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!

Christmas Part 1

I should start with Christmas Eve....Santa and Mrs. Clause came to visit Gma and Gpa's house for Karyl. At first she was a little scared with all the bells and noise, but then Santa had a "present" for her and that seemed to make him suddenly an OK guy!! Grandma had given Santa beforehand some PJs and books to give to her...she was so excited and even gave Santa a hug on her own!!

OK, so I have been lazy and not posted about Christmas yet...and I still have pictures on the other camera that I need to download and go through, so I'm just going to call this post "Part 1."
Anyway, we had a wonderful Christmas. We opened presents in the morning at our house and then headed out to Orange County to visit my mom and Greg's parents. Karyl got lots of fun things from Santa including a tricycle (see pics below) and a few other presents...she has enough toys to keep her busy until she's 5!!

Those bikes are more complicated than you'd think...here's Greg helping Santa put Karyl's bike together Christmas Eve.
And here's daddy helping Karyl unwrap some presents...don't they look cute together??
And I think Greg would be upset if I didn't include this picture for our kids to see years from now when this blog is in book form....

Now, let me preface this moment by saying that I had just opened up a box with a new purse from Greg (I was already super excited to see the purse)...and then I opened up the purse to see what the inside looked like and this moment came after seeing what was inside....which is below...

Notice Karyl is already attracted to that Tiffany Blue Box!!

So, that's it for Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning...I will post the rest (visiting the grandparents) in the next post...maybe later tonight...maybe tomorrow...soon though!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year...until the next post!!

Happy Holidays!!

Sorry, I'm too lazy to wait and put any pictures on here, but I did want to make a quick few notes before the craziness of Christmas and the New Year hits...

This year has been especially wonderful in many ways...some of which I'm sure we don't even fully understand. We truly have so much to be thankful for and are just enjoying this festive time of year.

We got a tree about a week ago and decorated it with all the ornaments we had that were unbreakable. Greg also came up with the BRILLIANT idea to get a bunch of wooden ornaments for the extended family to color and sign on the back with the year to put on the tree so it looks more decorated, but Karyl can't break them. In fact, she kind of enjoys re-arranging them when I'm not looking!!

We're trying to just slow down and enjoy the rest of this year because once 2009 starts up, we might as well just fast forward to the end of summer because with Freddie coming the beginning of March and Wild Rivers the first 3/4 of the year are as good as gone!! We are so thankful to be adding another member to our family and are super excited that it is a boy...and we have lots of new (and old) friends that are having babies within a few weeks of us so he will have lots of friends (as does Karyl now too!). On that note, we even discovered that a friend of ours that was in Greg's ward growing up and went to seminary with me in High School lives RIGHT down the street from us!! We have had lots of chances to catch up with her and she has a little girl due like 3 weeks before us, so we are enjoying getting to know each other again and reminiscing over all the crazy stuff we went through in our teenage years!

So, with so many things to be thankful for this Holiday Season....health, happiness, a new home and wonderful family and friends...we want to wish you all a wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year!!

BATH TIME!!!

So, this morning I realized that we were going to the ward Christmas party, and Karyl hadn't had a bath in a few days....and her hair looked like it!! So, I decided that there was no way I was taking her to the party without being cleaned off, and with that, I was on a mission this morning.

We got up, ate breakfast, and then I struck. I told her we needed to take a bath and I let her look at it for a minute and we talked about it. She seemed ok with it, but I allowed for some resistance...I let her watch cartoons while I filled it up because it's really noisy when it's filling up and that seemed to scare her. So, the tub was filled a few inches, the toys were in and now it was go time. I brought her in and she started whining. I explained to her that she was going to take a bath either way and took her to pick a cup to play with. She picked a Spongebob cup and we headed back. She reached in and touched the warm water and suddenly it was like the light went on "this is just like my other bathtub at Grandpa's..."...

So I took her clothes off, diaper and put her in...no whining, no fighting. We played with the foam letters and stuck them to the walls, we threw the Spongebob squish balls Greg had put in there, and then we got clean!! She said she had fun and actually didn't want to get out...so we spent about 5 minutes putting all her letters back in the bag while singing the clean up song from Primary. We then watched the water drain, bundled up in a big towel and now she's watching cartoons and I'm back to work.

I've attached a few pictures for your enjoyment...I also attached some pictures of her helping me make peppermint bark last night and pictures of her with Greg's Goofy Ears Santa hat that he gave her to play with while he "babysat" last night and I went to the Relief Society Gift Exchange (which was a wonderful treat!).

Hopefully this can become part of our bedtime routine....but I'm happy that she'll get in now without a fight...I'll take that for now!

I know you probably can't tell, but her hair was so messy!! It needed a good washing!!

This is something I never thought I'd see...a HAPPY baby in the big bathtub!!

Greg and Karyl came in the house last night from the garage with these on...I couldn't help but laugh..and then grab the camera!!

I am learning to let her help in any way possible, even if it means slowing down my progress a little...I don't think she crushed a single peppermint, but she sure had fun trying!!

Cuteness and Mommy's new addiction....

Some more fun pics...

Karyl wearing daddy's Angel's visor...he's been wearing it under his rain jacket at work the past few days and when he comes home she wants to wear it.

Yesterday we went shopping at our new local mall and we visited the Disney Store...we got a pair of slightly too large mittens for Karyl (they were only $3!!).


OK, I know you can only see the feet, but that big red ball is a large Santa plushy toy that Greg brought in last night from the garage to show to Karyl...she LOVED it!!

This morning Greg sent me a text message saying there was ice on the cars...I thought he was kidding....this is just a small piece on the windshield wiper, but there were chunks all over the car!!! Welcome to the Inland Empire!!

And last but not least....a picture of my new addiction!! I picked up a 12-pack at Target the other night and have been drinking ever since!! Luckily it's caffeine free...I had 3 yesterday, and that was with trying NOT to drink too many!! We even put them in the fridge in the garage so it would take more energy to get one...yeah, that worked!!

YUMMY!!!!

PICTURES!!!!

I FOUND OUR CAMERA CORD!!!

So, I'll spare you the long entry and let the pictures do the talking...

Daddy's Little Helper

These are Karyl and Daddy building Mommy's desk....

These are them building the toy "cubby" for her room...Karyl got to "sign" the back of her furniture for future generations to see (if it lasts past her 5th birthday!!).

Front Yard Fun

Random Fun

Karyl after doing her first "Kid's Workshop" at our local Home Depot...she made an easel to put her favorite book on.

Karyl talking on the phone...probably to Grandpa!!

Our pool...covered...it's pretty neat, you can walk on the cover (but the kids don't know that!!).

So there are some pics to get you caught up...enjoy and I'll try and caught caught up some more soon!!

Daddy's helper

So, this morning Karyl came to her door and since Greg was right there he took off the baby gate and let her out and they came to my desk.

The cute part....on the way out she saw that Daddy was working on the desk in the Green Room and the first thing out of her mouth when she saw me was "Mommy, I need to change my diaper so I can help Daddy build your desk."

So we changed her diaper and while we were changing it she heard Greg hammering and she said "Mommy, Daddy is using the hammer, I need to go help!". She didn't even mention breakfast, she went right into the Green Room and sat down with Daddy and wanted to help. So, she helped Daddy build the desk while I fed her bites of oatmeal inbetween hammer hits.

I have some great pics, but again, until we find that camera cord I can't put them on here...eventually!!

Until then, I just wanted to share the story about Daddy's big helper!!