FarmBaby Steward

Ohhh My God

2010-11-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

Really, Ann? You're not going to update for 6 months? That's cool. Oh wait, no it's not; it's lame.

SOOOO MUCH HAS CHANGED SINCE THE LAST POST! I know most of my readers (or former readers I should say) keep up with me on Facebook but in case someone here (*crickets* now) doesn't...

I couldn't hack the accounting gig for another second! I decided to rock out the photography gig instead :) So I get to be home with my SUPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPER SWEET ADORABLE HILARIOUS BAMBINO ALL DAY. YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

My big bubbas is 10 months now and weighs probably around 20.5 or 21.0! He has been WALKING since about 8 months and now he's trying to run. It's super surprising for people to see him walking because he doesn't LOOK like he should be able to walk and you can look at him and tell he's way under a year. lol.

I was chatting with a rockin' older lady at the mall who had a brother walk at 8 months. She said her mom used to always say "He can walk but he ain't got the sense to walk." Hehehe! That is SOOO TRUE! I mean, he doesn't understand ANYTHING (except kind of "no") and he has no fear of anything. But he's not yet figured out to watch where he walks either above eye level or under feet level. lol. This accounts for various trips/falls and head bonks :)

More later!

LOVE TO ALL!
Ann :)

Short Update :)

2010-04-17T06:10:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, what can I say. Work sucks. No time for blogging, pic taking or pic posting. Works is soooo over-rated but the paychecks are soooo under-rated. So unfair. lol.

Lil cashew is so sweet, still. =Love. He weighs 14.2 lbs. OMG. "He the big boy!" is what I always tell him. :)

Saturday a.m.s are the greatest. Kurt's out doing whatever it is they do to equipment before they plant while me & Baby Cash are hanging out inside. He's taking his post-bath nap right now, next to me on the couch. Soooo sweet and silent...but I'm sure it won't last long... :)

Belle's stayed at her grandparents last night. She randomly started crying and said she just realized her grandpa wasn't going to be around forever. I found that soooo horribly sad that I called them right away and she went to stay the night.

OMFG my m.i.l. just came in the house and woke him up! He's not happy...better tend to this situation... Ha.

Love,
Us

Dude

2010-04-08T18:52:00.001-07:00

What is wrong with me? The next time you hear me complain about my commute to work, remind me I'm an idiot. THIS was taken TONIGHT literally about 10 steps out of my back door:

*sigh*

Pretty soon that field in the pic will be covered in greenness! In the bottom right hand corner of the pic, that's the "bin site." Ya know those big humongous silver circular things that hold corn and whatnot. I'm so farmish in my descriptions. lol. Oh well.

Earlier tonight, I told Kurt I loved living out here. When he asked why, I told him because the sunsets, sunrises and skies were worth it:

What a great place for kids to grow up. These are the views and it's SILENT. Ahhhhhhhhh...

Love,
Moi :)

"ASAP"

2010-04-07T20:42:00.001-07:00

I was going through my "Organize ASAP" folder and found these snapshots of Kate and Laina from 2008! I'm glad I'm so great at following my own directions..."asap"

Anyway,thought they were pretty cute so I had to post.

Sucks!

2010-04-05T20:01:00.001-07:00

Okay, going back to work was all fun in games. Until my 2nd day. lol. No, I'm glad to be back to work but I feel like I have no time at home...obviously.

It's closing so I got up at 5:50, took a shower/got ready while trying to feed/clothe the kid, left the house by 6:50, got to work at 7:40. Came straight home but didn't get home until 6:30. Nice! I miss the poor lil peanut and feel bad I got to spend only 2 hours with him before he was down for the count. :( Sadness.

On a lighter note, we did all watch American Pickers together before he went "nite nite". Holla. Such a good show. Monday nights, 8pm, History Channel!!!! Love it. I also love Leland, for those of you who watched it tonight. He's so cute. I want him to adopt me!

I uploaded pics to http://www.kurtandannsteward.shutterfly.com/ :) OMG I am doing so good on not getting weeks upon weeks behind. Week 12 is by far the best week, imo!! I would post a couple but Blogger isn't feeling it and keeps shutting down. Lovely :)

This whole job thing is really cutting into my Reba watching and picture taking. Severely uncool. My photo count is about to TANK. I took a million pics of Belle as a baby, too, but I stayed home until she was like 8 months or so....so you can imagine I have too many to even deal with...ya know the 35mm days. Ahhh!

Lil cashew's first day of daycare is tomorrow! Wish us luck :)

Love to all!

Ann

Happy Easter!!!

2010-04-03T13:56:00.001-07:00

Love,

Us :)

3 Days and Counting

2010-03-27T02:09:00.001-07:00

OMG, if I never see another photo, my camera or my computer again, it will be toooooo soon. lol. That took FORRREVER but glad to have it done and be all caught up. :)

3 more work days of maternity leave. Is this for real? I cannot BELIEVE how fast the time has gone and I'm not ready to go back, AT ALLLL. It's supposed to be 70 degrees and sunny on Thursday. At least that is what my mother-in-law tells me. Who goes back to work on a day like that?? Nooooooo one.

I'll miss my lil peanut, Reba and wearing yoga clothes 100% of the time. Ha. I somehow need to convince myself to be a morning person. How, I do not know. We can work flex hours at work, which is awesome. But to get to work by 6, I need to LEAVE MY HOUSE AT 5. Or to get there by 7, I need to leave by 6. OMG, this is so not my bag, baby. Help!

K, I was just bored so I thought I'd whine via blog :) :)

Hope everyone has a bueno weekend. Belle has a playdate tomorrow at her BFF's house. Sunday we are going to dinner with a big group of friends. Yum. Other than that, not a whole lot going on. At some point I need to get down my humongous stack of work pants from The Limited and try them on. Yikes!

Mucho love,
Ann

Week 8's Great...

2010-03-25T20:57:00.000-07:00

On a roll! There were a lot from Week 8 that I liked. Favorites posted in usual spot!

In case anyone is wondering why I always refer to everything as Week 8, Week 9, etc, it's only because that is the way my photos are organized in my computer. lol. I don't typically speak in "weeks".

Love, Us :)

Week 10...

2010-03-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

Favorites are uploaded to www.kurtandannsteward.shutterfly.com for anyone that cares. :)

Here are a few of the faves from Week Numero Teno (unfortunately, my Spanish is still no bueno):

Love,
Us :)

Pics Posted! Yippee!

2010-03-24T21:39:00.000-07:00

OMG, I got the Week 11 album posted to shuterfly for anyone that cares!

http://www.kurtandannsteward.shutterfly.com/

So sorry I'm behind on Weeks 8, 9 and 10! Will post soon, I hope!

I decided to pull out favorites and just post those to Shutterfly so it doesn't take so long for everyone to flip through. The other weeks had about 100 photos and Week 11 only has about 60. :)

Mucho love!
Ann :)

Here are some randoms from Week 11:

Starving Artist??

2010-03-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

Belle got some art work into the Figge Art Museum! Their school system apparently had a unit on etchings. In elementary school, I think this is where you color a piece of paper, paint over it in black paint and etch off a pattern. Teachers can submit various students' artwork to the Figge for display. They have a presentation for the kids and their artwork is actually framed in the student gallery. It was cute and she's so proud of herself. It seems like a great program! From her school, only one other third grader was submitted!

Yesterday we went to the presentation and checked out her art! Very excited and proud of her! Uncle Jay and Aunt Andrea met us at the Figge to also see it. :)

Here are some pics. Hers is the top one in the frame, with the pink and blue dots. As you can see, her artistic style veers widely toward the abstract. lol. And yes, I still hate the hair. :)

Yay, Belle!

Tomorrow's going to be a rough day for Bellabop. We see a great orthodontist for her every six months. Six months ago, she had to have HUMONGOUS molars pulled. We went again last week and she needs another tooth pulled. This is happening tomorrow. The good part is that for her, having braces will be the EASY part after all of these mini-surgeries!

Love,
Us

Mama Got a Rockin' New Camera...

2010-03-20T16:06:00.001-07:00

and a pimp a$$ lens. OOPS!

I've always been kinda picture obsessed. I took about 1,000 photos of Belle per week when she was a baby. Ahhh, the 35mm days... And I still do take a TON of pictures of her, especially when it's warm outside.

I've had some pretty great point and shoot Canons since going el digitalo, including my muy bueno G9. My latest maternity leave took the incessant (annoying) photo taking to a new level since we had a pretty decent SLR camera and some lenses just sitting around rotting. It's more Kurt's camera than mine, since he has always used it on our vacations while I was in holy matrimony to my lil' Canon G9. I have no idea how many thousands of photos I took with that G9...I still love it!

ANYHOW, so I bought myself a bueno bday prize in the form of a rockin' camera (bday was Tuesday but I couldn't wait so I bought it on Monday). Then I decided I needed a pimpin' lens to go along with it. Again, oops. Oh well, what can I say...I'm getting old. Every other year I have bought myself a handbag for my bday. If I only had approximately $8,500+ more dollars to burn, I could buy the other three lenses I need (a.k.a. 'want reallllllllllly bad') and call it a day. Now you know why I will ALWAYS work!

So that's what I've been doing...trying to figure out how to use the freakin' camera. Hanging w/ le bebe and taking pics, pics and more pics...capturing the joy and whatnot. Taking lots and deleting lots. I cannot FREAKING WAIT for it to get nice out. Every summer I have taken tons of pics of Belle. I will post some blasts from the past here soon. And no girls, don't worry, I don't mean from The Stickma.n's, Halftime or Iowa City days...I mean of Belle when she was younger. lol. I think we all know the baby blog is no place for those kind of pics. haha.

This summer should be pretty fun since I'll have a baby that will be sitting up *sighs* *smiles* *hugs baby* and (DOESN'T COMPLAIN LIKE HIS SISTER) combined with the bueno backgrounds of our current digs. I also counseled Belle yesterday on the importance of me taking her pictures and her not complaining or being a B. :) She likes looking at pics when she was younger so HELLO, DRAMA QUEEN, obviously next year you'll like looking back to this years. Women! Ugh!

In a very short time I've learned two important things: PHOTOGRAPHY IS EFFING EXPENSIVE and THERE IS A LOT TO LEARN (including a lot more math than I imagined). I bought myself about 800 photography books, too. I can't believe how hard it is.

So here are some pics from the last week. These are all shot in manual mode (aka not "auto"). I didn't even realize before last week that there were other "modes" than auto. lol. My goal this week is to teach myself to shoot in RAW mode and/or how to use the external flash OR how to use Lightroom 2.6. We'll see how that goes. But here are the pics -

Ahhh, my baby boy!! He's soooooooooooooooooo sweet!!

And, finally, here he is showing his wild side:

The last picture was really funny because he's actually wearing a shirt with a guitar embroidered on it. I thought he was kind of showing me a "rock on" sign *lol* but I wasn't quick enough to get the vertical shot that would show the guitar!

As a side note, Belle wanted the short haircut and told our main man Brian to give her bangs. I was apprehensive. I'm still not a huge fan but they do look pretty good in pics. She looks so old! Argh!!

Mucho love to y'all...

I gotta get back to my lil guy here :) :) :)

Love,

Ann

PS - Those park pics and the last pic (rockin' guitar baby) are taken with the prior camera/lens combo. I am dying to get back the park with the new goodies. Too bad there is an inch of snow on the ground and I'm still not sure how to take pics in snow.

"Back in the [Stroller] Again"

2010-03-11T07:19:00.000-08:00

Hola! Me & Le Bebe are hitting the town! Right now he is whining in his sleep right next to me. IT'S SOOOOO SAD. Frowny face :( and all :( I always say he's dreaming of mean babies and empty "botts" (bottles). Poor guy!!!!

This week, my grandma bought me an AWESOME book about babies that has baby pictures in it! It also has super sweet baby quotes in it. I love it! That was how I got the idea to use the afghans. I realized that books are a cool gift to give people. That being said, I need to run into town and buy a couple of gifts (a.k.a. books). Hopefully, they like receiving books as much as I do. :)

I also need to hit up Von Maur to get Will his baby bath wash. Yes, he is high maintenance already. In his defense, Noodle & Boo rocks it hardcore. Men, do not be ashamed to use good product! Even if you are only 2 months old!! I told Kurt I needed to get Will baby bath from Von Maur and he said, "WTH...can't he just use Dial?" omg.

Trelle Belle gets out of school at 1pm. I'm going to pick her up and take her to the park. I'm sure she'll be sad to not ride the bus. Did I mention that this is the first age I've HATED (she's almost 9). She is somewhere in between the first grader who was OVERJOYED I showed up to pick her up at school and the teenager who never wants to see me again. Not a fan of it. One day I picked her up and told her we were going to Gap Kids to get her some new clothes. She said she already had enough clothes so could we just go home and watch Hannah Montana. Grrr. I assure you, we went to the Gap. She's fine once she is there, it's just getting her to do anything that is the struggle. Argh!

Well, Reba is over (haha!) so I should get in the shower. I am going to get a DVR before going back to work so I can dvr Reba. THREE MORE WEEKS TIL I GO BACK TO WORK! No bueno!! :) I miss everyone at work but I'll miss this lil' peanut when I'm there. It will be nice to have a schedule though...I guess... :) J/K, I have a great job so it will be good to get back. Five days a week just seems like a lot when right now it's 9:30 a.m. and I'm still wearing leopard print flannel pajama pants and a tank top. Sexy mama...not!!!!!! I need to get in the shower! :)

Spring is here! It is sunny outside! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love y'all!
Love,
~Us

Two Months!! :(

2010-03-10T08:03:00.001-08:00

Our little baby is 2 months old! I can't believe it!! I'm having an impossible time narrowing down my favorites from our two months photo shoot. I'll post just some of the good ones.

It's crazy how ordinary things in your life become so precious the moment your loved one who made them takes her last breath. My grandma was amazing at crocheting things. By far better than anyone else in the world. Oh, how I miss her...

Below are some pics of Baby Will with afghans my Grandma Bernice (R.I.P.) made and also the baby blanket she made me when I was born. Fortunately, I spent LOTS of time with her in the summers when I was growing up and was periodically allowed to pick from her secret stash of completed afghans (it was hidden in the bottom of her closet underneath big boxes of yarn)! I've always kept them and my baby blanket in storage so they are in such great condition still. I'm missing one though, for sure, so I need to find out if my madre has that one stashed somewhere :)

I love him! I'll post a full album of these pics HERE soon. (Click on "HERE")

Love,

~Us :)

Size 2's??

2010-02-21T20:29:00.000-08:00

OMG, it was seriously just a couple weeks ago we switched from newborn to size 1 diapers. They looked HUGE then!! Now, we are on our way to size 2's! It's so sad...I can't believe how fast the little farmer is growing up! Around the same time, we switched to size 0-3 months and 3 months clothing/sleepers. He was swimming in them! Now, he fills them out perfectly and the feet in some are too small. I am in shock!

Here are some pics from last week :) -

I love the Valentine's Day one!! I am sure he's crying because he knows how expensive Valentine's Days will be in his future years. You know farmers!

We've been having fun making him smile all the time. Love him!

In case anyone is wondering why there are so many more pictures of the baby than Belle, it's not because we like the baby more. Ha! It's because she is not really a fan of getting her pictures taken constantly. She is okay if I take the occasional one. And also because 99% of the pictures are taken during the day when the baby and I are chillin' at home watching daytime t.v. :) I have a tonnnnnnnnnnnnnnn of baby pics of Belle, too! Of course this is before I had a digital camera (stone ages). Here is one I found and took a picture of it:

In this pic, she's wearing a dress of her Grandma's that her Great-Grandma made, so we had her picture taken in it. Cute!

Love,

~Us

New Pics!

2010-02-19T09:43:00.000-08:00

Finally!

Week 4, Week 5 and Week 6 photo albums are posted on our shutterfly site!

www.kurtandannsteward.shutterfly.com

Yay!!

Will post more later. My lil guy is sleeping so Grandma's going to watch him so I can go to the gym. Hatin' it! ;)

Love,
~Us :)

Extortion

2010-02-15T10:49:00.000-08:00

Belle charges me $1.00 to watch the baby while I take a shower. I thought it was pretty funny and shows good business sense so I've been paying her. She has an account called The Little Buckaroo account so I figure it's for a good cause and I don't want her to grow up complaining that she had to help with her little brother for free. lol.

We didn't do much for Valentine's Day! We just stayed home and hung out with the sweet babe. It was sooooo nice. We did go out on Saturday night for awhile so that was fun!

The baby is starting to smile more and more and seems to be trying to laugh. He opens his mouth when he's smiling and makes a long squeaking sound. It's sooooooooooooo cute! I love it! His favorite things to laugh at are Belle, a huge painting from Pier 1 on our living room wall and the ceiling fan. :) He is so funny!

Love,
Us :)

Big Baby!

2010-02-09T17:40:00.000-08:00

Yay! On Sunday, Farmbaby was one month old! I have some cute pics from Sunday that I'll post soon. They are on our SLR camera and I need to get them off of there. I am currently rockin' our awesome Canon SLR AND my pretty cool Canon G9. The G9 has the regular memory card so it's easy for me to just pop the card into the laptop and grab the pics. I have to hook the SLR up with a cord. (All things that were easy to do without a baby around - lol).

I weighed him this a.m. and he already weighs 10.2lbs! OMG! :( I wish babies could be newborns a little longer.

Here are some pics from the G9:

He's been smiling a lot more lately, especially at Belle. It's hilarious. I love it!

I better go because we are hitting the mall today. Family pics on Friday so I need to try to throw together somewhat matching-ish outfits for a family of FOUR! OMG!

Love,

Us :)

Happy Birthday, Baseball Baby!

2010-01-28T11:55:00.000-08:00

FarmBaby is three weeks old today! Time flies when you're hanging out in pajama pants cuddling a super sweet baby! :) I do not want my maternity leave to end EVER!

My dad brought FarmBaby a real baseball to the hospital. He has always given me baseballs to give to my friends when they have boys, so I'm sure he's overjoyed to finally have a grandson to play baseball with. The Turner Family DOESN'T JOKE about baseball, especially Daddy Rick. He always took us to professional baseball games in the summer as kids, in Chicago and St. Louis and to the local minor league games. He always coached my brother, all through high school, and I swear it was his calling. He LOVED IT! So today I took some pics of FarmBaby with the baseball :) for his three-week birthday!

Ummm..OMG!

2010-01-27T12:39:00.000-08:00

Okay, in yesterday's post you'll recall I debated between going to the mall OR trying to get the very few Kenny tickets they were releasing on pre-sale for one of his Vegas shows. I knew the chances of me getting them were like 0% but I figured oh well, for Kenny, I will try. OMG I GOT TICKETS. I literally almost died, people. DIED! Pic from 2009 Concert:

Basically, I just selected the Saturday of the second weekend he's playing in Vegas (my brother is getting married the first weekend he's playing) without really thinking of the date. I was assuming there was NO WAY I'd actually get the tix when the checkout page popped up. OMG. Then, as soon as I checked out, I realized it was over 4th of July weekend, which is the same weekend some friends of ours, Jake & Joy, are getting married in Vegas! I immediately called my friend Kate to see what day they were getting married, since the concert tickets I bought were for Saturday. I was about to kick myself for not getting the Friday tickets when she said they were getting married on Sunday, the 4th! Yay! This is going to be SOOO GREAT! Kenny ANNND Jake & Joy's Vegas wedding all in one weekend! Also, neither Kurt or I have been to Vegas so it will be so much fun to be there with friends. CANNOT WAIT!

I will once again ponder going to Nashville over 4th of July for 2011. I think I've contemplated this for the past several years and it's never happened. lol. That's okay. I'm thinking our annual trip will be in May or June this year but I have to get with my girls and see when they want to boot scoot it on out. No, there is no line dancing in Nashville, contrary to popular belief :) We always go in March, around my b-day, but last year was a little too cold and windy so us girls decided to postpone until warmer temps rolls onto Lower Broad. Holla!

Baby and I had an exciting day of driving into town to meet Dad for lunch. It's nice to just get out and about. Hopefully tomorrow we will FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY get to the mall :)

Mucho love,
~Us

Vroom vroom

2010-01-26T18:38:00.000-08:00

**Sorry I wrote this yesterday but blogger wouldn't upload my photos until this a.m.** :)

Watch out!! Mama's got her license back! My license never really got taken away but I wasn't supposed to drive for two weeks. Friday I had my first outing WITH TWO KIDS by myself! OMG. It was crazy to drive after not driving for two weeks. That is the longest I'd gone without driving since my five weeks in Argentina (miss it). Belle had a doctor appointment so I had to get ready, get the baby ready, pack all of his stuff (didn't forget anything this time), pick Belle up at school and take her to the doctor. I did not forget anything this time but wow is hauling around two kids harder than just the one. And the oldest is EIGHT and super self sufficient and helpful. lol.

Friday's outing caused me to stay home the entire weekend. We did have a nice relaxing weekend at home with lots of fun visitors. Yesterday, I again packed up the two rugratos since Belle had dentist. God this post is boring... I didn't forget anything but we DID GO OUT TO LUNCH! YAY! We met Gretchen, Baby Graylon and Molly! It was fun even though we ended up at Subway since where we planned to go was randomly closed.

As for today, I'm trying to figure out if I want to run to the mall to walk around with the farmbaby and buy those baby presents I've been talking about OR do I want to take the 0,00001% chance I might actually be able to get Kenny Chesney tickets when they go on sale today at 2:00 pm for the four shows he's playing in Vegas this year. Hmmm...I really need to go wash my car and go to the mall...and I really have no desire to go to Vegas when Nashville awaits (I either vacation in the tropics or Nashville)...but hello it is Kenny.

About my little guy...

FarmBaby is already outgrowing his newborn clothes. I can't believe it! His 0-3's are still a little big but the newborns are starting to look too small. I don't want him to look dorky so we are starting to wear the 0-3's.

Here are a bunch of pics :) The Christmas tree is down now :) And I love the last pic!

Mucho love!
Ann

Two Weeks!!

2010-01-21T21:18:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FARMBABY!!!!!!!

Awww...farmbaby is so old! 2 weeks old today! :)

He is doing so good and on the mend from the flu. He's only thrown up once today and once yesterday.

I posted a ton of Week 1 pics to http://www.kurtandannsteward.shutterfly.com/ for anyone who is bored and wants to check them out! In posting them, I did run across a very effective form of birth control for any of you readers who aren't interested in having kids and aren't being very careful. I am fairly certain that after viewing these pics, you may ALL call your OBGYN and request NOT ONE, BUT TWO types of B.C.:

Pic #1 - Some awesome friends and I in Nashville a few weeks before the "bun" hopped into "the oven":

Pic #2 - Not long after we checked into the hospital on January 7, 2010, just before they hooked me up to the pitocin:

Pic #3 - O.M.G. - 16 straight hours of labor, six bags of I.V. fluids, an epidural, a spinal block and a c-section later:

Sweet, adorable babe in the pic makes it all worth it, though! God, I look absolutely horrible which is no comparison to how awful I felt at the time. I can't believe I'm posting this pic. Oh well :)

Here's a better pic, from a few days after we came home:

Hope everyone has exciting weekend plans. We do not but I DOOOOOOOO get to start driving again tomorrow! Woohoo!! If it's not too cold and the roads aren't icy, farmbaby and I might hit the mall for awhile. I have some baby gifts to buy and I like to get out and walk around and whatnot!

Mucho love to you all and I hope you're not too traumatized from the pic above!

Love,

~Us :)

Stupid Mom Moments Edition #1

2010-01-20T08:56:00.000-08:00

I say Edition #1 as I'm sure there will be more...very soon.

You'd think for being a second-time mom, I would know how to do everything. Yeah right! It's been 9 years, 'k. My errors though have surprised even me a couple of times!

Packing the Diaper Bag
OK, seriously. I haven't packed a diaper bag in forever. It is not easy. The first outing (Saturday), we did have everything packed. But then he threw up on himself :( as soon as I changed him into a cute outfit. I shrieked and grabbed the burp cloth out of the diaper bag since it was right next to me and used it. However, I never packed another one! So when we later stopped by my friend's house, I had to use a paper towel when feeding him even though we own about 2,000 burp cloths!

Yesterday, we took him to the doctor for his first visit. Kurt read off everything he had packed in the diaper bag and I agreed we were complete. When we got to his work to show his co-workers the baby, and he decided he wanted a bottle, I realized we didn't pack a bib OR a burp cloth this time. Paper towel again. Nice. I mean, it's not that big of a deal but when you have a newborn and you're feeding him in front of people, ideally you want to be somewhat prepared.

Ummm...they never told me that
So at the above-mentioned friend's house on Saturday (she has THREE GIRLS, btw and no boys), as I was changing his diaper, she goes "Don't you have to point that thing down?" I'm like, "OMG I don't know? They didn't tell us to??" Kurt was also like "??" She's like, "I think maybe you do??" I had no idea! I casually asked someone with a boy and uhhhh...no wonder he sometimes pees out of his diaper. LOL! Thanks, Mandy! Ha! FYI - we haven't had any peed on outfits since then.

Oh well
Any non-moms will think this story is extremely disgusting, I am sure of it. But oh well, I'm gonna type it anyway! :) I'm hoping the moms out there will have my back.

So being newly un-preggo, most people can relate to the fact that NOTHING FITS at first. Maternity stuff is too big yet your own clothes are by far too small (i.e. no go on the cool jeans). So we were going to the FarmShow on Sunday. It takes awhile to get ready as I have pretty much nothing to wear right now. I mustered up a somewhat cute-ish outfit. Well, it wanted to be cute but it really wasn't too cute. Anyway, the shirt was a non-maternity super stretchy GAP l/s tee and I wore a really cute navy sweater coat thing over it. I fed the baby before we left and he spent some time sleeping on my chest. After we got him into his seat and everything, Kurt was loading him into the truck and I noticed the front of my Gap shirt was wet. Based on how he was laying on me, I figured there was a 80% chance it was formula, 10% it was drool (not likely as he doesn't drool yet) and 10% it was pee (gross!!!!). Since I had seriously nothing else to wear and had about 2 seconds before the baby got mad from being strapped into the seat without some car movement to put him to sleep, I said screw it and left anyway. OMG. I still can't believe it. haha. The good news is I'm getting a little skinner every day so hopefully soon I'll have some things to wear! In the meantime, I wouldn't hug me if you see me in public :) J/K!

Mucho love to everyone! FarmBaby is trying to wake up!

Love,
~Us

Sick Baby!

2010-01-19T19:32:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone is have a great week! Our little "cashew" (we call Belle 'peanut', so she decided we should call him 'cashew') has been sick the last couple of days. ONLY I would have a baby that gets sick during Week 2 of life. He was throwing up both his formula and milk from me, so I called yesterday and they had me switch to soy formula. We took him to the doctor today (just for his 1st appointment) and the doctor seemed to think it sounded more like a stomach virus. No fever thank god! It's no big surprise he caught something though because we've had a ton of awesome visitors that we are so grateful to have! And with it being flu season and all, everyone is of course covered in germs from being out and about, including Kurt and Belle. And we've done some adventuring outside of the house too - even went to the Farm Show on Sunday! All that being said, he was sure to pick up something, I guess. So, the poor little baby just wants to be held, throws up formula periodically and isn't sleeping as well. Total sadness!!!!

Other than this lil stomach bug of farmbaby's, life is good...nothing too exciting :) Still taking tons of random pics! And I'm pretty excited about being able to drive at the end of the week :) Yay!

Mucho love,
~Us

Road Trip

2010-01-15T19:02:00.001-08:00

So, I've taken about 4,572 pictures since last Thursday. :) I'm planning to post some to the blog, for sure!

Last night we took our first road trip since the ride home from the hospital. My back was KILLING ME, people. The worst it's ever felt, for reals. Including two summers ago when I tried to do two front walk-overs in a row without stretching...not good. So a trip to the chiro was of utmost importance.

Here are some pics (I love the hat!):

FarmBaby and I have still been watching the news, HGTV and hanging out. I did get the baby announcements ordered today! Yay! That was a hard decision - there are so many adorable ones!

We have had some wonderful visitors this week! Thank you to everyone who has come out to visit us.

As for this weekend, I'm looking forward to a quiet one at home. It will be nice to have a couple days where Kurt and Belle don't have to get ready and run out the door so early in the a.m. :)

Hope everyone has an AWESOME weekend!

Love,
~Us

Happy Bday, FarmBaby!

2010-01-14T19:11:00.000-08:00

These pics make me cry. They are so awesome! I absolutely love them!

Happy One Week Bday to FarmBaby! He is such a sweet baby, I just can't believe it!! We've been hanging out, cuddling and watching the news, HGTV and Rachel Ray. Normally I never watch tv, and would rather sit in silence but it makes for a long day when you're at home. So we either just leave it on NBC or HGTV all day long.

He also likes to look out the window, I found out today. :) He must just like the brightness. Or he has highly developed eyesight for a newborn and is sizing up the fields he'll be planting here soon. lol. Today was the longest he's stayed up at one time. I didn't time it but it was between an hour and a half and two hours. Aww!

In Ann news, I am getting around much better but avoiding the stairs. I haven't been out of the house since Sunday when we came home but we're going to the chiro tonight. My big news for the day is MY ENGAGEMENT RING FITS AGAIN! I'M SOOOOO HAPPY!!!!!!!! I have been trying every day :) I have always been able to rock the wedding ring but now finally I can wear both again. YAY!!!

Mucho love!!!!!!
~Us :)

5 Days Old ;)

2010-01-12T20:05:00.000-08:00

Hi, everyone!

We came home on Sunday and are doing amazing. I'm continuing to recover from my c-section. Thank you to EVERYONE for all of your calls, texts, emails, comments and facebook messages and comments :) It means so much to us! So sorry if I haven't yet responded. Every free second I'm not holding the baby, I catch myself falling asleep because of the pain meds. I'm trying to wean myself off though so I'm not so tired. :)

The baby is an absolute dream and I'm sooooooooooooo in love with him. I cannot IMAGINE my life without him. I adore and I just love him soooooooooooo much. He is such a a good baby. I spend ALL of my time holding him and staring at him. Ahhhhhh...it's the best feeling in the world. I don't even want to sleep because I'd rather just hold him, smile at him and watch him sleep :) I don't want to even miss one baby breath. Truly there is nothing like holding your own newborn baby. :) :) *sigh*

I hold him almost all the time but he does love his glider and baby papasan. Today we started tummy time. He seemed to like it. :) Belle put a blanket in front of the tv and he watched Scooby Doo with her for a little while. It was pretty cute because he seemed to really be staring at the t.v. even though obviously I know he wasn't too interested in Scooby and Shaggy.

Kurt's an amazing dad and a wonderful husband. I can't imagine recovering from this c-section without him. He's the greatest. The baby definitely takes after him with his calm and sweet personality. His brother also said maybe he has a little of Grandpa Fred in him, as this is the way Gpa Fred was as well. He is named after Gpa Fred with his middle name (Wiese) so maybe that is really the case. :)

Mucho love to all,
Ann

FarmBaby Arrives!!!

2010-01-08T03:12:00.000-08:00

Our beloved baby, William Wiese Steward arrived via c-section on January 7, 2010 at 10:51 p.m.! :)

He was 7 lbs 14 oz and 21 inches long :)

I was in labor for 16 wretched hours and pushed for 3 horrible, awful, ridiculous hours. He was face up and couldn't make it under my pelvic bone. Finally, my midwife called my doctor and he agreed he just wasn't going to make it out. So they took me to surgery. I did feel better when they sliced me open (YIKES), the dr confirmed again that he wouldn't have made it out the regular way. :)

The baby is super sweet and adorable!!! It was totally worth it! Post more soon!

Love,
Us :)

7 cm

2010-01-07T15:57:00.000-08:00

Ok I know I just posted but I'm at a 7 now :). Yay!!!!

love letter

2010-01-07T15:33:00.000-08:00

Dear Epidural,

You are my BFF. Not kidding.

Love,
Ann

Its 5:30. K you guys were right. Being induced sucks. Bad. Horrible. The worst. Thank god for the epidural guy. Even though I was freaking out once he got into the room and didn't want one. I feel bad for scaring the hell out of Kurt in the process. It wasn't pretty. This was around 3:30ish. I made it about 8.5 hours without one and called it a day. Now I feel like a million freaking dollars.

They last checked me around 4:15. I was a 4 and 100%. She said she'll check me again around 6:15.

One mistake I made today was viewing the tool they use to break your water. Yikes. This occurred around noon and I'm still traumatized.

My husband is the absolute greatest. Our midwife loves him and said "Kurts a midwife too!" Bc he is so good with the whole thing. :). He's doing soooo good and helped me so much. Even though it was scary, I'm sure he's glad to see my out of pain every 1.5 to 2 minutes. Pitocin is no bueno!! Oh and he did have two dozen red roses delivered to my room around lunchtime. One from him and one from Belle. Of course I started crying sobbing. :)

My dad has been sweet enough to be up here a lot of the day, mostly hanging out in the waiting room. Which was great bc when I made Kurt go eat dinner, I wasn't alone. And Dad went and got me cherry 7up at the gas station. :). :).

Okay, I better get back to resting. I will post another update when baby arrives!

Love,
Us

wow

2010-01-07T05:34:00.000-08:00

OMG I hate needles and IVs. Seriously more then most people!

I was about to freak out and have a nervous breakdown when they were trying to find the vein. However, I just kept looking in the bassinet at the tiny pink and blue hat reminding myself it's all worth it and that without this process, I wouldn't have Belle either :)

I love all the super sweet nurses though :) and they have "the good ice" here. YUM.

Check in went great and they just started my pitocin (sp?) a little while ago. She said they turn it up every 30 mins. Yikes!!

So we're sitting here in silence waiting for something to happen. :) Kurts reading the paper. :)

For any of you Kurt fans out there, you better believe that as soon as I came out of the bathroom in my gown (about 3 mins after we arrived), he already begun the unpack and organize regime. Similar to when we go on vacation - get to tropical paradise and immediately unpack and evenly space out any and all of our belongings. :) He's so funny...I just love him. We'll see if I still say he's "so funny" and "so adorable" and "I love him sooo much" after they jack up the pitocin. Hahaha!! :)

Love everyone! Will post later if I can!

Love,
*us

Name Update! Please vote :)

2010-01-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, I realize I just finished my most recent post only around an hour ago. However, I found out after posting it that FarmDaddy was finally taking this name thing seriously and downstairs making a list. :) Better late than never. He did make a really good list, I might add!

We decided for sure the middle name will be Wiese. Wiese is his mom's maiden name and the last name of Kurt's beloved Grandpa that he lost in November.

We love both Jake Wiese and William Wiese. They are both so cute!! Help! Please vote above. :)

Love,
~Us

Yikes!

2010-01-06T17:41:00.000-08:00

Okay, really....seriously this time. TOMORROW'S THE DAY! YAY!

I did get FINALLY good news today!! FarmBaby is FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY facing the right way. Before he was looking up, like toward my stomach, ensuring I would have horrible back labor and he'd have a hard time finding his way out. The midwives aren't too pleased with this position and try to convince me to crawl around all the time on my hands and knees. Hmmm...not so fun being huge crawling preggo. He's been this way since before my 30 week ultrasound and has never been able to make it back around the right way. The scary thing is they do their best to turn them the right way during the labor process and it is NOT pleasant.

So anyway, on Monday, my new accupuncture chica told me she'd pin me on the outside of my little toes and he would turn. I was like "Yeah right," since prior to this experience, I thought accupuncture was a total sham. Anyway, she pins me in these random places on my feet, legs and hands, then leaves the room. The baby was moving more than I had ever seen him move! I could see him SERIOUSLY trying to turn. IT WAS THE CRAZIEST THING IN THE FREAKING WORLD. I AM SERIOUS. I could actually see him turn onto his side. He moved all night that night; it was crazy. I really thought he had made it all the way over because I could no longer feel and see contant little feet moving on the top of my stomach. It seemed like I could see more of his body moving like either his back or his little bootie! I couldn't believe it either. Anyway, so I go in today, and miraculously, he was facing down. He had really made it all he way around. I'm in shock! Him making it around had made him drop so much more too. I am a lot more comfy and wish I had gone to see this woman SOONER! Also, I have never been able to dilate since he wasn't able to drop!! So I did go back and get pinned again today. He has been moving a ton and I've been having a lot of contractions...pretty strong but far apart. We'll see what happens but in about 7.5 hours, I'll already be on my way there anyway :) I am feeling much more relaxed since my accupuncture though and my back feels great. Yay! My friend, Heather, does accupuncture all the time and of course I like to tease her about voodoo medicine. :) I stand corrected...sorry, Heather!!!!! :) I'm still disappointed there was no tie dye or beaded curtains at the place, though. I can't wait to think of a random ailment to go back and get pinned!

Even post-puncture, I'm still super scared of needles (childish, I know) though and dreading tomorrow's I.V. YIKES! HELP!!

So, yes I'm scared but so excited to FINALLY meet the sweets!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) Thanks to everyone for the sweet notes, calls and texts!!

I'll keep everyone posted via Blackberry and post a pic up here when I can. I will post to the blog tomorrow (I hope) about FarmBaby and put up a pic hopefully by Saturday night. I will upload a pic to facebook, though, from my blackberry. I'm not planning to take my computer to the hospital because I already have 3 bags to take, plus my huge handbag, plus my pillow and blanket. I told you I travel heavy. LOL.

I really need a name, too! I guess we'll be trying the "what name does he look like?" method after he arrives!

Chat soon!!!!!!!

Mucho, mucho love,
~Us :)

Tuesday Scoops!

2010-01-05T19:01:00.001-08:00

Yay! Thank God my manager is being awesome about letting me work from home. She said she doesn't want any real product line reporting babies...meaning she doesn't want one to be literally born in the department. lol! I was cracking up! The feeling is so mutual. I would die if I went into labor at work and someone had to drive me and my broken water to the hospital. The Aud is a stick, too, so the chances of digging up someone in the department short notice to drive my car would not be easy...and trust me I'm not going to be leaking fluid (FREAKING GROSS!!!!!!!!!!) in someone else's ride. Ugh, I hate medical issues/medical talk. Nursing is my nightmare job. Needles, blood, mucous, etc. = Ann is ill.

I was having some contractions over night and this a.m. and sporadically throughout the day but nothing to warrant a hospital trip (unfortunately!).

So only two more nights :)

Kurt and I went to the mall tonight to walk around. It was such a lovely sight, I'm sure. The somewhat creepy guy in the boots store asked me when I was due, etc etc etc, then asked if we were walking around to "get stimulated." Not a fan of discussing this word with any boot guy or ANY creepy guy or really just ANY guy in general. lol. I mean I know what he meant but the creepy guy small talk is killing me. lol. Moms I can preggo small talk with all day long but creepy guys like the massage guy = no!!

Hope everyone had a lovely day! I will post tomorrow again! :) For sure!

Mucho love!
~Us

Monday Scoops

2010-01-04T18:40:00.000-08:00

O.M.G. is this for real??? I mean, for real.

All night I couldn't sleep because I had one of those nights like before we leave on our big vacations (i.e. every five minutes I gasp and sit up, thinking we missed our flight). Also, I was really excited to finally meet the sweet babe! <3

We got everything loaded up (no small task, you all know I travel heavy), got the Peanut (Belle) ready and were off by 6:30. We stopped for breakfast, got her to Grandma's with her things for the next few days, a huge list of instructions on medicines, gymnastics, school schedule, etc.

Get to dr. and guess what. Still at the DREADED 1cm and the 50%. They had me do another non-stress test. She said the hospital would induce me if the baby looked anything less than great but of course he looked great! So happy to hear that, for sure but come on Baby Jake. Aren't stressed and want to come out and see everyone??? :)

So she talked to the hospital people. They had two high blood pressure inductions today, two tomorrow and they agreed Thursday would be the best day. OMG I *almost* cried, seriously. LOL!! I am totally dying and not sure how much more my back can take! lol. Sister = 4'11" = too short for overdue preggoness. She also thinks Monday could possibly be "even better" so I'm supposed to call and let her know if I'd rather do Monday. I'm considering it ONLY because supposedly the labor is easier if I were to go on my own. HOWEVER, she told me she thinks he is 8 lbs already!!!!!!!! Should I take a) harder labor or b) risk the baby gaining an ADDITIONAL LB. this week! OMG!! Sorry but there is no way this sister is taking on a 9 lb. kid without a scalpel and a huge scar across my stomach being involved. Sorry for the graphics, people...but come on. So if I have a c-section I'll be stranded at the farm for weeks. lol. No wheels. Can't pick anything up, etc. Yikes!!

My back is killing me (obviously) so I went to the chiro. I also got some accupuncture. I told you guys I was desparate. I freaking hate needles!! It's 9pm and nothing exciting happening!

So, omg, I'm going to go back to work tomorrow! Uh no, I can't believe it either. Not digging the idea of my water breaking at work. Hahaha...eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew. God, please don't let this happen!

So, if you don't see a post from me tomorrow a.m. or afternoon, you'll know why. I'm hanging out with the spreadsheets. Fun, fun!!!!!!

Mucho love,
~Us

omg!

2010-01-04T15:09:00.000-08:00

No baby no hospital! Ay!

Will post the scoop soon!

Yay & Yikes!!!!!

2010-01-03T17:12:00.000-08:00

'K... so this will hopefully be my last post for a couple of days :)

As mentioned, we're seeing the midwife at 8:00 a.m. and hopefully being sent to the hospital to be induced. If the hospital is full, then we'll just go straight to the hospital on Tuesday a.m. If you don't hear from me on the blog by tomorrow afternoon, you can assume I'm in the hospital screaming and whining! ha! Luckily, my awesome in-laws will be around to hang at our house and take care of our dogs in case we do go in tomorrow! I'm not sure how we would get all four loaded up in the car and take them to the groomer. Ha. Quite a sight, I'm sure! So, fortunately, they won't have to go anywhere and we won't have to pick them up.

The good news is that we'll FINALLLLLLLLY meet this very, very loved lil farmbaby VERY SOON! Yay!!!!!

Too bad it isn't a painless, easy process to do so! Yikes! :) I am WAYYYY more scared this time than last time (I know what I'm in for this time...lol).

Even though it hurts toward the end, I'll definitely miss being pregnant! It's soooooo sweet to have the little baby growing and swimming around all day every day. =LOVE. And it's also sweet how everyone asks how we're doing, says I look so great (haha) and is excited to meet the little baby! But the best is yet to come and everything will allll be worth it. :) :)

Thanks to all who have followed my blog for all of these months and dealt with these boring posts 3 times per day for the last several days! :) :)

Mucho, mucho love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~Ann, Kurt, Belle & FarmBaby :)

Due Date!!

2010-01-03T07:19:00.000-08:00

FarmBaby made it to his due date! :) I can remember when the ticker at the top of this page was ALLLLL the way to left. And it seemed like it took FOREVER to creep a little bit to the right...then a little bit farther to the right... Now we're all the way there! Yay!

Today we woke up around 8:00 a.m. and I told the husband this our last day to sleep in, like ever. lol. Tomorrow we have to leave the house around 7:00 a.m. Even if they induce me on Tuesday, that means we'll be leaving the house around 6:00 a.m. I assume. And the next time we wake up here it will probably be several times a night for the next couple years. Ha.

I'm not expecting anything exciting to happen today so I'm going to take advantage of the day. Sunday is a good cleaning day anyhow, so we'll just have our normal Sunday but make sure everything is done. Laundry, dusting, bathrooms, etc. Rockin' times, rockin' times. Trust me, I'm not trying to roll out in this weather!! It's sooooo cold. OMG, I just checked and it's NEGATIVE 7!!!!! I think it's supposed to warm up a little around next Sunday and make it into the 20's. Jan/Feb are for the birds!

Hope everyone has a good last day off before going back to the real world. I'll miss the holidays, for sure! I know Belle isn't looking forward to going back to school on Tuesday :) That was always the worst, second only to going back after summer break!

Last night we were going over names again. This means sitting on the computer and going through name lists. Lane has been added to the roster last minute. So we have Jake, Lane and Will. OMG. Help. Seriously.

Mucho love to all!!!!!!!
~Us

Bday Wish / Desparate Times = Desparate Measures

2010-01-02T10:32:00.001-08:00

Happy B-day, Jeri!!! As promised, here is a pic of the birthday girl. The big 3-1 today. :)

Hope you, EEE and Miss Maddie have a great day!

As for me, I'm leaving now to get a freaking $100 foot massage at the barefoot spa. If it works, it will be worth its weight in diamonds. If it doesn't work, I'm such a spa wh*re anyway. So trust me, this is no hardship for me to undergo such treatment. :) Here is the description:

Heaven- 1-1/2 hours $100 This is definitely close to heaven! Enjoy a Salt Glow with Dead Sea Salt and essential oil blend of your choice, then soak your weary feet in a warm-water foot bath while the essential oils create a healing aroma. Next treat your feet to a 45-minute lower leg and foot massage; then top off your treatment with a wonderful, warm paraffin wrap.

Will post later!!!

Love ya!
~Us :) :)

No News Rolls Eyes

2010-01-02T06:19:00.000-08:00

Wow!! I thought we were chillin' it out yesterday! OMG read this:

The National Weather Service has issued a wind chill advisory for much of Iowa and Illinois today, with temperatures that could feel like -25 degrees. It is currently -9 degrees in at 5:35 a.m. The high today is expected to only reach 4 degrees with a northwest wind between 5 to 10 mph making it feel a lot worse.

Is this for real? LOL. I am moving to Miami asap.

Stay warm today!!! :)

Love always,
~Us

Friday P.M.

2010-01-01T19:42:00.001-08:00

Waaaaah!! Unfortunately, that's not the sound of a screaming baby! That's the sound of a screaming, whiney STILL pregnant mommy!

So sorry for the lack of postingness this afternoon!! We had lunch at this random small-town bar/restaurant called G.B.'s (it's somewhat "by our house"). Hilarious how my definitely of "by our house" has changed since moving to the boondocks. In town, "by our house" means like within walking distance if need be. Out here, "by our house" means it's a 15 minute drive at 60 mph on random gravel roads. Weird.

Anyway, we then stopped by to see off Kurt's good friend from high school who was in town from Hawaii and leaving today. I fell in love with his sister's toy maltese!! Normally, I'm more into big dogs but this little Sophie dog was just TOO DARN CUTE. She is only 2.5 lbs and soooooooooooo sweet!!!!!!!! She drinks out of a little rabbit water bottle thing. Kurt just looked at me and said "no." lol. Surely he could tell I was about to start begging for a Sophie dog. Then we went to the in-laws for awhile and watched football (=love). Then some friends came over to our casa and we SERIOUSLY went BACK to G.B.'s for dinner. LOL. I can't believe it either! However, it was fun and nice to chat with everyone.

So we just got home now and I logged on as soon as I came in. :)

Hopefully I will have more scoop in the a.m.!! I am doubting it though as all is calm and the baby is livin' large and lovin' the sheltered life!

Mucho love to all!
Ann :) :)

Good Morning!!

2010-01-01T06:19:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 2010!!!!!!!!

No hospital yet! Waaaaah! We're still chillin' at home and by chillin', I mean it's -1 degrees outside. I haven't even checked weather.com to figure out what the wind chill factor is right now.

I couldn't sleep at all last night but even though I checked the "Signs of Labor" for the 3,055,555th time, this appears to not be " a sign." lol.

Maybe the baby will share a b-day with our good friend Jeri?? Her b-day is tomorrow and unless I'm in the hospital, I'll be posting a pic. Hehe.

My lovely husband is in the kitchen making pancakes, hashbrowns, etc for breakfast. Yum! He's such a chef!

Good luck to all who are nursing their hangovers this morning. :) I never had a good cure for a hangover, other than lying in bed moaning "I'm never drinking again..." The last time I said it, it might have FINALLY been true! From the looks of it, it's possible I'll be pregnant for all of eternity!

We're going to my in-law's casa today. They are having a couple friends over and want us to come over, which is sweet. And if I get tired, I can just come home since it's 2 seconds away. lol.

I'll post this afternoon! :) Sorry these posts are so boring but literally, I have no scoop!

Love y'all...
~Us

Nite Nite

2009-12-31T20:51:00.000-08:00

Okay, it's 10:51 p.m. I am thinking about going to sleep! I'm already in bed watching HGTV. LOL.

Tonight I hit it hard...had a bottle and a half of BLUE GATORADE. :) Kurt and Belle played some games while I wrote some thank you notes. Ahhhh, the joys of being 100 months preggo on New Year's Eve. Hehe. Actually, I adored our relaxing NYE and think I might plan on the same type of night next year (without the 100 months pregnant thing)!

So, expecting nothing to happen tonight but will post again in the a.m. :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
~Us

Thurs. Afternoon Update!

2009-12-31T14:36:00.000-08:00

...*drumroll*

Nothing!

*cymbals*

Yes, nada has happened. I tried to spice out the sweet babe with some extra spicy basil noodles from my fave thai place. He appears unphased.

My next plan is to paint. I cannot stand looking at this white kitchen for one more day. I figure if I'm doing something REALLY important that I absolutely NEED TO BE HOME TO FINISH, it will happen then. :) And if it doesn't, no more white walls! Yay!!!!! So after a quick trip to Home Depot, we are all set for Plan B.

Happy New Year!!

Love,
~Us

Thurs. Early A.M. Update

2009-12-31T05:18:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE, EVERYONE!!!!!!!!

Ahhhhhhh...one of my favorite holidays! I've had so many great NYE's in my life thanks to my awesome friends and husband! Surely this will be the most uneventful but most relaxing one to date!

No news to report this a.m., as I suspected. Ugh! But thought I'd post a blog quickly to let everyone checking the blog know that I'm not in the hospital and well on my way back into my True Religions. Trust me, they are waiting for me...byebye Motherhood Maternity jeans. :)

I'll definitely post later! Hope everyone has an awesome day getting ready for tonight and a super fun and safe night!

Much love,
~Us

Wed. P.M. Update :)

2009-12-30T19:22:00.001-08:00

Hola!

So I went back to my spa for my foot massage and reflexology treatment. Nothing happened but it was fabulous and worth it! :) I guess all of those contractions last night weren't brought on by yesterday's pedicure after all.

We then went to my in-laws' casa for my mother-in-law's b-day dinner. She really wanted to share a birthday with the baby but it's looking pretty grim considering it's 9:24 p.m.

New Year's Eve is tomorrow. We've had some great and fun offers of things to do but I'm hesitant to make plans with anyone due to how I can feel awesome one minute and be sleeping in a chair the next. lol. We may just stay home and hope our lil tax deduction comes out to fill out his line on the tax return. Haha. I AM an accountant married to a farmer!

Now that there is an end in sight and only five days away, the wait seems better. Now for some T.M.I. - I forgot to mention my midwife has an excuse to induce me due to protein in my pee. Sorry for the grossness. I told you I hate all things medical. I thought I'd add this just so no one thought she was recklessly inducing me at 40 weeks and 1 day for no reason. :)

I'm super tired tonight so I think I'll go to bed early for once :)

I'll post scoop in the a.m. but I am expecting a quiet night.

Mucho love to everyone and thanks again for checking on me!

Love and hugs,
~Us

Dr. Update

2009-12-30T10:50:00.000-08:00

So we went in = no changes. She did some "stirring" (ugh - I hate anything medical). Apparently, if my body is truly ready to go, that should work within a few days. She said I wasn't rating high enough on the Bishop (?) Scale to warrant inducing me and it sounded like the labor would be pretty hard if she did it today. Yikes!!!

She's super awesome so she decided she'd induce me on Monday or Tuesday if I haven't had the farmbaby by then. This is great news since I can't imagine having these contractions and back labor for another two weeks. lol. :) Things have slowed down since about 1:30 a.m., though.

I'm going back to the spa (ahhhh....) for some reflexology and a foot/leg massage today. Did I mention how much I love Winter Shutdown?? :) Anyway, maybe that will send me into labor again. Hehe.

Thanks to everyone who has called or texted to check on me. Sorry if I haven't gotten back to you yet - I will. :) I'm having a hard time keeping up :) but I really appreciate all of the calls, texts, emails, comments and facebook notes!

Will post later!

Love always,
~Us

Good & Bad News!

2009-12-29T21:23:00.000-08:00

OMG I am FULL of good AND bad news tonight!!!!!!

Got my fabulous hair color and cut by Brian today!! Love him and the hair!!!!!!! Also got a fabulous pedi in a fabulous color (Affair in Red Square) and my friend Heather met me at our favorite spa to chat during this event.

Throughout the day, I was having worse contractions than I had before and they seemed way different than the Braxton-Hicks ones. Ay! They were totally the same awful things from Belle's bday back in 2001!! My back was KILLING ME during them which I'm sure is a sign of wretched back labor to come. So I called my friend Mandy to see what the deal was. She basically said it sounded like it was the start of real labor but that it could stop. I was whining about being in pain and she said, "It's all fun and games getting knocked up...until you have to have it!" lol. She is the mom of three lovely ladies so who am I to question her!!?? So true, so true.

So I got home and they got worse and worse and worse and were about 4 mins apart, then 2 mins. I wasn't "dying" in pain or anything but I was definitely sitting with my head down knowing I was going to the hospital!

Anyway, we checked into the hospital around 6pm to get monitored to see if I was in real labor or not. I'll spare you the details :) but in general, I'm having pretty strong contractions very close together BUT no progress in three hours so they couldn't keep me. My midwife really seemed like she would have been happy to let me stay but with the no progress thing going on, it just wasn't happening. The baby's head isn't far enough down on the cervix to create progress during contractions. So even though I'm having them...apparently nothing is happening?? No bien. I'm going to see her tomorrow and she said she is going to "stir things up." Ew. Getting checked it HORRIBLE ENOUGH...I am not sure what the stirring entails. Double ew. She also said if I've made any progress at all by my appointment tomorrow, she will re-admit us.

I was/am so tired though while we were there I just kept saying "I want to go home." Hehe. It's like I want the baby...I don't want to HAVE the baby!! I was also starving even though I ate a little something before we left the house. Next time, I'll be eating a lot of something before we go in. :)

Anyway, so it's definitely weird to leave the hospital still having these contractions but really this is just the way it is so I am getting used to it. It's better to be at home than there, though, that's for sure. My bed is much more comfy! The nurses were really sweet though so I am grateful for them!

My midwife said she'd try to get this baby here by the New Year :) Kurt was happy about this as he was encouraging his little tax deduction to make an appearance. lol.

I'll post again after my appointment tomorrow!!

Mucho love!
~Us

Tues. A.M. News...

2009-12-29T06:28:00.000-08:00

...is nothing!!!!! Haha!

I do adore being off work and waking up to a silent house full of sunshine...with nowhere to rush off and go. Pretty soon I'll be waking up to a screaming hungry baby :)

Belle is actually a really late sleeper (she is making up for the years she never slept as a baby/infant/toddler). I'm guessing she'll wake up here soon and want to play Wii. Hehe. I'll have to tell her mama needs a Super Mario hiatus but that I'll watch her play MarioKart or Cooking Mama and play with her if she wants me to. I can handle playing those games without wanting to toss the remote across the room. lol.

We also have some new board games left to try out and of course the Barbie Lair. Fun times.

Regarding KID #2, nothing to report. Surprise, surprise! :) I'm going to see my midwife tomorrow a.m. so maybe I will have some scoop then. I'm having some random somewhat strong contractions but they are very short in duration and there is absolutely no type of pattern to them (as in sometimes it's like a couple minutes in between, sometimes 7 hours). However, when I lay down, they stop. Not a good sign for being in labor but maybe the baby is finally getting tired of apartment life and starting to think about packing his bags??

Just in case, I'm going to read some "signs of labor" for the 3,999,999th time...just in case I missed something the first 3,999,998 times I read through the list! Ha!!

Happy Tuesday!! :) :) :)

Love,
~Us

Tick...tock...tick...tock...

2009-12-28T22:17:00.000-08:00

OMG, thought I'd update again today in case anyone is checking my blog for scoop. It seems most people are calling or texting me, though.

Yes, it's 12:18 a.m. and nothing... *tumbleweeds*

Well, nothing besides a severe case of pregnancy heartburn (ugh) and a new-found addiction to Wii Super Mario Brothers. In general I HATE video games but I have a lot of love for old school Nintendo and Atari. I was the queen of Super Mario Brothers back in the day. That being said, I was pretty stoked to see the New Super Mario for Wii. It miraculously appeared in Kurt's Christmas stocking. Haha. Now, I have been trying all day to regain my royal title...with an 8 year old. How lame is that!? I know I should let her win at all times but I explained to her that people my age take Mario VERY seriously. lol. She seemed okay with it.

I can easily see myself throwing away this entire week playing Wii with Belle. lol. I'm going on a Wii hiatus tomorrow after a six hour stint of playing it tonight with Belle. I'm interventioning on myself. lol.

Tomorrow is Spa Day. No massages or facials (unfortunately) but I am getting my hair done and a pedicure. Bueno!!

I'll keep everyone posted but I really think this baby is lovin' his life and is not willing to make any lifestyle changes at this point. :)

Love,
~Us

Back to Work for FarmDaddy

2009-12-28T06:47:00.000-08:00

Good morning! Kurt went back to work this morning but Miss Belle and I are getting ready to enjoy a week off together playing Barbies, Wii and board games! That is, unless the baby arrives (obviously)!

Speaking of which...yesterday my brother asked what my plan was for getting to the hospital in case I went into labor this week while Kurt was at work! LOL! It was kind of like the baby book moment from a couple weeks ago! I have not thought of this! I just always planned to go into labor in the middle of the night or sometime in the evening! Duh! Kurt works about 25 or so minutes from home but isn't always in the office. He could be visiting job sites or meeting with clients at random locations, meaning he could be even farther away than his office. So basically, I'd have to wait for him to get all the way home, then it would be about 30 minutes to the hospital. Hmmmm...can't really say that would be a pleasant wait! Haha! So truly I have no backup plan other than hoping my inlaws would be home (basically next door) to take me if absolutely necessary and Kurt could just meet me there. They are normally always home and around the farm but I'm sure they wouldn't be looking forward to the responsibility of driving a chica in labor to the hospital. Lol. I think Keith decided he was over this plan about 27 years ago when they had Kurt :)

Ahhhh...the joys of country life! :)

Love,
Us :)

Still Knocked Up... 39 weeks today!

2009-12-27T20:38:00.001-08:00

Yep, that's the scoop! It's unreal, I know. No, I have not edited that picture to make my "watermelon" look bigger - THAT IS REALLY HOW IT LOOKS! Omg... lol. Help!!!

Nothing too exciting to report! Had a great time today at our house - Christmas with my mom, Andrea and Jay! We were able to use our china for the first time and my chef of a husband whipped up a FABULOUS dinner! Yummmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Plus, lots of awesome prizes were exchanged! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sooo sad Christmas is over but I'm planning to leave the tree up for a few more days anyway... :)

Mucho love!!!!!!

~Us

Merry Christmas & "Oops!"

2009-12-26T09:39:00.000-08:00

Hola to all! So sad Christmas is over!! For us, we have one more day as we're having my brother, future sis-in-law (Yes, y'all, Jay's being taken off the market on May 15th!!) and my mom over for Christmas dinner and gift exchange tomorrow night.

This a.m., Belle is at her other grandma's house so I've been doing laundry, taking Barbies out of boxes, putting away DVD's and Wii games, American Girl clothing, dolls, etc. Having kids on Xmas is great but finding homes for all their Xmas loot is definitely a challenge!

Yesterday was the best Christmas I've had in FOREVER. We weren't rushed rushed rushed FOR ONCE!!! We were able to spend a ton of time with Kurt's parents, which was soooo nice. They are always getting the short end of the stick on holidays because we'll eat with them, then have to rush out. I decided this is ridiculous and not happening any more!

Other than the one year when I lived out of state, I have always gone to my Grandma's house for Christmas, which is an hour away. This means an hour there, an hour back on Christmas Day, every Christmas Day of my entire life. If you read my other blog, you might know my beloved Gma passed away this Fall (R.I.P!). My mom and her sisters are still going to have holidays at my aunt's house, also an hour away. My aunts are awesome and I love to see them but now that I've moved even farther out of town, I decided I'm TIRED of spending our holidays and Belle's holidays in the car. It's not really fair for little kids. It's always been: get up, Belle opens presents, is overjoyed, throws them into a pile without being able to open them, rush her into the shower, get her into her Christmas best, get ourselves ready, run out the door to make it to my grandma's house by noon. I'm over it!!! SO! Starting this year and from now on, we are spending Christmas morning at our house, actually letting Belle (and next year, Baby Jake!) play with her things from us and from Santa, going to Kurt's parents house for lunch and the entire afternoon then sometimes going to the extended Dad's side family Christmas (if we and the kids feel up to it) and then calling it a night.

Christmas Eve we'll still go to my Dad and Patty's house. And we'll schedule something with my mom for a day other than C. Eve or C. Day since she will still be going to my aunt's house. I HATE to miss seeing my mom's side of the family but with having two little ones and living in the middle of nowhere, something has to give. Kurt's happy, too! :)

Anyway, that was a longish story to get to the main point of downsizing our Christmas activities so we can spend more time together having fun as a family.

Now, for my "oops!"

Note: Belle and I were both wearing our Uggs. It may sound like she was wearing tap shoes and I was wearing stilletos but no...we just really are that graceful.

So, we did go to my Dad's side extended Christmas this year. It happened to be at my cousin's house in a town only about 10 or so minutes from the farm, so we went. Plus, we always have it at a great time (6pm) so it's easier for everyone to work into their schedules. It had rained ALL DAY on Christmas Eve and hovered around 35. Then, yesterday, it dropped into the 20's and lightly snowed all day. This creates an icy mess, especially on sidestreets and sidewalks, covered with dusty, fluffy snow. As we were walking out of my cousin's house I yelled to Belle to not step into the street until we got there to help her. As soon as she hit the slope of the driveway, down she went! So Kurt had to let go of me to get her and help her into the truck. Of course, being 8, gloves are LOW PRIORITY so her hands hit the snow and were FREEZING!! So, she was crying. :( Poor bebe! That's when I decided to be cute and not wait for Kurt and carried some presents to the other side of the truck, where I slipped and (lightly) fell! I had presents and my huge handbag in my hands so I didn't catch myself at all. I just kind of slipped and landed sitting into a pile of snow. lol. So glad my parents paid for dance lessons for me to be soooo graceful!! Ha. I didn't get hurt at all but figured I should call my midwife to see what she wanted me to do. She was super sweet but basically said sorry for my luck and she'd call the hospital and let them know I needed to be monitored for awhile. She said normally they want to watch you until 3 hours have passed. Kurt and I took quick showers, grabbed our bags and headed out the door around 10:45 pm. So, I fell around 9:45 pm, checked in a little before 11:30 pm, and the non-stress test looked so good that the nurse let me go around 12:30 am. :) So while it was nice to make sure the baby was okay, both Kurt and I were super tired by the time we got home!

Anyway, so no Christmas baby for us!! :) We'll see what happens over the next few days... I'm predicting a Jan. 13th baby now. He seems to be beyond content just hanging out and getting tossed around into snow piles. I would think he'd start not trusting the person he's catching a ride with (me) and want to come out and let Kurt carry him around instead. :)

Much love!!!!!!
~Us

Merry, Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-24T23:27:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was lovely... truly always one of my favorite days of the year... Usually I spend it a little skinnier but I'm not always 38.5 weeks pregnant! See below:

We had a nice, wonderful, relaxing morning. Belle slept in and Kurt and I did a few minimal things around the house and we chatted. It was sooooo great! Then we went to my dad's house around 4pm and came home around 9pm. It was a great way to spend Christmas Eve but also nice to get home to the new house that I love so much (and lay down). Ahhhh...

I had promised Belle if she was able to stay up on the trip home, she could pick one present from under the tree to open. :) My parents always did this for us after we came home for our grandparents house on Christmas Eve. She ALWAYS falls asleep on the way home but this year was the first year she did not!! Yay, Belle!

Obviously, the present she picked out to open was her Snuggie for Kids. She's been wanting one FOREVER! It's really funny because she asks me all the time for one and I always pretend like I think they are pointless and that she wouldn't use it. So she acts funny in the stores and always says, "Goodbye, Snuggie!!!! I'll never forget you!!!!!" Needless to say, it was the first Christmas present I bought for her and it spent many weeks in the trunk of my car (great hiding place).

She's now lying in bed totally awake (it's 11:30pm). She can't sleep because it's windy and she keeps thinking the wind is Santa :) I'm so sad for the day she doesn't believe in Santa anymore (I know it's coming - she's 8 after all) but for now I'm just loving it and going along with her. She even wrote him a super cute thank-you note and left it with his cookies.

Mucho love to all! Have a great Christmas Day! For those of you with little ones, soooo excited for all of you to watch the lil peanuts get beyond excited over Santa's offerings! :) :) :)

Many hugs and loves!

~Us

RUKM?

2009-12-23T22:16:00.000-08:00

That stands for "Are you kidding me?" It's somewhat of an inside joke between my friend Heather and I but in many situations, it applies. Such as now...

I went to the doctor today. :) Ooooh yeah, drove through the looming ice storm to get there. I did found out I haven't gained any weight (no idea how), so that was good. And baby was happy and healthy. So that's where the good and most important news ends. The bad news is I haven't progressed at all. She even seemed to think I was now borderline 1cm...meaning it could be a little less. Here is where the "RUKM?" comes in. LOL! Getting "checked" is horrible and I HATE it but it's beneficial if she can tell you that you've progressed in any way, shape or form. It's depressing if you're still the same or borderline worse as you were three weeks ago. Haha.

She did tell me she won't let me go more than 10 days overdue. Now comes the "RUFKM?" I hadn't even considered the possibility of being preggo another (almost) MONTH!

I'll have to have faith in the farmboy genes and hope the baby is getting bored and wants to come out and do some work. :) So excited to meet this little guy but it's kind of cute he is so content being a bun in the oven (note I said, "kind of").

It's great I'll make it through Christmas with Baby #1 (a.k.a. Belle) and to my hair appointment with the oh so fabulous Brian on Tuesday! :)

Mucho love to everyone and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
~Us

12 Days...OMG!

2009-12-21T19:55:00.000-08:00

Hear ye!!! Hear ye!!! I am now off work until APRIL!!!!!! WOOT!

Just writing that sentence above is jinxing me to be a week or two overdue. But oh well, I'm too excited to not post it!

I somehow planned this baby's due date (a.k.a. got insanely lucky) to where our due date is literally the day before we're supposed to come back from winter shut down. Winter shut down is from Dec 24th to Jan 4th. Shut down = free vacation. It's pretty much the greatest time of year EVER!!

My vacation is going to roll while I'm on maternity leave so I had two days to "use or lose." So the moral of the story is yesterday was my last day of work. Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Regarding the jinxing, this could all be ridiculously wrong if I haven't had this baby by Jan 4th and have to go into work. Let's not even go there... :)

So - do you hear this, farmbaby? Now would be a GREAT TIME for you to come out and let me take care of you!! I'm home anyway! I promise! There will be no spreadsheets or "Isna(match(" or "If, then"or "If(iserror("statements. It's quite possible the last few months or original budget and the start of the new fiscal year have scared him into hibernation.

Anyway, as far as he and I go, still livin' large, livin' large. Still "carrying the watermelon..."

My ankles, feet and lower legs have developed a mind of their own and turned into camels. I mean why do they want to hold all of this water!?!?

I can press on my shin and the dent will stay for over five minutes. It's pretty sexy. Not!!!!!!! Also, all of my maternity shirts that used to be LONG are now short and want to creep up. Ew! Not a good look!! Ha.

I am just overjoyed we made it to full-term and he appears to be happy and healthy, even if he's committed himself to apartment living for now! He'll soon leave the cramped life behind find out the joys of farmlife and be riding in the tractors with Daddy.

It looks like we're about to get a few days of really nasty weather, including some ice storms. Generally, this isn't a good sign for a preggo farm wife who really wants to delivery a baby IN THE HOSPITAL. :) However, I'm still feeling pretty good and don't have any signs of early labor despite the 5,000 times I google "early signs of labor," and wish the signs upon myself. I think I'll do this again now...JUST IN CASE I overlooked any symptoms I have. LOL!

Oh and I've been meaning to post a name update!! Jake is still the winner via blog and via household. Thanks for voting!! However, my "Darling Husband" is refusing to fully commit to this name. Why? I don't know... He continues to say, "Jake's a good name..." In my opinion, we should probably decide on this one (or another one) so we can pick a middle name. :) Of course, I do realize I'm not the only parent of farmbaby so I'm exercising patience and finding my "ommm." lol. I am still trying to negotiate in Luke (I love Luke 100% and Jake 99.9%) to no avail. The other day I asked him what were my chances of him agreeing to the Luke. His answer, "Zero." Haha. I love him!! He's rarely so adamant about anything because he's soooo nice but he surely isn't breaking down on this one. So...I am sure it will be Baby Jake. Yay!!! As far as middle names go, T.B.D. (as soon as he commits to Jake, we'll have to work on this pronto). :)

Happy Holidays to All!!! I hope everyone has an amazing Christmas with their families and loved ones!

Many loves and hugs,
~Us

Happy Birthday, Kennedi!

2009-12-18T08:04:00.000-08:00

A year ago today, our very dear friends, Matt & Crystal, welcomed this gorgeous gal into the world...

She now resides in Heaven but we wish her a wonderful, wonderful day from here on Earth. I think about her every single day and imagine what she would look like now and what she would be doing...and my heart absolutely breaks to just have her back home with her mommy and daddy.

We'll never forget you, Kennedi! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! WE ALL LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

(P.S. Dear SIDS, I despise you. In case you forgot.)

Kennedi also shares a birthday with Mandy. Happy B-day, Mandy! You're lucky I don't have my scanner out of the box yet or there would be junior high pics included in this post. :) Hehe. So here is a gorgeous one of her and her daughter, Lily, from our wedding. :)

Mandy's been one of my BFF's since were 10. I wrote Mandy today, wished her a Happy B-day and reflected on how horrible it was from ages 10-21 that she was 3 months older than moi. Each passing year, however, I'm starting to like it! :)

Love,

~US

38 weeks...

2009-12-17T01:41:00.000-08:00

To quote one of the most ingenious screenplays of our time (not a joke):
Baby: I carried a watermelon.
[Johnny walks away]
Baby: [to herself] Carried a watermelon?

Hola to all! Yes, it's 3:41 a.m. and I just got done eating a piece of heaven a.k.a. one of Toby's mom's cupcakes. Isn't this normal? Luckily, my muy awesome friend Kate (Toby's wife) was able to secure me a package of 4 on the down-low tonight. Mmmmm... Yeah, there are two left...soon to be zero :)

So I'm 38 weeks on Sunday. Yay! I keep trying to get my more experienced mom friends to admit I'm going to have the baby soon with any little tiny complaint I have. However, I have found no takers...just skeptics. They're a tough crowd. lol. So I guess I'm hanging tough for a couple more weeks! Other than being super uncomfy, I'm okay with this, not that I have a choice anyway. Ha! I don't have all of my Christmas shopping done nor have I wrapped anything. YIKES! I'm about 70% done I'd say since my main people, Belle and husb are done. But again, nothing is wrapped. Too bad I can't wrap gifts in Babies R Us receipts. We have enough of those lying about the casa!!!!!!!!!!

So, I went back to the dr. on Wednesday. :) Guess what - no change since Friday! I told them the baby has wayyyy slowed down on his movements, which I hate and it scares me. They said he has probably just overgrown his apartment. hehe. They did a nonstress test though and it came back fine. Yay! So baby needs to give up on apartment living and move into the real house so we can finally hold and love on him.

Belle's been reading him books every night. It's pretty funny! She normally reads him "There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." Tonight, however, she also followed up the Fly with "There's a Wocket in my Pocket," and "Mrs. McNosh and the Giant Squash." I think it's pretty sweet and cute :)

She was helping me pack the diaper bag the other night though and as we were going through his things from our shower, she wanted to know why boys would need "pee-pee tee-pee" and girls would not." Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... *concerned face* I'm not good with this whole birds, bees and honey thing so I just laughed and said, "I don't know...why do you think?" And she replied, "I don't know either." I'm thinking she will figure it out soon enough when she sees us changing diapers. :)

She had her Christmas program at school tonight. It was adorable and I just LOVVVVE her dress!!!

Anyway, here is what sweet farmbaby is up to (other than not packing up his apartment for the big move):

Mucho love to everyone!!!!!! Happy Christmas shopping!!

Love,

~Us

FULL-TERM FARMBABY!!!!!!!!

2009-12-13T21:07:00.000-08:00

Today, Sunday, December 13th, marks FarmBaby being considered a "full-term" bambino!! I'm sooooo happy!!!!! So if he does decide to come out and meet everyone, there is a great chance everything will be fine, he will be a fully-baked bun in the oven and we can take him home within a couple of days! Yay!

This weekend went by soooo fast it seems! Kurt and I were able to finalize pretty much everything we needed to, which included a very eventful (and hilarious) trip to Babies R Us today. We also stopped by the mall and I got a spoiled mama present. Loving him!

Now for the major T.M.I.!! If you are a guy (I doubt many guys read this blog), feel free to check back on a different date. LOL!

I had planned on not nursing. Sorry to all you nursing moms but it kind of freaks me out and seems like a lot of work. I will admit, however, that all research shows it is sooo much better for the baby, so it's hard to not at least try it. To make a long story short, my experience nursing Belle was a nightmare and even though I had my heart set on doing it for her, it did not work out. Very sad! So this entire time, I have planned on just bottle feeding farmbaby soy formula and leaving it at that. I have no idea what got into me but over the last week I have a nagging feeling of wanting to try nursing and be successful this time! I talked it over with my mid-wife and she agreed that I should DEFINITELY at least try it and said it's a very, very rare instance where a mom just can't nurse. She thinks I probably didn't spend enough time in the hospital when I had Belle and as a young mom, it was just a lot to handle. I told her I had Belle at 7:10 p.m. and was home by noon the next day. She didn't seem impressed with the lactation consultant's diagnose that Belle was doing "great."

My midwife thinks I'd be really "missing out" if I didn't at least try. I am not sure what I'd be missing out on except several days of agony. ha! She mentioned what a great, supportive husband I have, which is true! The husb was so happy to hear this hot scoop on Friday night. He had been very good about not putting in his $0.02 about me not nursing but it was obvious he wanted me to at least try it. It doesn't help that literally all of our friends do it and think it's sooooo great! :)

Anyway, so today we had to stock up on major nursing supplies. It was HILARIOUS looking at this stuff with Kurt and trying to figure out what we need. We have zero clue. Literally. We were throwing random junk that looked helpful or promising into the cart. When we were checking out, I said (quietly), "Do you feel super weird buying this stuff?" He said, "Kinda..." which in Kurt terms means YES. Watching him pay for Earth Mama Angel Baby Booby Tubes and Natural Nipple Butter (omg ew) was pretty funny, though, I have to admit! If you want to know what Booby Tubes are, see here. I have no idea if I'll use them or need them but anything that can be frozen or microwaved or anywhere in between has to be helpful(???) and therefore found its way into our cart.

We then hit my fave store at the mall. There, I got a freakin' nursing cover/blanket thing and my muy awesome husband bought me the smaller/hobo-style version of my PETUNIA PICKLEBOTTOM!!!!!!! I love this boy!!!!!!!!!

When we got home, I finally started packing our bags for the hospital! I have no clue why I've been procrastinating this task. You'd think it would be something to look forward to and it seems obvious to all involved that this is the one thing that should NOT be procrastinated on!! It's not like if I randomly go into labor, I'll have time to pack a bag!?

So, I have the baby's bag all packed :) (awww!) and my bag about 80% packed. I read about ten different online lists regarding what I should take. There were some very helpful hints and I'm known to travel HEAVY so this trip will be apparently be no exception! I'll post a list when I'm finished of everything I packed so the moms can laugh at me and my overpacking ways. lol.

While I was packing everything but the kitchen sink, Kurt set up the movement monitor (Angelsense V) and figured ou the ITZBEEN. He's great at figuring out what we need to do. I'm personally horrible at this as I have no patience for directions.

Oh! We also got this cute little diaper caddy:

Diaper caddies are such great inventions!! Why didn't I think of them??

And finally, by popular demand (ugh), is the 37 week picture of farmbaby mamasita!!!!!!!!!

Try to ignore the pony tail and "I'm pregnant and I've been shopping all day" look. My guess is you didn't notice since you were too busy staring at the HUUUUGE baby!!!!!!!!!!!

THAT BEING SAID, please vote on when I'm going to have this baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mucho love to everyone and thanks so much for reading!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

~Us

Progress!!!

2009-12-11T20:57:00.000-08:00

So I'm dilated to 1cm and effaced 80%! Yay!!!!!! Granted, I know I could be this way for three weeks but I'm still super excited! I fully expected to be 0cm and 0% as that what I was with Belle up to the 40 weeks minus 2 days mark. :) :) For those that don't have kids yet, I'll spare you the details of what all of this means exactly. Ha!

She was able to feel his head but said he's still floating around in there, which means he hasn't fully descended yet.

Needless to say, I wasn't kidding about the bag packing this weekend! It's my project for tomorrow. My midwife told me to head to the hospital when the contractions got so bad I couldn't walk or talk through them. Hmmmm...while I appreciate the advice and guidance, I kind of forgot they hurt that bad! LOL!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Much Love!!!!!
~Us :)

Less Than 25 Days! OMG!

2009-12-09T20:21:00.000-08:00

Hola to all! I can't believe I have less than 25 days 'til Baby joins us! Yay!! :) :)

My biggest nightmare is being stranded on the farm with no way to get to the hospital. I've been stranded out here for over 3 days before. A couple years ago, the QC has a HUUUUGE ice storm. Kurt's parents were in the Domincan, so we loaded up the dogs and came out to make sure his Grandpa was okay. The farm we live at has a generator but the farmhouse his gpa lived in at the time did not. This is when like 200,000 people in the QC were without power. So, needless to say, we were stranded here with no way out for 3 days :)

According to Kurt's mom, if this happened, it means the Dixon Volunteer Fire Dept. would be delivering the baby. This also means I'll die of embarrassment. Hello, Kurt KNOWS THESE PEOPLE. Not to mention, I assure you, I'm not into home birth nor are we in any way prepared for it. I'll take the hospital, por favor, with a staff of people used to seeing people in labor all day, every day. Oh yeah, and the epidural guy (aka my BFF on delivery day) is also hanging out there. No boiling pots of water and stacks of old towels for this gal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, due to this HIDEOUS weather, I've been locked in the casa for two days. The awesome thing is our internet connection rocks for living in the sticks and having a random telephone company be in charge of it. It's way faster than our mediacom high speed we had in town. I am impressed! Therefore, I've been able to work from home (getting ready for closing - ugh) and get a ton of work done! I'm getting a little restless, however. lol. We did go to Kurt's parents' house earlier (in the truck, obviously) and the highway was a total whiteout. Not trying to roll the lil Audi on a sheet of ice in a whiteout. Ha. I have enough problems staying on the road as it is! I normally don't love working from home but now I do! All the time I spend DRIVING to work is spent WORKING ON WORK! :)

Belle's school got cancelled today. She was so happy! She slept a lot of the snow day away though since she didn't even wake up until 10:30! She had for over 13 hours! Early this a.m., while she was sleeping and I was working, Kurt was having fun with the new gator. Apparently, they bought a blade for it to plow the driveways:

Yes, this is a picture of the frontish/sideish of our yard. Yes, I was serious when I said we live in the middle of nowhere, as you can see. :) Anyway, I'm sure he was having fun and did a great job, but the dogs inside were barky barky barky hearing him plow the snow.

Nothing exciting to report on Baby! He seems to be doing well :) He'll sleep awhile, then squirm awhile. He doesn't appear to be in a huge hurry to get out and meet his cabbage patch siblings that are still hanging out in his room (see post from the other day).

This weekend I plan to pack all of our bags, just in case. I have a tendency to travel heavy. lol.

Oh, and as promised, here is a pic of our Xmas tree!! We love it!!!

Please ignore the curtains. I'm working on some new ones :) I think I have them picked out but haven't fully committed...yet. :)

Hope everyone is doing great on their Xmas shopping! I am ALMOST done with Belle! I wanted to make sure she is done early in case I have the baby and someone else needs to play Santa. :) As soon as I make my final American Girl decisions for her, she will be done and I can get them wrapped and hidden away. Then on to everyone else!!

Mucho love to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

~Us

36 Weeks! Yay!

2009-12-06T07:49:00.000-08:00

4 weeks a.k.a. 28 days to go. Trust me, I'm overjoyed :)

Our baby shower that our muy awesome friends threw for us was held at the farm, when Kurt's parents still lived here. So mostly everything from the shower had been stored out here until we moved, and we'd also bring tons of things out over the past several months as we bought them. Since we're FINALLY moved into the farm (YAY!!!!!) we were able to bring all of the baby's things out of the storage room and into his room!!

That being said, all week this past week or so, we've been in major baby mode! Kurt has set up almost all of the baby pre-requisites such as the crib, sroller, car seat, activity mat/play gym thingys, boppy papasan bouncer thingy, glider (the automatic cradle kind), glider and ottoman (chair kind), activity saucer, etc. I have been busy taking a million tags off clothes, toys, rattles, organizing, washing all the bedding and clothing, etc. After going through everything, I was able to figure out what we still needed and have gotten a lot of those things over the past few days.

Belle has been reallllly cute with everything! She has been putting her cabbage patch kids and her "Baby Crystal" triplets in all of the baby's stuff. She periodically will say, "OMG I need to check on my kids." Then I'll hear her in there talking to them and she switches them around to the different toys so they don't get bored or to the crib if they "need a nap." It's pretty hilarious. She says she is practicing. :)

Here are some pics of the baby's room so far (you can can Baby Claire, Baby Perla and Baby Barney relaxing and enjoying the baby toys):

The little pile of stuff on the dresser is what is going with us to the hospital. YIKES!!!!!!! Seeing this was another "OMG, am I having a baby?" moment :)

Here is Belle rocking the Baby Crystal triplets in the new glider:

Please ignore the zero decorations on the walls. Since we just moved in two weeks ago, I'm trying to get everything put in its place and organized before I start decorating. It's definitely hard to wait as rooms get completed! The kids' rooms, our room and the bathroom all have blank walls begging for something to be hung on them!

Oh!!! And, here is my BELOVED diaper bag. Ahhhhhhh how I love thee:

Belle's room is finally finally finally done (again, except for anything on the walls). She LOVES it!! I ironed the adorable curtains and got them hung today. She is all excited about being a big girl with a duvet and duvet cover under the quilt. I'm paranoid...but I finally decided she is old enough for a thick comforter and won't suffocate at night. Yes, she's 8...yes, as I mentioned, I'm paranoid. I still get up to check on her at least three or four times a night to make sure she is still breathing. I've been doing this since she was first born. It's taken eight years to get down to only three or four times a night so I think I'm doing pretty well :) Since I'll be up with the baby soon anyway, I expect the number of times I check on her to increase for awhile anyway. lol. Here's a pic:

Living at the farm has been AWESOME except for the drive!! I am so surprised at how much everyone WORKS out here. Kurt thinks I'm crazy and that I should have known this all along. I normally just stop out for an hour or two at a time before heading back to our house (or the mall), not realizing they've been up and doing random stuff since 5 a.m. and don't go in until dark. lol. Everyone is always around our house doing something, making me feel super lazy as they are out power washing equipment, picking corn, driving tractors in and out at all hours of the morning and night, etc. It's crazy! It's great to have my in-laws around all the time, though. They are great. Of course, I'm jealous that they don't have jobs outside of the farm! :) It would be fun to be around here all day every day.

The four dogs are adjusting quite well. We were able to get the invisible fence installed last Friday and the first training session is tomorrow. Yay! I'm hoping it works out as awesome as it seems like it will. They will be so happy to be off-leash again and be able to run. Of course, they are indoor pups but the MISSSSS having a yard to run around and play in when they go out to go potty. We've been taking them out on leashes to go to the bathroom and they aren't really diggin' it.

I was also able to get our Christmas tree up this week. Yay! I'll post pics of the tree soon!

Mucho love!!!!!!
~Us

#35

2009-11-29T13:14:00.000-08:00

Omg! Today the ticker says "35 weeks pregnant, 35 days to go!"

Yay!

If I can make it 35 WEEKS...surely I can make it 35 DAYS without too much of a problem! I may not look like I can make it (lol) or feel like I can (*gasps for air*) but the big day will be here in no time (I'm telling myself this).

It is sweet to have people asking me if I'm okay, how far along I am, etc.. Several random people commented to me on Black Friday about being so impressed I was out shopping. :) They also thought I was due any second! Hehe.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!! We sure did!!!

Love,
Us

34 Weeks + 2 days... (and counting)...

2009-11-24T11:09:00.000-08:00

Today is a huge milestone for me! Our ticker says 40 DAYS!!!!! Yay! That means tomorrow it will be in the 30's # of days, then the 20's # of days, then the teens, then... *scared face* OMG, it's getting so super close!!!!!!! YIPPEE!! While I'm overjoyed for baby boy to get here, I will continue to post about my severe aversion to the labor and delivery process. Granted, I would rather give birth (yuck!) than eat the liver from several posts ago (liver = beyond nasty) but still. I don't really like pain, blood and whatnot... I'm going to keep reminding myself that no one looks forward to this process and/or "enjoys" it yet still seems to get through it just fine. I am definitely more scared this time than the first time!

We did move this weekend. I am soooooooooooooooooo happy to be in the new house. I JUST LOVE IT! I am all done with painting with the exception of the kitchen and entryway. I am going to hire someone to do the kitchen and the entryway I'm not too worried about right now.

The baby's crib is set up...we just need to wash the sheets and bedding and get a crib mattress. I may be the only one who does this but when I waddle past the baby's bedroom and see the crib, I have a surreal moment like "OMG we're having a baby!?!?" Like it all starts to seem so real all of a sudden (hilarious since I look and feel like I swallowed a watermelon) :) Most of the time, I'm just DYING of anticipation and wishing the days away but sometimes I'm thinking, "OMG what are we going to do with a baby!?" Hehe. It's so fun. I can't wait!

Here is what the bambino is doing at 34 weeks...

Hope everyone has a WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL Thanksgiving weekend! We'll be busy continuing to unpack and setting up the Christmas tree. Chat soon!!

Mucho love,
~Us

3D/4D Ultrasound Pics!! FINALLY!

2009-11-13T05:44:00.000-08:00

Sooooo sorry for the delay and for the fact my scanning skills have a lot to be desired :) I may try to re-scan later today to make sure they are all perfectly straight. Lopsidedness and the like really bothers us accountants.

So, here are some of the 31 week pictures of our super sweet farmboy, taken two weeks ago on October 30th!! A lot of times, if you're having a boy and totally in love with your husband, which I obviously am, you always hope your little guy will look like and be just like his daddy! That being said, I was overjoyed to see farmbaby boy looks just like Daddy! I will try to borrow and scan one of Kurt's baby pics from his mom this weekend to post the crazy amount of resemblance. Yay!

We loved the ultrasound and were so glad we got it. Insurance doesn't pay for it (it's $180) so basically you pay to see the sweet babe and hope he/she cooperates that day :) It definitely makes me more anxious for him to get here so I can cuddle him already!! 7 more weeks... *smiles*

Mucho love!!!

~Us

Quick Update

2009-11-12T00:39:00.000-08:00

It's after midnight so according to thebump.com, I'm 33 weeks. Yay!

I'm up blogging at midnight because I have the dreaded pregnancy heartburn again. I haven't had this little visitor in quite some time :) I'm not sure where it came from...surely the bowl of salsa from our girls night mexican dinner wouldn't have anything to do with it. Ha.

So I'm downstairs eating Whitey's vanilla and watching the Golden Girls. Ahhhhh...too bad I have to work tomorrow.

If you're a mamsita, you know you sooo can't lay down during a preggo heartburn attack. Normally I don't mind being downstairs on the couch. However, the other night I came downstairs to let out the lab and the herder at 5am *rolls eyes* and I was lying on the couch waiting for the dogs to "scare off the deer" (again *rolls eyes*). All of a sudden I hear creepy scampering and my cat, Sylvester, chasing SOMETHING!!!! When he smashed himself under the entertainment center to chase "the something," I took off for our bedroom and took a flying leap into bed with the husb. I told him Syl was chasing a mouse and sure enough, when Kurt got up a little while later, Syl had left a present for us on the kitchen rug. Ew!! Dead rodents in the casa are not cool. I'll never be a true farmgirl...I'm just not down with the vermin, for reals! Luckily, we rarely ever get them in the house thanks to my outside spoiled kitties!

So even though I have all the Whitey's I could ask for (love that remedy!!!) and the GG are on, I'm still scoping the floor for miscellaneous creepy intruders. Syl better be ready to pounce if another one shows up - lol!

Our new house is on a real farm and surprisingly (considering its surrounded by fields) never gets mice in the house thank god. No, I stillllll haven't moved. Trust me, it's a sore subject. Lol.

Painting this weekend and hopefully moving next weekend! Yay!

Mucho love,
Us :)

Hello, Thursday. Hello, TheBump.com. I love you both.

2009-10-29T06:48:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned before how much I look forward to Thursdays! TheBump.com rolls me over (no pun intended) to the next week a couple days early. Trust me, when you start getting bigger, you take any cheat days you can get! As far as days go, I only have 66 left! Yay!

Truly, I'm not 31 weeks until Sunday but ohhhhh well. On Thursdays, I put all of my faith in the TheBump.com! If you are pregnant, I highly recommend you do the same :)

I mentioned the other day that we were going to get a 3-D/4-D ultrasound. We were actually able to schedule it for tomorrow (Friday, Oct 30th)!!! We are going in for our bi-weekly appointment anyway so we were happy we could get in on the same day. We are really excited to see "Kev"! Here is a sample picture of a 3-D ultrasound at 31 weeks:

I'll definitely be posting pics of our sweet babe after we get them!

Mucho love!!!

~Us :) :)

Ommmmm.... 30 Weeks.... 68 Days Left...

2009-10-27T06:40:00.000-07:00

God, I miss yoga!! SERIOUSLY! Considering I can barely put my socks on, I'm thinking my Paschimottanasana would be pretty laughable right now. Even funnier would be Marichyasana D, which I could FINALLY (barely) bind on my own (right side only...almost on the left) prior to becoming el preggo.

At one of our Sunday Ashtanga meetings, someone had asked Evan and Kelly if quitting yoga for awhile would set you back to square one. His answer was that he thought you "always had a little money in the bank." I'm counting on this cash because I think my grand comeback is going to be hid-e-ous. Abby also assures me we'll get it back post-bebe's. :) I need to make it to some of Abby's pre-natal yoga classes as soon as I get moved. I need to relax, stretch and be able to sleep again, omg. If you ever feel like you're having a hard time sleeping, check out Tapas or Indigo's classes.

Me then (sigh...those were the days):

Me now (*crrreeeeeeeeeeeek*):

Anyway, so other than feeling like the tin man from non-yoganess, I'm livin' large and lovin' life!! I'm DEFINITELY looking forward to being skinny again and being able to move around :)

ALSO, I'M VERY EXCITED TO MOVE and put out my new cute stuff and have my old stuff back again. Living out of boxes and having 90% of your things in a storage trailer is for the BIRDS. Tweet freakin' tweet. I'm over it!

We should be getting our 3-D ultrasound here soon, so I'll post pics. My friend, Candace, who also works with me, is due the same day and told me you can get them at 30 weeks. So I'm calling for my appointment today. Yay!

Here's what the sweet babe is up to this week! I can't believe how big he is now!!

Also, here are a couple of things from our ticker that I thought were muy bueno to share:

The thought of him looking around is JUST ADORABLE and knowing he has good survivial odds if something happens is a huge relief :) Yay!

Mucho, mucho love to everyone!

Love,
~Us

Butternut Bambino ~ 29 Weeks ~ 11 Left to Go!

2009-10-19T07:15:00.000-07:00

Hi to all! This weekend I passed the 29 weeks mark. Yay! So less than 11 until the sweet babe is here with us!! Here are some pics of me from this weekend at my friend Sara's Rockstar Wedding!

My friend Dani is due three weeks after me and is having a baby girl, Leila Louise:

Also, our awesome friend Lady Gaga (Heidi!) came into town for it as well:

Heidi, Dani and I all cheered together in high school (a.k.a. the pimp squad). LOL. This was before all of our kids (Belle, Heidi's Ty & Brandt, then Jake & Leila). It's always hilarious to get together! Especiallywhen Heidi rocks the Gaga wig. I'm hoping to see it again sometime. lol.

As far as what the butternut baby is up to this week, here is the scoop... :)

Butternut baby seems pretty happy! Swimming and kicking and whatnot...awwww. I just LOVE HIM. My midwife confirmed he's head-down now. Yikes! I'm beginning to get paranoid, realizing this farmbaby needs to come out somehow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *hides*

As far as food goes, Farmbaby and I are very happy that honeycrisp apples are back in season. God, I love them. Yummmm. :)

Mucho love!

~Us~

2009-10-12T05:21:00.000-07:00

OMG… Many apologies! We’ve had a very busy (and for the most part wretched) couple of weeks. I’ll be blogging about that later, via my random blog. Bear with this LONGGGG post but I'm making up for lost time. *smiles sweetly*

The name update is a pretty solid Baby Jake! No middle name yet but I'll keep everyone posted. Yay!

I can’t believe we’re in the 3rd Trimester! I totally sound like a Palmer student!! It’s exciting to less than 3 months away (83 days, actually – yikes) but being this far along does bring it’s own joys and sorrows. We were 28 weeks this past weekend! Yay! Squash baby! Trust me, it feels like it, too.

As far as JOYS go, like I said, it’s awesome to be getting so close to meeting the farmbaby. I know the time will pass more quickly than I think although sometimes (at night especially) it feels like it’s going by slooooooooooooooow. It’s also super sweet to have the baby getting so much stronger and moving around constantly! I love that, for sure.

Our friends had an AWESOME couples shower (with an adorable farm theme) for us a few weekends ago. We have the greatest friends EVER and although we didn’t expect our friends to get us anything, they got farmbaby TONS of super adorable, sweet and useful stuff!! One of my friends even bought Belle some barrettes and bath spa stuff so she thought that was pretty cool since she was helping us open all of the very thoughtful and bueno baby presents! Thanks A MILLION to everyone and to my girls (pictured with me below) who threw us the shower!!!

I’m continuing to buy baby stuff and we’re getting pretty far on everything we need. Yay! We still have to buy the furniture but we do have it picked out.

We are getting WAYYYYYY closer to moving into the new house. Kurt’s parents are almost done with their house so we’ll be moving on in very soon (appx 2-3 weeks). It will be soooo great to have all newly decorated bedrooms for all of us and whatnot. I bought Belle a new bedding set yesterday, too, with all of the accessories. She didn't really need a new bedding set BUT I cannot even stand the adorableness of it all!!!

And again, for anyone who cares, here is farmbaby’s super cute baby bedding:

This isn't the nursery but I'll definitely post pics after we move and get it done. My friend from work informed me today that her baby care classes told her not to use a crib bumper. Makes sense… but anyone with insight to the contrary, please let me know and I'll let her know, too. She already bought the crib bumper and I'm sure it's so cute. Thanks to her advice, however, I’m planning to not order that beyond cute crib bumper for Baby "Kevin" unless I hear otherwise that it’s fine??

As far as the SORROWS go…ha…these always make for good pregnancy stories. No one wants to hear about a perfect pregnancy where you gain the perfect weight and feel like you’re 20 years old the entire time and run marathons and whatnot. Everyones likes to hear how you fall apart around a certain time until you get to the point of considering suicide around forty weeks…particularly those of us mamasitas that have been there, done that. Ha!

Well, as previously mentioned I did test to be anemic last month. Needless to say, there is no way in hell I’d be eating the chicken or beef livers that are “highly recommended” once per week!!?? Did I say no way in hell? I meant NO EFFING WAY IN HELL:

Anyway, sometime last week or so, I started getting really tired again. Not quite as bad as Trimester Uno but just a general feeling of not being able to move. I blamed it on the non-liver eating but then I did some research online yesterday. Apparently, it’s normal to start getting all tired again around 28 weeks. Lovely! LOL. I had forgotten about this. In this case, my mind doesn’t seem all that tired but my body feels like I just swam across the freakin' the English Channel. One of the posters said she felt like she had 50 pound weights tied to all of her limbs. LOL. Pretty much, pretty much. Ha.

Another LOVELY thing is the round ligament stretching. You moms feel my pain. Anyone who isn’t sure what I’m talking about, if you were ever in gymnastics, it is the exact same feeling you’d feel the day after conditioning day, when your coach made you do the straddle splits for 3 minutes straight. Nice. Or when your jazz dance teacher made you sit straddle on the floor against the wall and she pushed your legs to the wall and made you count out loud to 60. Forgot about this, too!

I need to go to the chiro tonight because this child is apparently pressing on my sciatic nerve so I have to sleep propped up on the couch, which I hate not sleeping upstairs with Kurt but I do like watching HGTV periodically throughout the night. :) In my research yesterday, I found this is apparently a common pregnancy symptom, called “sciatica” and it may go ahead and last the entire rest of the preggoness. Ha…not cool. Here’s to hoping Brad can crack me into shape. Yay, Brad!!

One of many reasons I’m looking forward to the new house is it’s a ranch-style. Our current house has a huge beautiful staircase but I about pass out after I get to the top. LOL. Farmbaby has decided to take over my lungs, too, apparently.

Heart palpitations can be somewhat freaky because all of a sudden you’re aware of your heartbeat. This happened to me with preggo #1 and now with preggo #2. It’s not too scary but it definitely wakes me up!

Final thing I forgot about and haven’t had since being pregnant last time is the dreaded heartburn. Oh god. Last night, it decided to rear it’s hideous head. So I did some online searches and found out it’s totally normal to start right about at this time. This was conveniently around 12:30 a.m. I found some posters saying, again conveniently, how ice cream was the, and I quote, “ONLY thing that helped them.” Haha!!!!!!! I thought, “Well, now THIS is something I can do!!” Luckily, we had the Whitey’s Vanilla on hand so I prepped a bowl of that and watched Real Estate Intervention on HGTV. Yum!! Obviously, I can't do this every night (waaaah) so I'll have to ask my midwife for other suggestions. :)

All of these stupid little sorrows being said, however, it is still worth it times a MILLION!! At least this time around I know all of these particular little dramas disappear come January 4th and are replaced by entirely new baby mama dramas. Can’t wait to cuddle the sweet babe!! Yay!!!

Mucho mucho love,
~Us

New Pics :)

2009-09-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

Pics from this weekend. I'm 25 weeks exactly in these honies:

My Farmer, Me & My Lil' Farmer

Me & My Lovely

(and our cool cat Angel Baby in the background)

Just My Lovely

Fun Times!

2009-09-22T14:20:00.000-07:00

Please don’t think from this post that I’m not BEYOND grateful for being able to get and be pregnant! I am overjoyed, overly blessed and being able to be preggo and be a parent is by far the best experience in the world! My morning yesterday was awesome. I laid in bed for about 40 minutes feeling the baby kick and swim all over the place (awww) then when Belle left for school she surprised me and said, “Good luck, Mama,” because she knew I had “a test.” The test was the glucose test at the medical lab but she just knew I had some kind of test. It was soooo sweet and adorable I cried. Of course, I’m preggo and hormonal so I cry easily but it was just adorable!

However, there are still some funny/not so pretty things that go along with the best experience in the world that I thought would be interesting to share. These are particularly true and funnier things start to happen as the pregnancy progresses.

I’ll may write some of these in the 2nd person (?) so as not to incriminate myself on any of the charges…

Having your midwife very sweetly tell you (in front of your husband) that you could use a “few more walks.” This happened last Friday. Lol. Few more walks, few less cupcakes, etc. Same thing. She really means A LOT MORE WALKS. A LOT LESS CUPCAKES.

Just the fact that your husband generally stays the same size while you grow to resemble that of a hot air balloon. = Annoying!

Retro Comment:
“Hypothetical husband”: (innocently, around 14 weeks or so): “Will your stomach stick out farther than your chest?
“Hypothetical ME”: (unimpressed and prob hungry - lol): Have you ever ___ing seen a pregnant woman before? (grrrrr…hissss…..)

Sleeping becomes a thing of the past, already. Being pregnant is amazingly wonderful but it is not “comfy.” It’s not like carrying extra weight from Doritos or donuts and is just part of comfy old you. It feels like you ate a bowling ball on short notice so this feeling is particularly problematic while laying down because you wake up every 15 minutes to turn to the other side…. See next point…

Yesterday a.m. I flipped a ladybug that was on it’s back over onto it’s feet. It’s feet/hands/whatever were all wiggling in the air and I felt so bad for it! I realized last night in the middle of the night that THIS IS WHAT I LOOK LIKE while making these turns (a.k.a. flops) every 15 minutes!!!

Peeing every 4th flop-over is fun! Especially when you only have one bathroom and it’s downstairs… Did I mention how excited I am to move into a ranch-style?

I do not believe people when they say the forget the pain and suffering of being in labor. This is not true unless they were doped on some serious druggage. But I understand forgetting pregnancy pains. I had TOTALLY FORGOTTEN about the killer leg cramps that wake you up half-screaming into the middle of the night!!!! Obviously, I remember them now!! Everytime I wake up half-screaming into the middle of the night!!!

Some people say taking a “babymoon” rocks it hardcore. I ABSOLUTELY LOVVVVVVVE beach vacations BUT if I don’t even want to see MYSELF (eeek!) after I get out of the shower, why in the HELL would I want to wear a swimsuit on a beach? I would have to look at myself in the mirror before I went out to the beach, and that would ruin my entire day (it’s not just the stomach that gets bigger, people). Besides, without tequila, the beach is a bore. For reals. Okay, well not a total bore, per se…but I wouldn’t think it’d be worth two grand for five days if liquor wasn’t involved. We like to pay for our tropical un-sobriety and have an amazing time on our vacations together.

I cannot believe I used to make it through yoga class at the Shala. Seriously. After going up the stairs this a.m. to get dressed for work, my calves were burning like I just finished Vinyasa III followed by a steep sprint uphill, Bix-style. Ridiculous.

I’ll try to think of some more but these are the highlights as of late! :) :)

Mucho love!!!
~Us

Lab Update

2009-09-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

So yahhhhh...went to the lab! Ouch! Really, it wasn't too bad besides being starving and tired. Fasting for 12 hours and leaving the casa at 5:30 a.m. REALLY isn't my cup o' tea. lol.

The test was like 3.5 hours. Crazy! After my first blood draw, I had to drink some sugary orange drink think within five minutes. The blood/needle supervisor guy mentioned there were recliners in the waiting room so I could take a nap before my next blood draw in an hour. I thought he was totally kidding but JACKPOT, BABY, he wasn't!!! They were parked in front of the t.v. that was showing The Today Show. So me, my book and my blackberry hung out and napped, read and checked out the news from the recliner. They called me every hour for the next three hours to give a vial of blood. Vials?!?! What happened to the finger prick? Srsly, ppl. Don't I need that blood for something?

I might have mentioned before that I effin' hate shots and needles. For reals. SO WHYYYY do I always get stuck (no pun intended) with the new needle girl??? *Waaaah* Granted, everyone needs to learn and she was really nice. And I'm sure she was overly nervous b/c the supervisor was sitting directly outside of the room staring at us. On the second draw, she stabbed my arm and couldn't find a vein so was WIGGLING THE DAMN NEEDLE AROUND IN MY ARM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Again, I HATE needles so I was about to throw up but I couldn't BECAUSE I didn't want to drink the orange drink and wait an hour AGAIN! So she called the supervisor guy who held down the needle, did a quick movement and apparently stabbed the vein before I surely would have fallen unconcious.

The next two hourly sticks were uneventful and she did do a good job. No more in-arm needle wrestling. Ugh!

So they will call me within two days with results. I will post the scoopage. While having gestational diabetes does sound like a huge pain in the finger (apparently, you have to prick yourself 4 times per day?), it would be kinda nice to be under a strict diet. :) Hopefully, my test comes back negative though and there won't be any more needles in my immediate future :)

Love,
Us

OMG STARVING!

2009-09-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

Hola! We had our 25 week appointment on Friday. The good news is Kev was great and measuring perfect! The bad news is I failed the anemia and glucose tests. Soooo tomorrow at 6 am, this mamasita will be camping out in the waiting room of the medical lab for 3.5 hours for the gestational diabetes test. Apparently, only 1/3 (or less?) Of preggos that fail the glucose test also fail the more intensive test...so fingers crossed I don't fail tomorrow as well. :).

More bad news is that I have to fast for the test, so needless to say I'm starvingggggg! Lol.

Today was a weird day. Either I truly was exhausted for no reason (other than the bun in the oven), or I was secretly trying to avoid cleaning the garage. Last night I got into bed at 9:17 pm (rockin' Saturday night-haha) and that was the exact same time I got out of bed in the morning (not counting the five times I hit the ladies room during the night). I think I slept too long because I was super tired all morning and early afternoon and spent most of it on the couch with Belle watching Disney channel shows. This is so not like me so I will blame it on the garage thing. It was nice to have arelaxing day with Belle, though. :)

I did go out to the garage around 4 pm to finish dealing with my garage stuff for the big move. I decided to wash, fold and store all of BelleKs baby to 24 month clothes. They are sooooooo cute! It is super sad though because even though I haven't seen them in YEARS, I remember every single adorable little outfit and it doesn't seem like that long ago that she was crawling around in them, learning to walk in them, or I was putting her in those super adorable sleepers after her nightly baths. It definitely reminded me how fast the little farmbaby is going to grow up!
On that note, I better go to bed and get ready for our big morning at the med lab!

Mucho love!!
Us :)

CORN BABY!!

2009-09-10T13:47:00.000-07:00

I mentioned I loved Thursdays because thebump.com rolls me over to the next week a couple days early :)

So apparently, I'm 24 weeks and the lil guy is the size of an ear of corn! Which is SUPER adorable to me because obviously I like farms and the harvest and whatnot!

We also picked out the mini-farmer's bedding. It's super cute from a super cute store, Land of Nod. In case you care, click on the green-bolded link and here it is along with a pic:

I ordered the quilt so I can pick out a paint color for the nursery. This whole giving birth thing is starting to get real and I'm getting REAL SCARED! :) But excited, too, for the farmbaby!

Mucho love,
~Us

Muy grande!

2009-09-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

The babe continues to get big and shock people with the January due date :). I'll take this as a good sign that Kevin is happy and flourishing! :). Tonight I went to Hy-Vee and found some awesome coffee ice cream by Starbucks. Yummmmy!!!!!! It was so good but I still do like Whiteys a lil better I must admit :)

I don't have anything too exciting to report. Boring! We have mainly been focusing on what the baby needs and how kids cut into the vacation fund. Lol.

I've been "kinda" indecisive lately. Ha! After we found out the baby was a boy, I decided I wanted the same stroller we had bought but in orange and tan instead: Oops! :) So poor Kurt had to drag the blue and green one in from the farm and exchange it for me. He's so sweet. I think exercising patience for hormonal, dramatic, mind-changing pregnant wives prepares men for babies being on board. 3 am feedings may seem like a walk in the park compared to reviewing 1,517 crib bedding sets (before the wife chooses one of the sets the husband didn't really like anyway). Haha!

Big sis went to the orthodontist today. We found out she needs dental surgery asap and a follow up in 6 months to come up with a plan. I am sooooooo glad we are doing this early on! The x-rays showed her permanent molars being impacted/jammed on the next molars over so they are not able to come in but keep trying and by doing so, are stripping themselves and grinding away the permanents! Double yikes!!!!! I had noooo idea although I knew she'd need braces eventually. She's classified as "severe crowding" and she still needs to lose 12 baby teeth! So it will only get worse unless we come up with a plan for the next several years. The ortho was awesome and had a great kid-friendly office. Belle's not impressed with the teeth pulling but I bribed her with a gallon of Whiteys Cotton Candy ice cream so she is ready to get the teeth out NOW. Haha!

The only sucky part was discovering my insurance company dropped my health but not my dental coverage when I called to report changing to Kurt's coverage after we got married. So this whole dental deal is going to be out of pocket and be very un-fun bc they also make you cancel your H.S.A. when you drop your health care coverage. Grrrr! Apparently, I need to wait until open enrollment or experience a life-changing event to cancel and switch to Kurt's dental. *rolls eyes* :) I will have to ask my friend who works in insurance why in the world they wouldn't want to drop as many individuals as possible...it seems like it would only benefit them since they are paying most of the premium? I'd think they'd jump at the chance to oust me and Miss Dental Issues from their plan? lol.

Hope everyone is well!

Love you all!

Us :)

OMG

2009-09-03T03:46:00.000-07:00

Times in my life I've been up at 3:30 am eating peppermint ice cream = 1. Right now.

My only explanation for what happened is I got up to let my dogs out. Upon seeing three deer in the backyard, the lab and the herding dog decided now would be a good time "guard" the perimeter from the "very threatening deer" by standing at the fence and staring aimlessly into the darkness for a very long time (the deer obviously ran far, far away when I opened the door and weren't coming back). Duh. Here are a couple pics of the bounty hunters:

Anyway, so while waiting, I checked my facebook updates from last night and saw Emilene's post about pineapple sherbert. Yum!!! I then remembered my Whitey's Peppermint stash in the freezer and voila! Heaven at 3:30 am and I'm sure no un-pregnant chica would ever do this...especially since it's pretty chilly in el casa! So I'm sitting under a huge blanket eating ice cream while the lab (she later decided she was successful in scaring off the intruders and wanted back in *rolls eyes*) sleeps at the foot of the couch.

Anyhow, that's my "scoop.". Nothing new to report except I FINALLY gave in and have switched to maternity clothes. Ahhhhhhhh... The bella band has been my BFF for months and has allowed me to wear my Limited work pants this whole time, but it's time to part ways with The Limited work attire for several months. Yesterday I was soooo comfy in my "stylin'" (not) maternity outfit. I felt like I was wearing pj's!

Mucho love to you!
~Us

Name Debate :)

2009-08-27T19:17:00.000-07:00

It continues! Yay! He really has axed my "Luke" on account of his BFF, so I guess I will get over it... Moving on... Tonight we scrolled the ssa.gov website of top 1,000 names for 2008. He was supposed to say anything he'd consider naming the baby. Of the ones I approved (less Pedro), the list is:

Jake Steward (by far my favorite of the list)

Ethen Steward (he likes the less common spelling)

William Steward (apparently one of my best guy friends being named this doesn't count...only if it's his friend's name. Lol)

Will Steward (same story as above)

Ely or Eli Steward (my gpas *RIP* middle name and Mr. Picky actually likes it!!! Maybe Jake Eli Steward??)

We have them written out on our dry erase board in our kitchen to keep analyzing them in the next several days :)

Love,
Us

**Updated to ditch some names from the list**

Ditched finalists include:
Sawyer Steward (can't believe he picked this one out but it is super cute)
Oliver Steward
Emmett Steward
Pedro Steward (he better be kidding but keeps saying it)

Papaya Mama!

2009-08-27T15:02:00.000-07:00

I love Thursdays... It's the day of the week babymed rolls over the the next week of my pregnancy. lol. Even though my actual date for 22 weeks is Sunday! :) It's so great to log on and see this:

The good news is that I'm FINALLLLLLLY FINALLY FINALLY more than 1/2 there :)

Apparently, I'll be papaya mama for a few weeks :)

Only 18 more weeks to go!! Yay!

Love,

~Us

Scoop

2009-08-26T06:11:00.000-07:00

Hola, everyone! Life in the Steward household is all cloud-nineish from the news last week, save for the impending move of my mountains of junk. If you ever read my random blog, do know that I’m still purging but OMG where did I get all of these things!

We’re still over OVER THE MOON about the baby farmboy, haven’t thought of anything we like better than Jake (except me and the Luke thing…lol), and picked out the furniture. The day we found out what we were having, we ventured straight over to Babies ‘R Us and bought Kevin some prizes:

My friend Allison recommended this play gym thing and I thought it was adorable. Belle had one too that was all flowery and whatnot and she loved it, too.
Allison also sent me a pic of her son, Baby Beckham, playing under it. Isn’t he sooooo sweet and cute!!?? He loves the play gym!

Then, we wanted to get Kevin a little cute pajamas or something so we found a cute little sleeper with monkey feet. OMG. So loving it!

For a second or two, I thought about pouting over the fact I couldn’t fill up my cart full of pinkness and purpleness because all of the baby girl stuffs are just too darn adorable and that’s what I’ve been used to for the past eight years. I can promise you I would NOT have left that joint without the zebra print and pink little rain boots and matching outfit and coat if Kevin were a girl. J Lol. Of course, the rainboots outfit would have been worn once, if even that, so I really think having a boy will be good for my budget, at least when it comes to attire.

Do any baby mama’s out there have any recommendations of things they cannot live without??? You can leave it as a comment on the blog if you think of anything (it should accept anonymous posts). It’s been awhile since I had Belle so everything is new, improved or totally different. On the list to buy is a play yard that matches the stroller, I also have it narrowed between two swings, and probably this little motorized glider thing I randomly found on the Babies R Us website:Oooooohhhhh how I would have killed for that damn glider when Belle was a bambina! Not that standing up rocking her all day every day, and all night every night so she would scream wasn't a blast and all. ;) But I'll admit it did get very tiring!

Mucho love!!

Love,
~Us

Name Update :)

2009-08-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

Hola! I've gotten some questions on if it's Kevin the FarmBoy or Emmett the FarmBoy. :). No on Kevin and probably not on Emmett. I still like Emmett okay, but not loving it as much anymore. I kind of want more of a traditional farmboy name that reminds of the little farmer chasing Kurt out to the tractors in cowboy boots. LOL. I cannot even stand the cuteness!!!!! :)

I personally love Luke but I guess that won't work as one of Kurt's best friends is Luke :)

So...I randomly thought of Jake (not Jacob) and it seems like an adorable lil farmboy name. And omg Kurt likes it!! Maybe this little guy will be a Jake...? :) Who knows! I will keep the blog updated though on the name debate!

Thanks to everyone for listening to me wonder if its a boy or girl all of these months!! :) I can't even explain how overjoyed and blessed we are to have the farmboy joining our family! The look on my husband's face when she said it was a boy was beyond amazing and I'm guessing something I might never experience again...

Love to you all!!!!

Love,
~Us

The Scoop!!!

2009-08-21T12:57:00.000-07:00

It's a farmboy!!!! :) :) :)

OK!! :) The scoop!!

2009-08-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

So now that I know I can post from this contraption, if you check back around 3pm or so tomorrow, the blog should be able to show if it's a farmboy or farmgirl! :). Our ultasound is at 2:30, then our doctor appointment is at 3:30. I am sure I'll have time in the waiting room to post the hot scoop while Kurt flips through baby magazines adding up how expensive kids are :).

We are so excited! Props to y'all mamas that hold out and wait 'til delivery day...but I don't know how you can take the suspense! LOL!!

Mucho love to everyone!!!!

Love,
~Us :)

totally a test

2009-08-20T15:31:00.000-07:00

Just seeing if I can post from the b.berry! :)

One More Day!

2009-08-20T05:58:00.000-07:00

Yay!! Only one more day 'til we find out if it's a farmboy or farmgirl! :) Can't wait!

Kevin the Cantaloupe!! Friday is the Big Day!

2009-08-18T11:50:00.000-07:00

Omigod. I can’t believe it’s been so long since our last post! Muy sorry! I promise I did not eat my computer, though if it were coated in chocolate, I probably would consider it. Basically the fair and all of it’s goodies (e.g. gyros, cotton candy, grater taters, etc) rolled into town. We had nothing better to do than go there for dinner almost every night. YUM!!! THEN we had our lovely closing week at work. =Horrible!! All the fair eating and closing week of work must have worn out baby mama to the point I didn't post. :)

Last week I was the Mango Mamasita! This week I am Canatloupe girl. I definitely look and feel like I swallowed a cantaloupe!!!!!!!!!
Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion and dead cells), which will fill the first diaper after birth. And, speaking of the diaper situation... baby's genitals are now fully formed!

Kevin has still been busy swimming around, jumping, flipping and kicking. Daddy was finally able to feel it two nights ago. Yay! :)

Here’s some pics of Daddy, Kevin the Cantaloupe and I from the weekend of the 7th and 8th:

Belle started school again last week and loves it, so that is great! We're so happy she made lots of new friends on her first day and loves her teacher!

Exciting news from this past weekend, August 15th and 16th, was making our first big baby purchase. Daddy bought Kevin the stroller system we picked out, which was just the tip of the iceberg. Kids are expensive! I forgot how much it costs to outfit a bambino for “take home.” Our stroller is super cute though. You can't really tell from the pic but it's navy blue with white pin stripes, then a bright lime green plaid:
This week I continue to count down the days ‘til Friday (YAYYYY!!!!!!) when we FINALLY find out if Kevin is a Kevin or a Kevinalina. Then I’m sure the name debate will begin again...I’ve kind of missed it in its absence. Ha!

I will let everyone know if it’s a farmboy or farmgirl asap on Friday! It looks like the blog poll still shows a strong chance for a farmboy. :) We'll of course be overjoyed for either!

Mucho love to you all!!

~Us

Please Vote! :)

2009-07-31T06:42:00.000-07:00

Based on this "lovely" (not) picture of me at 18 weeks, please vote if you have a second and let me know if you think it's a boy or a girl!!

I'm DYING of suspense! I can't take the suspense! So I posted a blog poll to see everyone's thoughts :) :)

We find out on August 21 at 2:30 p.m. so I will post to the blog VERY SOON after we know! :)

By the way, it definitely can't be twins based on the two ultrasounds I've had so far...but I have been asked several times if it is twins when people find out how far along I am (not a good sign). LOL.

Love you guys!!!
Ann & "Kevin"

Lil' Yam

2009-07-31T06:40:00.001-07:00

Awwww...the sweet babe's a sweet potato!! I'm 18 weeks this weekend. I can feel that "Kevin" is super busy right now kicking and swimming and hopping around in there. It is soooooo cute!!! I love being able to know he's (or she's) okay. Yay!

Love,

~Us

2009-07-30T20:34:00.001-07:00

Omigosh here is the bun in the oven!!! Yikes! I'll be like 100 times this huge by January!

17 Weeks

2009-07-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

Looking twenty-seven weeks at seventeen weeks has it's benefits, I'm sure. I can't think of any right now...but I'm sure there are some. :) I guess if you're into shocking people and see their jaws hit the floor, it's a benefit. The convo goes like this:

Them: "OMG!! You are sooooooooo cute! Congratulations!!! Yay! When are you due?"

Me: "January 3rd"

*crickets while they do some quick math followed by shocked looks*

Them: "Wow! You are really showing already!!"

Hahaha. It's pretty cute and funny! I'm just happy I'm getting to the point where people expect me to be showing. Yay! At least by getting huger, I know (hope, pray, etc) the baby is getting bigger and appears to be thriving. In the mornings though, when I wake up sore and try rolling over (OMG IT'S GONNA GET SOOOOO MUCH WORSE), I seriously question why Kurt didn't mention his kid would be the size of Frankenstein. ;)

So, to be honest, I'm having a HORRIBLE week. We have to put one of our beloved doggies to sleep on Friday. I will be blogging about it and posting his pic on my random blog sometime soon. I'm totally heartbroken and hating life this week but staying happy only about the baby and Belle's new awesome school. I just found out they only have 13 kids in the third grade classes. Granted, her other school rocked it as well...I loved it...but this will be a nice change for her. I will not miss her super-diva friend from hell :) but she has many other cute, adorable, sweet friends that I will miss for her.

Here is the 17 week babycenter.com update, for any interested :)

How your baby's growing:Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.See what your baby looks like this week.Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.
How your life's changing:Starting to feel a bit off balance? As your belly grows, your center of gravity changes, so you may begin to occasionally feel a little unsteady on your feet. Try to avoid situations with a high risk of falling. Wear low-heeled shoes to reduce your risk of taking a tumble; trauma to your abdomen could be dangerous for you and your baby. You'll also want to be sure to buckle up when you're in a car — keep the lap portion of the seat belt under your belly, drawn snugly across your hips, and also use the shoulder harness, which should fit snugly between your breasts.You may also notice your eyes becoming drier. Using over-the-counter lubricating drops may help. If your contact lenses become uncomfortable, try wearing them for shorter stretches of time. If you still have discomfort, switch to glasses until after you give birth.

Oh God, please don't take away my contacts!! I'm super blind and HATE wearing glasses. I've worn contacts so long, I cannot stand not seeing out of my peripheral vision, like around the glasses. I don't know how people do it!

Okay, mucho love from all of us!
~US :)

boomboomboom

2009-07-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

So, yay! The midwife was able to find the heartbeat right away this afternoon. Such a relief. It was so cute!! I am just beyond happy with this whole baby gig, even though for YEARS I swore I'd never have any more kids...that I was a one kid show, but now look at all of us! :)

Sooooo, I love midwives. Today, she told me my "weight is beautiful" and everything looks great. I think one reason they are so awesome is because they totally lie and make you feel like a million. She totally said this after I about passed out in shock while on the scale that has the HUGEST digital read in the world. I swear it's bigger than the revolving sign on the top of the Northwest Bank Tower. BUT, "beautiful" works for me! Bring on the mac & cheese! (I'm waiting for it as I type - lol).

Tomorrow we're going to a baseball game in Milwaukee. Traumatized I won't get to rendez-vous with Wrigleyville this year but I AM GOING next year. Milwaukee will be awesome though, especially because I've never been there! On the roster for Mw is me, Kurt, my dad (it's his bday tomorrow), Belle (in the place of Patty b/c their dog is el sicko) and our friends Bill and Monica. Bill grew up in Mw so he knows the ropes. We're tailgating for a couple hours before the game, then the game starts at 6pm. I won't be eating any of the brats we are grilling (ew) but I will having some veggie doggage. YUMMY!!

Mucho love to all!!

~Ann

Sweet Sixteen

2009-07-23T21:09:00.000-07:00

Yay! FarmBaby is 16 weeks this week, actually almost 17 by the time I'm posting this one. So sorry, I was waiting to get a picture of my "bump" (it's more like a mountain) to included in this post but it hasn't happened. Belle's been tumbling it up at summer gymnastics and Kurt's been back and forth to the farm and I've been busy eating so we haven't gotten a few things done this week that we intended...pic included.

Tomorrow we have our dr. appointment. :) I just love going to the doctor and it seems like it takes forever between appointments. Hopefully, we'll be able to hear the baby's heartbeat loud & clear on the first try and suffer no scares like Week 12. Then, in four weeks, at our next appointment, we'll be able to find out if it's a bambino or a bambina :) <3>

See below for what FarmBaby is up to...

Much love to everyone!!!

~Us

Really?

2009-07-21T17:36:00.000-07:00

OMG, as a pretty well-traveled preggo, you know you've sunk to an all time low when you actually think (and actually believe) the words: "OMFG, this Casey's pizza is the best thing I've ever eaten in my entire life." While you're driving...AND EATING it (omg). And you normally don't even like pizza! And you, in fact, have never had (or wanted) Casey's pizza before even though you've lived in the QC your whole life. Yet you're eating it and driving. I am totally turning into preggo trash. HELP!

So in general (no pun intended), I don't really like pizza, which makes this very true story even more unbelievable. This is because I'm a vegetarian. You can only eat so many cheese pizzas or veggie pizzas in your life before you'd rather just eat Twizzlers for dinner (rainbow ones ONLY).

I TOLERATE pizza. like when other people want to order it or I'm forced into it, but I'd rather be eating Thai, like times one million %. Kurt's parents do like to hit up this place in Walcott that has Happy Joe's pizza, so when we go there, I order the Taco Little Joe sans beans and meat. I mainly do this for the crunched up chips on top of it. Sure, I could cut out the middle man, save $10 and hit, again, CASEY'S (omg!) on the way outta town and swoop some Taco Doritos, but something about the warm crunchedupness plus the taco sauce is pretty good, I'll admit.

So I've already been borderline preggo trash since last week when I acquired my Mac & Chz addiction, but at least I wasn't eating it in the car. No, not homemade or from Hy-Vee (yuck) deli. Kraft, baby. Boxed!! I tried to be a little higher class and con Kurt into making me the shells & cheese a couple times. Then I said eff it and bought like fourteen boxes of boxed old school Mac & Chz. WTH IS GOING ON WITH ME - I don't eat eggs so normally I will not eat egg noodles. Or powdered cheese. Ew. And I definitely would take issue with 4 tblsp butter plus 1/4 cup of cow's milk! OMG! I am eating dried and non-dried dairy, and APPARENTLY, I also know the recipe by heart now. Intervention, plz.

So I can't even tell you the last time I was jonesing for some boxed mac & chz. I'm thinking circa sixth grade when my mom hadn't been to the store and I was required to make lunch for me and my bro. He would only eat the WHEELS but that is a whole different story. It was either make the mac or watch the brother roll Wonderbread into a huge packed-down ball and eat it like an apple. Little brothers are funny. Point being, I don't normally eat mac & cheese yet I'm sure the lady checking me out at Wal-Mart assumed I ran a 20-kid daycare with nothing on the menu but Kraft. She didn't say anything though...as she scanned box after box after box.

Anyway, Enter Facebook. I filled out this lil survey last week that had 50 random questions. One was something like: do you prefer Chinese food over pizza? My answer: Thai. I don't really like either and would never go out of my way to get either. BUT ever since posting that, I've kind of been wanting pizza but trying to ignore. Tonight I had a chiro appointment so I called in a lil mushroom pizza to Casey's across the street. No, I'm not lying. Anyway, omg was it good...amazing actually. Why is food sooooooooooooo good when you're pregnant, even if it's from the same place you buy gas?? I was sooooooooooooooooooooooooo starving by the time I picked it up, I thought I'd die for sure. Hence the reason I ate a piece (fine, two!) on our ultra-long drive home. Granted I was totally hitting the trough on the blood sugar scale BUT no excuse. Clearly this pregnancy is clouding my sense of good food and good judgment and all-around classiness. Either that or I've been missing out not eating Casey's pizza all these years. For reals.

So yes I'm still huge, meaning my stomach. Stomach is all baby. Don't worry, I won't complain about my a$$...I know why that is getting bigger (see all paragraphs above). LOL!

What happened to my days of craving fruit at all hours of the night? Haha.

Again, HELP! I'm about to apply for jobs at Casey's so the pizza and I can be together 24/7.

Love,

US :)

Fifteen!

2009-07-13T16:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary #1 (yesterday) to my wonderful husband!!

As for farmbaby...

We made it to 15 weeks. Yay! Sweet farmbabe. Who thinks it's a boy? Who thinks it's a girl? We can find out in about 5-6 weeks. Kurt's decided he thinks he wants to find out...but we'll see :)

Today, I had a complaint you couldn't see "me" in the last blog pic. So true! Here's a pic from tonight, taken by big sis Bella. Brace yourself. LOL! Again, sorry for the blackberry pic. I still need to go to Camera Corner and get a cable for my real camera! Okay, no more stalling...here it is, as promised:

OMG, I'm only 15 weeks!!! I wasn't this big with Bella baby at 20 weeks. Yikes!

Here's what sweet babe is up to lately, courtesy of BabyCenter.com:

Your pregnancy: 15 weeks

How your baby's growing:Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.")

How your life's changing:You've probably gained about 5 pounds by now (a little more or less is fine, too) and are well into the swing of your pregnancy, but you may still be surprised by an unexpected symptom now and then. If your nose is stuffed up, for instance, you can probably chalk it up to the combined effect of hormonal changes and increased blood flow to your mucous membranes. This condition is so common, there's even a name for it: "rhinitis of pregnancy." Some pregnant women also suffer nosebleeds as a result of increased blood volume and blood vessel expansion in the nose.If you're having amniocentesis, it'll most likely happen between now and 18 weeks. This test can identify hundreds of genetic and chromosomal disorders. If you're getting very anxious while waiting for the results, it may help to know that most women who undergo amniocentesis get good news about their babies — bringing welcome relief from their worries.Don't be surprised if you and your partner are feeling a little stressed out these days. Many pregnant couples worry about their baby's health and how they'll handle the changes ahead. But with physical discomforts on the wane and energy on the rise, this is also a wonderful trimester for most women.

I'm at the stage where I'm like OMG, is my body SERIOUSLY creating a human...really? It's totally surreal at times, especially when I read things like the babycenter updates. I just put my hand on "Kevin" (my huge tummy) and wish my life away to Jan. 3rd :) It definitely reminds me how lucky we are to have Belle and "Kevin" and makes me so sad for people who try soooo hard but can't experience pregnancy for themselves. And it makes me sooo sad for the sweet babies that have mommies that don't want them and don't care. Anyway - preggo melancholiness done! Back to the funny stuff like what I've been eating (aka everything but meat)!

Well, my fruit midnight munches have all but subsided. I relapse now and again but no more getting up at 12:00 a.m. or 1 a.m. and eating peaches. This was probably healthy, food-wise, but preggo mama needs her sleep. I still enjoy eating random things! For example, I just ate some au gratin pototoes sprinkled with jalenpeno chips, and now Belle and I are going to make Whitey's Peppermint ice cream cones. LOL. I may have a zesty pickle spear (or two) afterwards, who knows! :)

Mucho love to y'all!!!!!!!!!

Love,

2009-07-06T20:34:00.000-07:00

Yay to FarmBaby! Now we're 14 weeks. Check out this super scary pic:

Lol, no, I did not say that we have 14 weeks TO GO. I know the picture is giving you the "OMG" reaction but truly, I'm only 14 weeks, meaning I have 26 weeks TO GO. So you're right: definitely O.M.G.!!! I say this every day so don't worry, I am not offended. Today Belle said (super innocently) that it's okay if I look like a swallowed a watermelon, because I am bringing a new life to this earth. Isn't that so cute and sweet? Then she went on to ask me if I watched Dr. Phil today...assuming that I had, in fact, watched it (hilarious since I have NEVER watched it). I informed her no, because I was AT WORK, which is why she was at her grandma's, apparently watching Dr. Phil. lol. She dramatically explained that a "FIF-TEEN year old got PREG-NANT" and had to watch a robot baby because Dr. Phil made her. If she couldn't handle it, she was going to have to give the real baby up for adoption. I asked her what happened and she said she wasn't sure because she went outside to play with the cats. Haha.

Anyway, so yes, I am totally huge for being 14 weeks. I realize I'm short and it has nowhere to go but I'm like 10 times as big as I was with Belle and I haven't grown or shrunk since then. It seems like everyone says you show earlier with your second baby and while this is probably true, I'm sure I'm an extreme case. Ha! :)

On a lighter note, here is what babycenter.com has to say about this week :)

Awwww! Sweet babe!!!

Mucho love to everyone!!

~Us

Georgia Peach

2009-06-28T18:31:00.000-07:00

Yay! Again, per the bump.com:

Your fetus is forming teeth and vocal cords... savor this, their non-functional phase. Baby is approaching normal proportions, with a head now only one third the size of the body. Intestines are in the process of moving from the umbilical cord to baby's tummy. (Much more convenient.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Awww. Sweet peach. I just love this site's "How Big Is Baby?" link. It's so cute!!

We had a scare on Friday, omg! We went in for our a.m. monthly appointment to hear the peach's heartbeat...however, she couldn't find it on the doppler. Her questions, her continuing to try to find it, and the look on her face made me realize that while it may be perfectly normal in there, they were still definitely going to check it out on the ultrasound to make sure the heart was, in fact, still beating. They couldn't get me into ultrasound until 2:30, though, so we had to go to work between the appointments.

GOD, SCARY! Even though I know this *might* be a common thing to not find the heartbeat at 13 weeks, it is still so scary when it happens to YOU!! I was secretly freaking out although to those that know me well, it may have been obvious I was nervous breakdowning :) The good news is the ultrasound was fine and peach's heart was beating right along! :) Yay! FarmBaby lives on!! Of course I was so happy I was crying in front of the ultrasound lady so hopefully she doesn't think I'm completely crazy :)

So that was our excitement for the week. Even if it was scary, it was still so nice for Kurt & I to see the sweet babe's face, body and heartbeat (yay!) on the monitor. It has changed so much since our last ultrasound at 8.5 weeks. He/she has his/her little hand in front of his/her little mouth. Isn't that so cute??

On a lighter note (well...heavier note, actually), I'm coming to the realization the clothes just aren't fitting so cute anymore so I did buy a bella band to cover the fact my jeans/pants no longer zip OR button. HAHA! I see a Motherhood shopping trip in my future... I have also been working on cleaning out my drawers for our impending move. It's pretty comical to realize it will probably be a YEAR before I fit into most of the stuff again. Yikes!

Love,
~Us~

Plumness :)

2009-06-22T19:53:00.000-07:00

As you move into the second trimester, baby shifts into the growth and maturation stage. After weeks in the critical development stage, almost all of baby's systems are fully formed.

Sweet plum baby!! It seems like the baby is getting big now! From the outside, trust me, it looks bigger than a plum.

Belle came up with another boy name we (even Kurt!!!) really like: Emmett. She's really good at coming up with random names, actually! For every good one, there is usually a not so good one, though, but it's hilarious. I won't post the "bad ones" so as not to offend anyone...you know, in case anyone wants to name their baby Aurora or Ariel.

For girls, we still have my faves, Jane and Alice.

Mucho love!

~Us

P.S. Seriously I think everyone I know is preggo with sweet babes!!! :) Well, not EVERYONE but a lot of my/our friends. I am beyond overjoyed! Yay preggos!!! If you are one of these preggos, congrats! :) :)

Bye bye, Trimester Uno :)

2009-06-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

Yay!! We made it!! Most everyone knows 12 weeks is when your risk of miscarriage goes WAYYYY down. So needless to say, we are relieved and thankful for farmbaby!

Trimester Numero Dos means out with the old, in with the new! Goodbye tiredness, hello weight gain! Apparently, I'm not overly concerned judging by what I ate today: a pear, Belle and I shared some popcorn at Waterpark car wash (God, it tasted good for some reason), Tantra Kung Pao Noodles (=Love), Whitey's Coffee Toffee and Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream, Rudy's veggie tacos. I did throw up a lot of the Rudy's, though...so not sure if I should count that as actually eating it? Hmmm...I'm going to say yes. Sorry for the graphicness and T.M.I but it is a pregnancy blog after all. :) I don't have "morning sickness" per se...but I do randomly throw up about 1-2 times per week; usually it happens after I eat. Ew!! LOL! It doesn't really bother me too much because I feel great after I throw up. Weird, I know!

My worst preggo symptom is I am not sleeping well AT ALL. I realized I need to go back to yoga! I sleep and feel soooo much better when I yoga. The issue is that after work I am SOOOO exhausted that I cannot wait to come home and lie down on the couch and cat nap. Like I truly can't think of anything else nor stop myself from constant napping!! A couple times I was scared I'd fall asleep on I-280 before I could get home to nap (fine, it's most days). Normally, I like to roll vampire-style and catch like 3 hours of sleep per night...NEVER taking naps. Farmbaby must be tired because I doze off more than hibernating bear. *growl* Then, I miraculously wake up around 1am and cannot fall asleep yet I'm too tired to get up. LOL. How ridiculous! Anyway, yoga will definitely help this and I miss my yogini friends and teachers, many of whom I saw today at the health fair and love dearly! :)

HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO ALL DAD'S ON SUNDAY! I hope everyone has a wonderful day!! We'll be picnicking (sp?) at West Lake with my awesome dad. He rocks it hardcore. We ALWAYSSS go to the River Bandits games on Father's Day but this year, the banditos are playing out of town. So we decided to do the picnic and horse shoe games in lieu of the game. I even made stuff!!!!! For reals!!! I went to the store, bought everything we need to grill and picnic and made a salad and chopped up additional veggies. Oh and I MADE ranch dip. OMG!

Much love to y'all!!

Love,
Us :)

Still Week 11

2009-06-17T19:26:00.001-07:00

Hola! Week 11 is moving right along. The weather is beautiful and being a teacher with the summers off would be AWESOME right about now. :) Too bad I have no teaching degree nor the self-discipline to live on a teacher's salary. Oops!

No exciting baby news to report from us. Today the ticker said, "Your little ones eyes are open wide." I thought that was purely adorable. Awww...

Kurt hasn't decided if we'll find out if they baby is a boy or a girl. I'm perfectly fine with either way, but I'm impatient to know his decision. Ha. I did find some cute neutral bedding online that I love...it has a vintage look, which I adore. If we do find out if it's a boy or a girl, though, I'll likely go way overboard on the blues and pinks.

Much love,
Us :)

Needs to Stop

2009-06-13T23:57:00.001-07:00

OMG. For the past two nights, here is the scenerio: Around dinnertime I'm super hungry but nothing sounds good...to the point I seriously cannot eat. I'm not throwing up or anything like that but just not feeling it. I made myself eat some rice cakes tonight but it didn't help. Both nights, I RANDOMLY lay down to "rest my eyes" and fall asleep around 7:30 (this is NOT like me at all) and can't get back up. Miraculously wake up at midnight or so STARVING and cannot get the thought of food and fruit out of my mind! I try to ignore it to no avail. See why I need the fruit stockage?

So tonight I finally give in around 1am and have some veggie chicken, like 8 strawberries, a couple dozen blackberries, nectarine and a Canada Dry Raspberry Sparking Water (= love). I am pretty sure this isn't normal behavior. I'm no health guru but I can recall midnight snacking not being great for your metabolism or sleep.

Haha. I just thought this was kind of funny so I should post. All of the above is NOTHING like me. The only time I go to bed at 7:30 is if I'm partying somewhere during the day (e.g. Cubs game). For a vegetarian I regretfully don't eat very much fruit, especially not in these huge binges...so I guess that is probably good?

The bad thing is that when morning comes around, Kurt prances out of bed and immediately starts his (very loud) weekend cleaning regime while I'm dead tired from my midnight fruit and blog binge! I'm going to have to cut this lil plan of his in the a.m. :)

Love,
Moi

FarmBaby Steward

Ohhh My God

Short Update :)

Dude

"ASAP"

Sucks!

Happy Easter!!!

3 Days and Counting

Week 8's Great...

Week 10...

Pics Posted! Yippee!

Starving Artist??

Mama Got a Rockin' New Camera...

"Back in the [Stroller] Again"

Two Months!! :(

Size 2's??

New Pics!

Extortion

Big Baby!

Happy Birthday, Baseball Baby!

Ummm..OMG!

Vroom vroom

Two Weeks!!

Stupid Mom Moments Edition #1

Sick Baby!

Road Trip

Happy Bday, FarmBaby!

5 Days Old ;)

FarmBaby Arrives!!!

7 cm

love letter

wow

Name Update! Please vote :)

Yikes!

Tuesday Scoops!

Monday Scoops

omg!

Yay & Yikes!!!!!

Due Date!!

Bday Wish / Desparate Times = Desparate Measures

No News *Rolls Eyes*

Friday P.M.

Good Morning!!

Nite Nite

Thurs. Afternoon Update!

Thurs. Early A.M. Update

Wed. P.M. Update :)

Dr. Update

Good & Bad News!

Tues. A.M. News...

Tick...tock...tick...tock...

Back to Work for FarmDaddy

Still Knocked Up... 39 weeks today!

Merry Christmas & "Oops!"

Merry, Merry Christmas!!!

RUKM?

12 Days...OMG!

Happy Birthday, Kennedi!

38 weeks...

FULL-TERM FARMBABY!!!!!!!!

Progress!!!

Less Than 25 Days! OMG!

36 Weeks! Yay!

#35

34 Weeks + 2 days... (and counting)...

3D/4D Ultrasound Pics!! FINALLY!

Quick Update

Hello, Thursday. Hello, TheBump.com. I love you both.

Ommmmm.... 30 Weeks.... 68 Days Left...

Butternut Bambino ~ 29 Weeks ~ 11 Left to Go!

New Pics :)

Fun Times!

Lab Update

OMG STARVING!

CORN BABY!!

Muy grande!

OMG

Name Debate :)

Papaya Mama!

Scoop

No News Rolls Eyes

boomboomboom