26 weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:  Its official.  I look pregnant.  Enough that strangers are starting to ask when I am due.  And my girls think my belly is pretty big.  Yesterday, Bianca asked how I would go to the hospital when its time for the baby to come because she thought I would be too big to fit in a car! 

How Far Along: 26 weeks

Size of Baby: Baby Bumblebee is now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Obviously getting a battery for our scale is not a priority!  Still no battery, and I go to the doctor this Thursday, so I don't know. 

Maternity Clothes: It's all maternity wear for me, there are few things that still fit from my old wardrobe.  I'm learning to be creative.

Gender: It's a BOY! And I think we have a name.  But don't bother asking, because we are not giving hints.  Nope, not even a little one. 

Movement: The past week has brought flips and kicks.  Last night, I'm pretty sure he was doing tae bo while I was trying to sleep.  There were limbs coming from every direction! 

Sleep: I've been getting more sleep, when its not interrupted by an exercising boy.  Generally, I'm aiming for about 9 hours a night. 

What I miss:  I'm enjoying this pregnancy, so there's not much I miss!

Cravings: Food. What sounds good is getting healthier.  I don't really want anything greasy or heavy.

Symptoms: Typical pregnancy symptoms.  Nothing too bad.  But I feel huge, and the back pains are starting to confirm that feeling.

Best Moment This Week: The girls decided that the baby must come out of my belly button.  They've not asked about it since then.  So I'm going with it.  I didn't confirm or deny that conclusion!

Medically:  My monthly appointment is this Thursday.  And it includes the Gestational Diabetes test.  Yay.  Refer to week 17 post for the perinatologist appointment about the Prothrombin/Factor II Mutation.

Crazy Beautiful Life

Blogging has been off of my radar this week.  Sorry for the silence.  I'm not sure of the exact reason, but I think there are a few things that have contributed to it.  I have been thinking a lot and praying for the families in Joplin, and the other many towns that have been hit with tornadoes.  My friend, Crissyanna, over at Created for Home, lives in Joplin.  While she, her family, and their home are all okay, they have been working in crisis management all week at their church, and are trying to establish a new normal in their lives.  My heart is breaking for this town, and I so wish that I could go down and help her serve.  However, this week has reminded me that I am 26 weeks pregnant, and at risk for preterm labor (both pregnancies, it started at 30 and 32 weeks), so I am limiting my activities.  I don't think removing rubble would be the greatest of ideas for me!  However, I have been in constant prayer for these families.

We started off by spending the weekend at my parents in Illinois.  We came back on Monday, so Tuesday was spent trying to get things put away (and working around window installers) so that if we had a showing on the house, we would be ready.  Good thing, because Wednesday was spent trying to stay out of the house.  We got up late, and then immediately got a phone call that requested a showing in an hour.  That meant showering, eating, and getting girls ready to leave the house, in addition to having a house ready to be shown.  This time was also spent listening to tornado sirens going off (thankfully, it was not for our specific area, but it was close by).  Being from Illinois, if the siren is going off, that means (in my mind) that we need to hit the basement, but my oh-so-experienced-husband-from-Kansas informed me that here we don't panic, and we don't go downstairs until it really is west of us.  Silly me for panicking when I heard tornado sirens, especially after all of the action recently in Tornado Alley!  So, the girls and I made it a practice run while Scott cleaned windows.  Bella is especially scared of tornadoes, but she really wanted to watch the news covering the storms, and has gotten better about it this week.  I think that being educated about them has helped her a bit.  I put off telling her too much about what could happen, and showing her pictures, but she has been more relaxed about the whole ordeal since seeing the weather reports and pictures.  Somehow, the opportunity for her to pray for the people who have suffered has eased her fear.   

After our adventurous hour, we headed to Walmart to pick up some things for school and such, plus I needed to get some storage bins to organize my wonderful stash of baby boy clothing I was blessed with on our trip to Illinois.  (Baby Bumblebee now has clothing up to size 2T!)  I apparently found the perfect time to go shopping:  in between severe thunderstorms.  I've never seen Walmart so quiet!  So we spent some extra time there checking out all of their baby items.  Pretty soon, Scott called to tell me there was another storm headed this way, so we should head towards home.  We were home all of 20 minutes, maybe, when he called to let me know that there was yet another showing now scheduled, so the girls got their pencil boxes put together and colored a bit while I tried to vacuum the carpet.  This time while we had to leave the house, we went to McDonald's for lunch and playtime.  I think all the busyness got to me, because I wasn't drinking enough water, and I was terribly sore by the end of the day.  I sat with my feet up for the rest of the evening, minus that half hour where I took the girls to church, only to find out that I missed the memo that there were no children's activities!

The rest of the week has been relatively quiet, as far as I can remember.  I did take the girls to Target on Thursday to pick up a birthday present and get some new swimsuits.  I was dreading the swimsuit shopping, but we did pretty well, and were out of the store in an hour.  That is good, considering that Bella takes forever to pick out birthday presents for her friends.  I can't blame her, I am the same way!  We just want to pick out the best present possible, and its so agonizing!  We also went to Scott's first volleyball game.  He is playing in our church's league this summer.  I would love to play also, but my balance is just a little off right now. :)  So we go to watch Scott play socialize. 

Friday was pajama day here mostly.  At 26 weeks pregnant, I am starting to leave the 'honeymoon' stage, and am feeling some aches and pains, and am tired exhausted without 9 hours of sleep!  The girls and I attended a birthday party at a friends house, and then we went to Party City to scout out Toy Story party decorations (Bella's party is next Saturday!) and Walmart to see about a pool (a small kiddie pool), since its going to be in the 80s all week. 

watch the new Yogi Bear movie that we got from Red Box last night!  Have a great Memorial Day weekend!  Hopefully I can find a time that I feel decent enough to get my pregnancy picture taken this week, but mostly I want to just rest. 

Favorite Homemade Dish - Lasagna Toss

I've posted a few recipes, and I always say that my family loves them.  And we do!  But this is one that even my picky eater will admit to liking, even if its just a little bit.  I know my mom makes it a lot.  My recipe has been adapted to what amounts I actually use.  You know, how after you make a recipe for a while, you kind of start 'winging it' and increasing or decreasing amounts?  Yeah, that's what mine has become.  And I think I like it!  So I paid attention this time when I made it, and I'll give you my version of the recipe.

Lasagna Toss

1 lb ground beef
3 cups spaghetti sauce (My favorite is Ragu's Tomato, Garlic, Onion.  I use it always!)
6 oz rotini
2 cups mozzarella
2 cups cottage cheese
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

 First, brown the ground beef, drain grease, and add spaghetti sauce.  

Meanwhile, cook rotini according to cooking directions.

Remove 1 cup of meat sauce and set aside.

Drain rotini and add to meat sauce remaining in skillet.

Transfer half of noodle/sauce mixture in skillet to greased 1 1/2 quart pan.

Cover with cottage cheese and 1 cup of mozzarella.

Add remaining noodle/sauce mixture to top the cheese layer, then add the 1 cup of meat sauce that was set aside earlier.

Cover this layer with 1 cup of mozzarella and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Cover and bake @ 350 degrees Fahrenheit  for about 20 minutes.  Let sit for 5 minutes, then serve. 

What is your favorite recipe?  I'm always trying new ones, and I would love to hear yours!  Please share :)

Wordless Wednesday.... Baby Blanket #2

These yarns....

 

Are coming together to make this square, times about 40.....

 

To make a blanket that will come together something like this....

 

For our Baby Bumblebee.

Bianca's sleep

I am ready for a newborn.  My three year old has made sure of that!  She has always been the one who was ready for sleep at an early time.  Usually around 7 or 7:30, she would start ASKING to go to bed as a toddler.  We started a really long bedtime routine for her sister, unknowingly, so we were relieved a bit when she would just ask you to tuck her in, say a prayer, sing a song, and tell you to leave.  However, things have changed, and I think it has a lot to do with all of the transition our lives have been in over the past 1.5-2 years.  

In that time, we moved from IN to PA, lived with a family for a month, moved to our own home, I started working for a semester, I was home for the summer, we moved to KS, and now we are getting ready for another move.  Wow, I know its been a lot for us, but I don't realize how much exactly until I write it all down!

So, Bianca does not want us to leave her in her room.  Actually, she does not want to go to bed.  Period.  We have been so frustrated by her behavior, and have used every method we know of to get her to sleep, or even just stay in her room so that WE can sleep.  Even if we stayed in there, albeit, falling asleep, she would move and talk and play as long as she could keep her eyelids partway open.  I gave up.  I finally admitted I had no idea of what to do next, so I did what every intelligent mother does - consult your friends.  Since my friends are all over the United States these days, I went to Facebook.  And I got some really good suggestions.  

Thus far, we've had 2 nights of pretty good sleep.  The first night, Scott tried getting her in bed, doing her song and prayer, cuddling a bit, and then letting her know that he would be back in one minute to check on her.  That was good, except that she was up playing with the nightlight.  So he put her back in bed and told her he would be back in 3 minutes.  She was good with that, and she stayed in bed after this, finally going to sleep at the 5 minute interval.

So last night was my night alone, as Scott was doing real estate work to get a house to closing on time.  These are the hardest, because we cannot divide and conquer at the same time.  This means that at some point, I have to leave Bianca to get Bella to bed before 10 pm.  And she knows it.  Bianca knows that when I put her to bed, that Bella is still up, and that is obviously not fair in a 3 year old's mind.  She also knows that if I leave her, I am giving attention to her sister.   CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?!  So, first, Bianca and I had to have a conversation about why Bella gets to keep her light on longer than her.  That led to her asking why Memaw gets to stay up later! ha!  Well, she was happy when I told her that Baby Bumblebee will be younger than her, and she will get to stay up later than him.  (I'm praying that he is a good sleeper!)

Bianca has started asking for us to make up stories for her at bedtime.  Its one of her ploys to keep herself awake and prolong the routine.  Last night, I got my MP3 player set up for her to listen to stories while she went to sleep (with a speaker, not headphones!).  That seemed to work pretty well once it was in a place where she could see the picture on the screen (even though it never changed), and she was asleep quickly with no tears, and no fight.  It was marvelous.  Except when she woke up at 2:30.  Yeah, I got her back in bed, tucked in, was almost back to sleep, when she was up asking of her stories.  I got up, started her story again, and went back to bed.  She slept until 9 am, which is pretty good, considering all things.  I would love for her to sleep through the night, but she doesn't do that when things are changing, and I also think that it has to do with her age.  Her sister, who slept through the night at 5 weeks old, started getting up every night from about age 2 to 4 (the transition of a new sister was also taking place then).

Today, I await the arrival of a book for more help.  I know, I know.  I don't read parenting books.  I just never have.  I don't know why, but every time Scott would suggest that we should read a book, I would kind of turn up my nose at that.  Yeah, I'm stubborn.  These are my kids.  Surely I can figure out what to do with them without consulting some so-called expert!  I've slowly come around.  And I was so frustrated the other night that I had almost ordered the book before Scott came home from work that evening.  I'll let you know if I learn anything new from it.  And when we start sleeping again.  Of course, she'll probably sleep through the night on the first night that Baby Bumblebee comes home!  

ETA:  I posted an update on this here.  Things are going so much better!

A little bit of this, A little bit of that

Some random thoughts I've got going on right now.....

• I have been working on increasing my readership in hopes of becoming a place of reviews, giveaways, and fun stuff, as well as a small income from affiliate programs.  SO, I've been doing bloghops, commenting like crazy, following, and it just doesn't seem to be working.  I'm just curious what has worked for you?  I've been doing lots of research as well, and working on lists for topic ideas.

• I would like to get my own domain name.  The problem is, I'm not sure where to host it.  Nor do I feel qualified to do the research on this, as every time I find a host sight, I feel as though I am reading a foreign language.  Maybe I should start majoring in that! I'm also thinking of switching from blogger to wordpress, or somewhere I can do advertisements that I choose.  Any suggestions in this area are VERY  welcomed!

• On a totally different topic, I am SO grateful to my inlaws who are allowing us to stay with them until Scott gets this real estate thing off the ground.  (He's doing AWESOME, by the way!)  However, I am SO wanting to have my own home again, to decorate with my things, and just feel really settled. It's very comforting to me to have my things around me, and not feel that we are living out of boxes.  I know that some of this is impatience, and some is nesting, but mostly, we haven't fully unpacked our boxes in over 2 years.  Its frustrating, but I know that it is what is best right now.  Pray that I have patience.  I have faith that God will provide for us.  He gave us the nursery decor I have wanted for years (really random story I'll share another time), so I'm trusting He will provide the room!

• I'm trying to figure out what to do with myself this summer.  I am not the outgoing type, I like to hang back and see what's happening, but I'm also new in town.  Though I've met a lot of people, and made some friends, I don't exactly feel established.  Playdates are few and far between, and with the house on the market, I need to get creative (I can't have a house full of friends and get an hour's notice that we have a showing scheduled!).  I've been thinking of starting a women's Bible study, or a book club, or something of the like.  Well, really, ANYTHING that would be regular and help me get to know some other moms better.  I also think Bella and Bianca would greatly benefit from having some good friends.  They love to play together, but Bella gets tired of Bianca always being right there, and Bianca doesn't really know what to do with herself without Bella most of the time.  Bianca will be attending part time preschool in the fall, and I'm sure Bella will enjoy that!

• We are starting homeschool again, after taking about 3 weeks off for home improvement/cleaning projects.  (Scott's parents decided to put their house up for sale about a month ago, and we've been working hard at getting it ready.  Its finally listed!)  I plan to continue through the summer.  Currently, we are focusing on letter sounds and numbers.  I want to get Bella reading, and Bianca familiar with her numbers and letters.  I'll pick up science and history in the fall again.  We briefly discussed sending Bella to public schools this fall.  It was during a time of high frustration for me.  Since then, I have been connected with a homeschool group in the area on facebook.  I haven't actually done anything with them, but its nice to know that they are there, and I'm starting to establish a support group that I didn't have before.  I also met a new friend who is also in her first year of homeschooling, and having the same frustrations as I, so I think we'll be a good encouragement for one another.  Prior to these, I felt like I was the only one here who was homeschooling.  Its going to take stepping out of my comfort zone to get the support and encouragement I need, but I know that it will be worth it!

The Sayings of Little Girls

The girls have been talking a lot lately.  I have a feeling its going to be a rare moment that we have peace and quiet in our home for a long time!  But I enjoy it so much.  They have such interesting insights and things to say.  Their conclusions and assumptions are entertaining as they try to make sense of things they see in the world and reconcile them with what they already know.  Bianca has been on a roll recently....

• Recently, with all the nice weather, we have seen a number of cars with their convertible tops down to enjoy the warmth and sun.  Bianca keeps pointing them out, saying, "That car doesn't have any TOPPINGS!"

• We were out with the whole family (that includes Memaw and Papa) one evening (honestly, I can't remember where we went!), and on the way home, Memaw said to the girls, "You were so good tonight!" to which Bianca replied, "I know."  

• When we are tucking Bianca in to bed at night, her most recent trick is to move and talk just to keep herself awake as long as possible.  As I'm trying to settle her down, I told her it was quiet time, so she needed to stop talking.  Bianca replied, with her eyes squeezed closed, in a whisper, "Mommy, I'm sleep talking."

• Bianca loves to be upside down.  She really likes to watch tv that way.  In her words, she is "side up!"

 And of course, Bella has had her moments as well.  She recently told me that when I hit bumps in the road it makes her tummy hurt, followed up with, "Mommy, have you ever heard of road sickness?"

Recently, I was getting ready to take a shower.  Bianca is suddenly very interested in what Baby Bumblebee is doing, so she asked if he was going to take a shower also.  When I said yes, she thought that was really funny, and ran to tell Bella, who also had to come check this out.  I guess they never thought about it before, that I don't put Baby Bumblebee down just to take a shower.  In addition, Bianca has asked if I raise my arm, does Baby Bumblebee raise his arm too?

I'm linking up in the Homemakers by Choice Bloghop.....