Nursing Rambles...

I thought I'd post something of significance since I'm sitting here nursing and have a little time........just realize all I write is typed one handed (so excuse any errors!)

We are almost to 6 months old....1/2 a year already! I cannot believe it.

We are so in love with you Mr. Rudy. You have changed our lives in so many ways. There have been many nights that you have let your mamas get 6 hours of sleep at a time. Then there have been nights where you wake every 2 hours...only wanting milkies and back to sleep you go. We love waking up to you looking around probably wondering what's coming up in the day ahead! Your favorite toy right now is your new Sophie, but you are also really interested in the plastic rings. You have finally mastered from BACK TO BELLY but have yet to master from belly to back. Mama thought you would do things a little differently :) You have 1 tooth and we think you are working on your 2nd one next door. You've had bananas for 2 days in a row....don't know how keen you are on them. You are loving your exersaucer...and go crazy in it. Your bumbo has been really helpful for you to sit up unassisted. You are close to sitting up by yourself....but tend to still topple one way or the other. You have begun grabbing at your feet (and other dangling things ;) just recently....your Mamas aren't to sure you are going to end up hurting yourself grabbing and not letting go. The car seat hasn't been bothering you as much lately....I'd say we are to 97% great in the car seat! I think you turned a corner.

We love waking up with you, your snuggles at nap time, and your huge grins. You are like a seal on your tummy with your arms to the side - although you are moving them out front more...it is quite funny to see you "seal" around! I love how Mama K can look at you and make you giggle and laugh. Cracks this mama up!

This Mama continually looks back on the birth and how amazing it was having you at home....how long and peaceful it was. The best experience ever....and I'd do it a million times (I just need my sleep!)

Love you Mr. Rudy!

Friday Fill-In December Style

1. Wait! Wait, don't forget ????.
2. Wiggle wiggle followed at once by toot toot....
3. The trouble is temporary jobs don't provide health insurance.
4. The Sabo's are too many miles away and LIG isn't soon enough.
5. With a faint pop I knew I'd be having a baby soon.
6. ?? shadowy and ominous.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Chinese food with Grammie and Popi, tomorrow my plans include free pictures at the library, possibly Skagit Gardens with Grammie and the Relaxation Station thanks to the neighbor and Sunday, I want to hang with Kauleen and Rudy (maybe Grammie and Popi too?)!

I am not the best at thinking of things....... anyone want to add their thoughts in for my "question" marks? :)

Quote

Got this one from Ronnie's Blog and thought it was an awesome thought.....

"It doesn’t matter how long I’ve been hurting this way: I can change. Perhaps not enough people have noticed my pain and taken it seriously, but I have noticed, and that is enough. My pain doesn’t make me alive, it shuts out countless possibilities by blocking them from my life. I deserve to be healed. I don’t need rescuing; I need help. There is always someone willing to help. I may not understand what is happening to me now, but if I undertake the healing journey, understanding will come." - Deepak Chopra

Enchanted Mama's Group

Join me for a Mama & Child get together starting November 19th.

Details here: enchanted mamas weekly gathering

RANDI

Friday Fill In

1. Plans and schedules are what I would hope to not run on - but am very much a plan it type person.

2. I'm happy when things work out just the way they should.

3. The last thing I drank was water al la bottle.

4. One of the most valuable things in my life is my family.

5. I like no cheese on my pizza, please!

6. Dear November, may you bring us ONE sunshine day in a weekend!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to burgers at home with the family, tomorrow my plans include BEHS Craft Fair and Sunday, I want to chill & get K ready for the new job!!

Been Busy

I can't say that I'll keep up with the blog.... typing one handed most of the time - making blog posts (short or long) few and far between. I'm typing right now as Rudy is snoozing on his sweet Mama K :)

The last 3 months our life has changed so much, imagine that! It has been fantastic, the longest 3 months ever.... somedays we think as if Rudy has been around forever...... and yet it has only been 3 months!

The beginning of our lives together was a bit tough..... one Mama who NEEDS her sleep, whose milk was a bit late coming in (4 days), jaundiced baby, and just the whole adjusting to life with a newborn. We are ever so thankful for hearing the first 3 months called the "Fourth Trimester". TOTALLY made sense to us.

We are now past the 3 month mark.... Rudy is becoming more of a "character" with giggles, smiles, quirks, etc. It really is amazing. We waited so long for this miracle...... and we are so blessed to have him in our lives.

I'll post a few pictures here for you bloggers that are still reading.... AND yes, Facebook has taken over my life more than blogging...... short one sentence updates is way easier right now. Feel free to add me :)

Protect ALL Families in Washington State

We VOTE to APPROVE Referendum 71 to preserve the domestic partnership law and asks that you do the same. This directly affects us and several of my friends, as well as thousands of other same-sex and senior couples/families in Washington State. Please help us to keep our rights.

This is very important to our family especially with the addition of Rudy. As a family we need to be able to get insurance benefits just like other families and even more important with the approval of Referendum 71 is our ability for K to adopt Rudy. Please VOTE TO APPROVE Referendum 71 and help us support our family. We'd appreciate you forwarding this on to all your friends and family in Washington State to help us APPROVE Referendum 71.

Comparisons of Rudy

Rudy Punteney

Rudy arrived this morning at home at 7:20something (don't have exact time yet!), 7lbs, 4 oz, 21" long

LABOR/WEIRD....which started with water breaking at 12:40am 6-6-09 and baby was born on 7-7-09 at 7:20 something.

I'll share the birth story soon........

we are all feeling very well and are resting......

Randi

Long Over Due - Short

I asked K last night if she'd be willing to blog for me...... as it seems most times when I have the energy (A.M.) I just don't have the time. By night time, forget it.

I'm battling a snot filled nose......and pretty much feel like 100% crap right now. I made me an "anti-oxident" yummmy smoothie this morning to see if that'll help kick the cold. OJ, blueberries, strawberries and watermelon with lots of ice! K went to work, I'm staying in my PJ's all day curled up on the couch. I may even try to watch a MOVIE! (We've had Mama Mia now for probably close to 2 months!)

A quick summary of things.........

I've got pictures of the garden to put on here. We've planted yellow zuchhini, rhubarb, peas, cucumbers, onions, raspberries, and tomatoes. We killed a few over our trip Memorial Day Weekend so we'll need a few more starts....... it'll be fun having lots of fresh veggies with the baby on the way!

I am 34 weeks today, pregnancy wise. This pregnancy hasn't been bad at all - I haven't gotten "big" and can't imagine that ladies that are big - and how they feel. I mentioned to K on the way into the store last night "Why do people even get pregnant!?" I'm beginning to feel a bit of the aches and pains of it all.........just wanting to slow down. It's crazy that in 3 weeks I could safely give birth at home. (chances are I'll be late...being my first and all) but when we were doing the math yesterday I was like "HOLY SHIT!" :) I cannot wait to meet this little one......... a snuggle up for a good while getting to know each other earth-side........ sure has been fun getting to know them inside! :)

the Life is Good Conference was as wonderful as ever! The speakers were great, the funshops were great, the weather was awesome, the farmers market rocked our world, and we just had a very enjoyable time. I love meeting new people..... I LOVE watching families in action. One particularly amazed me this year was Pig and Tails (waving!) just enjoyed their interaction. I'm trying to think of a Circle Chat I may be able to host next year...... I love the smaller more intimate settings of them..........and think there should be millions ;)

We have our last birth class this week.......a blessingway of sorts. It will be lots of fun (if I'm not sick.........and will be majorly bummed if I can't go because of it!)

I finally get a massage on Thursday after waiting since before April.........my massage person is undoubtedly amazing and everyone wants to go to her! I have 3 booked from here until July 9th! I decided heck, get them on the books now!

We have our home visit with the midwife on Thursday.....THAT makes it seem even MORE real. After the last appointment and she stated that I was like "whoa!" :) we'll get our birth tub around June 20th....... suppose we should get some stuff packed in a bag - in case?....gotta get me a few nursing tanks/bras.....otherwise I think we have enough stuff right now that if the baby were to come we'd be fine! :) boobs, clothes and diapers :)

Gonna snuggle up for a bit now......drink my smoothie and rest.

love you all.

LIG Henna Belly

henna belly
Originally uploaded by kauleen_randi

33 weeks Henna Belly by my sweet friend Ginger :)

28 Weeks

randi 28 weeks
Originally uploaded by kauleen_randi

Here's a picture of me at 28 almost 29 weeks :)

Posting

I'm going to post soon......... just not tonight :)

stay tuned.

Happy Birthday Poppi

happy birthday! Hope you have a great one!

Love Randi, Kauleen and Chuck :)

Girls Night Out Donation

The bottom left bingo square is the one I should've won $200 dollars on - if I hadn't missed B13 that had already been called.

I donated $200 to the lady who called bingo shortly after finding out I hadn't marked it.......

Sure had a great time though!! :)

Family Time, etc.

We got off early on Friday and picked Dad up in Marysville and headed over for our first trip after winter to Grand Coulee for Easter! :) We got there about 8:15pm, unloaded, hooked up the water, turned on the water........ and water gushed out of our tankless water heater used for one year (last summer). We don't think it froze (had a heater outside the closet door which held the house to approx. 60 degrees all winter) but we did have power to it all winter with no water running into it....... which could've burned the coils. Nonetheless, we have a soggy tub anyways.... so we're just going to go with having some cold running water, a toilet that flushes....... and we're not going to worry about the hot water for now. Nonetheless, it was a bit of a bummer. There is a meeting the end of this month regarding getting the water lines replaced in Coulee (and water added to our area) along with possibly sewer...... if that's the case - we have many more options for what we could do with our "special place".

We woke up on Saturday to SUN! It wasn't expected to be sunny but we were really hoping for some, especially after hearing it was supposed to be kind of rainy at home. It was a windy chilly day but the sun was out all day. We took a walk to Gma and Gpas and had some lunch and then went to the rummage sale and got a few baby clothes at the church and then came home and went out and got some goods for Easter and then celebrated Dad's birthday with yummy chicken, broccoli salad and chocolate cake and ice cream (thanks uncle joe!) IT WAS FANTASTIC!!

Sunday we woke up...... Mom and Dad hid easter bags Ryan, Dewayne, K and I :) it was very fun! K then went and piddled at our place after breakfast, Mom and Dad left for Wenatchee to look at Dad's new digs, and then we met them in Wenatchee for our travels home. It was snowing pretty good on the pass........with some sticking to the road but not too bad! I was a bit stressed before leaving but really it wasn't all that bad. K drives wonderfully :)

I AM IN MY THIRD TRIMESTER and 7TH MONTH! Time is flying by now.... its crazy to think that by the end of June I could have a baby :) I didn't have a very restful weekend..... don't know if that was fear or rodents, lots of peeing, Chuck deciding to be awake at all hours of the night/morning, or just couldn't get comfy. My hips were kind of achy.... so that could've been it too. Nothing too bad honestly.....just didn't seem like a restful nights sleep either night.

We start birth classes on April 22nd :) Birthing from Within.........its crazy to think by the time we're done with them I could just about have the baby! We have lots of plans between now and then and lots of things to get done around the house........painting, etc. We decided to move the cosleeper into the "babies room" and have the baby sleep with us in our new king bed. We'll see how it all works out and what works best for us.........

LIFE IS GOOD CONFERENCE is coming up........ and I'm getting more and more excited for it every day. I wonder how Chuck will like the drumming circle? Amy Steinberg? :) Being henna'd? I just can't wait to hang out with friendly folk.....whom I care for dearly!! :)

I better go help my wife fold the laundry now......

oh and I didn't mention on here only on facebook........ I passed my gestational diabetes test. Yes, thank you, I've been eating whatever the hell I want to. I am going to moderate obviously the bad things (and it really made us aware of carbs!) so that we can make better choices for a healthy, normal size baby.

I'll leave with something I read last night in my Ina May Gaskin Book that I really liked..... and am thinking of starting a "birthing banner" to hang with quotes that will encourage and inspire :)

Rather than thinking in terms of "uterine contractions" think instead of "interesting sensations that require all of your attention"

With that off to fold laundry..........

Work, Work and More Work

We have been working quite a bit of overtime lately! We're super busy, short handed, and to an almost 7 month pregnant person that = EXHAUSTING. I can't do mornings....we've come to realize it throws me off for all day and tends to make more emotional days. K left a bit ago (6:30) after we came home last night and went back to work and stayed until 8:30!

I'm going to have to moderate the overtime a bit I think..... maybe 2 days a week or 4 hours on the weekend. I love my weekends but can do a few hours and seem more rested up then the work week. Today I am tired. To bed after 10:00pm for 2 nights in a row is kicking my butt.

We did get our 10% back so that is very cool.

I'm ready for a vacation...... LIG (which is not necessarily relaxing....... but more of a FUN/EXCITING/ENJOYABLE/MEMORABLE time) which I'm glad I'm doing....because I like to do things for vacation..... and this will be my last hooray before the baby is here... and then before you know it will have the little one with us and I'll be tired but I'll be home for .... and we can all marvel in each other :)

Most that read this, probably read my facebook.........but just in case....... I haven't gotten my gestational diabetes test results back yet. I'm going to call at 9am this morning to get them. We'll see what she says.

May this day go by super fast..........Tomorrow is jeans day and we're having an "Easter Breakfast" with yummy waffles at work......sure wish I could find me a tall pair of tall old navy XL (16) pair of jeans........ for whatever reason they are sold out on their website. oh well.

what a post.........

One Awesome Chick

A big thanks to Cousin Cori for the super fun and unexpected present in the mail! Our child will wear this with pride and his/her mothers will beam with joy. Cori you Rock! I think I like this idea of suprise packages in the mail. Thanks again :)

Good Night Sleep Here We Come

We found a fabulous deal for a King Bed on Craig's List this weekend. It is a memory foam mattress with a washable cover (freshly washed) and a bed frame from Ikea. All of this for the low, low price of $475! With the help of our wonderful cousins we were able to bring it home and get it set up for our first night of dream sleep. It was soo roomy even the cats didn't bother us. Now all we need is a little one to put in between us!

100 DAYS!

We are on the 100 day count down as of today!

We are very excited to meet this little one!!

Randi and Kauleen

For Soon-To-Be Grandma Punteney

25 Weeks

Here are a few pictures we took this morning of my "really not showing yet belly" :)

Weight & Gestational Diabetes Testing

I have been concerned about my weight recently too. Since my last midwife appointment a month ago, I have gained 12 lbs. I am planning on having a homebirth and am worried about any complications that might arise from gaining too much weight.

The midwife has now put me on a strict low carb/no-low sugar diet. I'm not measuring big. I don't have any other symptoms really. She was going to allow me to eat something sweet rather than do the crappy drink....but now she says with the weight gain I have to do the crappy drink. I'll do it sometime next week to get it over with and for me to not have to stress about it!

We looked at a few things tonight at the store after getting a "carb counter" book and the most important thing for me to get is fiber in the morning..... my cereal has tons of carbs (right now it is frosted fiber one) and I am lactose intolerant so add the rice milk carbs and I'm wayyyyyyy over my carbs for one meal. AND if I don't eat my fiberous cereal for one day... I get plugged. TMI. We're just going to have to give on the cereal.... and we're really going to have to figure out for the rest.....

and exercise here I come. I've been doing a swim class one day a week......
got a prenatal yoga video to do at home........
the nights are longer so we can walk outside (if it isn't raining in the Pacific NW)
or I have a treadmill I could use inside too......

It stresses me out to no end to think I might not be able to have a homebirth so will kick it into high gear as much as I need to....to be able to have one. AND HECK, I may go through all of this and not even HAVE it..... just have gained weight (31lbs at 24.5 weeks!)

Any encouraging words you want to share?
Protein/breakfast ideas with lots of fiber but low carbs?

I will do the test next week......the sooner the better for me not to stress......

ugh.

Early Good Morning

I got ready in record speed this morning..... expected to have to iron but thanks to some awesome family members who hunted me down some pants.... well I'm wearing a pair today that didn't need ironed! YEAH!!

I am almost on the 100 day countdown.....9 days to go. Isn't that crazy?! :) Kauleen started cleaning out the "room" in which the babies clothes, diapers, etc will go....yeah we're doing a "room" but plan on co-sleeping, etc. We just don't have enough room in OUR room for all the stuff! We'll start painting here someday soon.........

Did I ever post that I'm having a Partylite Candle party on April 4th and anyone who reads this is invited?! :) it is at 10:00am and should be fun. I'm going to get some bagels, cream cheese and some fruit too......... come and check it out!!

Work has been a little nutty lately. It doesn't look like the rates are going to change too much keeping us busy...which is great. Unfortunately, they took away our incentive....so 10%, now incentive, how great is that?

We are looking forward to a relaxing weekend of no specified plans. We've talked about garage saleing, we've talked about the Green Festival (which looks awesome!!), and we've talked about vegging at home doing NOTHING. It is our first weekend and last weekend for awhile with nothing planned......

We see the midwife tomorrow again for a check up :) we will start using the measuring tape to measure my belly. I'll post pictures this weekend......it sure has grown......but seeing others that are due around when I am........boy do I NOT look pregnant!! Oh well. I just carry differently. Gestational Diabetes testing and blood work this time around..... :)

I think that's it for now.....
Randi

The Big 3-0

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY RYAN!

WITH MANY MORE TO COME........ we love you! :)

Random Thoughts for the Weekend

We ended up locking Rosa out of the bedroom last night. For whatever reason, she has been walking on us, we throw her off the bed, she hops back up in one minute, and we play the game all night - making it an unrestful night for all of us. I tried to play with her a little last night, gave her some cat nip..... but at 3:00am sometime she decided it was time to take a trek on her Moms! I think it doesn't help me getting up to pee so many times a night....so she thinks its time to play? If we lock one out, we have to lock the other out... so about 5am Clover is screaming to come in.....We never heard a peep from Rosa to come back in. We let Clover come back in..... she played in the room with whatever she could find and was fine until I got up about 7:30am.

Last night I had the best all natural beef hotdog (hemplers) with no nitrates, etc. IT WAS FREAKIN AWESOME! I tried some smartdogs....I think they were tofu dogs? maybe turkey? they were disgusting even TRYING to disguise them with chili. Well, so I had a chili dog for dinner last night.... and am guessing Chuck doesn't like chili so much......I could not get comfortable in any position....we even went shopping for a little bit and still was miserable. I took a gas-x and a tum..... and finally fell asleep last night. Woke to major, major...magical music! YEAH!! :) We celebrate that around here....let me tell you. (maybe TMI for some but oh well) :)

I am beginning to notice it is getting harder and harder to bend down.....and not have the gumption to get off the ground. I need to realize I can't bend/stretch/maneuver like I used too....

Yesterday was K's niece/nephew (twins) 2nd birthday! We're going for a celebration today for them and Amelia who will be turning 6 on the 28th! It is always fun to hang with the family! :)

Tomorrow we'll go and pick up Madison and we're going to have a play date! :) we'll see what she feels up to doing....... we have a few fun ideas!

K's dad called us on Monday night and left us a message...... it stated "K, this is dad, I was in Everett and a lady hit me...I need you to come pick me up.... (lots of police scanner background noise) (dad asking police where at?) "I'll be at the denny's on Pacific way" thank you. SHEESH. We'd been out at my cousins for a get together of a family member that was in town.... and get home about 10 minutes after this message. My first instinct was to call Denny's on Pacific Way....so we did and they asked around...no dad. My dad then tries to tell us how to get to the Denny's and we then realize we're not being able to keep them in our heads as we just want to get going.... he suggests taking his GPS - GREAT! We get in the car...... K decides to call her step mom just in case someone else is already on their way....we really don't want to make the trek if someone is already picking him up. Someone was already on their way.....we turned around and came home. About 10 minutes after being home... Denny's was calling us. It was K's dad. He had just gotten dropped off there. (HE HAS NO CELL PHONE!!!!!!!!) Ends up....... a lady was getting on the freeway in Everett..... hit ice... Dad was in the middle lane.....the lady hit him went flying one direction and sent Dad flying another direction where he spun a few times then hit a concrete barrier. NO ONE WAS HURT and NO ONE ELSE WAS INVOLVED!!!!!!!! can you believe it!? His truck is totaled and he's using our truck for now..... He hasn't been sore, wasn't hurt or anything. We're glad everyone came out safe and not hurt!

This coming weekend we're hosting the "Girls Day Out" at our house! :) Our theme it "Cinco De Mayo Gay Bingo" with gay really having nothing to do with it....LOL Our initial thought was to do Gay Bingo in Seattle but I just don't handle the "party" scene all that well....and decided it'd probably send me over the edge....... so we'd make our own "safe" gay bingo at home!! I think we're going to have a taco bar and some homemade tamales .... mmmm. We'll also do a little celebration of Ryan and her 30th birthday on the 24th! (you're getting old!!)

On the pregnancy side of things....... I am 23 weeks today. It is crazy that we're half way through March... and come April I will have less than 100 days to go. We start birthing classes at the end of April that will go through the beginning of June. I've been feeling great. I did a pre-natal swimming class last Tuesday in Anacortes and will probably do it again this week. I need to start doing some walking. I also have a call into a dance instructor whom I heard through the swimming class that does prenatal yoga......I'm crossing my fingers. I really like the yoga. I may just be able to do a class here in Burlington and just amend it to be what I can do..... it relaxes me like nothing else. :) I felt hiccups for the first time this week..... it felt like my butt was twitching. LOL It hiccuped from the front to back it really was weird. I've been feeling Chuck kick a LOT more often too. He actually woke me up for the first time this morning.....

K and I are going to head to Coulee in April to check things out and chill out for a bit. It will probably be one of our last trips before the baby.... we may be able to go in June... we'll see. K will make the trek late April with Dad to go over and discuss them putting in new water lines. (They have had to send us notices since we bought the place that the arsenic levels were too high) and I think the health department is now cracking down on them. We're crossing, hoping, that if they replace the water that they do the sewer too. That would make our options for Coulee SKY ROCKET. (right now we can only remodel what we have - not tear down because our septic isn't to code...it IS grandfathered in... but not to code) We really don't care on the money side of the things..... we'll make it work - BUT this would really help our property values. The hard part is right now most people are strapped a little bit more for money and so paying quite a bit out each more per month for these things to happen... we'll see how the city council meeting goes. :) we at least know 4 houses that want to partake....... one being mom and dad!! :)

I'm getting excited for Life Is Good. I had such a hard time transitioning back to real life last time......really missed it..... so am really trying to prepare myself. It looks like I'll be getting a ride from a local friend that is coming from my area for the first time with her family (including a new baby!!) and then K will come down on Saturday to hang out for a day or 2... and then we'll drive back together. We can't both be off work......it just can't happen anymore. (the birth will be an exception and then she's only taking 2-3 weeks off)

K's up now so I gotta go and read the paper and eat my banana.

Quick Post

baby ticker moved to...........

6 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Officially 4 months to go....... grow baby grow.

Free To Be Me by: Francesca Battistelli

A song I heard today that I really enjoyed.........

crank it!

Saturday Morning Post

Good Morning Fellow Blog Readers -

Another week down....... and boy did this week have some definite ups and downs! I woke up this morning to a catch/ache in my hip that just wouldn't stop unless I got up....it was 7:15 so now too bad. Nothing like waking up to it though......

Today I am going birthday shopping for Kauleen :) her birthday is Wednesday the 4th....I'm sure I'll find some good stuff :)

Tomorrow we watch Braxton in the afternoon and over night and then we'll drop him off at daycare and watch him on Monday night until Mom returns from a little vacation :) We were thinking of doing a children's museum....probably not here in Burlington is my guess because Chucky Cheese is right next door......and well........that place makes K and I go BONKERS!!! :) We'll see how he's feeling and what he's up to doing.......

We had a midwife appointment on Thursday and everything is moving along just as it should :) We are 21 weeks today (or tomorrow depending on my ticker....stupid thing). It is SO fun to hear the heartbeat every time....and this time it made a definite change! She had poked/prodded to find the baby and then when she did he slowed down a bit....was kind of fun! :) she said that was a good sign! We go back on March 26th and I'll have to get some lab work done....and then get tested for Gestational Diabetes.....she said she won't make me drink the crappy orange stuff I can just eat a gooey cinnamon roll!! :) cannot wait!! (Actually that sounds good now!!)

Watermelon has been my best friend latley. I can't get enough of it :) I've ate almost 2 small watermelons this week......still have a good portion of the 2nd to go.......but am going to Costco to get 2 more today!! LOL It initially was blueberries......yum. Then it was Mango...... YUM. Now it is Watermelon. At least I'm over indulging on good foods....... :)

Work has been work...... We've made some changes in a few aspects, some people have helped me a lot (THANKS CORRINA!) in simple ways that make a HUGE difference, and I've been given more responsibility........so we'll see what we can do. I had definite "hormonal crazyness" this week.....but thankfully I work with an office full of women who understand.....and some may even cry with me sometimes :) Oh the joys of being prego........

I'm still not really *showing* yet.... my regular t-shirts are now obviously touching my lower stomach...my upper stomach has yet to reach the lower. The midwife says being taller doesn't help as much for people to notice.....but I suspect in the next month of so I'll be showing more.....there is a definite round bump from top to bottom. LOVE IT.

I've been feeling the baby move quite a bit......I tend to feel "him" more on the weekdays then I do on the weekends moving around etc. I have an anterior placenta so the midwife did state that the movement may be a bit muffled....but in due time I'll get some good punches ;) baby isn't that big yet....but from what I read in the coming weeks we'll be growing some baby fat and gaining some weight! GROW BABY GROW! :)

I DO NOT WANT TO HAVE THIS BABY ON THE 4TH OF JULY!
I want to be at the family celebration.............!!!

I'm getting excited for the Life is Good Conference in May!! :) I'll be 33 weeks then.......which is crazy to think about. I'm about 34 days to go and I'll have less than 100 days!!! It has gone by so slow....yet so fast in some aspects. :)

K is up now so I'm gonna go find me something to eat.......and read the paper.

20 Week Pictures

more type later :)

Up & Ready EARLY

K got up early this morning as she needed to get into work earlier than myself..... so we got up a bit earlier than we have been. She blessed me by ironing my pants for me.......so really all I had to do was get dressed and do myself up and I'm ready......and have almost an hour until I *have* to be at work..... although I'll probably be there before.

I ended up going to bed at 8pm last night.....that was as long as I could last. I slept pretty good...despite getting up every 2 hours. The baby is lying low so maybe that is what is causing me to pee so much?..... It's ok really, I go right back to sleep......... just try not to wake K every time I get up!

Short week this week! YEAH! This weekend my mom is coming over and we're having our 2nd Girl's Weekend up at Baker Lake doing crafts! K and I have signed up to go to a cloth diapering class on Saturday morning at our doulas house. We'll get to learn about all kinds of things.....I'm excited.

Tomorrow I get a half hour massage on my shoulders! CANNOT WAIT! I'll schedule one in another 6 weeks at night as she's been being booked for awhile.

Don't know what our plans are for tonight....... Dad's staying at Aunt Tom and Uncle Mary's tonight.

Gotta go!!!

Sleep, Sleep and More Sleep

It seems come 7pm-8pm - I want to crash.

I then am up every hour going to the bathroom, trying to get comfortable, and fight sleep all night.

It is now 8pm and I've been wanting to go to sleep since 7pm.

To sleep, or not to sleep............

19 weeks - does it make one sleepier? I wasn't THAT sleepy in the beginning.........

Ultrasound & This and That

I had planned on scanning in some pictures from this mornings ultrasound...... but we had an uncooperative baby :) "He" (used just because that's what we use) was laying really low with his arms in front of his body. He was butt up and feet near my belly button. I'm sure he was quite annoyed with all the pushing the technician was doing.....

The few things we found out:

• 80th percentile
• anterior placenta
• head isn't too big
• we're growing right along....

The ultrasound tech took a picture of its foot.......but really you can't see it. She I think was just wanting to send us home with picture of sorts. She couldn't really get a good view of the heart...but said she saw enough that it looked good. She said that the practitioner may want to send us back for another ultrasound...... but I think we'll pass on that. Everything seemed to be moving right along.

Something the ultrasound registration person told me today made me so irritated, but then I realized maybe someone is being extra gentle right now on my body. I am 5 months - in the beginning of March I will beginning my 6th month. I am pregnant. I don't LOOK pregnant. I've never been one to wear tight fitting clothes....some of my tshirts are just now starting to touch my "lower" stomach..... and although my upper stomach has grown quite a bit in the past few weeks....(they are now growing more together as 1) I still don't *look* pregnant. Why do people tell me this though?! It is irritating....... although I may not LOOK it, I am - so just shut it. :) I do plan on doing a 20 week picture for the blog...... but as you'll see :) I'm not THAT big.

BUT with that being said..... I've had back surgery before and that has been a concern of ours that hopefully my back could with hold the pregnancy..... well so far I haven't had any back issues but that is moreso because I haven't been carrying all out front - which is great for that aspect. Something I didn't realize until the lady said it today...... and I was like "yeah, I guess it is a blessing in disguise". I've also been told..... I'll be big enough before I know it...... enjoy it while I'm not :)

We had a wonderful weekend together :) Friday night we came home after work and got into our comfy clothes and just chilled. It was nice! :) Saturday we got up.... puttered around the house for a bit and then we went to the library to look up Consumer Reports for lawn mowers, went to JCPenny to return a few things, and then went to Ace Hardware to look for said consumer report lawn mower :) They didn't have the model at the MV Ace Hardware so they called to Anacortes Ace Hardware....... and sure enough they had it. We came home, had some lunch, and then made the trek to Anacortes for the lawnmower. Upon our return, we stopped at Christenson Nursery and picked up some tulips and also got a 7 year old blueberry tree (that will bear fruit this year!) We then came home, Randi mowed the lawn..... and Kauleen planted the tulips. We now have tulips and daffodils growing in the garden ever so nicely.

Sunday we got up and got ready to head down South. We started off at Alderwood Mall and then made our way to Babies R Us. After that we headed to K's sisters house to see the gang. We hung out there for a few hours and then headed home. We stopped at Red Robin to eat and then headed to the grocery store to pick up some bananas and mango......yep, been craving it! :) never bought a mango before but MAN it is yummy. We're talking about heading to Costco to see if they have some cut up :)

We have today off....and are just chilling out! I will take a nap today for sure! I was awake every hour from 8pm-1am......and then finally slept until 6:13am.

Also, we had bought a cheapo heartbeat doppler at a used store quite awhile back..... and have been listening every so often to see if we could hear the heartbeat. A few nights ago, we finally heard it! :) So now we should be able to hear it whenever we want to!! :) It's pretty cool.

That's it for now.........

Our Cat Rosa

Hair

I've posted a lot of pics.....(see 2 other posts) but here is the new do...... I decided there will come a day where I'm going to be too hot.... and it will be summer.......so why not chop it now? :) It is really freeing................I don't have any before pictures really (forgot to take the camera to the beauty shop!)

Cute Couple

Love you Mom and Dad

Mason's 4th B-Day Party TIE-DYE BASH!

Little Post

We've got a busy week this week....... seems to be something going on every night of the week.

Right now, Dad is doing the dishes..........*big smile* and I'm playing on the computer. Kauleen's finally on the otherside of her cold with a little bit of drainage left.......but is on the mend. Dad and I are trying NOT to get it........but tonight possibly both feel it coming on.

People at work have been sick..... so its going around.

We got a call from the midwife tonight and we'll have an ultrasound on February 16th :) We are excited.

This weekend Mom's coming over.....that'll be fun. We'll hang out, maybe do a little shopping and just chill.

I felt the baby A LOT today. I've still only had ONE good kick. It is almost like it is every other day that I feel him a lot and then others I don't. I "felt" him in there today when sitting. It was just a hard mass...... just made me smile. Kauleen reminded me tonight "5.5 more months" :) THAT'S CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm contemplating chopping all my hair off on Thursday...... literally. I've decided come summer being 9 months pregnant (I'll be hot) and who wants to mess with their hair!? (heck I don't want to mess with it now) I'm thinking maybe Ellen DeGeneres style maybe? maybe shorter....... I need to look up a few pictures for some ideas......We'll see what ends up happening...I'll take before and after pics!

I think that's it for now........

Life Is Good Conference

I officially have these days off now!! :)

Lots of details to still get organized with allowing me to actually make the weekend work.............. but I really want to be there!!

Cannot wait to hear Ronnie's talk, Gillian's talk, knit and chat, henna the baby, hang with Holly and boys, meet lots of new people......... and just have a blast! :) CANNOT WAIT!!!

Randi

Midwife 16 Week Appointment

The day started off with me wondering if I'd make it out of the shower without pukeing after having a few weeks of feeling great. I ended up flying out of the shower, dumping the bathroom trash on the floor and grabbing the garbage can for a bucket. I never ended up getting sick (THANK GOODNESS!) but..... I felt like complete crap until about 1pm. I then felt pretty good the rest of the day...

We had a midwife appointment today! :o) We got to ask a few questions, got to get a few things checked out, and got a prescription for some special nipple cream :) She stated that with my symptoms now....is really a sign of how things are going to be during/after breastfeeding. They aren't horrible now.......just itch and wake me in the night ... itching. ITCH, ITCH, ITCH. :)

We also got to hear the heartbeat again........ that was spectacular!! It makes everything seem so real.

We will be having a 18-20 week ultrasound. We weren't planning on it in the beginning.... but have decided to do it. We will not be finding out the sex of the baby....we will just make sure everything is growing as it should be.

I felt the first real kick today. I've felt the baby move for quite a few weeks now on and off.... but today was the first real KICK that made me go...HEY! YOU JUST KICKED ME! lol can't wait for more.

That's it for now.........

Happy Birthday Uncle Tom!

Hope you have a great one! :)

16 Week Photo

Special Post

Brought to you by Ginger's Blog...

So here is the deal:

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me. I will try to make these be about or tailored to those five lucky people. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
- What I create will be just for you.
- It’ll be done this year
- You have no clue what it’s going to be.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to put this in your blog/journal as well. Please link to your blog so that I can visit and read in case we are new friends.

Co-Sleeping

So we've had to do some adjusting lately in the bed so that I don't lay on my back, which come to find out, is the position I tend to lay in most (although never really realized it). So now I have a pillow helping to prop me up a bit that I can lay on......but to adjust this pillow can be quite the chore, pulling covers, shifting covers, dragging covers...... all the mean time trying not to wake K.

Last night was unsuccessful and she told me that I got 3/4's of the bed and she got the other piece. I realize this pillow isn't very sufficient in our queen bed.... with 2 cats...... but for now it will have to do and I have to have the pillow otherwise I will sleep on my back.

Now to co-sleeping...... you co-sleeping families...... do you have king beds? queen beds? multiple twin beds? boxsprings? mattresses on the floor? I'm thinking a king bed with our queen bed...... that'd take up probably our whole room...... (if that would even fit) but we want box springs... (our bed is on the floor right now with a box spring) we'd just have to find the right height for them to be even........

Just wanting an idea.....if the pillow isn't working....... the co-sleeping part of it shall be interesting. (but totally different too I'm sure!)

Cama Beach Resort Camano Island MKL Weekend 09

I've doubled posted......... so make sure you scroll down to see the juice of these posts in the previous one!! :)