How to Successfully Do the Dishes With a Toddler

In my attempt to become more "green" I have switched a lot of my cleaning supplies to ones made of plants (rather than chemicals). This includes my dish soap. I now use Green Works dish soap (in a very very pleasant water lily scent-seriously, the best smelling dish soap ever!). The best thing about this dish soap, it makes AMAZING bubbles!

Now when I do dishes, instead of a crying toddler pulling at my pant leg, I just give her a bowl of these awesome suds.
Julianna has a blast playing in the bubbles! And I can successfully do all of the dishes without any crying or whining now!

*I really wish I could find my camera cord, using only cell phone pics is killing me!

A Week's Worth of Us

For the past week, I haven't posted as often as I would like, partially because Joe was home for 4 whole days in a row and I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. I have noticed that since I found out I was pregnant, his sometimes crazy hours have been a lot harder on me than they used to be (48 hrs on shift and 24 home leaves little time for us). But we had 4 fun days as a family.

We bought "big girl" bedroom furniture for Julianna. So her room now consists of a new twin bed, a new dresser and nightstand & her crib(nursery dressers are now in Baby K's future room). We want to work on some kind of transition to the twin bed before her crib is needed by Baby K come spring.

Yesterday we went to Ellie's first birthday party, and despite a rough start weather wise, it turned out to be a great day and party. Ellie looked adorable! Erin made her a pink tutu to wear and it was so cute!

Today I am dealing with a sick kid. We had a playdate at our house on Thursday and as of this morning, 6 out of the 7 kids have runny noses and low grade fevers. Julianna's just past the 100 mark, so I gave her some Tylenol. She also started coughing this afternoon after she woke up from her nap...great. Now we're keeping our fingers crossed it doesn't progress any farther.

On the pregnancy front, NO MORE NAUSEA!! YAY!! And I only have 5 more nights of progesterone therapy!! All my weird symptoms have stopped and I have actually had a minimal amount of energy lately. Not sure when I will get all (or at least most) of my energy back, I didn't have this problem of being so run down and tired this early in Julianna's pregnancy.

Hoping to be a better poster this week.

Pharmacy Trouble

UGH! Very few things really tick me off, but mess with my kid, even the one still in my uterus(which is now classified as a fetus...yay!), and I will get angry.

My OB prescribed me a prenatal with DHA in it, because some new research shows that taking a DHA supplement can reduce your risks of pre-term labor. I have been taking it for a little over a month (I missed a few nights due to severe nausea and a bad gag reflex), and just this week needed to call and refill my prescription.

When I first got the prescription filled, I read all the stuff the pharmacy gave me, including all the little stickers on the bottle that tell you any restrictions. I do this with any prescription, but really read about my vitamins, because the ones I took while pregnant with Julianna had crazy restrictions on when I could take them and with what. My new ones had no restrictions and I was really happy about that. I have been taking my prenatal at night right before I go to bed, it works out because it's easy to remember since that's when I do my progesterone therapy. get everything over at the same time each day.

I pulled my new bottle of prenatals out of the bag today and just happened to glance at the little printed brochure, it had restrictions the last didn't. So I looked at the bottle itself, and it too had more little stickers of restrictions on it than last month's. The new restrictions stated I had to take it at least one hour before eating or 2-3 hours after eating. I usually have a snack before bed...strike one. It also said I was to drink at least 8oz of water when I take it. I usually drink just enough to get it down, I don't want to be up all night peeing (anyone who's ever been pregnant understands this one!)...strike two. And finally it also said not to take it at night or at least 30 minutes before lying down...strike three.

I wondered what were the consequences if you didn't following these instructions, so I looked to the internet. Oh yeah, basically you don't absorb the vitamins if you have food in your stomach, the pill won't dissolve correctly without the water, and it can cause nauseousness if taken at night. So Baby K has not been getting all the vitamins he/she should have for the last month! I haven't been getting all the DHA to help keep away pre-term labor (not that it's a big deal just yet). And taking it at night probably contributed to my nausea.

I was really ticked when I read that this baby probably wasn't getting all the nutrients he/she needed! I wrote a pretty nasty e-mail to the pharmacy I use(it's a national chain), and am planning on going to the pharmacy to question why the restrictions weren't on my first bottle. That's a whole month of Baby K missing out on important vitamins!

Seriously, don't mess with my kids!

Early Halloween

So I decided that I was going to make Julianna's Halloween costume this year for a couple of reasons. 1) My mom used to make my costumes when I was little and I remember always thinking they were soooo cool! 2) I really liked this cupcake costume from Pottery Barn Kids, but it cost $59!!!!
I broke out my sewing machine last week and channeled my crafty-ness inherited from my mom. I wanted to make Julianna a cupcake costume similar to the Pottery Barn Kids one ( and for under $20!). This is what I ended up with:

Julianna and her cousins Marissa and Mia

The campground we camp at had their Halloween weekend this past weekend. So Julianna got to go trick-or-treating and hang out with her cousins. It was great weather for all the events and I was very excited to finish her costume on time!

My little cupcake

Baby K

Here's everyone's (well, not ours, but your) first look at Baby K. I thought I would highlight a few important features (especially since these things are so hard to figure out anyways!)

Wishing for Normal

*This post contains specific pregnancy info, read at your own risk.

I try really hard to not wish for things I cannot have. But in the last 24 hours I couldn't stop wishing I was having a normal pregnancy, one not plagued by the term high-risk and the history that makes it that way, one without all the fears and knowledge that I now have. Yesterday, I started noticing some odd symptoms, called my OB and he pushed my appointment from this coming Friday to today. Now, the symptoms were not horrible and if I was having a normal pregnancy, I probably wouldn't have thought anything of them, but in my case they could mean bad things.

Dr. O was concerned that I may have started dilating (at only 9.5weeks! SCARY!). It is too early to consider a cerclage, so I was naturally terrified. T-E-R-R-I-F-I-E-D! But after a physical exam that confirmed I was not dilating, and a trip to the ultrasound room to make sure my cervix wasn't thinning, my mind was put to ease (for now).

I did get to see baby, and boy was he/she active! The ultrasound tech had a hard time getting her heart rate because she wouldn't stay still. Today her heart rate was 171 (high because of her crazy aerobics), I not only got to see it on the ultrasound, but could hear it as well. And I could even see her teeny tiny arms and legs flailing about. That was the best part of the whole appointment! I now have 3 more pics of this baby!

DR. O is pretty sure now that my symptoms are a side effect of my progesterone therapy,which I stop in just 2.5 weeks (I can't believe I'm so close to 12 weeks already!). Then lucky me gets to start P17 shots at 16 weeks and continue them, one a week, until 36 weeks. I am also going to have an ultrasound to check my cervix at just about every appointment, and if there are any changes, then I will get a cerclage.

I really wish I didn't have to panic and worry at every little twinge or pain or other unusual symptom. I wish I could be like so many of my friends who are pregnant and just enjoy this pregnancy. I wish this pregnancy could be normal.

Hillbilly Friday Night

This past Friday night, Joe arranged for his mom & dad to watch Julianna so we could have a night out. He chose the activity...Truck Night at Yankee Lake. It was actually pretty fun. Anyone with a truck(or car-we saw a Chrysler 300 on the track!) and a lack of common sense can participate. There are mud pits to drive through...a homemade swamp to drive through...miles of off-road trails...a giant rock hill to climb (in your truck)...truck tug-o-war...and a bunch of hills and stuff to drive over. Joe bought a "pit pass" for $5 and got to ride in the bed a of a friend's truck though some of the stuff...he was a little muddy when he was done.

But the best part of the night...the "Party Shuttle"

It's a school bus turned monster truck, and oh yeah, we got to pay a $1 to ride in it over some of the course and through the mud pits(it was totally pregnant person safe for those of you wondering). My sister-in-law took a video of it going over one of the hills.

*Thanks to Steph for the picture and video!

Gettin' Crafty

I am generally a pretty crafty person...when I have time. Last year for Christmas, all my nieces and nephews got homemade fabric dollhouses (Ian repectively got a barn with tractors not a dollhouse). They were so cute and easy to make! I found great printable directions for them at Craftzine.com . This is a picture of their example (sadly I didn't take any pics of mine-silly me!).
Then, when February strolled around, I saw a picture of the cutest Pottery Barn Kids Valentines holders, but they were soooooo expensive! So I found a tutorial to make these at Our Scoop! They were just like the ones from Pottery Barn, and again so easy to make! It only took me about 10 minutes for each one (I made one for Julianna, one for Ian, and one for Ellie). Once again this is not my picture, I really need to take pics of my creations!

Today, I was searching for Halloween costume ideas for Julianna. I really want to make her costume this year. Well, I did not yet succeed in finding a costume I like, but I found about a billion other things I want to make (ok, maybe like a dozen or so). Here are a few of my favorites.

This dress is made out of a men's button shirt!

These cute treat bags use the same pattern as the Valentine's holders!

The rest are all off of the same website as the shirt dress above.

Twirly skirt

Smocket

Pillowcase dress

I can't wait until I can find enough time to make a few of these!

Miss Popularity

Julianna's IFSP (Individual Family Service Plan) review went well this afternoon. Julianna had met most of her previous goals so we set 3 new goals for her.

1. Gain weight


2. Learn to dress herself


3. Increase her vocabulary

She'll get to see her Eastgate teacher twice a month, her dietitian every 6 weeks and our service coordinator once a month. Boy, she is a popular girl!

The Big Battle

This morning I did battle. I took my life and Julianna's in my hands as I faced the evil foe. He was so hairy and big...boy oh boy, probably the biggest I have ever fought! I had to choose my weapon carefully, something to get the job done, but with as little work on my part as possible, and that would create the least clean up. I debated just leaving him alone, but no one is going to invade my house, and with Joe at work I had no choice but to take care of the intruder myself.

After what seemed like long drawn out battle, I finally won. That spider wouldn't bother me anymore!

If you haven't guessed, things are pretty dull around here lately.

Fair Fun

Julianna had her first trip to the county fair yesterday. Joe and I took her along with my sister and her kids and a few other moms from our mom's group. She wasn't too impressed by the animals, but loved the french fries (and the little bit of funnel cake I gave her) and some of the rides. She also rode the giant slide with daddy. I can't wait to take her next year when she's a little bit older.

Julianna rode the kiddie cars with Ian (back seat)

*Thank you Erin-I stole her picture...I can't find my cable to connect my camera to the computer since we moved!

Julianna's First Haircut

For the past few weeks, I have been debating whether or not to cut Julianna's hair. It was sooo long (half way down her back), but only in the back. The sides were still relatively short. And after spending several days trying to tame her crazy random curls (also only in the back, the sides are poker straight!), I decided to go for it this afternoon. I put on Alvin & the Chipmunks (a sudden favorite movie of hers) and sat her in her booster seat with some crackers. She did so well! She sat very still.

Some of her curls

It ended up a little shorter than I wanted, but I trimmed the back to match the length of the sides.

3 inches off the back!

It's so nice to see her hair all the same length and texture. I hope it will start to all grow out evenly now!

Julianna's cute new bob.