7ish Weeks To Go!

I cannot believe that we only have about 7 weeks until Caylee makes her arrival!

I think, however, that she can more than believe it--she seems to be getting frustrated with the rapidly decreasing amount of space available to her.  How can I tell?  Well, she sure is kicking and moving up a storm AND she loves playing "shove the squishy things" with my internal organs.

While she's busy rearranging mommy's insides, Bryan and I are busy rearranging and preparing everything in the house for her arrival.  On June 16th, my mom and Vic threw me a wonderful baby shower for my side of the family and a few of my closest friends.  Mom treated me and Vic to a nail salon visit the day before, and before that Vic went to Target with me to help me pick out a pretty dress!  We easily had 25-30 people come...and it's a good thing we all like each other because it made my house very cozy very quickly!  It was an absolute blast!  Everyone was overwhelming generous in their gifts to Caylee--she is going to be one of the most well-outfitted kiddos ever!  I didn't take many pictures, but I know others did.  For now, I only have one of the picture collages that my mom made!  This collage has my Aunt Candy, cousins Brooke and Jenna Kay, my Nanny and Gan Gan and mama, and Kel, Vic, and Bryanne-Michelle--sister-in-law and best friends, all of whom were bridesmaids at our wedding!   Oh, and I'm in there too!

So, I've been doing lots of baby laundry and folding and sorting lots of tiny little baby clothes.  It's so much fun!!!  I also made a grocery store discovery:  Kroger's Baby Detergent has the same ingredients as Dreft for 1/3 of the cost!  As of right now, all of the clean clothes are living in Caylee's pack n play, waiting for me to put them in their dresser drawers.  

That organizational task is next week's big job, since her furniture arrived last weekend and, thanks to Bryan and Uncle Ethan, has been placed and assembled in her nursery!  Here's a picture of the beautiful crib Caylee's Grandpa and Grandma bought her!

 And while I didn't get to do much hands-on helping, I did take lots of pictures of Caylee's daddy assembling her crib!

The finished product is beautiful...all that's missing is Caylee!  She has a group of friends waiting on her, including her monkeys, giraffe, Aggie sock monkey, and her incredible Totoro, made for her by our amazing friend Ruth! 

The nursery is coming together nicely.  Now, to get the rest of that done, and the rest of the house ready too!

Pergola Project

Well, things here are going pretty good!  My shoulder is on the mend, and I actually am cleared to drive again!  I started therapy this week, so if all continues smoothly, my shoulder should be fully recovered by the time Caylee makes her debut.  I can't believe I'm already 30 weeks!  Or that we only have about another 8 to go before she's here!  I'll have to do a separate post about preparations, and one about my amazing baby shower that my mom and Victoria threw for me!  So many people came, and everyone truly showered Caylee with gifts.  She is going to be one well-loved little girl, that's for sure!

Anyway, on to the topic of this post--our new porch and pergola!  When we moved into our house, back in December 2008, we were very excited to have a covered porch.  However, we both realized that eventually we would want to expand it later...it might have been covered, but it was also a bit small.  So, we started saving our pennies, and this Spring decided to go ahead and find a contractor to tackle the project.

Alan with C&G Construction, along with his amazing work crews, got our project done in about a week!  We are so very pleased and excited about our new porch and pergola!  Here's the progression:

Hooray pergola and porch!  And the dogs, of course, believe we did it all for them lol.

Don't Do Stupid Things OR Why Standing On Chairs Is Bad

Let me start off by saying that Caylee is just fine.  With that *ahem* reassuring comment, I will now share my moment of brilliant stupidity from last week.

Last Monday, Bryan came home from work and then left again to go to the gym for his Monday run.  I planned out when I would start dinner to coincide with his return, and then took the pups outside.  It was a very pleasant evening, compared the the scorchers we had had/are having, and the sea breeze was blowing very nicely.  The only thing missing was the sound of my bamboo wind chimes, which I had taken down the week before.  I decided that I was going to hang them back up.  Bryan had been gone all of about 2 minutes at this point.  Did I think about waiting until he got home?  No.  Why?  I'm a capable and self-sufficient woman, after all.  Did I go back inside and get the step ladder?  No.  It didn't even cross my mind.  After all, I had stood on our outdoor chairs many times before without incident.

You see where this is heading, don't you?  I wish I had lol.

So, I climbed up on one of the chairs on the back porch, wind chime in hand.  Just as I was stretching up to hang the wind chime back on it's hook...well...

Yep.  The damn chair ripped on me.  I was going down.  The only thoughts in my head were "Don't land on the baby" and "Get off the concrete".  Somehow, I managed to accomplish both directives.  Someone was definitely watching out for me.  I managed to kick free of the chair/death trap, get both feet on the concrete long enough to direct my fall towards the grass, avoid the post that holds the porch up AND the pointed picket fence around the flower bed, and managed to twist so that Caylee did not get squished.  So, how did I land, you ask?

I executed an amazing pile drive maneuver to the ground using...my right shoulder.  And man did it hurt!  As I hit, I heard an unpleasant crunching sound.  I laid on the ground for a minute, and then fished my phone (miraculously unbroken) out of my pocket and called Bryan.

He hadn't yet made it to the gym...meaning all of this took place within 5 minutes of his leaving the house.  He probably broke some traffic laws to get back to me, but get back quickly he did.  He scooped me up and got me to the ER, where they took me straight back on account of Caylee.  They found her heartbeat immediately, which was good and strong, and proceeded to diagnose me with a mild fracture of the humerus.  Then, they sent us upstairs to antepartum, where monitors for Caylee and uterine activity were put on my belly.  Bryan and I were so relieved when we heard that her heartbeat was going strong, and that I wasn't having any contractions.  Luckily, my OB was the doctor on call, and after evaluating the data, she had them monitor us for another hour and then send us home.

We followed up with my new orthopedic surgeon, who confirmed the break and put me in a stylish immobilization sling...that is also hot as hell.  Fortunately, I don't need surgery, which, thanks to RA damage, would be necessary if I had landed on any other right-sided joint.

Our follow up with my OB went well, and this Friday we have our third trimester ultrasound with my maternal/fetal specialist.  I have no doubt that Caylee is fine--her heart rate at the OB's was awesome, and she's been kicking around more strongly every day--but I can't wait to see her and hear for sure that she's wonderful.

So anyway, that was my moment of brilliant stupidity.  Bryan has been very helpful, even offering to tie me in my lazy boy until Caylee gets here lol.  The sad thing is, once he sits me down in it and puts my feet up, I can't operate the lever anyway, so no rope would actually be necessary!  I don't blame him for giving me a hard time--I totally have it coming.

In conclusion, here are the lessons I have learned:

When you are pregnant, doing stupid things will get you hurt and made fun of...and you will completely deserve it.

Asking for help is not a bad thing.

Chairs are plotting, devious bastards.

Wind chimes bounce surprisingly well.

I, however, do not bounce well at all these days.

And also, that I have amazing family and friends who were all willing to drop everything to come help if I needed it.  Thanks y'all!

Caylee Projects!

Time is going by waaay to quickly!! I mean, heck, it's already June and baby girl will be here in August!  So, having realized that, I've been working to get some baby projects done before Caylee's arrival.  While the RA has not let me complete NEAR as many projects for Caylee, here are some that I have been able to finish!  Or at least start!

This will be Caylee's first beanie!  And yes, I made the pom pom myself!

This will be a fun hat for her when she's a little older...the pattern ended up being much bigger than I had anticipated.  This was my first knit-in-the-round project, and I modified the heck out of the pattern as I went, which might have had something to do with the size and some of the awkwardness in the pattern and bind off.

These are signs I made for our maternity photo shoot.  Whoop!!!  Though Class of 2034 sounds impossible lol.

And this is my current work in progress...the Owlie Sleep Sack!  I love that I found a yarn that looks like owl feathers and I love the way the owl cables turned out.  I'm hoping to make a matching hat, but we'll see if I have time, or more accurately, timely joint cooperation!

I know I've been averaging a post a month, but these next months are going to be soo busy, I'm betting there will be quite a few more than that!  Hope everyone is doing well!

Pregnancy: 22 Weeks and 5 Days

I cannot believe I'll be 23 weeks along this Saturday!  That's more than halfway through this pregnancy!  Especially since we're going to induce sometime in August, since I'm considered double whammy high risk.

And yes, that IS a medical term lol.

So far, everything continues to go smoothly.  As I mentioned in my Menu Planning Monday post, I'm finally able to cook again, which has been really nice!  Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy my hiatus from the kitchen for a bit; however, I do enjoy cooking, and four months was a pretty long break!  I still have super-smell, but it's like the smells don't affect me as negatively as they used to...which is wonderful!

My RA hasn't responded to the pregnancy at all.  I'm taking 20 mg of prednisone a day, which basically lets me function as long as I don't overdo it.  Anyone care to guess how often I overdo?  Because it's waaay more than I should lol.  Anyway, I know a lot of my friends and family (and doctors) were hoping that I would get some pregnancy-caused relief starting in the second trimester.  After all, 75% of women with RA see some sort of remission.  I, however, am not at all surprised that my RA is not following the expected path.  It has seldom played ball in any other respect, so I really wasn't hanging my hat on the hope that it would this time.  That all said, the prednisone helps, and so does my wonderful hubby, so it's all good!

Other than that we continue to get the house ready!  I have a great local carpet cleaning company here today, cleaning the downstairs carpet and tile.  Oh my gosh, my carpets were SO DIRTY!!!  They actually changed colors as the guys worked.  Of course, that makes sense, seeing as we've been here for 3 years now (when did THAT happen?!?) and we've never cleaned the carpets.  Bryan and I painted the nursery a couple of weeks ago, and all the main furniture has been ordered, so those are some big check marks off the list.  Today, I'm upstairs with the pups cataloging donations and watching TV while the wonderful carpet cleaners work.  I figure I'll have them come back out to do the upstairs sometime in late June or July...that way it's freshly cleaned before we bring Caylee home!  And of course, that cleaning will mark the end of the pups' upstairs privileges lol.

Speaking of, little Miss Caylee continues to grow bigger and stronger every day!  Bryan and I have already preregistered for her delivery at the hospital, and we're signed up for a hospital tour/birthing class and a childcare class.  Those aren't until June--I wanted to do them sooner, but they ran out of room.  Speaking of running out of room, I've been feeling Caylee move for about the past two weeks, but this week she has really ramped up her efforts to make her presence felt!  She was so active the other night that she actually kept me awake after one of my many pee breaks!  I love feeling her kick and punch and move arounds--Bryan says I get a huge smile every time she does.  Sometimes the strangeness of the sensation sends me into giggle fits...it's the coolest sensation ever, but also one of the weirdest!  I can't wait until she really starts kicking the crap out of me...that way Bryan will get to feel her too!  We go back in next week for a check up and ultrasound...possibly our last Caylee sighting until she's in our arms.  I can't wait to see her again!!!

So that's the basic update rundown!  Now, I think I'm going to get back to cataloging...or maybe take a nap.  ;-)

Menu Planning Monday! No, Really!!!

I CAN COOK AGAIN!!!

Seriously, one of the hardest parts of this whole pregnancy thing (aside from no alcohol and no deli meats) has been my inability to cook.  First, it was because of the nausea combined with pregnancy Super Nose.  I could barely stand the smell of cooked food, let alone stand the smell of cooking food.  Then there was the aversion to raw meat...yeah, that was less than fun.  That's still there to some extent, but I think it's at a manageable level.  At least, it is today, so I'm going to assume it will be this whole week!  Lol I know what assuming does...but we'll see how it goes!

This whole return to cooking thing is timely too!  Little Caylee is growing bigger every day!  And moving around like crazy!  Yep, I can finally feel her moving and I never get tired of it!  I can't wait until she really starts kicking the crap out of me so that Bryan can feel her too!  Plus, we generally save more money when I'm cooking and, at this point, every dollar saved will help when Miss Caylee makes her arrival.  So, without further ado, here's the Menu Plan this week!

MONDAY:  Meat muffins and veggies

TUESDAY:  Lasagna and veggies

WEDNESDAY:  Dump BBQ Jelly Chicken

THURSDAY:  Spaghetti and meatballs

FRIDAY:  Sushi.  Hey, California rolls are still fair game!!!

SATURDAY:  TBA.  Possibly our night out this week.

SUNDAY:  Pizza!

Caylee Magnolia

That's the name of our little baby GIRL!!!

She's growing big and strong, consistently measuring about 5 days ahead of schedule.  As of today's checkup, her heart rate is 161 and I'll be 20 weeks along on Saturday!  I can't believe I'm almost halfway through this pregnancy!  I actually pre-registered with the hospital today, which makes the remaining 4 month period seem amazingly short.

Bryan and I have started ramping up our efforts to get the house ready.

We've made a ton of progress cleaning out the nursery this week, which is a good thing seeing as it has served as our catch-all storage room for the past three years!  I still have about four boxes to go through and sort out things to keep from things to donate and Bryan has a couple more. 

The painting project that is our bedroom and bathroom should be done within the next week, and then we'll move on to picking out the paint color for the nursery and painting it!  We've ordered the crib and the mattress, and picked out the bedding.  I'm still playing around with ideas for closet organization in the nursery, and we're looking at several different options for the rest of the nursery furniture.  Needless to say, we've been very busy and still have quite a bit to do!  Of course, I know none of it compares to how busy we'll be once she's here, but I can't wait until she's done baking!

I hope everyone is doing well, and I'll try to do better about updating more often!