My Mawmaw died two weeks ago. And I'll be having my baby within the next two weeks. I am so exhausted and really don't feel much like explaining everything right now, but for those who are checking up on me, now you know the basics lol.

My last appointment was on Friday, and I'm fingertip dilated and 50% effaced, Emery is at -2 station. We'll induce at 39 weeks if I make it that far. I will be officially full term at 37 weeks in a few minutes. My next appointment is this coming Friday, and we're only taking it a week at a time because of my contractions.

I had a little Tigger today for Halloween, and taking her around trick-or-treating this weekend about put me into full labor. I'm glad for the break right now. Of course, while I cheat on my gestational diabetes diet and eat her candy. Not all of it, Dusty's bringing me Taco Bell. :)

Miss Emery had me visiting Labor & Delivery again yesterday. I didn't feel her move much at all during the morning or afternoon, so I put in a call to the on-call doctor and she wanted me to go in and get hooked up to the monitors for a while just to make sure everything was ok, especially since it was such a drastic change in my baby's activity. Well, everything was just fine! I guess she was just having a slow day, but her heartbeat was great. They even did a sonogram and measured my fluid and it looked great. Emery is finally head down! Yay for confirmation! I was pretty sure she was head down anyway, and she has definitely dropped. Today has been torture walking around her head. 

Tomorrow is Mischa's first day of preschool without me! Last Wednesday, we went and sat in on a day just to get an idea of what they did and if Mischa would enjoy it (she did!), then Friday we joined them on a field trip to the new Children's Museum. It was a great time, although not exactly easy at almost 8 1/2 months pregnant. But anyway, tomorrow is her first day without me, and Dusty is going with us to drop her off. 

Tomorrow also marks 34 weeks! Officially 8 1/2 months. And tomorrow night, Autumn is coming over to work on the rest of the "sprinkle" plans. Hopefully that goes smoothly and we can just have fun with it. Last week, we spent the afternoon in TH getting supplies, and I think all that's left is food stuff. It's going to be pretty :).

Dusty just found the dog. Evidently he snapped yet another cable and was gone, so he went out to look for him. I guess he didn't travel far! He was just glad to be loose like all his doggie friends. I guess we'll just have to let him out in the morning and see what happens. 

33 weeks with Emery

40 weeks with Mischa

Sooo... this kinda freaks me out a little. BUT 4 weeks from today and I'll be considered full term :)).

We just can't catch a break it seems. Today I got a phone call from a loan office (that we JUST got a letter from a few days ago) wanting us to pay off our loan in full. I laughed at the guy. Seriously? Who has the money just laying around to pay off a loan, and just doesn't? And this comes right when we're trying to figure out how much time we can afford Dusty to take off of work after Emery is born. After my initial freak out (inwardly, of course), I got to number crunching and a few hours later, I think I have a solution. We're going to try to consolidate a few of our loans so we just have one payment that will most likely be less than all the different payments combined, and we should be able to even get a new bed (finally!!!). Oh, and this is on the heels of my $1,000 bill for visiting L&D a few weeks back. When Dusty (tactfully, at 7:30 am) woke me to tell me about that one, my freak out wasn't so inwardly. I distinctly remember crying "Can't I just sleep and not think about money for a while?!" I had spent several hours the day before setting up next year's budget, and spent my evening "me" time trying to juggle the last few months of this year's budget. I was sick of hearing about money, I had been up until 3:30 with Mischa, I was tired, and just done.

But it looks like God's working it all out again. Go figure right? I really need to stop these freak outs and realize He's kinda got things covered, I just need to figure that out.

I went to the dentist yesterday (eeek! <-- new favorite expression), and had my teeth cleaned. After almost having a panic attack listening to the guy on the other side of the divider get a tooth pulled, the dentist got me all cleaned up in about half an hour and on my way. Boy did it hurt, and by the time dinner rolled around, it hurt to chew. Ironically, my numbers still sucked yesterday. Dang. But I'm better today. Just have to figure out these numbers...

Friday is my next OB appointment. It's also October 1st, which is crazy weird, because that means I can start saying I'm due "next month". Reality is sinking in...

My friend Autumn has been a lifesaver and has totally stepped up and is throwing me a "Baby Sprinkle". I'm helping her plan it, and buying the stuff, but she's hosting it, and she's awesome. I really hope this helps ease my anxiety. I ended up returning a few things that I ended up not needing to Walmart yesterday just so I could buy a small package of newborn diapers because I was honestly losing sleep over not having any diapers in the right size. I have a BOX of wipes, but no diapers, and I actually slept like the dead last night. Well, the dead that gets up to pee every few hours, but you get my point. Just knowing that I have some diapers, and I will hopefully get more at the Sprinkle, has already helped my anxiety. Diapers and a baby bath are the only things I really NEED (besides the car seat, but I know that's handled, so I'm mostly ok. I'll be better once that's installed.).

I found the most amazing DIY decorations on YouTube that I've tested out today. They're tissue paper puff flowers and they're so cute! I'm going to try to pick up various colors of tissue paper and make them for the Sprinkle. I tried out a few today with what I had, and they're adorable. I think I might make them as decor over the crib, maybe as a mobile of some sort. I'll try to remember to post a picture of them (they're hanging in Mischa's room now, and she's sleeping thank GOD!!).

Well, that's it for now. I'm going to go try to read in bed for a while. Hopefully I can focus!

Ughhh.... 32 weeks today. :) Is it November yet though?

Ok, I'm going to complain for a while, so feel free to skip this post. <3

I'm so excited and ready for her to be here, but we're so not ready. :( My mom told me Saturday that she won't be able to throw the baby shower because of her brain injury, and she's pretty disappointed too because she had finally decided on an I Love Lucy theme. I totally understand, and I want her to take her time healing. So now I'm freaking out more than before because we just financially can't get anything. My aunts are for sure getting the car seat, but I also need diapers. I'm going to have to make sure I get at least one box before she's born, just so I don't freak out. Although, I already am. I'm so tired of suffering financially because of other people's stupid decisions and other things that are out of my control. (Like Dusty being yanked around at work, etc.)

She's talking about throwing a party after Emery is born, which would be awesome as well... But I'm still freaking out about diapers. I just wish there was more time. I tried to start buying things early, get stocked up, and everyone told me to just hold off and wait until we got closer and see what we get from the baby/diaper shower. Well, it looks like I had the right idea and I should have ignored everyone because now I just have one box of diapers that aren't even the right size.

This week will be super tight, which might make the next couple weeks really tight, but I may try to take some grocery money and buy one thing at a time from my registry, just so I have what I need. My checklist of needs for when she's born is diapers, baby bath, nursing cover, bottles. I think I can do it..

Dusty is helping with Kairos this October (oh my goodness that starts this weekend!), so he's been going to training. I feel like he hasn't had a day off off something in weeks. He works Monday to Thursday/Friday, Kairos training on Saturday, church Sunday. He has an overnight training this weekend (Friday night), then he'll be gone again Saturday evening for "Candlelight" (whatever that really is). The next weekend he's free, but then he has more training the next weekend, and then Kairos the 21st-24th. We just realized today that he'll be missing this year's Blackbird because it's been scheduled for the 23rd, and he may be missing a doctor appointment as well. I had all my biweekly appointments scheduled, and the last one is the 15th, so I'm assuming he'll be having me come in weekly after that, which is Kairos weekend.

Ok, I'm so done thinking about all this. I'm tired. I did our 2011 budget today, and my head hurts!!

We've had a busy day! We watched the Corn Festival parade today, then we headed up to Terre Haute and joined in Lilly's first birthday party :). That girl is adorable! Mischa had a great time.

Then we went over to Babies R Us, because Dusty was in a baby mood after seeing little Lilly and another baby (only 5 weeks!). I'm so glad we did, because after checking out the car seat and stroller we registered for, they're not so great. They're cute! But not practical or as supportive as we originally thought. But we found another set that we really like that we've swapped for on our registry. They fit well together, are easy to manage (move around, install/uninstall, collapse, etc), and they're just plain awesome!

They're from the Graco Laguna Bay collection. They cost a bit more than the others we had planned to get, but hey, you get what you pay for!

I think Emery heard us talking last week, and has finally flipped. Yay!!

I had a list of things I wanted to remember to blog about the next time I got on here, but they're not so interesting in this moment, so I'm not going to go there :).

Today was my 30 week check up. All things considered, it was really good. Dr Y says my glucose numbers look really good, besides the random high ones (but he understands I'm still learning what works and what doesn't), and he says that if they continue to look good at my next appointment then I may get to skip every other day with the poking as long as I keep with the diet! Yay for less button holes! I actually remembered to ask my questions this time, I'm so proud of myself. I told him that I know she's transverse (how could I miss that one - ouch!), so how long do I have for her to flip? He said that generally they like to see them head-down by 36 weeks, and if she doesn't feel like she's in position to him then he'll order an ultrasound to see exactly how she's laying. So Emery has 6 weeks to make up her mind! And it had better be to finish flipping! I also asked him when he planned to start the cervical checks since I was fingertip dilated when I was in L&D. Well, we had to go over again WHY I was in L&D, then the fact that the contractions have slowed but not stopped came up, as well as the fact that I lost part of my plug already. So he said since it's been two weeks, and I'm still having contractions, then he should do another fFn test just to be on the safe side (the results are for the following two weeks). So not only did I get swabbed for that, then he checked my cervix and it hasn't changed. Which is good. She doesn't need to come too early, but I won't be disappointed if she's around for Halloween! I get the results from the fFn tomorrow, but I'm sure it'll be negative again.

My mom fell last week, off of a chair, and hit her head on a metal bed frame. Dad took her to the ER, she had an x-ray and a cat scan done, and they told her that she had a contusion and sent her home to rest. The next day, she read her discharge papers and she actually has a concussion. She went to the doctor today because she's losing brain function (short term memory loss, confusion, fatigue, nausea, etc.), and she has another cat scan in the morning to compare to the one that was done in the ER. If they find anything, she'll be taken into surgery. I'm praying that whatever happens, whatever is found or not found, that she'll heal quickly and not get any worse. She's in pain and miserable, and very frustrated with what's going on. She's a tough cookie, and has been through a lot. I hate that she's going through this too.

Mischa wore underwear today :). From about noon until 7ish, she didn't have any accidents at all. But then we were at my parents' house, and I'm sure she was just busy visiting and forgot to hold it and peed all over the floor. She felt TERRIBLE. Not that she did anything wrong, but it was obvious she was upset with herself. She's such an intelligent little girl!

We're being screwed over by our electric company. We signed up our account for the fixed bill thing they sent us a letter about (one fixed amount for a year, and no settle up at the end of the year), and the guy I spoke with made a few mistakes in what he was telling me, such as, he said we owed a certain amount by the end of the month then then next bill would start our fixed billing. Well, it turns out that it was a different amount due September 8th, so now it looks like we didn't pay a bill, and they want us to pay over $300! They want our entire account balance. And they want $200 of it by the 30th. No one will say, yes he made a mistake, they won't take the blame for anything. They just want us to pay up. I'm not so sure how things are going to work out, but I am beyond stressed. I know we'll get out of this eventually, but I hate how everything seems to go horribly wrong financially just before we have a baby!

Off topic real quick, I guess my aunts ARE getting us at least the carseat, but it won't be for a while because they don't have the money right now. But I've been told that I will have it before Emery is born. Thank God.

30 weeks today!!

It's been a crazy few days. And I sit here eating my sugar free jello (because I can have as much as I want, and I want it all!), trying to figure out where to start...

Ok, starting with our first adventure of the weekend, we were getting ready to head out of town to visit Mike and Andrea and the new baby, and the car battery died. Not when we piled in with all our junk, but when Dusty went to restart it after FILLING it at the gas station. It just died. Completely drained. We called another family member to give us a jump, and the dern thing wouldn't even hold a charge. So Mischa and I walked across the street and hung out at Dairy Queen while Dusty went with Kyle and bought a new car battery. There went my gas money for the week, and then some. The battery was seriously almost $100! So, no maternity pics for me (I was supposed to go visit a friend in Evansville, and she was going to do my maternity pictures for free. She's an AWESOME photographer!). But I am very thankful that it was only a battery, and not anything more serious or expensive!

We did get up there safely, although a bit later than we had planned. But that worked out just fine, because they already had company there. I was able to do a quick newborn session with little Evelyn, and here are some of the results:

She really was such a cooperative little model (once she got her belly full!). She's so adorable! And she made me want it to be November sooo badly, haha. But then we got home, reality struck, and we're so totally not ready. I loved visiting with them; we haven't just hung out in what feels like forever. But I am glad we left when we did because it was obvious they were exhausted (they had just got home from the hospital that day!), Emery wasn't too keen on the idea of me being around another baby at times, and dear lord I seriously had let down when Evelyn started crying before we left. So that was a huge flag that it was time to go lol.

Let's see... Well, yesterday we finally went grocery shopping. Although we went over budget, I feel so much better having things in the house that I can eat! Such as the SF Jello... I need a refill...
Anyway, >>TMI ALERT<< I lost part of my mucous plug as we were leaving Walmart. I don't remember that starting so early with Mischa. I'm pretty sure it wasn't until after 35 weeks. But my next appointment is Thursday, so I'll definitely be bringing that one up.

It doesn't look like we'll be getting the carseat and stroller we wanted. At least not anytime soon, and definitely not during the trade in sale at Babies R Us. One of my aunts offered to help pay for them, and my mom told me that my aunt was actually going to be splitting the cost with another aunt. But since I tried to take her up on the offer, I haven't heard from her, and she hasn't mentioned it to my mom. So I'm taking it as she either hasn't gotten my message, or it's a no.

My mom and sister are still trying to figure out what theme to go with for my baby shower (which I guess is on for next month... they might want to jump on a few things..). They're torn between just sticking with their original plan of a diaper shower (which is fine by me), or going Famous Hollywood Moms themed. I asked her how in the world do you plan a theme like that (in my mind, I'm picturing life size cutouts of Angelina Jolie and Madonna strategically placed around the room), and she starts listing things like trivia and some game I don't even remember. I know that whatever they plan, it will be hilariously fun, at least to us. I'm just not sure if everyone else would get our humor... But we'd be having an awesome time ;).

Ummm... I think that brings me up to date... Need more Jello...

So the gestational diabetes is little more stressful than I anticipated. I ended up going to the nutritionist/dietician yesterday (they didn't want to wait until today), so I took Mischa with me. She actually was very good, and I'm very proud of her. She loved playing with all the fake food.

I have to check my blood sugar 4 times a day. Fasting, then 2 hours after every meal. So far all my numbers have been coming back great, but I know that if I bring this up they'll tell me that it's just because the new diet is working wonderfully. Whatever. It's just a few more weeks, then I should be done.

The worst part is trying to figure out what to eat. I'm only allowed 12 carb counts a day, which one count equals 15 grams. So it's not a whole lot, but I'm figuring it out:

YESTERDAY:

• Lunch: Double bacon, egg, and cheese on an English Muffin from Subway = 1 count
• Snack: 3 cookies = 2 counts
• Dinner: 3/4 cup spaghetti w/ sauce, 1 slice of garlic bread, 1 cup of milk = 4 counts
• Bedtime Snack: One packet of instant oatmeal = 2 counts (only supposed to have 1, but I only had 1 at lunch)

TODAY

• Breakfast: Two pieces of wheat toast, one with butter, one with cheese and an egg (over easy), 1/2 cup of milk, 2 slices of peaches = 2 counts
• Lunch: Peanut butter and honey butter sandwich on wheat bread, 1/2 cup of milk = 3 counts
• Snack: Not there yet, but I'm only allotted 2 counts
• Dinner: No idea what I'm making, but I get 4 counts
• Bedtime Snack: One measly count.

I might waste away.

Ok, so it's not really that horrible, but it's hard to figure out what to eat. It almost takes longer preparing anything and figuring out how many counts things are, than it does to finally eat! But it's obviously working, because, like I said, all my numbers are coming back fine. My fasting is supposed to be less than 94, and after meals is supposed to be under 120. I've only been over 100 once, and that was after dinner last night, and it was only 106.

I think we're going to attempt walking again tonight, but at a more leisurely pace. I think we were walking too fast last time, and that's why I started having contractions.

Well, I haven't posted any pictures lately, so I'll leave you with one of my growing belly, and one of my cuter munchkin.

28 wks, 6 dys

Sitting in my desk :)

Well, I failed my 3 hour glucose test, so I officially have gestational diabetes. I have an appointment Thursday morning with the diabetes specialist to go over my new diet and get my testing kit. I found this out right after I finished off a small Chocolate X-treme Blizzard. I'm horrible.

I'm still having irregular contractions and cramping, but I can function. I've noticed that I'm getting worn out quicker. I had to take two breaks while I did dishes today, and that was just one sink load of dishes! Ugh...

I'm pretty sure Emery is trying to flip herself over. She's been kicking the left side of my pelvis and squirming a bit lower under my right side. And today she feels like she's a bit more transverse. I hope she gets this flip over with, because this is so uncomfortable.

Evelyn Mae was born at 9:25 this morning! She was 7lbs 4oz, and 20 1/4 inches long. She's so cute! All I've seen is pictures, but we're hoping to go up and visit Friday, so I can't wait to see her! I'm loving seeing all the pictures and updates about her, but it's making me want my little girl so badly!!

Mischa just woke up. It's 10 pm, and she's been asleep since about 6:30. I'm not sure if I'm going to get any sleep tonight...

My unborn, the drama queen. Already. I spent about 4-5 hours in labor and delivery last Thursday night because of cramping and contractions. I feel like I have to explain this every time I say cramping because I know it sounds petty. But when I say cramping, I mean laying on the couch, rocking back and forth, trying not to cry because it hurts so bad period cramps. I called my doctor's office, and they told me to go right in to the hospital. When I got there, they had me pee in a cup, then hooked me up to the monitors to track Emery's heartbeat and my contractions. They also did the fFN test. Both that and the UTI test came back negative. So since those were negative, my contractions were irregular, and my cervix hadn't changed while I was there (which, by the way, I'm dilated a fingertip! They said it's expected since I've had a baby before, but COME ON!), they sent me home.

We're all assuming it's dehydration. I had to drink two large cups of water while we waited on my test results, and it helped the cramping some, but I was still contracting. And I still am. And the cramping came back today. So, I'm trying to drink as much water as possible, but -of course- it aggravates my heartburn. Woot.

My activities are restricted as tolerated, which means I'm not allowed to push myself to do so much anymore. So it'll just be laundry and dishes for a while. Dusty's been pretty helpful. He's made dinner the past few nights so I don't have to. :) And whenever I mention something sounds good, he usually ends up bringing it home from the store at some point. The most recent being m&m cookies! Yum!

Tuesday, Andrea has her baby girl (:D). Friday, we're hoping to go visit (!!). Saturday, I'm hoping to make a day trip to Evansville to visit a friend. She's a pretty awesome photographer and wants to experiment with my belly :). I REALLY hope it works out!

Ok, so I never got around to the crocheting in front of the TV, but my shower was fabulous :). I ended up in bed by 10, and lights out just before 11. Which NEVER happens to me. I'm ALWAYS up after midnight, especially when Dusty is on nights. But I'm getting farther along, Emery is having more growth spurts and taking more out of me, so I'm absolutely exhausted. Even though I went to bed early, I didn't get a whole lot of extra sleep. Mischa had me up at 2:30 crying, I never found out why because she settled right down once I got in there. She had me hold her for a while, then I laid her down after she was passed out, and was back in bed around 3:20. But then she woke up ticked off that I left the room and was screaming at/for me at 3:30. Since she obviously wasn't in any danger, wasn't sick or hurt, just mad, I let her cry. She ended up joining me in bed after a few minutes. So then I got to sleep until Dusty got home, which was around 7:20ish. She woke up after he had been home for a little while, which I expected. I thought I would get better rest letting her sleep with me and getting up when Dusty got home, rather than sitting in her room for who knows how long, who knows how many times then MAYBE sleeping in.

She was, thankfully, in a good mood this morning, and she even let me crash on the couch for a couple hours after breakfast. She insisted on eating breakfast outside, which was easy to allow since she wanted waffles. If it were cereal, that would be a different story (especially since between bites, she would run circles around the patio!). She likes to travel with her food, and her cereal would have been spilled somehow and she probably would have had a meltdown.

It was a sweet few moments, and she actually finished her food. She's not been eating well lately for some reason, and I even stocked up on Pediasure and other snacks that would guarantee her nutrients without her knowing that Mommy really wanted her to eat them. She even asked for more waffles for lunch, so we had waffles with peanut butter, and she finished her lunch as well. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see that girl eat! She didn't eat her dinner very well though, which is surprising. We had spaghetti and garlic bread, and it's usually guaranteed that she'll finish off the bread and try to sneak another, but she barely made a dent in it.

Normally, I try to wait until around 10 to bring the dog in, but he's being really obnoxious and loud and barking and anything and nothing, so I think I'm going to bring him in, force myself to get some crocheting done (I swear I couldn't STOP crocheting things in the first trimester!), then probably go to bed early again.

Oh, I found out today that I failed my glucose test, by TWO POINTS!!! The cut off with my doctor is 135, and I got 137. So I go in Friday morning (I have to be there at 8!) to do the 3 hour test. I'll be walking out the door as soon as Dusty walks in from work. It's going to be a long day for both of us. * sigh *

Mischa's in bed early tonight :)
I get to shower alone. Yay for shaved legs (if I can reach around my belly), and feeling somewhat normal and feminine again!!

I hope she wakes up nicer tomorrow. This morning was pretty horrible, and she didn't improve until after lunch. I'm not just talking about cranky. She was back talking, mimicking, screaming, crying, hitting, kicking, pinching, throwing herself on the floor to do some of the afore mentioned outbursts, and I'm pretty sure she thought about biting. Oh, and this is because Dusty got her Captain Crunch (which she asked for!), but when she saw I had Cheerios, she wanted Cheerios, and wasn't going to be pleased until her cereal was swapped out. I'm sure there were a few other triggers as well, since this lasted from about 9 am until noon-ish. But that was the first big one. Drove. Me. Nuts.

I've realized today that it shouldn't be too difficult to throw myself into labor with this one. Dusty and I have already talked about once it starts cooling off and I'm in my 30ish weeks, we'll start taking walks. Just short ones at first to build up my tolerance, then gradually make them longer so that when we're around 38-40 weeks, if it's not too cold, we can go for decent walks and maybe get some labor progressing. Well, this afternoon, the three of us went for a very short walk, around two blocks, and back. We weren't to the first road before I started having some pains in my lower right side, and I could definitely feel my legs and arms working from pushing the stroller. Then we were about halfway through our walk and the pain in my side spread across the whole lower part of my belly and I was cramping for the next quarter of our block. Then it all stopped as suddenly as it came on. I'm glad it stopped, but it also kind of worries me for how quickly my labor will come on when it's time. I had to be induced with Mischa, but once the cervadil did its thing, I was right into labor and didn't need the pitocin. And it was about 12 hours from the time they put the cervadil in to the time she was born! So I'm pretty sure this labor will be quick as well, I just hope it's not too fast. Dusty is worried he'll be at work when I go into labor. Why am I even going on so long about this?! I'm only 28 weeks!!

Ugh, I'm going to go shower and just enjoy some hot water. Then maybe get Emery's blanket progressing again. I swear I'm never using this stitch again. It's the puff stitch, and it's pretty and soft, but it's a pain in the butt and takes a LOT of yarn! I'm sure it doesn't help I modified the pattern a little from what the video shows, but it'll be worth it. I'll post pictures if I ever finish it.

Ok seriously, on to a fabulous shower, then some crocheting in front of the TV!

I just remembered, she's also breech and sitting Indian-style on her feet. I hope she flips soon! And her heart rate is between 137 (resting) and 148 (totally awake).

28 Weeks

Yesterday was my 28 week appointment, and it went great :). (And yes, we did find an easy alternate route to Mom's house, and made it to my appointment early)

We got there, checked in, went downstairs to drink the lovely orange drink, went back upstairs and paid Tracy for the ultrasound, did our ultrasound (pictures will follow, hold on), went back downstairs and had my blood drawn (I should have the results by tomorrow), went back upstairs for my appointment and waited for an hour for them to call me back. I'm pretty sure they called my name while I was getting my blood drawn though, then just forgot to check to see if I was back. Anyway, everything in my appointment was fine. I've gained a total of 6lbs so far, which my doctor is just glad to see me gaining. I've graduated to biweekly appointments now. I go back on the 17th.

And here are the 3D pictures :)

She was sucking on her fingers a lot, and we even saw her sticking her pinky up her nose. Lovely huh?
She's measuring about 4 days small, and she only weighs about 2lbs 4oz, so I've got another small baby :).

After my appointment, I went to get lunch, or I would have gotten sick, then off to get Mischa. I took her over to a friend's house, because she was throwing a kiddie pool party. It was nice to have some mommy talk and just let the kids run around and go crazy. There were a few pools and a sandbox, and the kids had a blast!

Well, Mischa is being her moody, pushy, clingy self, so I'll just leave you with a picture from Sunday that reminds me that she can be sweet sometimes...

Here's my verbal spew for tonight. No particular order, rhyme, or reason..

I gave up my dresser for Emery. The girl isn't even born yet, and I'm making more sacrifices than I remember. But I love her, so it's easy. What's not so easy is living out of boxes again. All my clothes are either in diaper boxes, or hanging, and it's really starting to get to me. I've had things offered to me (I had a vanity I was using for a while, and Mom offered me a dresser), but I just don't have the room for anything but a chest of drawers. It's got to fit in my closet, or it's not going to fit in our room. This is what I'm hoping to get:

It's just a cheap dresser from Walmart, but it's something! But for now, it's boxes on the closet floor... Sigh....


I have to stay up late every night catching up house work because I can only get so much done with  Mischa running around. Last night I was up almost until midnight folding and putting away 4 loads of laundry. Dusty was supposed to help me with this (I asked him before Mischa went to bed), but even though he saw me toting laundry baskets across the house, he stayed planted on his butt in front of the TV and only helped when he came in the bedroom to actually go to bed and there were piles of laundry covering the bed. And I'm getting behind on dishes again... This house will never be ready at this rate. Especially with him being gone so many weekends in September and October.... Another sigh...

Tomorrow morning is my glucose test, 3D/4D ultrasound, and 28 week appointment. Mom was supposed to come pick Mischa up at 7:30, because I have to leave at 8, but Dad's Jeep won't start so he's taking Mom's car to work. So I have to find a way through construction in the opposite direction to drop Mischa off at their house, then make it to the north side of Terre Haute by 9. I might be able to do it. Then, Dusty has to try to nap in the afternoon because he then has a 12 hour shift tomorrow night. Poor guy. But Mischa has a kiddie pool party tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully that will provide him with an opportunity to nap, and maybe that will count as my "break".

I totally forgot about Dusty helping out with Kairos, a prison ministry, until he reminded me tonight (of all nights! Seriously, he couldn't have waited until tomorrow?). He's going to be gone all day every other Saturday starting September 11th, then there's some overnighter at some point, all for training. Then he'll be gone for 4 days, 3 nights, towards the end of October for the actual Kairos weekend. And I'll be almost 36 weeks and miserable. Alone. Taking care of our 2 1/2 year old. Alone. Can you feel my stress??

Babies R Us is having a huge trade-in deal until September 17th I think, where you can trade in your old baby gear (car seat, high chair, stroller, play pen, etc.) and get 25% off of anything, as long as they are from the list of accepted brands. So we can trade in our moldy stroller and old car seat for new ones (which will never be stored in the garage!), and hopefully a high chair. We never had one with Mischa, so it would be nice to have one this time around. This is what we're shooting for:

We at least need the stroller and car seat, so we're going to put our 25% off towards those. 

Well, Dusty is out trying to find a path through the construction to make the morning easier. I need to get to bed since the alarm is set to go off at 6:15. I think I might die tomorrow. Just from sheer exhaustion.

I kicked butt. I cleaned the kitchen, living room, Mischa's room, bathroom, did some laundry, and even got Emery's bag started. I'm awesome.

Last night didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped, but you can just revisit the picture I posted at the end of my last post and know why.

Mischa didn't even want to go. Seriously?! My parents are pretty much her favorite people in the world, and she didn't want to go over there. I asked her if she was ready to go, and she says "Not really." What two-year-old says "Not really"?! She was busy riding her bike and couldn't be bothered. So we took the bike. Then on the way there, she tells me that she doesn't want to sleep there (which was the plan!). So I told her we would talk about it when we got there and see how she felt. "Ok Mommy." After we were there a while, I informed Mom of what was said, so we asked Mischa if she wanted to sleep there or at home. She said she wanted to stay with Dza dza (my dad, and for future reference, "Bousha" is my mom). So I thought we were set. Until I told her that I needed to leave soon and she told me she didn't want to go with me. Which means, it's still been on her mind. Which explained why, when I told her I needed hugs and kisses bye-bye, she then threw herself to the floor and said she wanted to go with me. So we enticed her to stay a few hours, eat chocolate Cheerios and watch Finding Nemo, then when Dusty and I were done eating they would bring her home. I checked up on her while we were eating, and I guess anytime she heard a noise outside or at the front door, she would ask if her mommy was back. Well, I'm not really sure what happened, as she isn't home yet so I haven't had a chance to ask my parents, but I got a text later on saying Nevermind, she's staying, we'll talk to you tomorrow. So, they still have my child. And, of course, I was still up at 9:30. Not a whole lot of sleeping in, but it's been nice to just sit here and sip my coffee. And I didn't have to share my Cheerios this morning :)

I'm hoping to leisurely finish my coffee, which may not happen since I don't have Mischa to interrupt said coffee break, do dishes, and get at least the living room picked up before she gets home. I may need to ban all food from the living room because of this chick. She likes to travel too much!

Well, I'll leave you with the most recent belly shot, taken Monday at 27 weeks, featuring Mischa in her new Colts jersey. Which she refused to take off for two days. What a kid. I love her :)

Does the exhaustion never end??!! Ugghhhh.....

Anyway, I did my cousin Samantha's senior pictures Wednesday. It was a lot of traveling (eight locations) and lots of work, but very worth the outcome. It was fun too, I'm not going to lie.

And here is how the past week has been for me:

Over EVERYTHING. I'm not kidding. The pictured meltdown was because she ate all the top crust off of the Hawaiian bread the day before, and the bottom crust wasn't good enough. And it's really been that wonderful. My parents are taking her overnight tonight, and I am looking forward to it, but I wish she wasn't like this all day. She's in a good mood for the moment, but who knows what that will drastically change. Her fits have gotten dangerous lately. She doesn't seem to care how many spankings she gets, she keeps kicking (which is where it gets dangerous, she's been kicking my stomach accidentally). I know she needs more sleep, but she won't nap, and when she does, she wakes up more mean than she was before the nap! I can't win!

And she's started copying. Oh. My. Lord. 

She will copy everything Dusty or I say, even when we start counting, until we get to "3", then she immediately covers her booty and whines that she doesn't want a spanking. She is such a two year old.

Supposedly, Dusty and I are having a date night tonight, but now I'm not so sure. I'm already exhausted from dealing with Mischa's tantrums all day (she had a few meltdowns in Dairy Queen. Lovely.), and he isn't able to leave work early like he was hoping. So that puts us having dinner after 8pm. I'm not sure I can do that.

I'm too tired to think anymore right now. I think I'll go snuggle the couch... If Mischa's feeling nice enough, maybe she'll join me.

There is so much to catch up on. Andrea. Indy Zoo. Baby shopping. Diaper bags. Almost melt down in Hobby Lobby. Etc...

*Deep breath*

Ok, so Andrea was released from the hospital and sent home, just the beginning signs of preeclampsia. But she FINALLY has her c-section date, and we will be meeting Miss Evelyn Mae on September 7th :). Well, that's when she'll be born. We won't be attempting to visit until that weekend or later. I really don't want to crowd her. I know she's got a huge group of friends, and I know a lot of family are planning on being there during her c-section (in the waiting room, of course), and I just don't want to add to the chaos.

Our trip to the zoo was amazing and totally worth the exhaustion! I'm particularly fond of this photo:

Ok, I'm getting ahead of myself.. First off, our hotel room was AMAZING. Definitely going back there. We stayed at the Best Western Atrea and had the best stay ever. 

Mischa jumping around on the awesome beds :)

I wish I had taken pictures of Mischa swimming in the pool, but we were too busy having fun to stop and take pictures. After swimming (which was cut short because of a poopy swimmers), we showered and headed out for dinner. Pizza Hut. My heartburn fired up just smelling the pizza. But it was worth it. After Pizza Hut, we headed to Walmart. I needed creamer, because I needed coffee. During our hunt for a parking lot, we saw an empty box in an empty parking spot. Someone had bought a grill, assembled it, and left the box. Only in Indiana. But oh, it gets better! While in the check out line, a young lady, probably about my age, pushed her cart into the next check out line. She had her infant son in the seat, he was probably about 9 months old, and her boyfriend/husband PASSED OUT DRUNK in the back of the cart with all their groceries piled on top of him. Seriously?! If you're that drunk (at 6pm!), maybe you should have stayed home! Again, only in Indiana. Or maybe Michigan... (just to frustrate my cousin, who swears Michigan is the best state ever... More on her later...)

Bedtime was difficult that evening, just because it was so quiet and unlike home in the hotel room. But once Mischa fell asleep, she was gone the entire night. Dusty and I, on the other hand, had the worst time trying to sleep. I don't know what his problem was, but I was constantly checking on Mischa, who was in her own bed, to make sure she wasn't falling out.

Saturday, we got up early and were at the zoo by 10:30. Which is crazy for us. Anyway, we had a GREAT time! Mischa is still talking about all the animals she saw, including the dolphin show. Here are a few pictures:

On the way home.

Baby shopping. I made us all pack up and go shopping yesterday. I think we're doing Emmy's little area in our room with a Paris theme, and I wanted to find a poster to go over the crib, so we went to Hobby Lobby. I about had a melt down because I couldn't find what I was looking for, but in all fairness, I didn't know what I was looking for. So I gave up, and we headed to Babies R Us. 

We ended up buying a diaper bag there, because I really don't think we'll be able to order the two diaper bags we want, and I'm really wanting to get her bag packed and ready. I already have my toiletry bag ready. Still have lots of time to work on everything else! Anyway, I was having a really hard time (emotional, hormonal, tired, hungry, cranky, couldn't find the right poster, couldn't get the right diaper bag, etc), but I'm falling in love with this thing. I know that whatever we get, it's going to be my purse for who knows how long, and I'll be packing not only Emmy's things, but also Mischa's pull ups and wipes as well. Potty training is taking a little longer than anticipated, but that's ok. But um, yeah. This fits the bill, and I'm sure it'll last through Emmy, and hopefully whoever is next as well. At least it better, for what we spent on it!

After Babies R Us, we headed to the mall and ate, and that put both Mischa and I in a better mood. Chinese food is amazing.

Side note: Dusty is convinced that we can have our bedroom, Mischa's (the girls') bedroom, and the living room painted before Emery is born. We'll see about that. But it would definitely be awesome.

On to my cousin, Samantha. She's been staying with my parents for about a week and a half now, and I'll be doing her senior pictures tomorrow. There are lots of locations on our list, and I hope I have the energy for it! But they'll turn out amazing. She's a gorgeous girl :). My list of photography shoots that I have no experience in is getting smaller, and it's all happening pretty quickly. This is turning out to be quite rewarding :). If only people would start booking more appointments...

Anyway, just 6 days until we see our baby girl again, and we're SO excited!!!

I can barely keep my eyes open through the day. I find myself more often wondering what have I gotten myself into? What was I thinking?? I had the worst exhaustion ever with Mischa, why put myself through that again when I already have a toddler running around? Then my "lets be tired and complain about everything" alter ego gets drowned out by my super mommy alter ego, and everything is alright with the world again.

I've been nesting like ....well, like a pregnant woman. Emery's space in our bedroom is basically ready, except for needing to exchange some diapers and, of course, bringing home miss Emery. I tend to push myself too hard (and therefore get myself into trouble with Dusty, oops), so since I got that space ready yesterday, I'm done for a few days. Which is convenient, since we're going out of town tomorrow. I shouldn't get the nesting urge until we get back!

My SIL Andrea was admitted to the hospital yesterday afternoon for possible preeclampsia, so we won't be doing her maternity pictures this weekend. I really will be surprised if little Evie doesn't have an August birthday. I think she's still just under observation since they're just waiting to test results to verify preeclampsia, but I haven't heard from her or her husband since yesterday, so I don't really know for sure what's going on right now. But I know she's right where she should be, and in the best of care. :) I'm probably too excited to see her baby, but knowing that she's totally ready to be done being pregnant makes me feel less guilty.

It's 10:15, I still have all the packing to do for this weekend (leaving tomorrow!), still need to do a load of laundry, but I'm just going to enjoy my Ben & Jerry's for the moment. Gotta get back to my hubby and our Friday night tradition (yes, I realize it's Thursday, get over it). I love this man :).

Sooo tired!!!

Now that the third trimester is just around the corner (at 28 weeks! I'm 26 weeks 1 day today), I'm wondering where the heck is my second trimester energy boost?! It's like lost luggage. I just need to come to terms with the fact that I'll never see it, and move on.

So, in light of my exhaustion, totally not taking into account that I'm ready for bed by 5 pm, we're taking Mischa to the zoo Friday, staying overnight in a fabulous (but affordable) hotel, and then spending Saturday doing maternity photos for my SIL. By the time this weekend is over, we will have made some fabulous memories, and made me dead tired. But it will be totally worth it. :)

Emery has been growing almost daily. Which means I'm going to sound complaining and mention that my back aches and I've been having cramps when I walk (not going on a walk walking, but like walking from the kitchen to the couch). But she's also been doing new things, like pushing a foot out and letting me feel how little it is (then pulling back said foot and kicking as hard as she can, as if to say "psych!"). 

My cousin Samantha is staying with my parents and sisters for about a week and a half, so we went over there and visited for the day. Bedtime still took forever. But we had a good time visiting over there.

Well, my nightly heart burn is kicking in, and Dusty won't stop talking or backing up the TV so I can see something I may have missed (like an AT&T commercial), so I guess I'm done for now.

25 weeks :)

We get to see our lovely again in 3 weeks!! Today, Mischa and I had an impromptu photo shoot, and she honestly had control of the remote for the most part. I just wanted to share before heading to bed :)

And just as I'm getting ready for bed, I remember that the Pepcid expired in February. So I'm stuck with Tums for tonight.

Another random tidbit really quick: Mischa, if she wants anything greater or increased, she wants it louder. Yes, music louder, but also if she's in bed and wants covered up higher, she wants the blankets 'louder'. Or the water 'louder' if it needs turned up more. It's too cute!!

Life Is Wonderful :)

Ok, so I've been on this emotional high since we found out that Dusty is FINALLY getting the bonus from work that they were supposed to have approved by May. Yeah, last time I checked, it's August. But anyway..... that's going to really help us get out of a sticky financial situation that we're in (long story short, his supervisor switched up his schedule, which meant a small check that was unexpected, then they also cut his pay with no warning) and get us back on track. I know this emotional high will be over tomorrow when I sit down to write out bills (we don't get the bonus check until next week), but I'm soaking it up while I can!

I've been looking at diaper bags because the one I have from Mischa is a little worn, and Dusty has requested a more manly bag this time around so he doesn't feel like his manhood is being questioned (my interpretation). And I am SO excited about the ones I have found! The one on the top is obviously more for me, but the other one we're both in love with. We're hoping that these can be our little splurge with the bonus he's getting (after we're responsible adults and pay bills and take Mischa on a shopping spree... errmm.... get her winter clothes like jeans and stuff...)

I'm really not sure if I'm actually having a baby shower this time around. I'd love to, but no one on Dusty's side has really mentioned throwing one, I'm not allowed to throw one for myself, and my mom and baby sister Jackie (ok so she's 12, she's still the baby) are talking about throwing one in October, but I just never know what's going to happen lol. I'm sure they're well-intentioned, but they're busy people! They've got better things to do. Anyway, I've made a registry anyway, maybe just for my own mind's sake of having a list of some sort somewhere. So, just so I can say I've registered and told someone.... Hey, I'm registered at BabiesRUs!

This is something else I've registered for. (Forgive the formatting.)

And I'm determined to get it lol. I've heard a lot of criticism about this wash pod (by Lionheart), but I really think it's a good idea! I've tried the traditional bath with Mischa, and it was always a rough time for her. So I'm going to give this one a try. I hope it works out, because is seems like it would be more comfortable for the baby. Yes, it's a glorified bucket, but it has a cushion in it! And it keeps the baby in the comfort of the fetal position, and she can be up to her shoulders in warm water. No, I'm not trying to convince myself of this! I'm sold!

Quick update on Miss Emery herself, and not just things I want to buy for her..

She's doing fantastic :). Growing lots, keeping me uncomfortable! I'm amazed at how shallow my belly button is. I never lost it with Mischa, but it's looking like quite the possibility this time. She likes to scratch me every now and then, which is the most painful pregnancy experience I can think of besides labor itself. She's doing it as I type, and I really wish she would stop. She's been doing it off and on all day. I thought maybe she lost interest in it because she hasn't done it in a few weeks, but here we are again...

She LOVES her daddy :). She's getting to the point where she's getting squished and likes to stretch out as much as possible, and when she does that, the only way to get her to stop is to have Dusty talk to her. And it's like she just goes limp! Sweet relief!

Her personality just cracks me up already, because she's SO much like Mischa. These two are going to be interesting! Last week, Mischa fell asleep with her hand on my belly, and she was obviously oblivious to Emery kicking the crap out of her arm! It was like my stomach was having a seizure, and Mischa was blissfully unaware of anything but the inside of her eyelids. Which, by the way, bedtime is getting to be rather difficult. Mischa still likes to have me (and only me!) hold her as she falls asleep, but we're working on getting her to put herself to sleep. We do our bedtime prayers, and have some cuddle time (otherwise she just plays around and bedtime takes hours), then when she's all relaxed she'll crawl in bed and fall asleep after a while. It worked two nights this week. Tonight, though, she was so tired, she passed out during our cuddle time. So I had to lift her into to bed, but it wasn't too bad since I hadn't done too much today to strain my back. That won't work tomorrow though. We have lots of running to do. Fridays suck in that sense.

On to photography business real quick. The maternity shoot went amazing, and I'll try to post a few pictures this weekend. I've been SOOO tired, which is why it takes me so long to update this. But we'll get back to pregnancy stuff later. I am so excited to have the experience of doing maternity pictures. It has me motivated and inspired to do my own. I'm also really hoping to do someone's newborn photos soon. I really want to get that experience as well. Having done these photography jobs (the wedding, and now the maternity session), has already helped my "publicity". I already have one, and possibly three, maternity sessions planned. My SIL Andrea (who has been on bedrest for 14 weeks!! Wonder woman there!), just has a few more weeks until we meet her little Evelyn, and she's asked me to photo her belly :). Her pregnancy has really been a miracle, and I'm so excited to have such an awesome part of documenting it. She has some really creative ideas, so it's going to be fun! And two of my friends, who are both due in January, have asked me to do their maternity photos as well. I'm hoping to be able to, I just hope they're willing to do them in October. I just do not think I'll be up for it in November.

It is now past midnight, which is nothing new for me. Heartburn from hell has been keeping me up until 1am or later lately, which is why I've been so exhausted. Even sitting straight up, and having not eaten for a few hours, I was feeling the acid creeping up my throat. Not a good feeling. I discovered today that I DO have some Pepcid Complete, and I will be taking that soon in hopes that I can sleep through the night! Normally, I just use Tums, but it's not been cutting it. I'll take two, and an hour later wake up needing more. If I even got to sleep in between doses.

My next appointment is at the end of the month. I'll be 28 weeks, and we also have our 3D ultrasound scheduled for that day. Unfortunately, so is my glucose test. Thankfully it's just the 1 hour long one. Unless they screw up my lab order sheet again like they did when I was pregnant with Mischa, and they make me do the 3 hour. I will make someone's day as awful as mine if they do that again. (I had to do the 3 hour, then someone realized the mistake, I had to go back in for the 1 hour. Failed it, and had to go yet again for the 3 hour. Not fun.)

So, since it takes me forever to update (and I then end up write a novel), my next blog ought to full of awesome stuff!!

PS- Since it is after midnight, it is also officially my Uncle Ronnie's birthday. My parents and Jackie are leaving tomorrow to stay with the extended family for the weekend and be a support net for my grandma. We, unfortunately, can't make it, but I wish we could. It still hits me hard some days that he's gone, and.... it's really hard to be ok with it.