Hurricane Sandy

Well, it looks like it's going to be bad.

I'm not sure if there has been such hype about it because you are able to see the weather pattern develop and intensify so many days in advance or what, but I can't recall people freaking out this bad for a storm, well, ever. I read this morning that the electric providers have contractors coming in from as far as Utah to be on hand to help and that in some areas, electric will be out of service for a week, at least.

That's the part I'm really, really not looking forward to. I can deal without lights, and I can even deal for a while without using the stove or toaster oven. I had Jared get another canister of propane for the grill (BBQ during a hurricane, anyone?).

The part I dislike the very most is how the loss of electricity affects our water. We're on a well, so no electricity means no water pump. No water pump means no showers & no toilet flushing.
We've filled up jugs and jars so that we can have water to drink, brush our teeth, give to the dogs, etc. but...ugh.

I'm also worried about all of our food going bad--ack! I plan on making more ice tonight so we can pack the cooler to save things a little longer, if need be.

I've done all the cleaning that requires electricity or water (vacuuming, washing floors, etc) so at least we'll have a clean house--ive done about 7 loads of wash today with a few more to go. I'm debating whether or not to put Judah in disposables after washing the diapers tomorrow. The storm is supposed to intensify tomorrow night or Tuesday I believe the last forecast said, and I'd hate to have to deal with funk diapers once we get power back on.

Thankfully we have 2 houses we can go to within a less than 5 mile radius if things get really bad--hoping that at least one of us will have an operating home :)

Maybe I'll update again from the storm front...I guess that's one of the awesome things about having a smart phone and not having to rely on wifi :)

See you along the journey--

Oh, ps, no wonder why I have no memory left if my phone...silly goose took 900 pictures of himself :)

CraigsList Score!

Not nearly as amazing as the CL finds we scored before Judah was born, but still pretty darn good.

For about $45, there are about 35 pieces, lots of which are brand new with tags, and 3 pairs I shoes. These clothes were in perfect condition! Even better bonus, she has clothes to fit Judah, too (and some coordinating bro and sis outfits), so when I go back to buy the next size up for Aylah, I can get some for him!

More to come!

See you along the journey--

How far along? 17w, 2d

Total weight gain: Yes.

How big is baby? An onion!  I'll have Jare do a belly pic for me tomorrow.  I've really gotten much bigger over the past few days.

Maternity clothes: Oh, yes. I've been in pjs a lot of days because I've been in pain and therefore haven't gone anywhere.

Stretch marks: None yet!

Sleep: I've been going to bed really late--and regretting it. Judah has been sleeping in though. He won't nap during the day though, so that's really killing me.

Anyway, I've been stopping drinking a bit before bed so I've only been waking up like once a night. BUT, when I initially get into bed, I have to go at least 3 times before I can fall asleep.

Movement: Lots!!! Hooray! Whenever I lay down, I can feel her. Jared got a very distinct thump last night...prior to that, he might of felt one but we both weren't really sure. She was kicking Judah in the back tonight, too, while e was lounging on me :)

Food cravings: Oh my goodness!!! French fries dipped in pickle juice. Pleeeeease!!!!!

Food aversions: No, thank goodness. I've really been blessed this time around.

Belly button: Jared told me yesterday that I'm officially an outtie. It still goes in a little at the bottom though, so I don't think it's 100% official :)

Symptoms: Really tired, partly due to contractions.

The contractions are starting to wear me out--they're bothering my back, too...Not in like an "I need to get adjusted" type way, but a dull pain that feels like it shoots out my back.  Not fun.

Sheela wanted to check my urine for GBS and it came back crazy like it was when I was pregnant with Judah.  That was depressing, but I kind of expected it.  It just makes me nervous to know that that's a possibility of what could be aggrevating my uterus and causing all the contractions.  In a case like mine, they normal route of treatment would to be put on antibiotics right away.  I don't want to do that because I was on antibiotics so many times with Judah, the strep never went away, and then I had to worry about the issues of being on too many antibiotics.  No thanks.  I will, however, receive them, through IV, when I'm in labor.

Sheela wants me to wear a support belt to help support my uterus and reduce downward pressure (which I got yesterday and wore today).  It seemed to help with the pressure (I only noticed the difference when I took it off), but I still had contractions while wearing it.

I also decided I'm going to start pounding probiotics.  And I mean POUNDING them.

And reducing my activity, listening to my body very closely, and accepting help when it's offered (which is really, really hard for me and causes an extreme amount of anxiety).

What I'm looking forward to:  Having a healthy, full term baby.  Not feeling tired.  My next ultrasound & Sheela appointment.  I always get nervous as the appointment gets closer, thinking that it's been too long in between them and that something might happen.  So far, I've gotten good cervical lengths every time, so the contractions haven't really changed anything yet...and that makes me feel good about everything for about a week or so.  Then I start to worry again.  This last appointment I maintained length, which is great, but at 20 weeks with Judah, I measured a 4 something.  This past appointment, I was 15 weeks and at a 3.5.

Not baby related: Judah's birthday.  Mike and Kim's wedding.    Going to visit Ali and her new baby.  Eating pickles and fries tomorrow!  Jared's interview on Thursday (huge prayer request for this one, if anyone is reading this!! :)

Weekly joy:  Being able to witness part of Ali's labor and to see my first nephew and hold him for a long time when he was less than 24 hours old.  Life is so precious.

Side note:  We found out we're having a baby girl.  Aylah Elizabeth :)  I'll post the ultrasound video at some point and update about the pretty clothes I scored for her.

Until then, here's my first present I bought for her...It's an organic dolly.

I'm getting more and more excited about the opportunity to have a little girl and do all those special mother-daughter things together.

See you along the journey--

23.5 months. Wait! What?!?

In a little more than 2 weeks, my baby is going to be two!  How this happened beats me.  The days seem so long, yet time goes by so very quickly.

We've been so blessed seeing our boy grow and change and I love him so much more as time passes. 

Here's where we seem to be at these days:

Favorite food: bananas, raisins, and ANYTHING that has to do with bread, grapes, black beans (but only out of the can black beans)

Favorite toy: Mr. Potato head, the farmer/animals/tractor from his farm Duplo Lego set, toy vacuum, toy lawn mower, screwdriver and batteries (seriously.), and books, books, books!, pretending to drive the car

Favorite show:  Curious George, Sesame Street (esp. when Elmo's World comes on), Cat in the Hat

Sleep:  We've been trying to move back his bed time because it was creeping later and later.  I'm aiming to get him into bed and out of his room by about 8:30.  Lately, it's been a challenge to get him to stay calm when we put him in his crib...most nights it's actually back to a major crisis at bedtime, as it was a few months back.  Not sure what the regression is about.  Most nights he's a good sleeper (although lately, he's had some middle of the night wakings, again, not sure why) and he'll normally sleep about 12 hours at night.  Naps have been around 1:30 and typically last 2 hours (although, again, again, he's been partying in there for an hour or more some days before falling asleep...if he actually does).

Words:  There are a lot now....and they are very random.  His vocabulary has really boomed over the past month, I'd say.  No really sentences, necessarily, but he's started repeating words that he's never said before.
The other night he pointed outside and said "dark".  I don't remember ever explaining to him about how it gets dark outside so it's neat that he told me.  Speaking of "neat", when he gets excited, he says "oh wow! neat!"  It makes me laugh.  It also cracks Jared and me up when he says he "booped".  We were playing at the park today and he stopped running, looked at me all serious, grabbed his bum, and said "uh oh! I booped!"  He kills me. 
He recently started saying "mine!" which we're obviously not excited about, but the more he's around other and older kids, he's going to learn from others.  I think it's instinctual as a toddler to want everything to be yours---we're not born knowing how to share---but I don't like him yanking something out of someone's hand or getting upset about something, saying "mine!".  We're working on it.

Something exciting:  He's started pointing out letters and naming them----all on his own!  I was absolutely floored when he started pointing out and telling me which letters are which--we've never even practiced that together!  M, N, and O seem to be his favorites.

Firsts: Tonight, we had our first family movie night and he really, really enjoyed it.  We watched "Cars".  He stayed interested through the whole thing--and it was a long movie!  It doesn't surprise me though, because the kid gets sucked into TV in a huge way!  I try to limit his total TV time a day to about an hour or so.  Unfortunately, it's increased from over the summer because it's been cold out.

He also had his first lollipop yesterday from Jake the Barber.  He did such a great job (with help of the PBS Kids app, of course!)  Last visit, he had a few licks of the lolli because Jake was watching haha but this time, I let him enjoy it as Daddy had his hair finished up.  Judah loved it and both my boys looks so handsome with their cuts :)


Until next time,

See you along the journey--

How far along? 14 weeks, 6 days(according to O day)

Total weight gain: Tomorrow we shall see!

How big is baby? Growing from a lemon to an orange, says the bump

Maternity clothes: I need to get some new shirts.  The pants are still sliding down a bit because my belly doesn't fill out the panel but my regular shirts are just about too short---theyre starting to show the panel on my pants.

Stretch marks: Nope!

Sleep: Having some weird dreams--this week, I had a dream that baby was a girl.  It sounds so foreign to me to say that we could have a girl in our family.

Movement: This week I've been feeling some distinct movements.  I'm probably 90% sure it's the baby.  Big difference from when I felt anything with Judah---I didn't feel him until 19 weeks.  I wonder if that's because I just didn't know what to look for....I sometimes feel  pressure in a particular spot so a few seconds, then it lets up, a few whooshes, and very few little bumps.  I can't wait to be 110% sure it's the baby.  I always doubt myself when it comes to letting myself be really excited for some reason.

Food cravings: Nothing really right now. 

Food aversions: Nothing really to speak of.

Belly button: When I eat a lot, the top part pops out.  My poor belly button got so weird from being pregnant the first time.

Symptoms: Tiredness.  A lot of the time throughout the day though, I don't feel like I'm pregnant.  I forget that I'm pregnant.  I guess I'm just focused on the next thing that has to be done...

I've been having some more contractions this week unfortunately.  Some are pretty painful---a strong pinching down feeling, followed by pain that goes through my back, and lots of downward pressure.  Others are just tightening--I guess Braxton Hicks.

What I'm looking forward to: Tomorrow.  I realllllllllllllllllllllly hope to find out the gender of this little one, but most importantly to see our baby and learn that he or she looks healthy.  It's always nerve wracking.  I pray that my cervix is strong and hasn't shortened.  If it has, Jared and I are going to have a lot to talk about and a lot of decisions to make.

Not baby related:  Jared has had some interesting job opportunities brought front and center.  There are 3 specific positions within 2 different companies.  Each position would dramatically change our life.  I'm excited to see what, if anything, that God has in store---we've been praying about this for almost 2 years.

Weekly joy: Definitely becoming more sure of the baby's movements, our Monday night small group, and going to the craft store and making/finishing up some projects for Judah's 2nd bday.  Oh, and my Kindle came---and it's amazing!

Park in the Rain