Big Girl Bed

My parents' birthday present to Tiegan is going to be a new "big girl" (twin-sized) bed. Since Tiegan is still sleeping in her toddler bed, which takes the crib-sized mattress that we stole out of her crib, we have been talking about getting her a twin bed. After all, the baby's gonna need that mattress back when we put the crib up.

My parents decided to go ahead and do that this weekend. They are getting twin bunk beds -- the kind that come apart into 2 separate twin beds. We'll be saving the 2nd bed for when the baby is old enough for it.

Readers: Where are your kids sleeping? I know several of you have kids right around Tiegan's age, at least within a year. If they've made the transition from crib/toddler bed to "big" bed, how well did they do? Do they need rails to keep them from falling out? I'm excited to see how she likes it. She slept on a twin-sized cot with me at my parents' house all summer, and she sleeps on a pull-out couch at her grandma's house, so I know she'll be fine as far as staying in bed goes. I just hope she's excited. I really want her to feel special (not jealous or slighted) when the baby arrives - hopefully this will still be special enough that she won't want to revert back to sleeping in a crib and asking for bottles! Yikes, has that happened to anyone?

Anyway... I'll post pictures when everything is set up and finished.

Layout Changes

If you've noticed that this blog has had several different styles in the past few days, it's not because I'm plum indecisive.

(Although that's also true.)

I'm just having a hard time finding a background/color combination that I can really dig.

Letters & Blogs

I installed an alphabet on Tiegan's bedroom wall yesterday. We got these Wallie type stick-ups at the dollar store. Can you believe these came from the dollar store for how trendy-looking they are? Anyway - I think they're made to spell out names and things because the whole package came with punctuation, but I thought putting up the whole alphabet would be cute.

I also got some cute light green baskets for the shelves under the baby's changing table. And some botanical leaf stick-ups for the baby's nursery walls. My new favorite store: Family Dollar at the Jackson Crossing. No joke.

Let's all give a warm welcome to my hubby Jason and his new blog: Quand Vous Dormez, which translates to While You Sleep. He writes about interesting subjects. His main focus has been on music/the music industry these days, but you never know what's going to pop out of his curious mind. So, keep tabs on that. It's good stuff.

Home Design Frenzy

My last post about eclectic, cottage-style kitchens got me browsing around and I started designing my dream-kitchen in my head.

I think I've decided that it would be nice, instead of having cabinets, to simply have open shelving with all my dishes exposed. (Of course, that'd mean I need some way cute dishes...)

Like this.

I probably wouldn't go all cutesy like this, though. I like the white, and definitely love the butcher block countertop. But the pastel colors are a little too "baby shower" for me. I love vibrant, deep colors. But this just makes for such an open, airy feel, doesn't it? I think it would even make a kitchen look larger.

I might even get creative and use one of these canvas-covered wardrobes to store less-pretty pots, pans and appliances I don't want out in the open. Oh, but it would be the kind with wire shelves.

I think my next house is going to have to be custom built for all the ideas I have brewing in my noggin!

Rugs... & Pregnancy Update

I got 3 of these yesterday for the kitchen.

They were only $2.99 each at Kmart. I LOVE these rugs. They are cheap, they are homemade-looking, they are random, they are colorful, they are eclectic... they are great. We had to get some non-slip backing for each, but still - I think between all 3 rugs and the backing material, we still didn't spend as much as we would have on 1 "nice" rug.

Besides, I have been hooked on this country-style cottage look for a while now. Especially living at the lake. I have really eclectic taste, and I like mixing old & modern.

Now for the baby update... DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN...

Everything's fine! Woohoo!! Back to normal activity on all counts. I visited Dr. Farhat yesterday morning for a follow-up appointment and he said if I had continued to leak fluid I would be in hardcore labor by now. It's also a plus that there was no bleeding whatsoever. He said whatever my body lost, it will regrow on its own and baby will be safe from infection... but he was glad I listened to my instincts. Better to be safe than sorry. He'll have them check my cervix at the ultrasound I already have scheduled for Feb 11.

However, I do need to rest when my body tells me to. I've also lost 3 lbs., believe it or not. I really haven't been that sick -- my appetite is just barely existant. I guess that goes to show that every pregnancy is completely different. With Tiegan, I was scarfing down everything in sight, and I grew to have a HUGE appetite. I could clear a whole dinner plate, when normally I keep my portions pretty small (er- NORMAL sized).

Speaking of portions, mom & I were just talking about that yesterday. She's on this new Seattle Sutton diet (did I spell it right?). It's one of those diets where you have to order all your food and have it sent to you. It's normal food, with normal seasonings and normal everything. It's just SMALLER SERVINGS. We Americans have gotten used to such large portions. Double- and triple-stacked burgers. I, for one, can hardly finish a whole regular-sized Whopper from Burger King (forget about the fries) and people make fun of me for it. Sure, I like to nosh every once in a while, but I still believe in the "healthy serving." You eat smaller amounts, more often throughout the day, rather than 3 large meals. It's the way to go.

So, for all you people that have asked me since I was 16 - "How do you eat junk food and still stay so small?" That is my answer. Small servings.

Star of the Show

Got some cute pictures of Tiegan today, which is something I've been majorly slacking with. Unfortunately it's after dark and they're flash pictures, which I hate... but they'll have to do! Isn't she just a doll these days? Well I think so but maybe I'm a little biased.

Here she is sneakin' up on Daddy (can you see him behind her?) while he's doing the dishes. Even though it was my turn to do them. I'm kind of surprised he didn't just let them pile up until I was off my "resting" period. HAHA.
Awww.

Thank you all.

Thank you, everyone, for your messages and support! It really helped my day on the couch go much faster than I thought it might. tomorrow will be spent on the couch as well, but I'll hopefully have the distraction of my lovies as it's J's day off and Tiegan will finally be home from Grandma's.

Jason does have a meeting tomorrow morning about some music thing and I'm a little surprised he didn't put it off so he could stay home & help me out while I'm stuck on my butt. I'm a big girl though, and I think I can handle fending for myself for a few hours. Heck- I was alone for 12 hours today. I understand work of course, but it would be kind of nice to know that I still take priority over certain things when it comes to free time. But I know how important music is to him and I'm willing to step aside sometimes. Aww what a cool wife I am.

Really, though, I want everyone to know that I really appreciate your offers of support and company. While you probably won't hear me taking you up on your offers, that doesn't mean I don't appreciate them! I'm just the kind of person that is maybe a little embarrassed to be seen in a weak state, and I have a hard time asking for help. Oh yeah, and my house is a mess and I'm not a very good hostess/entertainer when I can't move. ;)

I'm thinking positive. The baby has been kicking and moving today, and it was such an amazing feeling. Still very sore and tender from all the cramping yesterday, but no more amniotic leaking! I'm anxious to see Dr. Farhat Thursday morning. I wonder if he'll want to do this test and that test, or if he'll just tell me I'm fine and send me home with simple instructions for how to fend off infection. I'll be sure to update here.

Oh, and thanks for the votes on the poll so far! keep em coming!

E.R. Adventure

Well, I guess I spoke too soon yesterday when I said there wasn't much to update on the pregnancy front.

Later yesterday afternoon (Warning: TMI) I was feeling like something was just... off. At one point, I went to the bathroom and quite obviously lost the mucous plug. I was sure that's what it was, even though I never actually saw it when I was pregnant with Tiegan. I went straight to the computer to look it up online (as I've been doing with every other little thing in this pregnancy), and everything I read warned that you're not supposed to lose it until at least the 34th week. Apparently that means your body is trying to start labor. And if that's not the case, that's still the baby's protection from infection and it's now gone. I also noticed some amniotic leaking - not good. I waited about an hour in which time I was having pretty steady, pretty bad cramping.

I started getting really nervous. I'm only 17 weeks along. If labor happened to start at this point, they wouldn't do anything to stop it. I called my mom first, as always. She is my guiding light. I never call a doctor until I talk to my mom (SuperNurse). She advised to call my doctor. I got a hold of an on-call doc, and he advised me to go to the E.R. in case my body was trying to have a miscarriage. Oh, thanks for mentioning the M-word. Now I was REALLY nervous.

Mom took me there and Jason was kind enough to leave work because he knew how scared I was. They put me right in a room. Two nurses tried listening to the baby's heartbeat but neither could find it. They spent at least 10 minutes feeling around. Scared the shit out of me. I was terrified. They blamed the equipment and said they weren't very good at it anyway. They sent me for an ultrasound, for which I had mixed feelings. If everything was alright, maybe we could find out the gender! But what if everything wasn't alright?

The ultrasound showed baby moving and the heartbeat was fine. Phew. There was still plenty of amniotic fluid. Phew. The tech was pretty crude, though. When I was asking her questions about what she was seeing, she said she wasn't looking for details. She said she was just instructed to see if it was alive, and it is.

How nice of her.

She did try to see the gender for us, but she couldn't quite tell. Bummer. Guess we'll have to wait another couple of weeks. But for those of you voting on the poll, it's definitely not twins! Just one baby in there. What a relief.

I was sent home with instructions for bed-rest until further notice. Jason works long hours so I'll be home all day fending for myself for a while. Baby might just have to forgive me and hang in there if I need to fetch something for myself! Luckily I have wonderful parents and in-laws who are willing to do whatever I need, whenever I need it. I am one of those people that hates asking for help, though. I can't stand not being self-sufficient.

This morning, Jason made my coffee, poured my cereal and brought my headache medicine & a glass of water before he left for work. He has been great - poor guy - albeit pretty whiny about having to wait on me. Last night in the E.R. while we were waiting to be discharged, all he could talk about was how tired he was & he just wanted to go home. I was thinking, uhh... what about your wife who's been in pain and scared to pieces all day wonering if the baby inside her was ALIVE or not?? Eh, it's alright. He's a great guy and he takes great care of me. I'll just wait until he's in the hospital with another heart attack and I'll sit at his bedside, complaining about how I'm tired and hungry. ;) JUST KIDDING.

Sorry for the long story. Today I am pretty sore (although the cramping has stopped), and bored out of my mind. Tiegan is at grandma Judy's until tomorrow, and I miss her like crazy. They're calling my lil' episode a Threatened Miscarriage. I hate the M-word. I s'pose I'll post another update as soon as I follow up with Farhat!

New Poll

Hey, look over there! -------->

I've put a poll up on my blog asking what YOU think we're going to have: boy, girl, or twins? Let's all cross our fingers and hope we're not having multiples, but you never know.

You have until February 11 to cast your votes, and that afternoon we'll be finding out (and I'll be posting) what the verdict is.

In other news, I'm singing my wonderful husband's praises yet again. We went grocery shopping yesterday and not only did he pick a great menu for this week, he picked out - and surprised me with - some fabulous snacks for me. Awww, he really does pay attention. I have had this horrible sore throat and swollen tonsil that is also making my right ear extremely sore/painful for over a week now.

He got me popsicles ANND frozen juice concentrate which I just love eating by spoon.

Yeah, it's the little things.

Boring Pregnancy Update

Not too much happening on the pregnancy front, so there's not much to update today. I have been feeling baby move a lot more the past few days, but it's completely different from when I was first feeling Tiegan move! Tiegan's first movement was a lot of fluttery kick-kicking, and this one seems to just be rolling around and making my whole abdomen tense up. It's actually kind of uncomfortable, which was worrisome at first, but now I know it's just peanut in there getting comfortable.

Mom was able to borrow a doppler from work the other day because I was a little concerned about the movement (thought I should be feeling more). We listened to the heartbeat, which she said was right around 150. Normal range. I was convinced that baby was moving enough when it seemed to be running away from the doppler! Every time we got a steady hold of the heartbeat, it moved to the other side. Silly thing was playing hide and seek.

I'm so excited for our ultrasound on Feb 11 to find out the gender. I have been calling it "he" and "him" without even thinking! I don't know if that's a sign. I will be thoroughly surprised (and happy of course) no matter what it is, because I am totally clueless. Tiegan and my mom are both convinced it's a girl. Jason keeps getting close to my belly and saying, "you better be growing a doodle in there..." HA.

I hope he's not disappointed if we have another girl. I know he will have just as much love for either one, but he has been really hoping for a boy. We used to joke that when it was time for a 2nd child, we'd keep trying until we got a boy! Yeah right. This is my last one for sure. I think 2 kids is all I can handle.

Speaking of Jason... not only did he get me that game I wanted, he cleaned the house on Saturday(!!!). I was pleasantly surprised. I knew he was going to clean, because it was our plan for me to take the laundry to my parents' house and he would stay back and straighten up since we had company Saturday night. But our definitions of "clean" are completely different. When I got home, though, I was ecstatic to see that he had even scrubbed the countertops, DUSTED the furniture, and took care of all the clutter sitting out on the end tables in the living room and everywhere else. Just had to share. Proud of you, honey. And thanks :)

Anyway, back to belly talk (sorry, it's on my mind today)...
I'm curious to see what will happen labor-wise with this one. With Tiegan, I was induced about 5 days early because I was just so uncomfortable and huge. Later on, at the hospital, the nurses would tell me I had severe hypertension and they were surprised Dr. Scott didn't do something about it earlier (thanks, Doc - I had only questioned it about 5 times before you finally agreed to induce me). I hear lots of old wives tales: some say that your 2nd baby won't be so bad, if you have hypertension the first time. I've also heard the complete opposite - that you should keep an extra close eye on it.

I don't remember much about my labor with Tiegan, because I was literally passed out for most of the 7 hours. I was blacking out between pushes toward the end, and Tiegan was "stuck" for quite a while. Sorry for the info if you have a weak stomach - we pregnant ladies are shameless. With that in mind, I'll be curious to see if Farhat is interested in doing a C-section. We'll just have to see. I guess all I can do is make sure everything goes smoothly for the next few months!

My Latest Addiction

I have been downloading 1-hour trials of this game online from every site I can find. It's almost embarrassing to admit, but I love playing this game in my downtime.

Jason realized my latest obsession and surprised me with this yesterday. I guess it was on sale at Target. I don't know if you noticed, but it says "addictive" on the CD case. Oh yeah.

Letter to Snowmobilers

Dear Snowmobilers who kept me awake past 1am zipping back and forth on Center Lake:

I realize 1am might not seem that late on a Saturday night to you. However, I have a hard enough time snoozing as it is, and my pregnant ass was not thrilled with being startled awake every time I had just barely drifted back off to sleep.

Do you even realize that there are houses full of people on both sides of you? Do you realize that, unlike you, they are trying to sleep?

Maybe some of them have youngsters, like we do. Maybe you haven't thought about how frightening a sound your machine makes when it zzzzzZZZZZZINNGggssss past, to a toddler with a vivid imagination. Hopefully these kids are sweetly dreaming that they're down front at a race track. Or maybe they're being violently awakened by this noise with horrible thoughts of alien invasion.

Just... ya know... a few things to think about.

Sincerely,
a grumpy pregnant mother who didn't get enough sleep last night.

Laundry, laundry everywhere!

Excellent! Aside from my tonsils feeling like they are as big as softballs, I'm feeling pretty great today!

Good thing, too, because today is a long one. Jason works 12 hours so it's just me and the munchkin with cabin fever. I love my time alone with Tiegan, but by 6pm on Fridays I'm usually toast. Brain o' Mush. I would really love to start having friends (and their kids!) over once in a while, but first the house needs a deep clean. Spring cleaning, really.

Speaking of cleaning... I definitely took for granted having my own washer & dryer in-house! We can't make it to the laundromat as often as we'd like, as I've probably mentioned before, so we do a lot of laundry at my parents' house (THANK YOU!!). Clothes, towels, etc have really been building up around here. I think it's going to take a few trips to get all caught up. Especially having a kid in potty training, I really miss being able to start a load whenever I need to. I've ended up washing lots of little panties in the sink. Too bad we don't have a bathtub either - I honestly wouldn't mind getting a washboard and doing a load of laundry in the tub old-fashioned style!

Oops, I'm complaining again. Something I swore to myself I wouldn't do as much anymore! ;)

I have a goal today: I'm going to whip out my Lensbaby 3G and play around with it. It has been sitting, sad and lonely, in its case since I got it in September. It's supposed to warm up to almost 40 today (ha!) so maybe Tiegan and I will go for a winter walk. You never know.

Chubbers

Well, it's starting.

My regular jeans (of which I will not tell you the size, because I usually just get a reaction like "girl, I should slap you!") are barely fitting anymore, even with rubber bands holding the buttons. I grunt and stretch and suck in and wiggle and squeeze them on, only to find that pulling them back down to pee every 30 minutes will be a total hassle. Also, the muffin top I've developed isn't all that attractive. Soon I'll be hitting up Aero for clearance jeans a few sizes up, to tide me over through the pregnancy and while I'm trying to lose weight afterward. I'm only 4 months along, yet I feel like I'm more like 7 months.

First, let me say that I am pretty happy with my body. I was tiny to begin with, and most people would tell you that I'm still petite. HOWEVER, I think you can all relate to feeling bigger-than-usual, whether it's having a bloated day, being pregnant, or just trying to lose a couple holiday pounds. You just don't feel like yourself.

One thing I miss while being pregnant is being able to roll around and pretend-wrestle with Tiegan (and Jason!) like crazy. I love [safe] horseplay and it's great exercise. At least we can still dance like idiots in the living room. ;)

Kids & Technology

Took this with my cell phone camera. Tiegan has these things that are kind of like Bendaroos (have you ever seen those commercials?) but they're more like shoelaces that stick to this velcro-like surface. There are all different colors of "ropes" and some googly eyes.

Tiegan showed me this smiley face that she made for Daddy, and specifically asked for me to take a picture of it with my phone to send to him. Kids and technology these days - jeez!! I can't believe how much Tiegan knows already. It's so weird hearing an almost-3-year-old say "text" as in "who are you texting?"

The perfect accessory.

I think I'm going to have to stop window shopping online. All this drooling over things I can't have is just making me resent the way my house is, and it's not even bad. I'm too embarrassed to post photos of the inside of my house right now, because it's messy/not decorated... in summary, it's not up to my standards. Eek.

I wonder if I can get it "up to standard" on a budget in the next 3 weeks (in time for Tiegan's birthday party)? Really, I shouldn't be too stressed. We are only having 9 people over. My parents, Jason's parents, Jason's grandma & her husband, and my sister & her boyfriend & their son.

My parents have been over briefly a couple times to either stop by and say hi, or to pick Tiegan up. Jason's parents and grandma have only been inside the back door to pick Tiegan up/drop her off. T's birthday party will pretty much be everyone's first impression of our house and how we live in it. Why am I SO WORRIED about it? I don't want to seem like a slob. I'm NOT a slob. But my parents and Jason's grandma are the most difficult people to impress. If our house isn't exactly up to snuff, we'll be hearing about it for weeks.

"You know, in MY house, I keep a rug in the blahblah room so we can blahblah."
"In OUR house, I use blahblah to clean my kitchen because blahblah."
"You should really put blahblah over there instead of by the blahblah."

Lots of blahs.

So while I was writing this post I gathered up the courage to at least show you my bathroom, which I cleaned and scrubbed and scrubbed and cleaned yesterday.

Eeewwww. Just look at that shower stall (yeah, no tub). That's how hard our water is. I've scrubbed and scrubbed with bleach, but we're going to need something serious to get that stain off. That's probably years of build-up.

YES - we have a coffee mug (ugly, too!) for our toothpaste/toothbrush holder. It feels empty, like we should have a little dressing bench or at least a hamper. And it's seriously lacking decor and storage. I just don't know what to do with this room. You may not be able to tell, but the walls & ceiling are all covered in some kind of plasticy anti-mold paneling.

Oh well. At least the bathroom has me - the perfect accessory! HA.

Fresh air.

I gotta admit... winter is getting a little old.

I'm excited for spring - when I can open the windows and clean the house, with fresh air in my lungs.

Those first few days... the 60-degree days with little bits of snow still hanging on from old plowed piles... those are the freshest and the best. Crisp, warm, breezy air. Ohhhh how I long for the day.

I prefer the term "Bakist"

I just found this blog by using Stumble. If you're looking for baking tips/ideas, this is a great place to visit:

www.bigcitylittlekitchen.com

It looks to be updated pretty often with yummy and penny-saving recipes for cookies, cakes, muffins... all kinds of baked goods. I have been more into cooking meals lately, but baking is something I don't have a lot of experience with. A good homemade bread is just amazing... and makes the house smell like heaven. I wonder what mom has done with her bread maker?

Cake Inspiration

OK, everybody has a couple weeks to leave their input for Tiegan's birthday cake. For now, I think I may have found an idea.

This is my inspiration cake. I found this picture by searching Google Images for "pink birthday cake." Tiegan's will just be a regular 2-layer pan cake with the pink frosting you saw in the previous post (if I don't gobble it up before then!). I think I'll buy some white decorator frosting and create random white swirls on the sides just like this. My idea for the polka-dots is to use Neccos. I thought it would mimick the colorful dots on the inside, since I'm using confetti cake. If I don't change the design by then, I'll be sure to post pictures of how it turns out!

Also, a quick update - I forgot to mention that my ultrasound to determine the gender of the baby is scheduled for February 11. I can hardly contain myself! This time around, I have no clues. My mom is going by old wive's tales: at my first appointment, the heartbeat was 160-something, so she said girl. At my most recent appointment, the heartbeat was more like 148, so she said definitely boy. Jason keeps calling it "him." Tiegan keeps calling it a girl. I just don't have any idea. Here's my idea of why either would be wonderful for me, personally:

BOY: It will be something completely new for me, and our family will have great balance. Mom/daughter, Father/son. Jason really wants a boy to be rough-and-tumble with, and I want him to be able to have that experience. And I would be interested to see what kind of connection I would have with a baby boy of my own.

GIRL: I already know that I would be able to relate well to a girl. They are sweet, gentle and cuddly. Tiegan would have someone to have girl-time with (although maybe not until they're adults) - plus, we already have a ton of baby girl clothes.

We really aren't trying to think too hard about names until we know for sure. Saves us a lot of the unnecessary pressure. I suppose we'll just wait and see!

Get in the car and drive

... is what I'd like to do right about now. Nicole's recent post made me start thinking of how we usually take impromptu road trips to South Haven in the summer. We don't make plans, we don't choose our itinerary beforehand. We just pack what we need for 2 days or so, hop in the car and just GO. We find whatever we need on the road or when we get there. As long as we pack wisely, we never run into any problems. Even with Tiegan in tow. I sincerely hope it's still do-able with a toddler AND a new baby! (Although a trip to the beach won't be too pressing, now that we live on the lake and all.)

I took this picture a while back and have been wanting to share it. Remember when we went to JoAnn's and bought a bunch of craft supplies for Tiegan? She and I made this picture frame together with popsicle sticks, glitter glue and little pompons(?). She calls them glitter balls. Anyway, we made it with the intention of using it to frame a picture of Tiegan with her new baby when he/she arrives. She's SO excited! She talks to my belly and hugs/rubs my belly every day. [in a very gentle/whispery voice] "Hi baby... I'm your big sister and I'm going to teach you to ______."

I think it's just too cute. She picked where everything should go, I just helped her with the right amount of glue and everything.

Also, we bought this yesterday for Tiegan's birthday party (not until February 8th). I'm going to have a hard time holding myself back! Hell... the cake mix was only 97¢ at Kroger.

I think the pink frosting will be cute. And will go well with the confetti cake. I'm trying to think of creative ways to decorate, so it's not just a plain pink layer cake with "happy birthday" written on it. Any ideas?? Please feel free to comment!

fruit, fruit, FRUIT!

GIVE ME CITRUS!!! It's what I've been craving like nuts lately. Ice cold citrusy things. If they made Starbursts, only like ice cubes, that would be my perfect snack. Maybe I should freeze some orange juice in my ice cube trays. I have frozen limeade and grapefruit juice concentrate in my freezer, which I have been blending with plain yogurt or just eating by spoon. I made some orange Jell-O earlier using the ice cube method (instead of stirring in cold water, stir in 3cups of ice cubes so it sets up faster). I had a tough time dumping the few deliciously orange-coated un-melted ice cubes into the sink.

[ I cannot take photo credit for the snaps above. I found them by doing a search for "citrus" tags on Flickr if you'd like to try it out for yourself.

I don't even care...

... that we live on the narrow part of the lake and the houses on the other side are so close. I am loving winter more than ever, simply because we get to wake up to this serene view...

(see the lone icicle? haha)

Culinary Explosion

What a ham-bone. I was texting Jason, and Tiegan knows that I can take pictures/videos with my cell phone. She asked if I'd take a picture of her with her Thomas train set (made of Lego's).

I know, her pajamas don't match. For the first time in my life, I'm living in a house without a washer and/or dryer. HELL! It's tough to make it to the laundromat as often as we'd like. It costs quite a bit more than I had imagined, having never needed a laundromat before. We've been doing a lot of laundry at my parents' house. Anyway, the whole reason for that rant was to explain that we usually just throw on whatever's clean. Sweatpants and a comfy long-sleeved tee? OK- pajamas. Does it match? Doesn't matter. She's just sleeping in it anyway, right?

I'm excited for next week's menu, which was my responsibility to pick out. Jason picked out this week's menu and it has been great so far. Next week, we are having...

• Monday: Grilled chicken kabobs on caesar salad
• Tuesday: Chicken quesadillas
• Wednesday: Pork fried rice
• Thursday: Roast beef, bacon & bleu wraps
• Friday: Parmesan turkey burgers

I know, everything sounds pretty simple and plain. But trust me- I've looked up all the recipes and everything has a special little twist to it that we've never tried before. AND, everything is relatively healthy, too. Poor Jason has to deal with me picking out mostly poultry and white meat dishes, since I'm not a huge fan of beef and I can't have seafood (not that I liked it to begin with anyway).

So far I've been surprised at how different this pregnancy has been from the first. There have been some similarities, but not many. This time around, I'm craving super-healthy foods. Anything deep fried or remotely greasy sounds disgusting. Also, you'd be proud: I have refrained from adding extra salt to ANY of my food! If you know me, you know I'm an over-salter. Not anymore. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I don't want to blow up like a balloon this time.

Remember how HUGE I was with Tiegan? Let me just remind you...

In this photo I was about 8 months along. By the day I was induced, I had gained almost 60 lbs.! that's more than HALF my original body weight, people. Not happening this time. (And what was I thinking, cutting my hair that short?)

Maybe a REAL Resolution?

I'm gonna do it.

Not only am I working hard to stay healthy and get my exercise while I'm pregnant, I'm going at it full-fledged after the baby is born.

I have been having a lot of dreams lately that involve me being chased/hunted, or our house being broken into. If that ever happened in real life and Jason wasn't around, I'd be screwed. I have no idea how to defend myself outside of swinging like crazy with a baseball bat. I can't stand feeling inadequate. Just the thought of being a mother of 2 is intimidating, physically. I want to be able to lift, bend, pull, push and play without getting winded. I can't stand taking breaks because I just don't have the strength or energy. I am determined to be fit, self-sufficient and strong.

Domestication

Yesterday, I knew it was time to go grocery shopping. So I thought I'd be smart and create a healthy list, including bulk items that we could make more home-cooked meals with. Jason one-upped me. He did the cutest (and most practical) thing he's done in a long time.

He created a Cozi family calendar and surprised me with a week's worth of dinner menus all planned out. He even used the Betty Crocker recipe site to pick out dishes and plan a grocery shopping list.

Let me tell you: I HAVE to recommend this to everyone. I know I sound like an ad for the Betty Crocker site, but it really made our shopping way easier. We spent less money than usual, and I think we have more useful food this time. Normally, we grab some meats and some staple ingredients for side dishes, but for some reason we always end up with an uneven amount of things that don't end up going together. And food always ends up going bad before we eat it.
I love smart shopping.

Last night, JASON COOKED (!!!) a yummy, healthy (!!! again) meal.

It was like a 15-minute skillet dish with chicken breast, onions, and fresh spinach. The killer ingredient was Nutmeg. Oh, that unexpected spice that makes everyone go "hmmmm". It was great.

If you want the recipe, it's right here. Tonight we're having steak fajita salad. I can't remember what's on the docket for the rest of the week. Next week it'll be my turn to choose the menu. We're going to turn into some serious foodies.

In other news, snowmobiles have really been enjoying all this snow on the lake the past couple days...

Jason, being a lake-living veteran, warned me that sometimes on the weekends they get revving back and forth across the lake into the wee hours. So far they haven't kept me up. I've had a couple dreams that they've come crashing into our house, though. Yikes.

Your Yelling is Not Helping.

Am I the only one who has to push the mute button when a Billy Mays commercial comes on?

His sales pitch techniques (shouting through the entire commercial) are highly renowned and it has been reported that company's sales have skyrocketed mostly due to his salesmanship.

I just find him plain annoying.

Jason and I used to quietly play ESPN radio at night to help us fall asleep. Now that Billy Mays endorses ESPN360, we have nixed the radio. The first night I heard his radio commercial, I was almost asleep (which is difficult for me these days). Then - bam - "HI! BILLY MAYS HERE!" and I was wide awake. The volume was low, but his jolting voice was enough to startle me. I thought it was bad enough when his commercials are on every channel I watch on TV... but now he's monopolizing the radio too?

Eh. So that's my rant for today. I really don't know anyone that likes him or feels any more inclined to buy a product because of his yelling endorsements. SHUT UP, BILLY MAYS!

Toys and Crafts

This cute little guy is actually a prize from one of those claw/crane arcade games at Kroger. We usually take a minute to play a crane game if we spot one. Tiegan gets a kick out of choosing which prize to go after, and pushing the button. A win is rare, so this one was pretty special. She won't go to bed without this guy now, who she named "Stuffty Gluffty".


I love the hilarity of finding Tiegan's toys in silly places after she's done playing with them. The other day, I was heading toward her dollhouse to put it up, and noticed that she had put her dollhouse-people to bed in the garage.


This is Tiegan playing around with her new craft supplies after we were already done & working on picking everything up. Last night, we took a trip to JoAnn fabrics and got some things we thought would be great for Tiegan to make crafts with. Kid scissors, Elmer's glue, glitter glue, some acrylic paints, an alphabet stencil & stencil brushes, pipe cleaners, and colored popsicle sticks. So far, she LOVES crafting and has decorated a tote bag to keep all her supplies in. She also made a picture frame, decorated a big letter "T" for her bedroom door, and created a mask which I posted below.


OK, so this was more my creation than Tiegan's. I'm having fun with her crafts too... so sue me!

I Thought I Saw Your Face Today

Some of my latest musical favorites...

She & Him

You might recognize singer Zooey Deschanel from such movies as Yes Man, Failure to Launch (she's the crazy roommate trying to kill the mockingbird), and Elf. I saw her as an actress first and loved her, then when I learned she was the voice behind She & Him I was thrilled.


Lily Allen

She's a goofball and I love that. I kinda liked her hits when they first came out a while back, but I've been listening more to the rest of her albums the past couple days. The songs that haven't made it to singles are just as fun. I think she might be the reason, subconsciously, that I chose to chop myself some monster bangs.


Sia

I don't even care if Some People Have Real Problems is on the top 100 "pop" albums on iTunes. I don't usually listen to music that such authorities as iTunes categorize as "pop" (with the exception of Lily Allen, but you have to admit she's just different). But this chick has a voice that might surprise you. So powerful when she really lets loose. Such songs as The Girl You Lost to Cocaine showcase her talent.

This has been a chick-fest. Next time I write a music-related post, I'll try to show more variety. ;)

Lake Sweet Home

I still can't believe that this is my view every morning. I can't believe that we live on a lake. Jason grew up on/around lakes, but I'm a city girl. I always wanted to live on a lake, but thought it wouldn't be possible for some time when we both were working amazing jobs and making 6 figures. Hey, we can all dream, right? Living in this house, for the price we pay... well, we're lucky.

This photo is a little cloudy because I took it through the sliding glass door, which really needs to be cleaned. The lake gets much wider if you go out further to the right.

The sunrises and sunsets out here are amazing. Every day it's like a show. I even enjoy the cloudy days out here. It's not like we're out in the middle of nowhere, but having so much open space right in front of us is great. And you know what else is great? Usually, the smaller/cheaper houses on lakes are packed tightly like sardines. Our house isn't even that close to our neighbors. We have room to breathe.

Kudos to Jason, because he chose it all by himself. He moved in here with a roommate while we were separated over the summer, and I had been staying with my parents for a spell (at least they have a pool). When we decided to get back together, it was kind of perfect timing because his roommate had recently moved out and left him scrambling to find someone else.

Anyway, that's the gist of the story. I'm just glad to be where we are right now. This home is great (with the exception of little quirks), and even if we don't renew the lease in August, I'll enjoy every minute we spend here until then.

Potty Training Nightmare

Is this an OK blog subject? Eh, this is a family/friends blog. Why not.
We're a little bit behind. I don't know what to do anymore.

Over the summer, when Jason and I were separated, Tiegan went into a huge regression. She completely stopped using the potty and showed absolutely no interest. She went from being in training pants all day and diapers at night to pull-ups all the time and never using the potty. I felt so guilty, because I know it was a tough time for her. Not only did she go back and forth between me (at my parents' house) and Jason (who was in the process of moving to the lake), but she also spent many days and nights at Judy's house. Between 4 different "homes" over the summer, there were tons of inconsistencies. I completely understand why she didn't want to bother anymore.

At our old house, when we were still together, she had a routine. She knew exactly what to expect and how to go about doing things. Then we created this hurricane and she was here, there, and everywhere. Predictability went out the window and it was just easier for her to give up for a while.

When we made amends and I moved back in with Jason at the "lake house," everything started melding back together in perfect harmony.

Everything except Tiegan's potty training.
We've tried ditching the pull-ups and putting her in real, big-girl panties all the time. That doesn't work. By day's end we need to resort to pull-ups until we can make it to the laundromat. (By the way, not having a washer/dry in-house STINKS.)
I encourage her and take her to the bathroom with me when I go. I don't push too hard, but her lack of interest is a little bothersome. Not only that, but it's getting expensive! I don't think my wallet can handle 2 kids in diapers if this is still going on by summertime.

Everyone says "she'll go when she's ready." But she WAS ready, and she WAS going. Will she re-try someday, or has something happened to make her never want to go again?

Home Photo Shoot

Today I decided to create Tiegan's 3rd birthday party invitations, since my goal date for sending them out is only a few days away. What's the typical advance-notice required for birthday party invitations? I couldn't remember, so I figured 4 weeks ahead was pretty adequate.

I wanted to have as recent a photo as possible on the invitations, so T and I had a mini photo-session today. I wanted a shot of her with a sweet, imaginative smile on her face - not necessarily looking right at the camera. I wanted her picture to show her in the dreamworld that she's usually in. Let me tell you -- staging that shot was a nightmare. So I just told her to look out the window and I went with the flow.

I thought the result was OK - not perfect (her eyes are squinty and you can tell she's about to talk), but how perfect can you get with an almost-3-year-old?

New Baby Cold Feet...ish

14 weeks today! At first I thought this was going to be an easy pregnancy, simply because for the first few weeks I had absolutely no symptoms and hardly had a headache.

Boy, was I wrong. In no way am I unhealthy, but I am living in Headache City. I really wish I could take Excedrin Migraine. Tylenol Extra Strength doesn't even touch this pain.

Other than that, I really have no complaints. Just a few minutes ago I was excitedly making an Amazon wishlist full of baby necessities that we, for some reason, have gotten rid of in the past couple years since Tiegan was born. Trying to remind myself that it won't just be the three of us anymore. We are going to have to totally adjust our lives. We did it once, and we can do it again. I'm pretty flexible. Sometimes I wish we had Tiegan in more of a concrete schedule so that we could work around that when the baby comes. Other times, I'm kind of glad we don't have a very rigid schedule. Sure, we mostly do the same things at the same times every day, but there's variation and that's OK. It's not like she wakes up at 7:42 and goes to bed at 8:58. Her adaptability will probably end up making it easier when the baby's needs take precedence. I hope she doesn't feel slighted. I also hope she doesn't feel too much pressure to grow up right away and become a fully responsible big sister. She's still practically a baby herself.

That, I think, is one of my main fears: having the capacity to treat both children equally and make it so that I have enough one-on-one time for each, while still making time for myself.

All that aside, I'm excited. Our little family will finally be complete. before I had Tiegan, I never really thought of having children. I saw it as some far-off thing. But then she came, and I love my life as a mom and family woman. I thought our little family of 3 was complete. I had just started getting used to things the way they were, when I realized that another child would only bring more love into this family. No matter how difficult it may be, we will all have each other. Our Christmases will be bigger. Our laughs will be fuller. Our family will only get better.

Two is the limit, though! After this baby, we're done. And I mean it this time. ;)

What's more frustrating than being ignored?

Any tips on how to get a toddler to listen?

My biggest problem with Tiegan's behavior as of late is that she doesn't listen to/pay attention to/remember what I tell her. I work so hard to explain things in a way that she'll understand, but she can't just be serious for 2 seconds. I realize that settling down and listening through a short "lecture" is difficult for someone so little. I don't expect her to completely resist temptation to look around a little or drift off a bit if I'm talking too much.

I'm NO expert on the subject, but I think she should be able to at least repeat a sentence 2 seconds after I say it.

TV is a big factor. It pains me to say so, because I always swore I would never let the TV raise my child(ren). When we drove to Briarwood mall today, she knew exactly what Macy's was by the big red star, because she had seen the commercial on TV. This happens a lot. She repeats practically everything she sees/hears on TV. She has an extremely sharp memory for details, even with things outside of the tube. Sometimes I think she even has a photographic memory. (But that's probably just pride or biased motherhood sneaking in).

But when I get down on her level and try to explain why I scolded her, or how something works, or why we do what we do... in one ear and out the other. She makes faces and silly noises while I'm talking. I have to repeat myself: "Please look at me. LOOK AT ME. Quiet. Look at me. Listen. Be quiet." I explain that making faces and noises at someone who's talking to you is rude. I explain what rude means.
Me: "Do you understand?"
Tiegan: "Yes."
Me: "Were you listening?"
Tiegan: "Yes."
Me: "What did I say?"
Tiegan: "I don't know."