My Plate is Heaping

with so much to do and take care of before Baby B's arrival in 31 days, probably minus 7 days as am sure they'll be inducing again.

Had my last bi-weekly check-up yesterday at 35 weeks and when the good ole' Dr. measured the belly, he said I was measuring at 40!  Um, say what?!  Last appt, I jumped 2 weeks ahead of what I should have been, and now I'm at 5!  No wonder I'm feeling whale-ish the past couple weeks.  I go for a size ultrasound in 2 weeks, which of course is only an estimate + or - 1lb, and they can't guarantee the accuracy.

To top it off, we decided to take on our 2nd floor.  The poor Hubs, I have every day he's off scheduled out on exactly what we're to accomplish, house wise!!!

Our Done List:
- Joined Emma and Avalynn into one bedroom.
- Sold or Donated any furniture we do not need anymore.
- De-carpeted main part of the stairs.
- Tore out carpeting in A's old nursery.
- Painted ceiling/trim/walls in A's old nursery.
- Clean up floor and put down polish.
- Installed ceiling fan.
- Moved our bed into our *new* room.

To Do:
- Ikea shopping trip - Pick-up remaining items needed for our room and some things for Baby B's room
- Finish ripping carpet off stair ends.
- Sand and relay the top and bottom landing of stair well.
- Paint treads, banister, & railing white.
- Tear carpet out of B's nursery.
- Paint ceiling and walls in nursery.
- Install bead board in nursery.
- Clean up the hardwoods and put down polish in nursery.
- Set up nursery.
- Make B's crib bedding and finish quilt. *in progress*
- Re-cover carseat. *in progress*
- Make new boppy cover.

Not only was I feeling stressed about our To Do list before, but after yesterday's Dr's appt - needless to say stress went through the roof.

And then when I signed on today to read through my daily reads, I read this on my friend Amber's blog. Needless to say, it was a great reminder for me and hopefully you'll find it a good one for you as well!

Randomness

I don't even know what's been filling my days for the past couple weeks, but I do know that I have barely had time to sit down and catch up on stuff, so now for a catch-all post of what's swirling around my head...

- I finally checked my inbox tonight and had 219 emails...eeks!  Thankfully, it's empty again...

- Holy cow, July will be here in 1 day!  This means that we are getting down to the nitty gritty of our tri-bedroom remodel/switch-a-roo.

- Tonight after the girls' were in bed, Hubs & I sat in the yard on our swing and went through the list of everything that needs sold, built, bought...his poor head was spinning as he kept seeing his to-do list grow.

- The youngest is teething her molars hardcore this = absolutely no fun for me!  Night time sleeping, means that I get awoken to screaming, not fussiness or crying, but screaming.  Naps are the same.  I've resorted back to her newborn days and rock and rock and rock her.

- I can't wait to have some time and write up all of the blog posts running through my head, recipes I talked about last week, ideas for Baby B's nursery, ideas for the older girls' room, ideas for our bedroom, DIY fountain the Hubs whipped together for our garden, fabric picking & sewing baby items,  etc.

- Tantrums are a totally new thing that I'm slowly learning to deal with.

- Miss A is in for a very rude awakening when Baby B arrives, when holding my BFF's little guy tonight, she went nuts crying and what not to sit on my lap and have me all to herself.

- Figuring out a preschool for the oldest for the fall, so glad to have finally found the right place to look in for reasonable priced preschool that's not a daycare!

I'm in a daze of pink/green/& monkey's...

Wow, can't believe I haven't been able to post for almost a week.  Last week things that could go wrong just kept going wrong, things are finally looking up as of this afternoon.  Hate having bummer days consecutively - no fun!

Now, I'm running around crazily getting ready to celebrate my baby's 1st birthday, hard to believe Wednesday she will be 1.  We are celebrating with all of our loved ones.  Have tons of birthday party prepping posts to share this week.

Hope everyone's week has started out well!

Weekend = Reminder That Life is Good.

Our weekend started with this beautiful sky above, the clouds were the perfect dream-ness and puffy-ness.

Here's our weekend in a nutshell: 
- Painted ceilings at my parents house.
- Enjoyed family dinner.
- Early morning grocery shopping with just the oldest is some nice one on one time.
- Bakes 2 homemade pumpkin pies.
- 5 cans of spray paint on 25 picture frames/shelves, a mirror, and wicker furniture.
- Hung 28 pictures frames, plate, shelves, canvas prints on our *new* massive family wall.
- Date night with the hubs, entailed a great dinner and game night at our friends' house.
- Made a cushion.
- Have had the hugest epic fail of trying to match a color in our living room *note to self: write down all paint colors in a safe spot*, then tried a new color that seriously is making me crazy and I can't change it for two days.
- Baby Girl reached out and said "Da-Da" for the first time.

It was a great productive weekend lots of highs and even some down falls dealing with paint, but overall, just a good reminder that life is good even when times are tough. And that the Hubs is awesome for helping me all of these projects.  Can't wait to share more on some of the ooh's and ahh's and oop's that were mentioned above.

I'm back..

The past week in a half has been quite the roller coaster.  Here's the good, the bad & ugly.

- Your wonderful comments about my past few projects have completely been some of the highlights to my days.  Thank you so much!
- Par taked in a 2 day, 5 family, yard sale this past week and made out phenomenally!  Just when I think we can use some of it for house things, the Hubs picks us up at the end of the day saying he got laid off, talk about an immediate hitting bottom.
- I had a breakdown with my weight last week - here's to my journey to a new me! More on that to come.
- My "baby" is turning 4 in exactly one week.  When did that happen, it can't be possible that I have a 4 year old!!!
- Having a blast planning her kid only bowling party and then grandparent party - Toy Story themed of course, can't wait to share the goodies we are doing.
- The Hubs got called back temporarily for a few days to cover someone on vacation or longer.  Let's pray & hope it's the longer.
- I was able to finally pull out my fall decorations - can't wait to share them!
- We've officially started letting Avalynn cry through her night time waking - she's 7 months, slept through the night Saturday night, ever since then I just let her CIO.  Seriously - I feel like a new mama in the mornings - who knew what a night in your bed could do, even if I'm interrupted by her CIO sessions, it's still better then getting up with her for the 30+ mins.

Happy Labor Day!

Hope everyone is enjoying their looooong weekends!  The last hurrah of summer.   We have been jammed packed this weekend and tomorrow will be another fun filled day.  I'll be back tomorrow night with a weekend wrap-up.  Plus the Hubs and me tackled a DIY project that entailed some mason jars, lamp cord, aka - chandelier, calling it Phase 3 of the dining room revamp, can not wait to share it with you all later this week!!!

1 Blog, 1 Tree = Carbon Neutral

In honor of Earth Week you can go to this site and get a tree planted to help neutralize the carbon dioxide emissions of your blog.  It's super simple - so head on over and post about it!

Finally - Have a computer again.

So - I've been without a working computer for almost 2 weeks!  Had to take the desktop to Geek Squad because it decided to be wonky after a power outage and wouldn't load the start-up screen.  I was able to use our lovely tempermental laptop, mostly for emails though, so it could have been a stronger computer withdraw, then what I went through.

Hubby started his OT schedule last Monday.  Didn't realize how lonely it would be with him working everyday.  He comes home, we eat dinner, get about 30 mins time with Emma and then he crashes.  Counting down to Thanksgiving since that will be his first day off.

Speaking of Hubby's OT schedule - Miss Emma decided to really push her limits last week.  Whew - I do NOT know what happened to my sweet little girl.  Thankfully, MIL & FIL offered to take her overnight Friday and most of Saturday.  It was a much needed and grateful mental break for me!  I'm glad to say she seems to be back to her normal self the past 3 days.  She had a blast Trick-or-Treating.  Will post pics later this week.

Today I've reached a milestone.  I'm officially in the 3rd Trimester!!!  It feels like it's taken forever and flown by all at the same time.  I'm just beyond glad that I can actually say I'm in the 3rd trimester after previous losses, it's such a great feeling! 

Also - This THURSDAY will be having a Yoplait Review & Giveaway!  More details Thursday!

And since we are in November I wanted to do a little thing of what I'm thankful everyday until Thanksgiving.  I saw through my blogroll that Amanda @ Serenity Now is having a Thankful Party.  Go check it out if you want to participate.

Since I'm a little late am going to do my first 3 things here.

#1 - I'm thankful for Hubby having a job.  Construction work through the union has been non-existant it seems lately.  He was laid off for a little over 4 months this past spring/summer.  This has been the longest layoff we've seen.  And I'm beyond thankful that he is working at the job he has now and for the steady income.

#2 - That Emma has stayed in her room for "quiet/nap time" the past two days, working on the 3rd right now, and has actually taken a nap.  Which she didn't at all last week.  And that she is listening to me this week.

#3 - Gramma has finished her chemo & radiation treatments. She had her bloodwork checked and met with her Dr. this past Friday.  The Dr. said everything looks good and she has high hopes that the treatments worked.  We won't find out to what degree until January, Gramma doesn't wants to enjoy the holidays, and if it's bad news then that would put a damper on things.

Girls - - They want to have fun, OH GIRLS just wanna have fun...

Come on, you know your singing along with me now! The hubs left for his annual fishing trip this morning so it's just the little one and me. Looking fwd to a weekend of girly fun times!

We dropped the hubs off at the mini mart at the end of town for his ride. Emma seemed to be doing well since he was leaving. We went and ran some errands, and then as I'm turning into our town, we pass the mini-mart and then the total meltdown came b/c Daddy wasn't there anymore. You really have got to love kids logic on some things! Lols.

Found out some exciting news today - hopefully I can share it soon.



1. Moving is a great time to purge through your stuff.

2. Laugher & Smiles & Hugs & Kisses are free.

3. My best quality is ME.

4. Forget the details.

5. In nearly 10 years, I'll be in a total different place.

6. Rest is what I need right now!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to crab dip and curling up with a chick flick, tomorrow my plans include shopping, house ready for showing, being with family and Sunday, I want to welcome the hubs home and go to a family picnic!

Minutes 2 Hours 2 Days 2 Weeks...in seconds.

I really don't know where these past few weeks have gone? I really need to figure out managing my time on the computer better, now that it's in the basement, and Emma just drives me bonkers if I'm down here with her, time is minimal!

I've been on a really big reading kick the past month. Reading a few books a week. About to finish a fluff read and then tomorrow two books I got off of Amazon should be arriving! Yay - speaking of Amazon - would like to thank my New Secret Pal so much for the gift card! Thank you!!! You pegged me! :o)

I've been working on some projects here in the studio. Making some scrabble tile pendants, re-did some candles I got on clearance, foiling some ironwork for the bedroom, working on a plaque. Odds and ends, here and there. It feels good to be doing something creative.

The part-time job is extremely slow right now. Starting to search for a full-time job again. Oh the joys - especially in the economy we are in now.

And of course will have to leave you with a picture of Emma on Valentine's Day. :o)

Tuesday Tidbits

The little one and me are just hanging around the house in our pj's today. Well, until I need to get dressed for work tonight. It's crazy weather outside, in the past 5 minutes it went from rain/sleet/snow mixture to just snow now. I really hope it stops for my commute tonight, am not looking forward to that.

Kimba is having a Holiday Open House. Go on over and check out all of the great holiday link up's.

And last night we made an impromptu trip out to Candy Lane, that Hershey Park puts on every year. It was in the 50's so why not take advantage of the nice weather for some outdoors christmas fun. Tons of gorgeous lights and they had 30 rides open throughout the park. Emma wasn't that into the rides, we did the Merry-Go-Round and she hated it. She's gripping that horse like there's no tomorrow, and we didn't even have one that moved up and down. We went up the kissing tower, where we got to see the whole park, as soon as we went up she kept saying down, down, down. It was cute. We did do the antique cars and she most defintely loved that the most. Hopefully when we go back in a couple years she'll like it more.

She looks so tiny at the one sign of lights.

Looks like I'm getting kisses, but she didn't want to let go of me.

She's gripping that pole on the horse.

Here we are moving on the ride. She hated it. The hubs said everytime we went by he'd hear her say "mommmmmmmmy". I couldn't help but laugh and try and soothe her

Picture of us.

We got to see the reindeer.

Daddy and Emma, looking over the bridge at the ducks.

a good reminder

One of my new blog friends Shuana @ Trying to Stay Calm has such a bright cheery blog and she gives some of the best comment love. She posted this story about what a Santa told her boys a few years ago and I love the meaning of it all so wanted to share. He was wearing a JOY pin and said:

The J is for Jesus

The O is for Others

The Y is for Yourself

He told them to find true JOY in your life...

You should think of Jesus, Others and of Yourself to truly find Joy and happiness!

I want to meet this Santa because I think it's a great message.

In other news, I'm feeling so done and over with cleaning. Have cleaned the house up a bajillion times this weekend it feels, plus cleaning out the basement which really, need I say more? So, today is a fun girls day in our house. Lounging in our pj's all day. I just finished painting Miss Emma's toes. And I'm about to go cookie recipe searching and we're going to be baking some cookies. I seriously love Monday's so much!

I'm here

just have been really sick with a really crappy cold. Have been on the computer very little. I'm hoping in the next couple days to catch up on some blogging and to comment back everyone. Thanks for all of the comment love!

Myriad of my Thoughts

First off want to wish the roomie a Happy 24th Birthday! I hope it's a great day for you!!!

Second want to say a BIG congrats to J & C, women from my mommy group who found out they are expecting.

Thirdly, Emma had her first big fall last night and I wasn't even hear. The hubs said she was 1/3 of the way up the stairs and she started to turn around basically did a cartwheel down the stairs, landing on her back. She seemed more shocked then anything, but he said she cried for a while. This morning her left eye around her eyebrow is swollen and she has two marks around that eye. But otherwise she seems in good spirits.

Fourthly, I'm glad to have today off from work. Woke up with a sore throat, so hope that it doesn't turn into more and just goes away.

Fifthly, I had to fill my tire again yesterday, so there is some kind of leak. It's going in the shop for other work Monday so they are going to check it out. Here's hoping it can just be a patch instead of a new tire.

Drawing a Blank

I feel like I have so much to say but nothing is really coming to me.

That's all...

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY!

I've been a total bum all day, just vegging out. Still in my pj's, about to hop in the shower for my pedi in a couple hours, but stumbled across this fun little abc meme from Sixy Mama. The hubs is working but will be getting home with in the hour.

A is for age: 23.

B is for burger of choice: my own with my secret ingredients...mwhahaha!

C is for the car I drive: Hyundai Entourage, it's white, one of my loves.

D is for your dog's name: Hmmm...we don't have one, but my "bruder's name is Tucker-Bean". And my "neice Autumn". And then two second "cousins - Winter & Wyatt".

E is for essential item you use every day: Toothbrush.

F is for favorite TV show at the moment: Grey's Anatomy...I'm hooked.

G is for favorite game: MadGab.

H is for home state: Pennsylvania

I is for instruments you play: None anymore...used to play the clarinet.

J is for favorite juice: Apple.

K is for whose bum you'd like to kick: Myself in the dieting department.

L is for last restaurant at which you ate: Wow, I have no clue?! That's sad.

M is for your favorite Muppet: Miss Piggy...

N is for number of piercings: 5 that are open in my ears, but have 3 more that I let close.

O is for overnight hospital stays: The birth of Emma.

P is for people you were with today: Emma, talked to the hubs for a couple minutes up in bed before he headed to work but that's it.

Q is for what you do with your quiet time: Computer, read, tv, listen to music, drive

R is for biggest regret: nothing at the moment

S is for status: Married

T is for time you woke up today: 8:41

U is for what you consider unique about yourself: nothing

V is for vegetable you love: corn

W is for worst habit: procrastination

X is for x-rays you've had: dental and back

Y is for yummy food you ate today: hot dog and some triscuits

Z is for zodiac: Capricorn

Random Thoughts B4 Bed

- The weekend went fast and slow at the same time.
- I hate that the rain has ruined our plans the past two weekends!
- I have an extremely busy next two weeks ahead of me.
- I think I'm crazy for trying to cram 4 functions/events into this coming weekend?!
- I picked up more hours at work.
- I'm so glad that I get along with the ladies at work, it makes work not feel like work.
- Army Wives was good tonight.
- I'm becoming addicted to Grey's Anatomy.
- Dad R's 51st bday dinner was fun Saturday night.
- I like that Kristina and me have actually hung out this past week.
- The comedy show was great last Thursday.
- I definitely want to continue going to those type of things.
- I watched The Notebook for only the gazillionith time last night.
- Dinner was absolutely amazing tonight.
- Emma took her first "shower" tonight, we hooked up the kids attachment and she stood there, we had the curtain open.
- I uploaded the pictures to my computer, but not to photobucket, hopefully tomorrow.
- I can't wait for my dr's appt next Monday.
- I got the coolest kick ass-ist sweatshirt from my parent's from their vacation.
- They got Emma a 3T and it won't fit over her head. I'm deteremined to stretch it somehow.
- Emma is really starting to say "I love you".
- I love that she wakes me up in the mornings by saying "Mom" from her crib.
- I just spent an hour looking through people's blogs and all of the great crafty ideas women have.
- I think pigtails are coming back in style, I'm seeing them everywhere.
- I think I might wear mine up in pigtails tomorrow.
- My hair is getting long again, I think I'm just going to let it grow again.
- I really need to get my bum motivated in the weight loss department.
- I've started writing again and am in love with it.
- I've started my 2nd book by Jennifer Weiner The Guy Not Taken and it is 11 short stories, I'm looking forward to getting lost in a book again.
- I've been guilty of completely lurking on my sub-group's threads this weekend. And these women are very strong women who are wonderful mother's. I definitely look up to them and what some of them are dealing with right now.
- I need to get moving on my definitions swap.
- I'm getting excited thinking of Emma's new big girl room.
- I'm designing some wall art for her, I just need to pick the color theme already.

Ramblings at it's Finest

No specific reason for this post. Just ramblings of things I've been thinking about. One of the main things is the friends in my life. Which pretty much are zero. Yes I have the oh, 3 people I could call up if I need to, but I've lost touch with my friends. I miss talking to them daily/a couple times a week. Is it me? Do I make people just stop talking to me for some reason? I mean look at my history and I have a handful of friends who seriously stop talking to me for no reason that I can see and even with me trying to get in touch, no response. I'm just not sure what to think of it. Work. This company makes absolute no freaking sense to me. I mean seriously I don't think you can do anything to get fired from this place. Even if you DO get fired, they rehire you?! I just do NOT get it. But then it's their money, so why should I care. I mean I go there for 4 hours and do maybe an hours worth of work total, just because there is NO work. I'm A'okay to get paid for sitting around talking with the other ladies. Families. They are definitely the Catch 22 of all Catch 22's. You can call on them and they will be there in an instant. And yet when it comes to simplifying things people just have to be stubborn and attitude-y. As the woman on my BB say. I'm just going to put on my big girl panties and get over it. I think we all need to remember that now and then. Because there are other people in our lives besides just ourselves and our immediate families. I think we all lose sight of that at times. But hey what are you going to do really? People are how they are. It's how they've always been. There's no teaching an old dog new tricks. Emma. I will say it again, and many more times in the future, she's getting TOO BIG! Tonight she counted to 16!!! I mean seriously, it's the cutest freaking thing ever to hear her count...but 16! I just can't believe it. And the hubs wants me to shape up her hair. So, I'm thinking of bringing up her length, and this way, her bangs will actually be closer to the length of her hair. I'm sad to think about her getting her hair cut, but then also excited. And what do I think of except for saving some for a baggie so I can scrap about it. Lols. Speaking of scrapping reminds me of wanting to clean out our basement and re-do it some. Perhaps some paint, some fabric curtains in the doorways to the ugly parts. And then I get excited thinking about our remodeling this coming winter. Switching rooms with Emma. What colors/theme should Emma's new "big girl" room be? I'm thinking of some bright colors. Getting some chalkboard paint and making an area for her to color with. An activity center. Actual bookshelves instead a big plastic container. I'm excited. I'm thinking I'm going to start hunting at Home Depot for their oopsie cans, and perhaps we'll get lucky with a color? Who knows though. And to end this alls I've got to say is "Cheers"! Lifting my glass and tilting it towards you before taking a sip.

ETA: Didn't log on yesterday to wish my cousin Chris a Happy Birthday!