Merry Christmas!!

From our family to yours! Oooh, I forgot how long it's been since I've posted a picture of the kids. Mr. Peanut had to get glasses! Funny enough, he could have gotten a monacle (just like the actual Mr. Peanut), considering he has Anisometropic Amblyopia, which means he has diminished vision in one eye. Funny that I've never thought of that before! He does excellent with them. Most of the time...

Has it been that long??

Wow, this summer has gone by SO fast thus far! We spent the beginning of June in Wisconsin and then my sister flew me and the turdlets out to Montana to spend almost a month. We got back last Friday and then left on Tuesday to go to North Dakota and Montana (again). I'm exhausted and am missing my garden, but it has been so much fun!!

Here's a smattering of the fun we've had so far!

Midget and Peanut

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!! Can someone please slow time down a little bit for me? These kids are growing too, too fast!! Here's a few pictures from a recent photoshoot. I know everyone thinks their kids are cute, and I'm no exception! I think Peanut looks especially dapper in his little old man hat... Love that sweet boy!

Welcome Peanut

Isn't he the cutest little Peanut you've ever seen??

I have to admit--boys are harder. Not just in the "peeing on Mommy is fun every time she opens my diaper" way, but also in the non-froofy non-flowery newborn picture ideas that aren't sports-related sort of way. I had the photo session all planned out for our second little girl that I was convinced we were having, but when little "Mister" Peanut entered the world, I was stumped! I decided to hop on to Etsy to try to get some inspiration. After lots of searching, I ran across what are called baby cocoons. PERFECT!! If I could find one I liked in a tan sort of color, it would look like Peanut was a little peanut!

I finally found the perfect one at Becky's Baby Crochet and decided to email her on Labor Day to see if it was going to be possible to get the cocoon in time for the appointment I'd already set up for Friday. She was quick to respond, was SUPER nice, and told me it would be no problem to get it to me on time, even with the holiday! To my photographer friends, you MUST go look at her adorable photography props!! I was more than pleased with my purchase and stunned at the amazing service she delivered!

Now, on to the birth story! I had a follow-up appointment with my OB on Friday morning, August 27th, to once again check my blood pressure and to see if I had progressed at all. I had been checking it at home and I knew they weren't going to like it, but I wasn't sure what my Doc would want to do. My OB practice is made up of seven doctors and you choose a primary, but you see all the other docs throughout your pregnancy because whoever is on call at the hospital when you deliver is who delivers your baby. I love all the doctors in the practice and the way it works is really nice, but you do get differing opinions from different doctors sometimes.

My bp was pretty high when the nurse took it and I went in to change and wait for my primary OB. When he checked, I hadn't made much progress from when I was discharged on Tuesday, but I asked him to strip my membranes and he agreed it would be good to try to move things along. He decided to set up my induction for a week later, my due date, just in case I didn't deliver before then. He left the room and I could hear him on the phone, calling the hospital to schedule the induction. He stopped right in the middle of his sentence and said, "Is this her blood pressure TODAY???" The nurse said yes and I heard him say, "Never mind," to the person he was speaking to on the phone. The door opened and he told me to go to the hospital because I needed to have the baby soon. It wasn't an emergency, but there was no sense it waiting until it became an emergency.

We took our time getting to the hospital, as I already know that induction is not usually a zip-a-dee-doo-dah super-fast process. Around 1 p.m., I asked the hubby to drop me off at the hospital and spend the day with Midget and take her to our neighbor's house around 7 p.m. and then I'd let him know what he needed to do once I had a better handle on what was going on.

They decided to use a Foley Bulb Catheter to help me dilate. I'd never heard of it, but they insert the catheter behind the cervix wall and then use saline to inflate it. When it has done its job, it simply comes out. They inflated it and hoped that it would get me to 4 cm in about nine hours. At the three hour mark, they checked and I was at my goal mark, all with relatively little pain. At one point, I even began to have regular contractions at about 5-6 minutes apart. I told my husband to stay at home, but to remain on standby.

Unfortunately, they didn't establish well, so the docs went back to the drawing board and decided that I needed to start pitocin. I'd heard such awful things about pitocin, so I was hoping to avoid it, but that wasn't going to be the case. At 11:30 p.m., they started the pitocin and I expected things to just happen instantly, but they didn't. I told hubby to catch some sleep and that I'd call him again when things looked like they were going to start moving along.

I was still sleeping quite well and they were increasing up the pitocin about every 30 minutes, but I wasn't really getting much further along. At 3 a.m., they decided to break my bag of waters and continue increasing the pitocin. About two hours later, things really started moving along. I called my husband and asked him to head down.

At about 5:30 a.m., I was at 6 cm and was finally beginning to have some fairly painful contractions, but they were manageable. An hour later, that all changed, when I began to have some weird kind of nerve pain that felt like FIRE shooting down the front of my right leg. I could handle the contractions, but the nerve pain was unbearable!! I tried every position and birthing prop in the known universe, but wasn't getting any relief. The doctor said most likely, the baby was somehow pushing on a nerve. Around 7:30, I asked for an epidural.

Thankfully, the anesthesiologist was in the next room and came over within a few minutes. They decided on an Intrathecal epidural (sort of a combination spinal tap/epidural), since I was already at 8 cm. It was unbelievable how fast it worked and how WELL it worked! Within seconds, the nerve pain was starting to fade. At this point, all I wanted to do was sleep, but the baby had other plans.

The doctor checked me right after the epidural and said, "WOW! You are fully dilated and ready to push!" I barely heard this between my snores, but I was glad the last two cm went in just a few minutes.

Less than thirty minutes later, they were all yelling out, "It's a boy!!" and my first response was, "Are you sure??" When they turned him around, sure enough, there were his little baby bits!!



Speaking of baby bits, Peanut was getting his first bath at the hospital when Midget walked in to meet him for the first time. She asked Daddy to pick her up and right away said, "LOOK!! He has a BIG pee-pee and I have a LITTLE pee-pee!" Silly girl!





Midget is completely enamored with her baby brother! She can't quit smooching on him and even three weeks later, asks to hold him at least 9 million times a day! She's relatively gentle and has only attempted to throw him once. She was holding him when her favorite tv show (Phineas and Ferb--yes, she's a strange 3 year old girl) ended and she was displeased so she literally started to "throw" a tantrum. Thankfully, we were sitting on the bed and I was right next to her, so Peanut was fine.




Peanut is doing really well. He is nursing like a champ and is the NOISIEST eater I've ever heard. The little porkpie has already gained over a pound from his birthweight and he's only three weeks old. He's a pretty good sleeper, usually going from 11:30-ish to 5:00-ish at night, so I don't feel like a total zombie. This kid is also a champion pooper! I can't believe how many diapers he goes through in a day. Every time I change him, he poops again thirty seconds later... *le sigh*

Hurry Up and Wait...

First, here's the belly at 38 weeks. It took a very patient photographer to capture this shot, as I was SO nervous to do a nekkid belly picture for the world to see. I'm super happy with this though!!

After 38 weeks of a blissfully normal pregnancy, last Friday at my regular OB check up, my blood pressure was a little on the high side, but low enough that they asked me to come back in a few days. Monday, it was high enough that they sent me straight to the hospital for monitoring. After it stayed high, they decided they wanted to admit me later that evening and start the induction process. AAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCKKKKKKK!!! I was almost two full weeks overdue with Midget, so why on earth would I have everything ready to go two weeks BEFORE my due date???

They let me go home at about 2 p.m. and asked that I be back between 6 and 7 p.m. I scrambled to get everything together, as the only thing I had done previously was to set up the bassinette. No labor bag, no overnight bag, no bag packed for Midget, no plans for the Wieners, and worst of all--UNPAINTED TOENAILS!! " )

I rushed around and got everything together (minus the painted toenails, but I packed polish in my labor bag--hey a girl's gotta have priorities, right) and reported to the hospital at 7:05 p.m. because I can't ever be on time for anything. They checked me in and put in a prostaglandin tape to thin my cervix and I was to settle in overnight for some rest so they could start the pitocin at 9 a.m.

I had a pretty restful evening in the hospital and managed to sleep most of the night, except when they had to come in to readjust the fetal monitors each time I moved. In the morning, my blood pressure had normalized to the point that the doctor decided to send me home on modified bedrest. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT???

It is a good thing, as I was hoping to not be induced, but it's funny how I was happily enjoying these last few weeks of one Midget until I got it in my head that I had no choice but to be ready for two. Now, this baby can't come fast enough! I've served Peanut several eviction notices, but he or she is partying it up in my belly while I have to sit around and do almost nothing!!

On the plus side, the hubby is getting a crash course in being my domestic b*tch...

In the Home Stretch

It is simply amazing how FAST time has flown this pregnancy! I am now in the home stretch, getting bigger every day, and ready to meet the newest member of the family in a few weeks. I have the hugest list of things to do, but can't seem to get one thing done without another being added on... Just five weeks left to go!

Chop Chop!!

Since everything seems to be getting bigger around here, I decided to make one thing smaller--my hair! My hair was pretty damamged from the initial bleaching process and had been breaking off for nearly a year, so I finally decided it was time to chop it off!


I think it's funny that people always assume that if you cut your hair when you're pregnant, it's because you think you won't have any time to fix it once the baby is born. Um, HELLO! This hair takes WAY longer to fix than pulling my all one length hair into a ponytail!!

Baby Bump, er, Mountain

It's funny how I didn't feel big last pregnancy until I was less than a few weeks from the due date. This time, I feel HEEE-UGE already and I'm just past halfway there! I suppose the fact that I'm almost 60 pounds lighter has something to do with it.

Despite my feeling of general fat-arsedness, we've actually been gardening up a storm the last two days. We should be finished with our garden completely on Sunday, so look for pictures next week!

Also cultivating heartily is our little Peanut! We had our big ultrasound last week and here's a pic of Peanut's sweet little profile. We decided, once again, to not find out the gender. We didn't find out with Midget and it was so much fun! I honestly can't imagine knowing what to expect before the delivery!

URF...

I have nothing to post about. I have no energy for crafts, no stomach for cooking, and no brain to think of anything witty or funny to say.

I made dinner on Saturday night for the first time in nearly a month (chicken, rice, and steamed veggies--it doesn't get any more boring than that) and spent the remainder of the evening laying on the couch, trying not to vomit. GAH. It's a GOOD thing I did the pantry challenge in January because I've blown all my savings from January this month on pre-made food...

Midget and I did have a great time at my service club's Valentine's Day Dance. As expected, I had to drag her off the dance floor when it was time for us to go. I enjoyed having a reason to pretty myself up and wear the gorgeous dress I bought from Bettie Page Clothing for my Stepson's wedding. Thanks to my nausea, the dress fit even better than it did in November, and I actually felt like a million bucks that evening!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Halloween

Hope you had a great one! Ours was a bit chilly, but we just put our costumes on over our coats and looked like puffy Raggedy Ann Dolls.

Witches' Tea Party

When I saw these invitations on Living Locurto, I was dying for an excuse to do a Witches' Tea Party. Thank goodness one of my friends was looking for someone to watch her kids!! I thought it would be a fun way to have a little bitty Halloween party, something I've loved to host since I was a little girl. I printed out the invitations, rolled them up, tied them with a little string, and delivered them to their mailboxes.

When the kids arrived, we read a short Halloween book from the library and quickly got to decorating the kids' witch hats. I found the hats, the foam stickers, and the cookies at the dollar store. Since it was a kid party, I made Russian Tea, which is Tang and Instant Tea simmered with whole cloves and cinnamon sticks. I spent about $15 in total on all the supplies. Not bad for a whole lot of fun! Even Lucy Wiener Witch enjoyed herself!

This post is linked up to Amy's Finer Things Friday

DC BABY!

I've been a bit slow at posting the last few weeks for two reasons.

1. Midget decided to throw a Little People giraffe at my laptop and busted my LCD screen. Thankfully, I purchased the full service plan through Best Buy, so I didn't have to pay to get my screen replaced. I did have to live without my computer for three full weeks. At times, I'd find myself sitting on the couch with my arms raised. It was like I had a phantom laptop!

2. I went to visit a friend (sans hubby and Midget) in Washington D.C.!! Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy nearly the entire time, so most of my pictures turned out crummy. We had a great time anyway--soaking boots and all!

Me & Midge

Just thought I'd share quickly the newest picture of me and Midget, which show the new sassy glasses. My other sweet glasses got a ginormous scratch right in my line of sight. I'll get the lenses replaced, but I got these so cheap, I couldn't pass them up!

Midget's 2nd birthday is on Saturday and we are having a few people over for dinner. I didn't want to do a party because I get all crazy and go overboard with everything, but my friend Stacey was adamant that I'd better have one because she wanted to come! So we are doing burgers and dogs on the grill and I'm making a cake. It's been super hard for me not to do a zillion activities, games, goodie bags, etc.! At this point, there's just no need to go crazy. When she can invite her own little friends over, I'll do a few more special things.

So, off I go to clean. I'm such a procrastinator, it isn't even funny!

A Visit from a Bloggy Buddy!

I was so excited when Angie, co-founder of iHeartFaces and her personal blog The Arthur Clan, tweeted me that she was going to be in Ann Arbor and we should find a time to meet! We've been bloggy friends since she happened upon one of my favorite blog posts I've written thus far. She just couldn't resist my charm!

Angie is an amazing photographer and has inspired me to take better pictures and see things differently than I did before. Of course, my pictures still suck, but at least they suck a little less than they did before! When you go see her post about our meeting, you will be treated to gorgeous photos of Midget and all of Angie's adorable little rugrats! You also get to see her lovely face and my super pasty skin. I'm actually a little pissed at her for not photoshopping a tan on me! C'mon Ang!! Put those mad skillz of yours to good use and make me a bronze goddess!! While you're at it--could you pretty please take another 10 lbs off of me in our picture? Preferably in the boobage area. Thankyouverymuch.

We decided to meet at a park where all the kids could play and we could capture some good shots. Well, where she could capture some good shots and I could take 90% of my photos in the wrong setting and give them all a blue tinge. Please also pay no attention to the fact that we met in the middle of July and it is now almost September! I told y'all I've been crazy busy!!

Angie's husband Bill, aka Sweatiepy, didn't come along and I'm convinced he was afraid I was going to lay the sarcasm smack down on him! Next time, you'd better bring it Billy Boy!

Midget and Weslea were instant friends and I've decided to bring Wes along with me on all future solo trips with Midge!












Of course, Midget was equally enamored with Angie and made herself right at home in Angie's lap.













Will and Wyatt spent most of the time like this:

Blurry...











And I got to meet the love of my life--WESTON! Oh geez, I love this kid!!

How do you ever say no to this face, Angie???

Here's to Twelve Years Together

My First Bloggy Buddy Meetup!

Some of you may know the fabulous Aubrey, from The Fam Five. If you aren't already a reader, get yourself on over there and get a good giggle! I was so excited to get to meet her while I was in Colorado visiting family!

We had a great time talking and laughing while the kids played, although I felt a little bad that she was completely inundated with poop stories. I'm not sure why, but it doesn't take long for my family to start talking poop. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, considering my sister came with me.

Here's a few pics of our fun day! We were having so much fun yakking that I kind of forgot to take pictures!

I'm BUSY!

If you're wondering why you haven't heard from me in a while, here's what's been occupying our time.

Drove to Madison, WI
Dropped off the Wieners and stayed overnight at the Frazier Family Hotel
Drove to Milwaukee, WI
Hopped a plane to Denver, CO
Took Midget to Open Gymnastics (total maniac)
Attended exactly 6,348,983 little league baseball games, each two hours long
Played Tennis
Roasted Marshmallows
Had my very first meetup with a bloggy friend in real life--more on that later!!
Drove to Nebraska
Went to a big 50th Wedding Anniversary party
Let Midget ride her first horse
Got molested by a giant moth I was trying to take pictures of
Visited Carhenge--this is a once in a lifetime opportunity peeps...
Drove back to Denver, CO

Feeeeeee-yoooooooof! I'm tired just from writing this and I'm not scheduled to return until the 1st of July.

We'll return to your scheduled programming shortly, folks! Until then, here's a few pics of some of the activities.

Garden Goddess

Or as I like to call it, "Ho with a Hoe."

I know you're all laughing with me, not at me, right??

Excuse the blue hue--I'm still getting to know my new camera and I change things and can't remember how to get them back.

Oh! And can you believe how skinny I'm getting?? You may now commence heaping praise (even though I still gots lotsa chunkies). Actually, I don't think I've ever posted a full body pic on here before. Don't even ask for a full body "before" pic--I'm DEFINITELY not going to post one!!




By the way, all my plants are in the garden! Now I just have to have patience. This is not a skill I possess.

Trust me...

New Camera, New Hair

Those of you who follow me on Twitter already have heard these two pieces of news. Those of you who don't--why wait for blog posts full of nonsense, when you can have little bits and pieces of nonsense from me ALL DAY???

1. I found a brand new Canon EOS Rebel XT with an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens on clearance at Wal-Mart for $299. Can you say MEGA-SCORE???? I'm going to sell my Powershot SX10IS and should be able to recoup nearly all the money we spent on it!

2. I got bored on Saturday and decided to go platinum blonde. Wow! What a process! I've done two bleachings and a light blonde toner and I'm still not done yet. If I have any hair left and my scalp isn't one big scab when I reach the true platinum shade I want, it will be a miracle.

What do you think??