesting....I definitely didn't think this would work, and even Greg was skeptical, but one box of strike anywhere matches later and they discovered that apparently it was not only possible, but kind of fun to try. Oh, and in case you're going to make a "Smokey the Bear" reference, you can rest easy, it was POURING outside while they were doing it in the walkway...so nothing was going to go up in flames!! Pardon my brother's attire...at least he had a shirt on!!

On a side note, this video of the modified clothespin gun got me into the exclusively secret {22} club on the "What You Ought To Know" website!!

So, after having what I think was almost a little too much fun at my mom's, we headed over to Greg's family's house....we had lots of fun opening presents with them and watching Karyl. She's a lucky little girl to have so many aunts with great taste in clothes!! Karyl got lots of larger clothes, which she desperately needed!! We stayed and played the rest of the day there and had tons of fun playing with our aunties and Uncle Glen!

We are so thankful to have so much great family so close. We had a wonderful Christmas at everywhere we stopped and just loved spending the Holidays with all the people we love.

Starting off the New Year right.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! And no, I did not forget that I still need to post Christmas part II....I just don't want to deal with the other camera right now....

Anyways, as the new year began we decided it was time to start things out right and have officially started a "Family Tradition." We posted pics from last month of Karyl in her apron from Home Depot, but this time we brought the camera. We have make a plan to go every month to the Kid's Project at Home Depot. This month it was book-ends with helmets in honor of the SuperBowl. Karyl had a blast making them with Daddy, and I think Daddy enjoyed it a little too =) Here are a few pics from that Saturday morning...

Then, that afternoon we made good on another task we had been putting off until the new year...Karyl's first haircut!! We finally decided that it had been left to nature long enough and it was time to tame those adorable locks. So, we called our friend Katie who is a hairdresser in Orange County and she agreed to take on the challenge (and of course, if Karyl was getting her hair cut, it was only fair that I should too, right??). So, we headed to her salon in Laguna Hills (if you need a great hairdresser in Orange County I'm glad to give you the info!!) and crossed our fingers for the best.

Once there, we tried to get her to sit in the chair but she wasn't having it. So, we agreed that Mommy would go first. I have never had my hair done in the "salon" setting before, the last few years it has been nothing but Fantastic Sams. It was wonderful!! Not only did she do an amazing job, but it was so relaxing...and she even blow-dried it straight (picture below) and it looked awesome!!

After my turn, we were able to get Karyl to sit on my lap and Katie went to it. Karyl was surprisingly calm, and when we asked her if it hurt, she said "no, it doesn't hurt" and she even thought it was kind of fun!! Of course, Katie did bribe her into the chair with the promise of a flower in her hair at the end. All in all, it was not nearly as traumatic as we had planned for and she got such a cute haircut!! We love how her hair looks now and she seemed to enjoy the experience!

This was Karyl BEFORE the haircut...look at that hair all in her face!! Daddy had her looking at a magazine of different hairstyles trying to get her in the "salon" mood

Here she is again being so calm...she kept telling me "Mommy, I'm staying still" it was so much fun to watch her!! Although, I'm not sure how I ended up making the face that I'm making, so we'll just overlook that....

Here's a pic of Karyl and I with Katie...she did a great job, didn't she?!?!

Here is an after picture...doesn't it look great in the back...no more dangly uneven ends!!

And here's the side view...Katie kept her promise and gave her a flower in her hair...we hated to take it out that night because she looked so cute!

And just for randomness....for those of you who have not seen pics of the inside of the new house yet, here is a picture of our dining room and part of the kitchen. Greg did an awesome job getting the boxes out and arranging the table so it looked good and we had plenty of room! We'll try and get more pics up, but we're still trying to get everything organized!