Thursday, January 26, 2017

Getting Close

Everything is driving me crazy: my fighting children, the insane amount of snow that keeps on coming, the internet not working almost every afternoon, boredom, and the waiting game. I have a doctor's appointment today, and I'm really hoping for some good news. Even though dilation really has nothing to do with when I'll deliver, it would still be nice to know that something has been happening during this last week of misery.

Next time I write, I plan on having 4 kids! :) Hopefully that will be in a week or less. Joseph was born at 40w and Kenny and Katie at 40w3d, so that puts me at Wednesday at the latest. If I go past that, I will definitely lose my mind!

Monday, January 23, 2017

More Birthday/Heads Visit

Friday was day two of James's birthday celebrations. (I guess I'm too tired to cram everything into one day.) He chose a movie from Redbox, and we had snacks that I bought for him. I got fancy flavored pretzels and beef jerky, two things I never buy. I attended a baptism in the afternoon for one of my Primary kids.

Saturday was a family fun day. Since he got ammo and a sled, he took the kids sledding and went hunting. We've definitely got enough snow, probably about a foot accumulated.

Sunday was good and pretty normal. I love being in Relief Society again! I also love being able to talk to adults.

Mon. - Wed. were all kind of the same. We didn't do anything in particular that stands out. I'm starting to feel miserable because my stomach always seems upset and food doesn't taste as good. Still not sleeping well either...

Thursday, I too the kids with me to my doctor's appointment. No news there either. I'm not terribly worried, because nothing happened with Joseph until I actually went into labor. He is the only one that wasn't late so far.

James's mom, dad, and Anna and Joseph came to visit. I made dinner for everyone and then everyone went swimming at the hotel except for me. I attended my last self-reliance class. It was so sad, but I am ready to have a baby and wouldn't want to miss class (or take him with me). I finished my photo book from Shutterfly while everyone played a board game. (I'm just not much into board games, especially strategy games that take a long time. I get frustrated when I have to learn lots of rules, make a lot of effort, or think a lot to have fun. I do love word games like Scrabble.)

Friday was a great day. I got all the laundry done in the morning and went to the temple while Grandma, Uncle Joseph, and Kenny and Katie went to the dinosaur museum. We all got home in time to eat lunch together, and then I took a nap. Grandma, James, and the Josephs went ice skating in the afternoon. After my nap, I had the kids helps me put the baby swing together. After IKEA furniture, it was a piece of cake! We went out for dinner with James's parents to a really good Mexican place in town. The food comes on platters and is probably enough for 3 meals, but I managed to eat it all in 2. We watched a movie (the new version of Annie) after coming home.

Saturday, we ate breakfast and went swimming at the hotel. James's family had to leave after that, so we spent the the rest of the day doing absolutely nothing. It was great. Everyone needs a day like that once in a while.

Sunday was normal again, nothing to report.

Today I did 4 loads of laundry, mostly bedding, since I'm such an overachiever and do it once a month. (How does anyone have time to wash everything once a week?!) I've been grumpy, achy, and a little stressed, but I think I'm going to make it through another week. After all, I am due on Sunday! We'll see how the rest of the week goes. My prediction is lots more achiness, but no baby.

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Snowy Days/James's Birthday

Friday, James drove to Roosevelt to buy the first 6 months of our long-term food storage. While he was gone, I worked on my last queen denim quilt. He helped me tie it when he got home, and I decided to go ahead and finish it even though I stayed up until almost midnight.

Saturday, we ran some errands with the kids after putting the food storage under Katie's bed. They were exceptionally well-behaved, considering we went to 6 places. Pizza Hut was having a deal online, so I took Joseph to get his Book-It pizza and got some for us too for dinner.

Sunday was a good day. It is so nice to go to Sunday School and Relief Society! I had forgotten about the family history class that is offered every other week. It's fun to be in a small group setting.

We got tons of snow this week, pretty much Monday through today. They even had to come out and plow our road, which they don't normally do unless it gets really bad. James and Joseph have been doing a lot of shoveling. I tried one day but gave up because my back hurt too much.

I updated our food storage binder and worked on a few small crafts (knitting, friendship bracelets). A lady in my ward came to get the blankets to donate to the women's shelter. Since that cleared up a lot of space, I got out all the baby blankets, washed them, and put them away. Since I was already on a roll, I got out my regular clothes (which fit in my dresser along with my maternity stuff) and sorted through them. I am really ready to get this baby out. I feel achy and even more tired than I did a month ago. I can't seem to get much good sleep, and I am always too hot, even though every one else in my house is freezing. Oh well. Just a few more weeks to go. The dr. said I lost a pound in the previous week. I just laughed, because I think it's a fluke. (At least I am finally over my sinus infection, because I really couldn't taste anything, which was really annoying!)

Today is James's birthday! I made him grits, eggs, and sausage for breakfast. For dinner, he will get crab cakes (real crab, which is a big splurge), baked potatoes, and corn, with "better than sex" cake for dessert. (I've actually never eaten this particular cake, but I'm sure the name is exaggerated.) Presents will include a sled and ammo, which should make for a fun weekend.

I also have my next-to-last self-reliance class. How sad. I guess they can't go on forever.

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Christmas Break, Pt. 2

We left Friday and headed home from Rexburg. First was a stop at IKEA in Draper to buy a couple of small dressers and an end table. We had gotten some Walmart gift cards from both my parents and Jacob, so I used those on groceries later and spent that amount of money at IKEA. We finally arrived home and put the kids to bed. I got everything unpacked.

Saturday, I cleaned out the car and went shopping. James started rearranging our room and even organized the shed so we can have less clutter (like bins of kids' clothes). I was too tired to help much on Saturday.

Sunday, it was really nice not to teach Primary. My kids did not behave too well during Sacrament meeting, so I especially enjoyed going to Sunday School and Relief Society. After church, I worked with James to figure out what we're going to get for our 6 months of basic food storage. It's the big gift from his parents this year, and I am really excited. Because of my food storage blog, I actually already know what we're getting. I just had to make a few minor tweaks.

Monday and Tuesday, we finished the organizing. I put together the 2 IKEA dressers, we took down Christmas decorations and put them all away, and James took everything out from under our bed and Katie's in preparation for storing the food. He did a great job organizing the shed, putting up hooks, and really clearing out our room to make it look better. I did the dresser swap, so one of the small ones went to Lewis, his big dresser to me, the same one for James, and the other small one for an extra. I am currently storing blankets for charity in it. We had a really fun FHE with the kids at the high school. We played with bubbles, flew airplanes on Google Earth, and played Spot It. My boys are better at that game than I am. We also went to Wendy's for sriracha fries and frosties. (I highly recommend the fries; they are delicious if you like cheesy and spicy together!)

Wednesday, school started. I finished dehydrating all the apples I got from Melodie and also made a pie. I've been working on my last quilt, a queen-sized denim one for charity. It's going well, though I admit I'm getting sick of sewing. Being done will completely clean out my craft supplies, so I can't make anything else even if I want to. I plan on starting to get things ready for Lewis and maybe being a little lazy...and hopeful that he will show up a few days early? (I won't hope for too much on that one.)

I've been a little sick. I got a cold right before we left for Rexburg, and I think it's now a sinus infection. It seems to be clearing up all right. No one else in my family is sick, so I'm blaming my suppressed immune system. For it being so snowy and cloudy since we got home, I actually feel pretty happy. I tried to do a little shoveling today, but I quit after 30 minutes because it was hurting my back. It also looks like it didn't do any good, because the snow hasn't stopped  yet. Oh well. I see the OB every week now. I've stopped caring about how much I weigh at this point. I will finish out this pregnancy with 35 lbs. gained, but that's not terrible considering how much stress eating I've done over the past 8 months.

Life is good. I can't wait to get this baby boy out. His movements aren't cute anymore; they're very uncomfortable. 3 1/2 weeks to go!