My News

As you know, I had to have an ultra-sound to rule out any potential problems in my pregnancy as I was measuring big. Everything was fine just like I thought it would be, and we found out what we're having. We're having a boy! The ultra-sound tech said that they're wrong sometimes but she was pretty sure. I guess I don't feel so bad about getting rid of my baby clothes from Halie now :) Now hubby and I just have to come to a conclusion with names! That'll be tough because it was with Halie and I'm sure Ryan will be even more picky with a boy.

Today I am in my third trimester. Hooray for the home-run stretch! I'm so happy to be almost there because I'm really starting to get sick of being pregnant. At least the hot summer is over. That was no fun at all.

I wish I would've brought my camera with me when the family took a walk today. It is a beautiful day here in Shawmut. Hardly any wind, sun is shining and the temperature was just perfect. We walked a few properties over to a place I'd never been and the neighbors have some horses that were very happy to see humans...and Halie was happy to pet their noses. Next time I will have to bring the cam to capture Halie's excitement.

We're having beef stew for dinner and I'm getting hungry so I better go throw my biscuits together and chow down!

Tea and Soup

Being pregnant, there's not much I can take in the way of medications for treating a cold or sickness. I just have to tough it out. I've had this cold going on for about a week and I'm just about sick of it, but I have this tea! Pregnancy tea! My momma sent it to me from California, and it's loose so I have to mix it myself but it's easy and soothing to my stuffy head. Plus, it'll help when I go into labor (so I've read) so that's good. Also, it's pretty tasty. You wouldn't think alfalfa would be that yummy, but in combination with red raspberry leaf and peppermint, it's great. Mild, calming and with a touch of honey, it hits the spot.

I've got chicken tortellini soup going on the stove right now. I'm looking forward to it with some biscuits and a family to share it with. Ryan has been working late the past few days so we might just have to chow down before he gets here, but Halie will gladly have a nice dinner and somewhat of a conversation over the dinner table with me. I have laundry to hang too, but the hubby has a bunch of stuff in my laundry area that makes it impossible for me to do so...so it might just go in the dryer, which is fine...it just means more energy down the drain, and we're trying to conserve in every aspect of our lives right now.

Sunday

Today has been a somewhat non-productive day. I made an apple compote for breakfast and did a load of shop towel laundry for hubby but other than that...all my cleaning is done for the week (besides having to sweep hardwood floors everyday) and it's been pretty lazy around here for me and my girl.

The rain is pouring outside so we can't really go out, Ryan is in the shop organizing and cleaning so he's no fun ;) and so we're just kicking back and watching movies. Hopefully next weekend will be a little better weatherwise because we need to paint our midwive's house before the weather gets too bad...and you obviously can't paint in the rain, or if it's too cold.

As of today, I am 27 weeks pregnant. I can't believe in one more week I will be in my third trimester! I have to have an ultrasound because I am measuring a month too big so my midwife is concerned and wants to make sure everything is ok, which I'm sure it is. Ryan is convinced we're having twins because that would be "just his luck" as he says. That would be quite the task! So anyways, when I have my ultrasound in the next few weeks, I know my curiousity will take over and I will want to know what we're having. I want another girl but I could live with a boy too. Girls are just so pretty, clean and sweet. Who could resist? I love doing my girly's hair all up and putting cute girly outfits on her. Well, enough of that for now. I should get back to my movie with Halie bug.

Little Girl

Halie Karissa. My little girl, my little helper, my little friend. At two and half, she has so much to learn, but has already learned so much. I took some photographs of her yesterday to capture the little girl she is becoming and sent them out to everyone and their brother. Her hair is now past her shoulders (though pretty thin still) and her features are becoming more prounounced and grown up by the minute. Her independence has taken off and I can't decide if I appreciate it or fear it because I know the day will sneak up on me when she doesn't need mommy anymore.

We've been potty-training Halie now for a little over a month and I would consider her 'trained' except for nighttime. She's now in big girl underwear during the day, and pull-ups at night because I'm not quite comfortable with her sleeping through the night without an accident...but I'm confident I won't have to worry about diaper changing two kids when the little one is born because of how excited Halie is to use the potty. She always tells me when she has to go and can practically do it all by herself now. Even without a potty seat!

Yesterday we were watching a movie and Halie kept pointing to my tummy and informing me their was a baby inside. Right at that moment, the baby started moving all around so I took Halie's little pudgy hand and told her if she waited a minute, she could feel it. She didn't really understand when it happened that it was the baby, but she felt the movement. I think it's pretty difficult to expect a toddler to understand something they cannot see. She'll understand in a few short months when she's not the only child anymore. I'm a little concerned and scared, but people have been building families forever so I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle. I'm sure Halie will be a wonderful big sister as she is a very nurturing and sensitive little girl who is always looking out for everyone's well-being.

Too Poor, but Always Rich

The past few nights, I've gone to bed crying. Why does life have to be so hard I wonder? Why do we work so hard...just to be broke? How did I end up pregnant with no financial means to deliver this baby? Ooh, I just can't shut my brain up. I think of all the things that have gone wrong in my life or that aren't going to go right no matter how hard I try and it kills me.

On the other hand, I have so many things to be happy about...it's just hard to see the good when your mind is clouded with thoughts of how you're going to put food on the table for one week until payday when all the money is eaten up by bills once again.

I am now working full time at a daycare center that gives me full benefits, paid time off, and a 20% discount on my child care. It truly is a blessing because they pay me more than any other daycare would pay because it's run through a hospital. I get normal working hours so I can be home with my family in the evenings, and I work with two wonderful women.

We live in a beautiful place and it's so peaceful. My husband is always there for me, I have a baby that I feel move inside of me everyday, and the sweetest little girl. I have a clean house, I can cook and I have good friends. So why does money matter? I don't know...it makes the stinking world go around and I keep getting stuck on it's evil carousal ride that spins me so fast I can't seem to catch all my barrings. They say hard work pays off...I know it will...so until then, I will pursue happiness in other areas of my life and try not to break myself worrying about my bills.

Something Different

OK, most of my posts (all 3 of them ha ha) have been about my pregnancy. Well...I was informed by my dad that not everyone likes reading about that all the time. In fact, after we got talking, he started telling me about how my mom used to have groups of women over to watch birth videos (while she was pregnant of course) and how they would all start crying and talking about childbirth being such a beautiful thing. So I guess I can see how after dealing with that three times, he could be burnt out. I will try and write about something different, although I don't have much of a brain right now. Oh how it cracks me up to think about my dad being exposed to a bunch of over emotional, pregnant women watching movies of childbirth. Enough of that.

How about mice? Well, we kill them around here because they are NASTY!!! Recently mouse traps stopped working so we got some poison and put it where no animals or rug rats could get to it. I think it has worked! I haven't found any mouse poop on my counters in about a week! Hallelujah! I went outside for a minute though, and found my dog playing with a dead RAT. Yes, rat. Something I thought we didn't have around here because in two years, we've never seen one or seen the leavings of one. How gross! I hope those things don't find their way into our home.

I'm so original...who ever thought I could write about a dead rat? :)

Fetoscope

My sissy in law let me borrow her fetoscope so I could start listening to the baby's heart beating. I was VERY excited...and...so was Halie. She couldn't wait to try it on herself and listen to her baby's heartbeat either! Fetoscope is not at all like a doppler...Not invasive at all. Midwives start using them at around 19 weeks and I of course thought it would work sooner for me but it didn't because...I'm no exception to the rule. I am 20 weeks now and I think I can hear something if it's really quiet in the room...which isn't often around here!

Here is me at 20 weeks pregnant! Not much change from last time, but I can definitely feel my little one moving around in there now! It's SO exciting :) I think I almost look smaller haha...must be the angle because I'm not shrinking any!

This Little Art Project

Halie and I like to do some sort of craft everyday. It's usually coloring a picture or drawing something. Today I went online and found some Nursery Rhyme coloring sheets and printed them off. We colored two of three of the This Little Piggy coloring sheets. I can't say Halie was trying to stay inside the lines...but she had fun nonetheless. Coloring is one thing that actually keeps my little energizer bunny's attention span going for more than 10 minutes. It's nice that she is learning to enjoy art. She already loves music and dancing! More on that another time.

Cinnamon Rolls!

Patty cake, patty cake...ok so I didn't bake a cake as fast as I could, but I got a jolt of motivation and made some homemade bread and cinnamon rolls. Baking isn't something I stride myself in, but it's fun sometimes! (As long as the mess in contained in my kitchenaid)

Making bread is really easy actually. I could probably recite the ingredients by heart...and it turned out soft and yummy too! I made hubby's sandwich with it this morning and sent him with on the go breakfast of cinnamon rolls. He's not too big on sweets but will eat anything I pack him luckily...and is always grateful.

Hot Mama...literally

My pregnancy so far has been pretty easy to handle. A little fatigue, LOTS of morning sickness...even now at 18 weeks! And some growing pains. Not so bad though. This heat though, is making me one hot potato! I started waitressing at the steakhouse in Harlo last night and was finding that my legs were bothering me quite a bit. My belly is turning into a watermelon and my legs can't seem to support them. They can, it's just all that pressure on my lower extremities is hard to deal with. I now know what it's like to be pregnant in the summertime! I just feel bad for women like my sister in law who were full term during the summer months! I'm not even five months! Whew! The things us ladies have to deal with! :)

How a see bye bye?

Baby jarble. My world revolves around that little language my two year old so frequently uses. Sometimes it's cute, sometimes it's annoying...but it's still baby jarble. "What doing?" she says as I type this. How does anything she says make sense? It doesn't always but it's starting to. I remember when Halie was first born. Oh how I feared her growing up too fast. I actually feared it. I sat there rocking my newborn baby practically in tears thinking about my cuddly newborn wrapped in pink growing into one of those terrible two year olds you read about in parenting magazines. Here we are! Two years later and you know what? I love her more every day and more than when she was a newbie. She never fails to make me smile unless of course her demons come out...and that happens at different times and intensities during the day, but I just deal with it and hope it isn't always this way. "Goo Moyning!" in the mornings is where it all begins. I go out and start making Daddy's lunch and Halie sits in her crib patiently waiting for Mommy to come get her up. We have our little conversation as I spread mayonnaise onto the bread and pack cookies and carrot sticks into little baggies for Daddy to take to work with him. "Eat pease?" We're working very hard to get her to start using good manners and asking for things with a please and always saying thank you when she recieves. It's working although not all the time. Breakfast comes and goes, I do my dishes and Halie usually is sitting on the couch reading her bunny book saying "Oh a bunny! Whats dat? Asa bunny?" She's quite the reader...and not a silent one either! The day passes quickly as we do dishes two more times, watch a bit of Veggie Tales and do our daily chores, take our naps and BOOM! It's time to fix dinner, take baths, read some more and go off to nighty night land. Thats when I get my break. Thats when silence sets in and I can really get my barrings back. 8 hours rest followed by another day in the life of Jibber Jabber central. Oh the life!

Summertime

Summer here in Montana is great! Well....when you have air conditioning and a pool! I don't know, but I must be a difficult person to please because I curse the summer and I curse the winter! For different reasons of course but it's all one in the same. W-E-A-T-H-E-R. That sums it up. I hate hot and dry, sweat and not feeling clean after taking my daily shower. Oh but I am blessed! I have to say I don't know a lot of people my age who have what I have. 20 acres and a house with views that are incredible...especially at sunset. A beautiful two year old daughter who isn't the easiest person to raise in the world, but she keeps me on my toes. I have a wonderful husband who is my polar opposite but maybe thats why we love eachother so much. Well, back to summer. My house sits right on top of a hill where the sun gets pleasure in beating on the metal roof we have and heating up my house like a waffle machine. I swear I was dying last night! At around eleven o'clock last night, I awoke feeling like I was suffocating. It was dreadfully hot in my bedroom but Ryan didn't seem to notice as he was sleeping away while I ran around the house like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to find the stupid fan. Now, we have a fan on the ceiling but it just wasn't good enough last night. I've never been so over heated in my life and it kind of made me wonder if I was having a reaction to the tetanus shot I had the other day. One more thing to worry myself over! I guess the moral of the story is...I'm stuck with summer unless I crawl into a hole for three months out of the year for the rest of my life. That wouldn't make any sense though because honestly, summertime is one of the best seasons of the year. Fishing (watching my husband fish I mean), camping (while watching my husband chop fire wood ha ha) listening to the thunder roll in the evenings and watching the sky light up with lightning in the mountains and stepping on as many stupid grasshoppers as possible! :)