Updates...

#1- Our new mattress took some getting used to... but I think we are finally able to sleep soundly all night on it :-) I can even sleep on my belly - when I get up, there is a 'belly groove'

#2- We moved and have finally got everything up and running (phone, internet, cable). Sorry for the lapse in blogging. I should be able to be better now.

#3- Today I am officially 22 weeks pregnant. This pregnancy is FLYING by! (don't really click on the picture, it is just a copy and didn't get linked)

#4- It is Spring Break here in Fort Knox, KY. It is only Monday and I can already see that Grace and I will be butting heads all week. Thank goodness we will both get a NC break :-)

Hmmm... I think that is it for now. I am sure there are other things I haven't updated in a while, but now that I have internet, I can update later :-)

Tax Money :-)

So, we got a new mattress. The one that we had been sleeping on was a little over 6 years old and had quite a "sag" in the middle (mainly due to Rob's deployments and me sleeping in the middle of the bed :-)). So, we splurged and got a new Tempur-Pedic mattress with our tax refund. It is one of those 'mold to your body' mattresses that are supposed to rid you of all pressure problems. I talked Rob into getting the firmer of the two that we were considering... and *may* have to admit that it *may* be a bit too firm, even for me (the queen of the firm bed). It is firmer (more firm?) than the showroom one, but I am holding onto the hope that ours will settle and be a little better with a little time.

It is a great mattress, just is SO different from our 'old blue' mattress that I am having a little separation anxiety :-)

Graceism

Grace was singing to the top of her lungs...

"Oh-a-mish-ago"

Me: What in the world are you singing?

G: The song playing in my room.

So, I went back to see what song it was. Hall & Oats "Maneater"

"Oh-here she comes" is what Grace was singing.

*I am going to TRY to get the video in here... hopefully it will work. You can (barely) hear the song playing from her room in the video

Ultrasound

So, I had an ultrasound yesterday. Everything looks fine and normal. Baby is measuring within three days of what is expected (measuring at 19w6d, instead of 20w1d) in all but one measurement. Baby's femur length (long bone in leg) is measuring quite long -- nothing extraordinary, but the tech said "this one is going to be a long one"! Bone is measuring at 21w1d... so a whole week ahead! I am expecting another one like Faith... who was 22-1/2 in when she was born.

I did NOT find out the gender -- though I was alone in that ultrasound room and it was SO tempting. I am not nearly as nervous as I thought I would be... I do have one more chance though... in 4 weeks I will have another ultrasound that the kids can come to, so one more hurdle :-)

The picture is a hand, obviously... in (what we call) Spider Arms. Josh saw the picture and said "High Five" :-) Smart boy!

Happy St Patrick's Day!!

*Don't forget your green :-)

My newest cards...

The one that says 'what if' on the front says ' What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it is ALL about?' in the inside. The 'Bee Yourself' one says "nobody is better qualified" on the inside. And the pink one says 'you're one of the good ones' on the inside

Whatcha think?

Raleigh

So, as most of you know, we don't let Raleigh out of the house. I know, some people think that it is pretty cruel to keep a cat inside the house all the time, but I don't want to be responsible for him getting hurt or run over. He doesn't have his front claws and there are lots of dogs in our neighborhood. Plus, he doesn't know what a car is and will lay down in the road, apparently thinking that the car is coming to rub his belly.

Anyway... I always have about two minutes between the time the bus picks G up until it comes back up the street (and I go out and wave to her one more time). This is usually just enough time to log into Yahoo to check my email and see how the weather is going to be.

Well, not today. For two minutes, I was chasing my sly cat from bush to bush outside our house! Apparently it is warm enough for him to want to be outside now so I'll have to start watching the door close completely. Hmmm... I wonder if those shock collars work on cats...

Grumpy

I am grumpy. Don't know why... can't explain it, just grumpy. I can admit it about myself.

Woke up fine. Worked around the house just fine. About thirty minutes after G came home, I got grumpy. F didn't help with her "I am NOT eating that" at dinner. I took a nice walk with G and J while Rob tried to get F to eat. That was nice. Rob and F met us on the way back with the dog. The dog made me grumpy. I practically had to drag her down the street. I was not waiting for her to smell every smell on this side of Fort Knox. She only, really, makes me grumpy when she is coming into heat. Which is now. Grumpy.

It is a little before 2030 and the kids are in bed. My goal is to sleep the grumpy off. I will be in bed by 2100. That is the goal anyway. Unless something else gets to me first...

Baby

Rob and G both felt the baby kick this morning! G thought it felt weird :-)

Cards

So, I decided that I really do need to make some new cards. All of this is a result of the fact that I had to search for a congratulations card to give to a friend... I should be able to do that myself! Especially with having all of the 'stuff' to do it. So, here are my newest attempts...


Both are made with the "In Full Bloom" set from Stampin' Up! I love the set, but can't always figure out how to make anything with them. I still think the one with the bee on it needs something, but I didn't have any ribbon to pull across the green. Hmmm... may have to tweak that one.

Hospital Gripes

As most of you know, I had a great trip to the ER on Sunday morning... I had a stomach virus pretty bad on Friday night through Saturday morning. This led me to have some awful cramps both Saturday and Sunday.

Of course, I became super paranoid that it wasn't just the virus finishing with me, but that really it was something wrong with the baby. Made me very jittery and nervous.

So, I went into the ER. I was pretty impressed with the check in process. I came in, sat down, they took me back for triage stuff, peed in a cup and sat back down to wait to go back.

Hmm... that guy came in after me... he isn't bleeding and it doesn't look like anything physically wrong with him, hmm... wonder why he gets to go back first. They must be still waiting for my pee results. Be patient, Melissa.

Oh... that is my name. Let's go back. Sit here, somebody will be right with you. Well, wait... let's move you to a 'real' room (not the cloth divider rooms) since they may have to do an exam on you. Go ahead and strip from the waist down. You can cover with this *warmed* blanket.

So, I get stuck in this little bitty room back away from all of the other rooms. I am thinking... wow, this is nice. I am not too close to any ER germs and real rooms must be more important than divider rooms.

WRONG!

After thirty more minutes of waiting, finally somebody remembers I am there. In comes the doctor... a lady who, apparently, wants to talk about every baby she has ever delivered. Takes my history... again... and tells me she is going to order some tests. Tells me I am smart for bringing my iPod to give me something to do.... I have less than 50% battery strength.

Fifteen minutes later... Nurse comes in with a fetal heart monitor. This is really the only reason I came in... to make sure baby is still okay. Baby heartbeat at a good 153 bpm. Alright... now I am ready to go home. This is what I was worried about. But no... gotta wait.

Another thirty minutes goes by. In comes the nurse to take my blood. Now, I am not squeamish about giving blood/having my blood drawn. I cannot watch, though... don't want to see it. I have pretty thin blood, so it usually doesn't take very long. So, nurse sticks me, I feel the pressure of her holding the needle-apparatus-thing in place and hear her say something like "oh wow" and all pressure lifts from my arm. Now, I am thinking 'I filled the vial up quick' and I look down. What do I see?!? Blood gushing all over and the needle still in my arm! I mean blood EVERYWHERE -- the floor, the blanket, the nurse, everywhere. Nurse couldn't get it to stop! She got her vial of blood and pulled the needle-apparatus-thing out, even though she was supposed to keep it in, in case I needed an IV. Then she leaves me with this tiny little square of gauze and tells me to hold it on until it stops bleeding. HELLO?!? Be patient, Melissa.

So, I find myself sitting, pants-less with a freezing, bloody blanket (because warmed blankets don't stay that way) holding a piece of gauze soaked in my blood. Breathe, Melissa.

An hour and forty five minutes later... still sitting. I decide to put my pants on and open the door, in the slim chance that somebody may come by this way and tell me where the bathroom is. My iPod battery line is almost to that dreaded 'red' part. I guess I should stop listening to book on tape and playing solitaire both... seems to drain the battery faster. Breathe, Melissa.

Ten minutes later, the doctor comes back in...

I'm waiting on one more test result, but everything looks fine. I didn't want you to think I forgot about you. Sure... the bathroom is right over here (two doors away from where I was). Be patient, Melissa.

Thirty minutes later, finally with an empty bladder, another nurse comes in with my discharge paperwork. She gives me another piece of gauze for my arm and tapes it down so I don't have to hold it. Where was she two hours ago?!? iPod in red zone.

So, just at four hours from start to finish. What was wrong, you ask?!? The stomach virus seems to have dehydrated you. We would give you an IV, but you had such problems with the needle-apparatus-thing that we don't want to stick you again. You need to drink more water.

Oh My Gosh!

I guess I shouldn't complain. Our insurance will pay for it all... even when it is only for my peace of mind that I go in. I do consider myself lucky that there was nothing wrong with me or baby. I guess I should consider myself lucky for being able to go with no worry. But seriously, four hours to tell me to drink more water?!?

Rob-ism

picture it -- me folding clothes; watching commercials when the new trailer for "Dr Seuss's Horton Hears a Who" comes on

me: I think we need to see that

Rob: I know we need to see it.

{PAUSE}

{PAUSE}

Rob: But I want to read the book first.

And he was serious.

I laughed so hard, I cried. Bubba came up to me and hugged me and told me it would be okay.

Pet Peeves

I really try not to let things get to me. I did say 'try'. But as of late (I will blame it on the soaring hormones), things seem to be getting on my last nerve. These are not new things, just things that seem to be amplified right now...

1) My children grunting when I tell them no. I have had to walk out of the room before I lost my mind! Grace does it so much that she doesn't even know when she does it anymore!

2) Premature honkers. You know... those jackasses that are tenth in line at a stoplight who think that if the light is green everyone should miraculously be going the speed limit.

3) Inversely, those people who are too busy searching their laps, purses, mirrors, etc to notice that the light has been green for thirty seconds -- and they are usually the first in the line of cars!

4) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows... I've just finished listening to the audiobook on my iPod. It really is one of the worst books in the series. There is a whole lot of 'fluff' without much substance. Goes back to the theory that she felt she had to fill a certain number of pages to have the book be a success. (*don't get me wrong, I still am a Harry freak)

5) ants. My house is probably cleaner and more sanitized than it has been in a while (again, I attribute those high hormones in the second trimester)... so why are there ants in my kitchen NOW?!? I hate those little things. Make me feel like I need to throw everything away, even the non-edible things --- I don't think our microwave will make it through the week.

6) ant traps/poisons. They don't manufacture these things with little sticky pads on the back. The ants in our house are those tiny little ants... the ones that can just WALK UNDER the traps because they are not quite flush with the floor! UGH!

Hmmm.. there seem to be so many more as I go through the day, but I can't think of anymore right now. I am sure I will be talking of more as I come across them.