Not Too Busy Today 12/61

This week as been a full week for me at work, meaning the days have been flying by. We have an audit coming up that I have been preparing for and my replacement for maternity leave starts Monday so I have been also preparing for that too. Yesterday I just about wrapped up all my work for the week & fixed all my computer problems so now I am just sitting here waiting on the week to be finished. I did find out though that I would be able to take a week off early, early if the baby doesn’t arrive until induction, to relax & enjoy before Landen comes. So today & tomorrow I will be finding anything I can to keep me as busy as possible so I can finish up this week as quickly as possible.

In Bed before the Sun 13/61

Steven has been working the mid-shift this week so he has been leaving the house at about 6-630pm, so I only get to see him from 3pm, when I get home until 6 or so when he has to get ready & leave. So needless to say I have been missing my needed afternoon naps. Then when he gets home, somewhere in the middle of the night or morning he comes in to say he’s home safe & good night, so I manage to get broken sleep. So my solution to this dilemma is to head to bed before the sun. I have managed to be in bed around 8-830 the past 2 nights, & luckily I feel pretty normal throughout my work day. It seems that these days I can never get enough sleep.

The Green Light 14/61

Well at my doctor appointment this afternoon, I got the green light that if I went into labor anytime beyond now that it would be perfectly normal & fine. So now I just have to try to figure out how to relay that message to Landen. I keep thinking that the sooner he arrives the more time he will have with his daddy & the more time his daddy will have with him. I would really love to give Steven more than just the 1-1.5 weeks he would have with Landen if I was to wait until they induced me. Not to mention that will be a very busy time because Steven & I would be preparing for deployment. I just really hope, wish & pray that he will come soon so Steven can really bond with him & leave really feeling like a father instead of just knowing he has a kid at home that he never really got to connect to. I keep thinking this weekend, for Steven (and my dad’s) birthday would be a PERFECT time for Landen to come!!!

A Few Things That Annoy Me 15/61

I can’t complain about this pregnancy (too much), as it has been a very easy ride, even though it is starting to get to me. There are not too many things that are daily activities that I am not able to complete myself. I can still bend down to get things off the floor fairly easily, even though I look like a 1 year old squatting down, I can still get up off the couch by myself & my favorite I don’t waddle. So, standing at the sink doing a few last dishes that wouldn’t fit into the dish washer I realized how hard it was starting to get to wash dished standing a foot back from the sink or bent over like an old lady. Then I was thinking there are a few other things that are a bit annoying to me – like how I sometimes cant have a conversation with out sounding like I am running a mile while I talk, or how the simple task of taking clothes out of the washer to put in the dryer or just taking them out of the dryer seems to kill me. Walking is something else that is starting to get to me too, ugg, I feel like I am carrying floating bowling ball behind my pubic bone & with every step it bounces up & down on the back of my pubic bone, I feel like I am just waiting for it to just break. Wow, would that be a sight! While none of these are huge deals & I am thankful that these are things I am just complaining that these things are getting harder as I can still do them. Completely off topic of things that are harder to accomplish, but on topic with things that annoy me, while I sit here & endure my darling little one’s hiccups – let me just add though very cute in the beginning boy are they annoying now & he sure seems to get them a lot! Ugg… Ok, I’m done complaining.

Cinderella!?!?! 16/61

I have heard a few people say that if you want baby out, then scrub your floors. Well I have managed to scrub my bathroom floor & bathroom, which was an all day event. I think I cleaned some spots that have not been cleaned since we moved in 3 years ago! It is so clean now that we debated on eating dinner in there the night I finished. Steven kept coming in to check on me, to lend a hand if I needed it & to make sure I wasn’t doing anything too crazy or the cleaners getting strong. So today I decided after Liz’s party & a visit with family I would go home & be productive, so I decided to scrub my dinning room & hallway floors. They look better than ever now! I am slowly running out of floors to scrub…Steven keeps asking me “what’s up with being Cinderella?!?!?!” The work is keeping me busy though.

An Easier Day 17/61

It was a beautiful day and we set to enjoy it. We didn’t do much, as Michael & I managed to get the front yard work done the night before. I am thinking my neighbors think I have fully lost it though, I mowed – by my choice, which Mike edged, which was an over grown task of its own. It was the first time of the year our front yard was cut, we got lucky to wait so long. So with not much to accomplish on Saturday, after we all got breakfast I wandered off to get a pedicure. Not that I cant reach my feet, because I still can & manage to paint them on my own, it just takes me 3 times as long as this belly of mine manages to get in the way. After completing the endeavor of trying to pain my own toe nails I sound like I have just ran a marathon & need a nap after all the hard work. It was really nice to sit back & relax while someone else did them.

Congrats to Liz! 18/61

Liz graduated today with her BA! Congratulations!!!!

A Day Late but Not a Dollar Short 19/61

Yesterday was Administrative Assistance Day, which is not a big deal to me, but my General Foreman got me a card, which was really sweet & thoughtful of him. This being said there has been questions from my Deputy Director asking for votes that he is my favorite out of the 4 guys I mainly work for. Mostly he is looking for validation, I think. Anyways after confirming with him, for sake of his ego, that he was in deed my favorite just Tuesday, yesterday I had to inform him that I had to drop him to the bottom of my favorites list. He forgot Admin Day! It was even on his calendar & he forgot! I gave him a little bit of a hard time all in joking & ended it at that. This morning though I was presented with a vase of a dozen orange roses & a thank you card from all 4 of them. I was really surprised & thankful. It is such a nice feeling to know you are appreciated, even if it was a day late.

A Little Disappointed 20/61

I know it was a little early, but I was hoping that little Landen was ready to join us…Nope, he wasn’t. Not just yet anyways. I know I only have 3.5 more years…oops I meant weeks left but it seems to be painfully dragging by.

I’m So Over This! 21/61

I have 2 more weeks left until I am full term & sometimes I feel like it is 2 years! I am so over this pregnancy! Some days aren’t bad but others I wonder if I have the sanity to get me through the next, possibly, 4 weeks until my induction time. I know I am luckier than others because the doc has a plan to induce me at 39 weeks, but that is so far away! I feel like I don’t have anymore room for this baby to grow anymore & I am so ready for him to come out & meet his daddy! All I keep thinking is the sooner he comes the more time he will have with his daddy & the happier & more relaxed mom will be. My desk guide will even be done today. Being patient is so HARD!!!!!

More Work Left to Do 22/61

I know with first time moms they say baby usually doesn’t come early but it is not something unheard of. I have been trying to do everything I can to get baby to come early, not too early, but as soon as he is full term, which would be the first weekend in May. I have been trying to stay active & taking some extra time to walk more, eating fresh pineapple & kiwi (which is so hard – NOT!), taking evening primrose oil & trying to get some extra love, when I’m not under the weather. Hopefully something will work & we can coax Landen out that first weekend in May, dad & grandpa would be ecstatic to have such a big birthday present. Anyways, I had the thought all weekend, as I kept getting more & more Braxton Hicks contractions, that my little boy cannot come now, I’m not ready! My desk guide is not done! So this week I will be in work mode with trying to finish up the last half of my desk guide & make as many notes as possible for my replacement. Then I will be able to sleep a little easier

Very Productive Day 23/61

I was feeling a lot better, the pain in my tailbone was minimal & usually only occurred when I sat back against something so I figured with feeling better I should get some things done around the house & run to pick up a few things. I got one of the last items we need for baby, now all we have left to pick up if the traveling system (stroller & car seat). Then I made it home to start washing some clothes & working on cleaning our bathroom. The bathroom ended up getting a deeper clean that I originally intended but it really sparkles now! I managed to scrub down everything & make it shine. Now I would feel comfortable with a guest viewing & using it. We have plans to finish up the last few touches on the rest of the house next weekend in preparation for baby’s arrival. There is not too much that needs to be done, but there are things that I don’t want to have to worry about taking care of once baby arrives.

The Baby Room is COMPLETE! 24/61

Even though I was still in a good amount of pain from the cyst procedure I accompanied Steven & Michael to Home Depot to get the final few touches for the nursery, a ceiling fan & curtain rod. When we got home I sat in the baby room, in a very comfy chair & watched then install both items, I even managed to help a little bit. Now, though, we can say that the nursery is finally COMPLETE!

An Unpleasant Surprise 25/61

My tailbone has been bothering me since Monday & I just figured it was more moving & shifting of my body in preparations for baby. Much to my surprise the worsening pain came along with a hard bump about the size of a dime. So I decided I couldn’t take the pain anymore & headed into the doctor’s. I thought they were going to tell me it was a small problem, give me some antibiotics & tell me to take Tylenol & send me on my way. That was not how it went at all! After taking a look at the sore area & bump they told me it was a pilonidal cyst. The doctor called in the surgeon to see what he suggested to do with it since I am pregnant & so far along. The typical cure for the cyst is surgery to remove the cyst & the area that caused it, but since I am only weeks from my delivery date that was not an option. So the short term fix was to cut a pea size hole in the cyst to relieve the pressure of it & give me some pain relief until after baby comes. After baby gets here though & I recover enough from that I will have to end of having the surgery to remove the 3-4 inch area to solve the problem completely. Ugg…

A Special Day for Me 26/61

This year we decided to do an Anti-Valentine’s Day, I did a special day for Steven early in February and Steven decided to wait until it warmed up a little & treated me to mine today. I woke up to a wonderful surprise breakfast in bed. He snuck out of bed early to make cut up some fruit and make cinnamon rolls; he displayed it all so beautifully on a platter with a white daisy. Then we got ready & again he surprised me with a trip to the zoo, it was the perfect day, it was breezy & sunny. We had so much fun watching the animals, I think the moneys & the baby jaguar was the most fun to watch. We also managed to get in about 5 hours or walking & I was feeling great afterwards. We headed home & Steven told me he was thinking about Japanese for dinner, which sounded wonderful. We sat at the hibachi grill this time & ended up with the whole grill to ourselves, the food was great & the time spent with him was treasured. He did SUCH a wonderful job! Thank you Steven!!!

Fish, Turtles & Alligators. Oh, my! 27/61

It was a beautiful afternoon so Steven & I decided it was a good idea to take the boat out to grab some dinner & do a little relaxing. We decided to take the trip to Clark’s Fish Camp, which is always a fun & yummy experience. We sat outside so we could feed the fish & turtles before & during dinner right from our table. Then after dinner we decided to take a minute to feed the fish out at the front of the restaurant, we were presently surprised to find a small alligator hanging out in the shallow waters there. He was only about 2.5 feet long and didn’t seem to cause much commotion. After watching him for a while we decided to head back out on the water to find a place to anchor to relax and take in the evening. It was really a nice time spending some quality time with Steven out on the boat, just me, him & the water surrounding us.

Smooth Sailing Again 28/61

The waters have been a little rough at our house the past few days & now that everything is sorted out it is smooth sailing & sunshine again. If we never have the storms we forget how much we love the sun! I am very thankful though that I have such a strong marriage & that I can see that. I have a lot of faith in my marriage & my husband, he is so wonderful!

A New Week 29/61

Well it is the start of a new week! I have more faith in this week, as last week was very long & nonproductive. I only managed to make it to work 3 days last week and only one of those was a full day, I ended up with a fever & had to go to L&D – I still have the bruises to prove it and spent over half of the week very sick & in bed. This week, so far, I am feeling much better, though I still have a little cough & stuffy nose, both manageable things & I made it to work on time – so the outlook is in the up direction. :o)

Happy Easter! 30/61

It was a quiet day, Steven went fishing & I hung out at home & visited my family for a little bit, it was very low key.

The Baby’s Room is Ready 31/61

We spend a little time hanging all the decorations on the walls in Landen’s room & it finally looks finished. There are still a few shelves empty but I am sure in time those will quickly fill.

County Fair 32/61

It was a beautiful evening, no a cloud in the sky & slightly breezy so we decided to take a walk around the county fair. It was a really nice time. We looked at all the animals, it is nice to see God’s sense of humor and diversity. We then got caught up in watching a ShamWow demo, it was nice to see that they really work, Steven ended up getting them. We took a stroll around the rides area, not that we were looking to get on any, we mostly just reminisced about how we use to thing that something that spins you around very quickly, turns you upside down & jolts you roughly in several different directions use to look like a blast – now just the thought of them turns your stomach. We had a really good time.

Early Learning 33/61

I am learning early the effects drugging up a child. I have been very sick the past 4 days & most of the time I have been drugged up on Benadryl to sleep better, trying to get better. Well being pregnant I wasn’t the only one feeling the sleepy effects, the baby has been sleeping a lot along with me. Boy oh boy is he awake now though, today I am feeling well enough to make a day of work & haven’t taken any kind of sleep aid since early last night while I do not have all my energy back, he seems to have enough for both of us. He has been moving all over the place; at least he is confined to my tummy & not running crazy all over the place. Hopefully I will keep this early learning experience stored back in my mind so I am not quick to use drowsy cold medicine after he is born.

First Trip to L&D 34/61

Luckily this pregnancy I have been pretty problem free & have not had to make but one other trip to the hospital (other than the planned progress appointments). I have been very sick with some kind of cold/flu, I never remember feeling this bad for this long with no relief before, but I it was something I knew I would just have to fight through. Well I woke up Tuesday afternoon with a fever & everything I have been taught is if my temperature got to be over 100.3 I need to head into Labor & Delivery. So that is what I did. For some reason I thought it would be a fairly quick trip, that they were just going to check the baby, tell me & was ok & send me back home, this was my ignorant thinking. Instead, I went in about 6pm and they didn’t let me go until about midnight. They checked the baby, which was doing just fine, gave me 2 bags of fluid through IV, did a bunch of lab test & gave me some Tylenol. They were very helpful & caring. So after a late night in L&D, the doctor gave me a note to rest the next day & sure enough that is all I had the energy to do.

Planned to Make a Full Day of It 35/61

Well, I made it to work; I woke up feeling better & slept pretty well – better than the 2 nights before. But after only a few hours of work, it is starting to take a toll on me, so at lunch time I am making an early day of it (only 3 hours early). I hear my bed calling me! Hopefully the extra sleep today will sum this cold up for me & allow me to get through the rest of the week.

The Clouds Started Rolling In 37/61

The morning was nice, we grabbed lunch at the mall then ran a few errands, nothing crazy & nothing really fun. Then went home to relax & catch up on house work. I managed to catch up on most of the laundry, though it seemed that with the passing of every load I started to feel a little more under the weather. So I slipped a nap I never wanted to end in, ate dinner & went back to bed hoping to feel better in the morning for work.

An Unexpected 4 Day Weekend 36/61

Well I had taken Friday off already & planned to head back to work Monday, but my body had other plans. I was feeling worse than I had all weekend – the sore throat, cough, stuffy nose, headache and backache – there was no way I would make it to work. I sounded awful & felt as bad as I sounded. So I spent the day in bed and drinking OJ. It helped, before I knew it the time was already 8pm, but I was up and about for a bit before headed back to bed. I did though manage to watch Marley & Me, which was great & makes me very thankful to have such wonderful dogs. I have a few of my own horror stories about my 2 but nothing to write a column about. The movie broke my heart in the end when they finally after I am estimating about 15-17 years, the family said their final good-byes to Marley, I thought that one day I would be doing the same with our little boy & our dogs. We have quite a while with ours though as Trigger is only 3.5 years old & Maddi is a spunky 2 years old. We still have plenty of memories to make!

Bring on the Guns 38/61

Anyone who knows Steven knows that he has a soft spot for any kind of weaponry, especially guns. Jacksonville was having one of its Gun Shows this weekend & of course we had to go see everything. It was a lot of walking, which was good for me & a lot of people; I just tried to stay out of the way. I was not real interested in the show, just getting out of the house was nice. Afterwards we stopped by a small pool party for a friend’s kid & then to the store to get dinner so Steven could bbq later. Over all the weather was great, the bbq hit the spot & the day couldn’t have been any nicer.

Where are the cameras? 39/61

I attended a real redneck wedding this evening for a couple Steven works with. It was not tacky, just simple beyond the means of the word. The attire for the wedding party was white t-shirts or polo shirts (for the guys) that stated who they were (i.e. groom, bride, maid of honor, etc). As the bride in her white “Bride” t-shirt and white jeans walked down the isle to ‘Dueling Banjos’ we looked around for hidden cameras from the CMT show “My Big Fat Redneck Wedding” (at least I believe that is what it is called). The wedding was followed by a simple yet traditional reception. There was the cutting of the cake, which was very pretty, the toast, first dances and of course the partying. Food, drinks & shots all around (except for me, I stuck to my water). It was a really good time, laid back yet very festive & seemed to fit the couple to a tee.

Fix It Please! 40/61

Today I came in to what is usually a very cold office, is now a very warm office. The A/C has not kicked on once all day & as the sun is out for longer the hotter our office seems to become. The day is almost done though, so I will pull out a small fan, drink some more ice water & get through the rest of the day with that.

April Fools 41/61

Well this year I didn’t play an April Fools joke on anyone & none were played on me. It was a low key very rainy day. I did have a doctor’s appointment that went great. Everything is looking good, the baby is growing great and everything is moving along. Not too much longer now.

Done! 42/61

For Steven & me it is a day to smile at. One more month is done today & only one more full month to go with this squirmy little boy in my belly! Yea! Steven finished up a really big inspection today at work, he has been working his tail off on it for a little over a month now. It is a huge weight off his shoulders to have it done & over.