Cleaning SOS

I had been hearing about the Fly Lady cleaning program on the nest, so I decided to finally check it out today. I knew it was the right thing for me when on the welcome page I read, "Are YOU living in CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) like Franny in the pink sweats? Do you feel overwhelmed, overextended, and overdrawn? Hopeless and you don't know where to start? Don't worry friend, we've been there, too."
So I decided to sign up and check it out since it was free. The first day's assignment was to clean your kitchen sink. Pretty easy. And she actually gave some ideas to get them extra clean. (Not sure why I had never thought about using steel wool to clean our stainless steel sink, but it worked amazingly well.) I peeked at Day 2 and Day 3 and I think I'm pretty safe to skip ahead to Day 3. Day 2 just talks about getting up and dressed for the day. Since I've always done that, I don't think that's much of an issue.
I'll try to update on how I'm doing. My clean sink did inspire me to get my kitchen clean. So already I can say it's doing some positive things.

Relief!

Last Thursday I tripped while taking some laundry down ours stairs. Now I know better than to go down the stairs in my socks. Wood stairs are just too slippery for that. I luckily only fell own 3 stairs, hitting my butt and back. It definitely scared me. Since I wasn't having any cramping or bleeding there really wasn't any reason for me to go into the doctor.
I had just began to feel the baby fluttering in the last couple weeks. When I hadn't felt the baby flutter all weekend, I started to worry. So we decided, while I was probably worried over nothing, it was worth calling the doctor anyways this morning. They said I really didn't have anything to worry about, but if it would make me feel better I could come in and have them find the baby's heartbeat on the Doppler. Knowing that I would worry until my next appointment, I decided it was worth taking Carter out in the snow, to hear baby. The doctor found baby's heartbeat after just seconds of looking. I had worried over nothing.
I'm taking it easy today because I was up until 7am with Carter. I think he's getting his 2 years molars in which has made him clingy and miserable. He would only sleep in my arms. Every time I put him down , he would scream like crazy. As tired as I am today, I'm trying to remember to enjoy those moments snuggling with Carter because he's growing up so fast!

Pregnancy obsessions

So it's crazy to think that I'm already more than a third done with this pregnancy. I'm really hoping my energy will return soon. I'm pretty good at trying to avoid caffeine, but some days after my early morning shifts I'm not able to function without a diet coke. It is glorious!
I'm dying to shop for baby stuff with all the amazing clearance sales going on right.

Some of my favorites this time around are:
Bubble baths: I take one pretty much every night. It is the one thing that seems to help relieve my back pain.
S'mores: Microwave s'mores are my obsession. I make them all the time. For some reason they taste good pretty much all the time.
Mott's natural applesauce: I try to only only eat applesauce without added sugar to make it healthier. Mott's is the only natural one that tastes any good.
Yoga pants: Pretty much my uniform when I'm at home.
Oberweis Chocolate Milk: Simply amazing. I'm not a huge milk drinker, but it just tastes so good.

Finished Projects at Last!

One of my goals for the year is to get caught up on all of the half finished sewing/crafting projects I have going on. Today I successful finished a blanket for baby and a small baby quilt (if we end up having a girl I'll keep it, otherwise I'll sell it or gift it)

The Polka dot one is somewhat based off the baby bear tutorial on http://sew4home.com/projects/bed-linens/358-stylish-baby-nursery-the-three-blankets . I'm still learning how to do all the stitches on my new machine, so the spacing between some of the stiching aorund the edges is slighly goofy. But it will be a perfect lightweight summer blanket for baby.

It's been another somewhat crazy week that I really can't explain where all the time has gone. I worked three days this week, but since the work load is so light this time of year I got off really early. My Friday shift even got cancelled. While I am sure we will miss the money that I could have earned, it was nice to pretty much still be a SAHM this week.

This Carter's typical wild man face. He is so goofy these days!

Pregnancy-wise time has been flying. It's hard to believe I'm almost in the 2nd trimester already. I'm still feel somewhat icky most afternoons. The exhaustion is pretty much constant (and I assume will remain until I no longer have small children anymore).

Heaven is the face

The song "Heaven is the face," by Steven Curtis Chapman makes me want to cry. For those who don't know the story behind the song, his 5 year old daughter died after being accidently run over by an older brother who didn't see her. I can't imagine the pain and grief that family must feel. It's just a really beautiful and heartfelt song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9JTwJ_1lzE

Quote that made me think

"Joy is prayer - Joy is strength - Joy is love - Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls."
Mother Theresa


It's so simple and so beautiful.

Oh Baby!

Carter's new brother or sister is due July 20th, 2010. For those of you who remember, Carter's due date was July 20th, 2008. It's so crazy that we ended up with the same due date again.
I had my first actually appointment with the doctor this morning. So far everything is looking good. It took forever for the doctor to find the little stinker's heartbeat because it kept hiding. We did in the end hear it.
The due date is probably one of the only things that my pregnancy with Carter and with this baby have had in common. With Carter, I was nauseous pretty much in the morning. I threw up every once in a while. With this baby, I am nauseous almost every afternoon and evening but mornings are fine most of the time. I've only thrown up once. With Carter I couldn't stand the smell of chocolate or pretty much any sweets (Christmas was rough that year). With this baby, I love sweets. With Carter I craved protein and loved hamburgers (as long as I didn't have to see raw meat.) With this baby all meat grosses me out even when cooked. I can stomach chicken sometimes. Gatorade was my magic trick to make it through the day with Carter. This baby seems to think it's far too sweet.
Tim and I joked with the doctor about her 4th of July weekend plans (since she was out of town that weekend when Carter came). She said as long as it could avoid the U2 concert on June 27th, she'd be there this time.
We are still up in the air on whether we will attempt a VBAC. That's one of the best things about my clinic, the choice is mine as long as a c/s isn't needed for safety reasons. The plan right now is to wait until much closer to my due date to know exactly what we're dealing with. I just don't want to get it in my head that the birth will go one way, when in fact things could change at the last minute. My tentative thoughts at this point are to set a c/s date at 39 wks. If I go into labor before that and things look good, I would attempt a VBAC. From what I've read so far, the success rates of VBAC lessen after 39 wks and c/s are the safest at that point. It also looks like inductions will never be an option for me. I'm also at a higher risk of having another breech baby since Carter was breech. (I can't find any good statistics on this to know how much more likely this is, but I did read it in a legitimate medical article, so this means it would have to be statistically significant.)