Adding to the Abbotts

Here. A blog.

2011-02-24T19:06:00.001-08:00

Let me just wipe off the dust a little, only to share this with you....I know, I know. NOT about Conley, and not particularly note-worthy (yeah...it is). BUT....

www.plungemn.org/plunger/sarahabbott

is what this is all about.

See, I need some money. Donations.

Why?

Because I've spent the last EIGHT YEARS of my life working with really awesome and inspiring residents who have made my life so much more important. Some of them take part in Special Olympics. Some don't. Either way, they're awesome, and so is Special Olympics. How awesome?

Awesome enough to make me jump in a lake in Minnesota in March. Make that a week and a half. (A WEEK AND A HALF OMG!).

Presenting: The 2011 Polar Bear Plunge at Lake Calhoun on March 5th

And I'm going to do it. Jump in a lake. Brrr.

So...if you can....donate some money to help. I'm on a team from work and we're trying to raise enough for each of us to be able to jump. It's a minimum of $75 per jumper, and we currently have 8 jumper-wanabees, so that means we need more money....to jump....to support Special Olympics....and those awesome people that deserve it.

Click, click, click away! Thanks!

Guess who turned 1....a month ago?

2010-12-19T18:18:00.000-08:00

Yes, but at least it's better late than never, right?!

Here's pics of the little man's big day.

It was a great day filled with great family and friends. Conley loaded up on some great gifts and did really well--even got a pretty decent nap in right before.

The Birthday Boy!!!

and then~~~Decor...

Conley's smash cake...baked by yours truly.

Color scheme + banner made with scrapbook paper

Scrapbook page that guests wrote Happy Birthday notes on

Cupcakes...some fun-fetti, some strawberry. Yum!

More bringing in the color scheme....scrapbook paper napkin rings. :)

Walka, walka, walka

2010-10-24T19:19:00.000-07:00

He walks!

Conley first took steps...what...2 weeks ago now?! His first steps were stellar--literally about 8 of them right from Ryan to me. After that he seemed to regress and the steps were minimal.

But now?

It's official. Little man is a-walkin. We're talking across rooms, around corners, turns, the whole 9-yards.

What a little stud. :)

The video? Oh yes. That. Our video camera was being borrowed by a friend when our sweet little firstborn took his first steps. I'm ok with it though, obviously. ;)

Inchworm

2010-10-17T13:04:00.000-07:00

I thought that the inchworm pictures would be a good way to show how he's growing by taking one each month. The most recent attempt at a photo shoot is definitely worth sharing.

Exhibit A...

I think we'll call this quits at 12 months, no?

Self-feeding

2010-10-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

I was talking to a mom the other day who said that she is so anal that she didn't let her kiddos feed themselves until they were able to feed themselves with a spoon.

Now

WHAT

IS

THE

FUN

IN

THAT?

:)

PS- Dear Sister....did this post make your blood pressure go up just a little? Mwa-haha!

Fall Fun

2010-10-17T12:38:00.001-07:00

In an effort to continue blogging a little more consistently, here's an update along with some pics I've finally uploaded to my computer.

Apple Orchard--we hit up Aamodt's Apple Orchard in Stillwater a few Sundays ago (ok, so it was about a month ago). It was PACKED! Ryan's sisters and Rachel and Preston were up for the weekend so we all went. Conley had his first hay ride which he thought was pretty cool apparently.

Family picture.

After the orchard, we headed to the Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater which is SO COOL and a must-go-to if you have never been there. Again, Conley approved. (We went again yesterday and he wasn't quite as interested...much more interested in clinging to me).

Peek.

Don't be fooled. He's really having a good time! Promise! :)

To keep up with the FALL FUN THEME :) I was so excited to find that the apple tree in our backyard had lots of apples that my neighbor lady told me would ACTUALLY be ok to eat! Score! So, here's Conley and Uncle Keagan pickin' some apples which were promptly washed, peeled, and made into a delicious apple crisp. Nothing can be better than apple crisp from your very own tree, right?

So, there you have it folks. We are LOVING this weather and savoring every moment of it!

More posts to come!

Brutish boy

2010-10-07T18:20:00.000-07:00

Well, Conley may not be able to walk yet, but he sure can climb a slide like no other! Oh dear, each day I worry about what I have in store for me being the mom of a BOY!

Yup, my baby boy with the runny nose, bruise under his eye from hitting himself in the face with Thomas the Train, 2 1/2 teeth that he proudly displays to anyone that smiles at him. He has no fear. Up and down the slide. Up and down the step into his bedroom. So fun to see him explore, but SCARY!

He's developing quite the "personality". Yesterday we went to "Baby-garten" at the Library here in town and there were about 10 kiddos there, all under 2. They all came in quietly and started playing with their toys...not my boy! No, he crawled up on all the toys shouting and carrying on the whole time. Hilarious! I'm sure the other moms were scared of the brutish boy with the bruise under his eye who was nearly knocking over their kids. It was near the point of embarrassing, no lie. BUT he loved it and did great with the music/story time. Afterwards the lady who led it said "He sure had a good time. He's the life of the party!". Haha. Again, if only I knew what was in store for me ahead.

Being a mom is a crazy, funny, humbling, nerve-wracking, and amazing thing!

I'm baaaack!

2010-10-03T06:35:00.000-07:00

Well...at least I'll make an attempt! :)

To be fair, this quiet Sunday morning feels really strange because we seriously haven't had one of these in a long time. So much has happened since I last posted! Here's where we're all at.

We bought a house and moved to New Richmond, Wisconsin!
I turned 28 yesterday.
Conley is 10 months old and his 1 year birthday party is NEXT month!
Ryan's brother, Keagan, has been living with us for a month.

OK. So, that puts us at the present.

As for Conley, he is no longer a baby. He's a toddler. No lie. He hasn't mastered the "toddling" yet, but he looks like a real boy. He's in to everything and is all over the place.

He LOVES Tytan and yesterday has the first day where he really got to "PLAY" with his cousins Anna and Ryan when they came to visit. He was all over the place with them--going down the slide, pulling himself up on his playset. So fun to see him like that.
He is apparently at the stage where if I walk around the corner he thinks I've fallen off the face of the earth; therefore, I'm forced to sneak out of the room when he has his back turned or else I'm followed by quickly crawling baby. :) It's nice to be so loved though, right?

I need to get back in the swing of this blogging thing, but I'll make an honest attempt.

And NO. I'm not pregnant. Ha. Just living life and forgetting to blog about it!

Here's a few pics to get us up to speed.
@ our old house (June)

In his pool @ the new house (July)

@Nick and Katie's 70's themed wedding rehearsal (August)

@Como Zoo with Brenda, Corey, Anna & Ryan (August)

So, there we are. Here's hopes for a better blogger ahead. :)

Inchworm

2010-06-06T17:09:00.001-07:00

6 months

2010-06-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

My baby is 6 months old. I don't want to talk about it. :( Why does he need to get big so fast?!

I posted the pics to the left. All 6 months of carseat pics!

I just uploaded a few hundred pics, so I'll post more soon!

Little boy

2010-05-18T18:52:00.000-07:00

I know. I know. Bad blogger.

It's just that the time I DO have at home is being spent playing with the little man, feeding him, then getting him to bed. My time left is spent with a little R&R which includes reading everyone else's blogs, but forget my own.

Today I had daycare for the first time in over a week. A girl from work watched him for 8 whole hours! Being away caused me to LOVE LOVE LOVE him even more tonight. All I could think of tonight is how happy I am to be his mom and how happy I am to have him. He's pretty darn amazing.

Combine that with the last episode of Biggest Loser before the finale and I've got some major sappiness going on! ;) (Go Daris!)

Pics to come...someday.... :)

Easter

2010-04-07T06:58:00.001-07:00

To continue the marathon of blog posts, here's some more cute pics from Easter.

Dune Buggy

2010-04-07T06:40:00.000-07:00

Ryan bought a jogging stroller that converts into a bike trailer. Very functional....and gigantic. I refer to it as the dune buggy. We strapped him in to test it out in our house, but then decided to rig up his carseat in it until he's bigger. It's not MEANT for a carseat, but it works REALLY well. It's a little added workout--what a bonus! :)

What Conley thinks of Rice Cereal...

2010-04-07T06:29:00.000-07:00

You'd think that Con-man would be DEVOURING rice cereal at his size. But no. The boy isn't a fan at all. Clearly!

Conley and Cousins

2010-04-07T06:13:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we spent the day at Ryan's dads for Easter and we got some more pics of Conley and his cousin, Allie. She's just 3 weeks older than him and it is so interesting to see what each of them can do. Miss Allie has a couple of teeth popped through already!

"You might have teeth, but I'm still bigger!" :)

Then, we stayed at my parents' house Friday night and Saturday night and Conley got to hang out with his OTHER cousins.

He's thrilled. Really. (I'm not sure why they're all doing "jazz hands" though. haha)

Workin' Man

2010-03-27T06:39:00.000-07:00

Ahh....working with Conley. Where do I start?

Don't let the concept fool you. It's a wonderful opportunity, yes. BUT it is HARD. I knew it would be, but I also knew (KNOW) that it is worth it in many ways.

Here's the equation...

Sweet baby boy + teething + mama with things to accomplish in order to earn a paycheck = STRESSFUL

Here's this week, as "typical" as it can get...

Monday: Started out bright and early by dropping him off at the babysitter at 8:30. I hurried to the office to get as much accomplished in 4 hours as possible. Success. Got organized and felt ready to start the week. Picked the boy up at the babysitters and headed to one of my houses in Woodbury. Slept in the car, slept for a while at the house. Had a meeting--slept through it. Drove to 2nd house--slept in car. Dad picked him up there at 5:30 and mom continued working til about 7.

Tuesday: Full day at the office starting with a meeting at 9. Was awake and distracting most of the time. Then had a speaker which I was supposed to attend, but was unable to due to distraction of very warm baby with no pants on. :) Instead, we sat in the back of the office and he entertained a resident who was visiting. Attempted to get him to take a nap while also trying to check emails and make attempts at some sort of productivity. Fail. Broke out the Tylenol. Sucess. Slept for about an hour as I wrapped up a little paperwork and he slept through 1/2 a budget meeting. Woke up and proceeded to be distracting. Fed him a bottle (this wasn't the first bottle of the week, promise.). Went to "Work Book Club" meeting and he slept again. Woke up during it and was crabby and needed to be walked around. Tried to talk with one of the people I'm training in while jiggling baby. Pretty successful. Crabby until any-person-who-smiles-at-him walks by. THEN, he turns into this adorable and happy little boy who giggles like crazy. Repeat. Any-person-who-smiles-at-him says, "What a happy boy" and "What a good boy" and I roll my eyes. He spits up on me which signifies that we need to go home. It's about 5:00.

Wednesday: Had a 9:00 meeting with the owner of the company. Conley slept in the car and at the office UNTIL the meeting started. Then, he decided he wasn't very happy. I made all attempts to keep him happy until, thankfully, the meeting was over. We then attempted a little bit of work before heading to "PD FUN DAY" at a local park. Of course, he fell asleep in the car on the way TO the park and slept for a little bit there. During this time, I kept thinking, "YOu're not supposed to sleep at the park. You're supposed to sleep at the office!". He woke up shortly after and was one crabby boy. I tried to walk him around the park, swing, stroll him around, etc. to no avail. Again, I broke out the Tylenol and that seemed to help (eventually, after we left the park, of course). I called Ryan on the way out of the park with crying baby in the background and proceeded to cry myself. We were planning on going back to the office, but then I couldn't figure out why I would do such a thing, and we headed home to work instead. THIS is the fabulous part of the job...the ability to do things like that! So, he napped a bit til Ryan got home and I ran out the door to another staff meeting. <>

Thursday: 9am meeting-- stood most of the time to keep Con-man quiet, gave him his bottle, and kept his car seat rocking in order to keep him sleeping. Headed to one of my houses where he slept initially. I had his car seat out on the washing machine in the laundry room, and one of the residents walked in there, walked back out and said, "Can someone please take the baby off the washing machine?!". Funny stuff. Slept on and off and then we were homeward bound about 4 or 5.

Friday: WE STAYED HOME! Woop-woop! He slept in til about 8:00 which was FABULOUS. We worked upstairs for a bit (which wasn't so fabulous), but then he took a good afternoon nap in the comfort of his own crib and I spent the day doing some email inbox spring cleaning, making phone calls, etc.

Now that I have reflected on the week, I can't remember why I had so many times that I wanted to pull my hair out. Seriously-- it was probably the worst week yet and I threatened Ryan that we would be starting FT Daycare soon, but now that the weekend is over, I'm ready to go back to the "routine of non-routine" tomorrow. He has almost a full day of daycare tomorrow, then he'll be with me the rest of the week.

AND NOW that I just re-read what I wrote (since I actually started this post yesterday morning and finished today), I need to clarify a couple of things...
*I'm not drugging my son with Tylenol. He really does seem to be teething! ;)
* I LOVE the little guy like crazy, but I know that any mom can understand the moments that you want to pull your hair out. Riiiiight?

That's that. We've had a VERY low-key weekend and Conley has been rocking the sleeping! He woke up 2 times on Friday-Saturday (Ryan's night to get up) and 3 times last night (my time to get up)....BUT he slept til 8:00 and 8:30 respectively AND he's taken some great naps. This is what happens when his mom isn't carting him around all day. My plan for the week is to start trying to put him on some sort of a schedule so we can make this working thing go a little smoother. Wish us luck! :)

Grow, grow, grow

2010-03-27T05:56:00.000-07:00

My baby really looks more like a toddler.

exhibit A

When did THIS happen? Some mornings I seriously look at him and think that while he slept (sporadically) through the night, he changed a little...and believe me, I get to see what he looks like at least every 3 hours during the night! SIGH.

We've hit a couple of major milestones in the past couple of days. Conley is OFFICIALLY SITTING UP UNASSISTED!

SEE???

I was telling Ryan yesterday that I thought it was pretty early for him to be sitting up already. We got out the "What to Expect..." book and Ryan was reading off what he could/should be accomplishing at the end of Month 4. We were giving nods and "uh-huhs" until we came to the fact that they MIGHT be able to roll over at the end of 4 months and we said NOPE. Can't do that one. Not even a few minutes later, as if to say "Heck yeah, I can!", Conley rolled over from his bell on to this back. No lie. He's stubborn like that and wanted to prove us wrong. :) I'm sure we won't see a repeat of this amazing feat again for awhile, but he sure timed his first successful roll appropriately.

Other than that, we are also apparently teething. Do you see a common factor in the following pictures???

Yup. The boy ALWAYS. HAS. HIS. HANDS. IN. HIS. MOUTH.
And we're crabby. With rosy cheeks. and some serious appreciation for the frozen teething ring. We'll see!

I briefly mentioned sleep, but for real, he's still getting us up a MINIMUM of 2 times and USUALLY that is more like every 2-3 hours. No lie. The problem, however, is that he has no schedule or routine which is my fault. More to come..."Working with Conley" deserves it's own post. :)

Happy Saturday--more to come!

Daycare

2010-03-11T17:48:00.001-08:00

Today was D-day. Day 1 of daycare! Phew--glad it's over!

It went really well though. I managed to keep the tears in my car on the drive to and from daycare, and didn't cry in the house when I dropped him off. He was there for 5 hours and I only called once. Our daycare lady, Tanya, texted me a picture of him once too which was super nice. He was pretty well-behaved there, except for some major meltdown cries, which were apparently gas-related. And he slept. A lot. Then, I picked him up and we headed back to the office together for a few hours.

I'm really happy with the family we went with. She's so amazingly flexible--she will take him for an hour or as long as we want and is also willing to help out in the evenings. She only charges $4 an hour and has 3 of her own kids (ages 3, 5, and 7) who provide Conley with the ultimate in entertainment. That's it. Him and her kids. It's a perfect situation I think, and the flexibility is amazing.

Perfect, except that mama isn't with him the whole time, which makes it "almost" perfect.

What a much more productive 5 hours I had though! Jeepers! :)

On a side note--Conley is sitting up for about 25-30 seconds before tipping. What a big man.

3 months

2010-03-07T07:19:00.000-08:00

I never did an update of Con-man at 3 months so here it goes...

He's holding up his head like a champ
Moving like crazy--squirm, squirm, squirm
Wearing mostly 6mo+ outfits
Wearing size 3 diapers
Sleeping 3 hours in a row at night on average
Super smiley with lots of giggles
Screams bloody murder when 5:00 rolls around
Is starting to like his car seat more (it looks like an amusement park...I have so many toys rigged up!)
Likes story time--me and Conley laying on the floor with the book in the air :)
Is becoming moody about bath time...it's hit or miss
Loves his play mat and is getting good at grabbing his toys
Putting in 40 hour weeks with mom :)
Noisy, noisy, noisy-- screeches, screams, giggles, cries, etc.

So much more, but I already typed up his 3-month letter, so we're good.

Here's some pics and I updated the carseat pic to the left. We removed his fleece liner and he actually looks smaller this month because of it. Don't be deceived. :)

First FT Week

2010-03-06T06:04:00.001-08:00

Well, our first FT week is over. Conley did amazingly most days, but since he is a baby and all, he also had some difficult moments. Overall though, it went well. I basically just worked my schedule around him every day that I could and went home to work when he let me know he'd had enough. He is pretty popular around the office though--turns on the charm big time when someone else talks to him. Very funny.

I had one meeting yesterday with 5 kids present--and only 7 adults. Yup, that's the way we roll at my company!

We are, however, going to meet with a daycare option tomorrow. She is a referral of the person I was going to go with and sounds SUPER flexible (and cheap!). She's a home-schooling SAHM, so I think it sounds pretty good so far.

Nothing will sound perfect when it comes to leaving my baby boy with someone else, but I have to figure something out!

All in all, SOO glad it's Saturday. I will be working a bit today, but I have to take advantage of the daddy-baby time to actually be efficient! :)

All good things must come to an end...

2010-02-28T17:54:00.000-08:00

...and so it is with my maternity leave.

Tomorrow it will be officially OVER. The working part-time gig I've been doing the past 2 months has been fantastic and I'm a little nervous about what is ahead at this point. The main kicker? Friday I got an email from the daycare person I had picked (and received confirmation from...and scheduled out for the whole month of March...) saying that she couldn't actually take Conley anymore due to limits with her license (or lack of the license I suppose). Bummer.

So, what is a girl to do? I'm not sure. I cried and called Ryan. Told my mom she had to move up here. Neither helped. I still don't have daycare lined up, but I do have a few leads.

How in the world am I going back to work FT tomorrow without daycare you ask? Well, this is the point to be extra grateful for this job that allows me to work with my boy. It is hard, it is exhausting, but boy oh boy am I lucky. I DO NEED DAYCARE, but only for a couple days a week for now. And not this week. One day at a time right? Yikes-a.

So, it is just crazy to reflect on the past 3 months and what a different world I'm living in. I went from THIS...

...to this...

...to this...

I can't believe we've had this little man for 3 whole months and at the same time I feel like we've had him forever. I even mentioned to Ryan yesterday that I feel like a real person again...no weird aches and pains and strange body things (sorry...TMI). Let's not jump the gun and assume I'm forgotten about the traumatic experience known as LABOR, but I don't shudder quite as much when I think about it...and Conley might get a brother or sister in the next decade....maybe.

I have a (huge) pile of folded baby laundry in front of me and I remember the days before he was born when I would wash them with the special baby detergent and fold those tiny little things. Now, these (huge) piles have items that need to be added to those that have already been packed away from him outgrowing them. Such a big boy.

Love, love, love him.

So, off to work we go tomorrow. (Hi-ho, hi-ho).

And now the need for mommy-Conley PTO days begins. My goal is once a month.

Because as much as I'll try, I know the hustle-bustle of work days will leave me wishing he'd be napping too often and rushing us around a little more than I'd like. I need those vacation days to stop and enjoy these moments.

Mom sounds like a geeker, but Conley is cute :)

2010-02-28T07:07:00.001-08:00

Conley and Daddy

2010-02-28T07:05:00.000-08:00

In love

2010-02-21T18:41:00.000-08:00

Tonight before bedtime, Conley and I got to read lots of books, dance around his bedroom to a lullaby CD, and play with his toys. Then, I rocked him, admiring those fluttering lashes as he fell asleep with milk dripping down his chin. I couldn't possibly love him more!

Lifesaver

2010-02-05T13:46:00.000-08:00

Oh what would I do without this bouncy chair? It is MY favorite because it seems to be a favorite on Conley's! We just recently introduced the actual toy/waterfall part that goes on top, but he has always been so content to sit in it. I take it with me to my houses when I have to work and it is sooo worth lugging it around! Thank you garage sale (and mom who bought it at said garage sale....!)!

Inchworm

2010-02-05T10:30:00.000-08:00

Conley's first toy is inchworm that he got for Christmas from Ben, Jackie, and Allie. It's fun and I'm hoping to get monthly pics of him next to it--it's 2 feet long.

Here's the start!

January

February

Carseat Pics

2010-02-05T10:26:00.000-08:00

My growing boy!

1 month

2 months

Work

2010-02-05T07:33:00.000-08:00

I've been back to work very PT for about a month now I believe. Very PT. This week is the most hours I've worked and that has been 20. Most weeks have just been home from my computer for the most part. There have been a couple of advantages to this...1) My whole leave is unpaid, but I wanted paychecks so I've been able to spread my PTO out by working PT; 2) I'm planning on working with Conley as much as possible and easing my way back into work rather than jumping back in full-force is wonderful. I'm learning how our schedule will work (for now) and what works and what doesn't, how to get out the door and to meetings on time, etc. So far it has been going well--he's been a very good baby for me when I've been working and when we're home I try to only work when he is napping or on my computer for work when Ryan gets home and we're hanging out watching TV.

As far as daycare, I've also learned in the past month that I will ABSOLUTELY need some. So, my thought is that I have a daycare person that can take him on Tuesdays and some Thursdays. So, I'm trying to rearrange my work schedule so that when I teach classes or have certain meetings he can't attend that they will fall on Tuesdays.

The important thing I need to learn as far as working with him with me is that I need to change my standards.... I might be late to meetings occasionally....I might not be able to give 100% at work...it might mean that my days are LONGER, but the plus side of that is that I'll be WITH him during that time. If he is fussy I need to be okay with that and take a step back from work remembering that he is a baby after all. My boss works with her son a few days a week at the office and she is obviously very understanding and supportive. That's the amazing thing about my workplace--if I have a quick 15-minute meeting where I can't have him, there is always someone willing to watch him. I joke that instead of "it takes a village to raise a child", around our office "it takes an office". Love that. Babies that make noise in meetings are the norm, and I need to be ok with the fact that sometimes that might be MY baby. Babies will be babies, right? :)

WHen I do go back FT I hope and plan to take 1 day off a month for a real mommy-Conley day to do non-work things. That's the other reason I'm glad to not go negative on my PTO for now.

Today is our PJ-laid back-nap day-work from home. TGIF! :) Happy weekend!

2-month appt and update

2010-02-02T15:24:00.000-08:00

My sweet little baby boy is 15lbs. Yup. 15. (and 1.9 oz).

Yesterday we had his 2 month appt and.... his shots. So sad! He didn't cry for TOO long at the appointment itself, but basically cried from 9-10 last night and it was clearly from the shots. I felt so horrible for him. Luckily Tylenol seemed to give him some relief and then he slept "ok".

Here are his stats:

Weight: 15lbs 1.9oz--98.41%
Height: 2'.21"--89.17%
Head: 16.93"--98.32%

Doctor said he looked great and had no concerns, so that was good. Looks like we have a little chunker on our hands--no surprise there!

Here's Conley at 2 months:

Follows objects with his well--watches mom and dad walk around
Seems to love looking at and hearing dad's voice
Soooo happy in the morning. Full of smiles and giggles! SOOO much fun!
Not so much of a night owl--gets a bit cranky.
6 hours sleep in a row is his max. 5 hours twice. Otherwise, every 1-3 hours.
Absolutely LOVES baths
Makes tons of noise still--seems to like the sound of his voice. More high pitched coos and squeaks. So cute.
Took notice of Tytan. One day the dog walked by and Conley followed him with his eyes and smiled.
Hungry, hungry, hungry.
Loves his hands and frequently scratches his face (those darn fingernails are so hard to cut!). He sleeps with socks on his hands. :)
Does not like his carseat. Cries going in and coming out of it but sleeps the whole time he is in it otherwise.
Favorite item is his bouncy seat. It is a savior!!!
Got a floor play mat from Grandma and does pretty well on that too.
Lay down in your crib partially awake and are able to fall asleep with a little comforting from mom or dad

HHmmm...that's all for now. SOOO much fun and amazing to me every day. I especially love my mornings with him when he sits and grins at me. Makes my day!

Sick Day

2010-01-26T17:01:00.000-08:00

I woke up at 5:40 this morning and went to change Conley's diaper. Shortly after, I called Ryan, who was on his way to work, to tell him I didn't think I was going to make it through the day. I felt like I was going to keel over and throw up and just wanted to lay down in the middle of the living room floor. So, Ryan turned around and came home to relieve me of my mommy responsibilities for the day.

That resulted in 4 hours of sleep in a row which was much needed! I'm alternating between being sweating and chills and just really run down and weak. I know that the reason is something lovingly related to being a new mom (ugh), and I will go in tomorrow if I don't feel better.

Can I just mention that the thought of going back to work FT terrifies me?

New Moms

2010-01-22T07:41:00.000-08:00

Still at my parents'. Ryan comes back today!

A couple of days ago, I believe I was washing bottles in the kitchen sink. I PROBABLY was still wearing my pajamas even though it was afternoon and it was PROBABLY Ryan's football t-shirt with spit up on it (since I had changed out of my own shirt with spit up on it).

My dad, also standing in the kitchen, says, "Now I see why new moms get depressed."

Ha. Ha. Ha.

It MIGHT have been the pajamas, the fact that Conley had been pretty needy that day, or the fact that my dad is pretty far removed from the newborn stage (he looks back and tells my mom that I never cried as a baby. ha!).

But, I'm not depressed. I'm a new mom! I don't think he was saying I was, but making a generalization, of course.

If I was depressed, I certainly wouldn't be blogging about it; instead, I find humor (and maybe a little bit of pride?) in that comment. That's right--I wear spit up like a badge of honor and change daily from pajamas to pajamas and this week in particular I am car-less which leads me to feeling a bit stir crazy. BUT, I'm a mom and even though I feel like I'm up all night and sometimes I don't know if when he cries he is actually hungry, or if he is crying for another reason, when he breaks out in that big ole' smile, I can't help but fall in love all over again.

That same day, I believe, I read this blog and decided that maybe it would be a good idea to go out and get some fresh air, so I did borrow my mom's car that night and make a jaunt out for dog food (exciting, no?) while I left Conley with Grandma and Grandpa. I haven't reached that point yet, but I know it is looming at some point, and I love that blogs let us talk about it as being ok.

And, finally, a picture of the little man.

Wisconny

2010-01-19T07:08:00.000-08:00

Ryan and I were planning on coming back to Wisconsin two weekends in a row, so I decided that it made just as much sense for me and Conley to stay the whole week instead! So, here we are at my parents while RYan is back in MN working and sleeping soundly throughout the night I'm sure.

Our routine is pretty much the same here and I'm without a car. I really have nothing to write home about. ;) Could have brought my scrapbooking stuff, but Christy would yell at me for not having anything to do NEXT weekend.

Our good friends Brad and Kirsten are having a baby girl in March, so her shower is on Saturday. Can't wait! Having one ourselves makes me SOOOOO excited for them! Can't wait for the future Mrs.Abbott to arrive. Ha!

New pics to come--nothing else to do! :)

Wishin' and Waitin'

2010-01-09T07:22:00.000-08:00

I have found myself saying things like "I can't wait til Conley can" and "I wish that he could..." over and over again. Things like: wearing a certain outfit, crawling, eating baby food, sleeping through the night, waiting for Spring, etc.

Then, I stop myself.

Because at the point that all those things happen, it just means my sweet little baby is getting older. Being big enough to wear a certain bigger outfit means he has outgrown one of his others, sleeping through the night would mean that (though I would get more sleep), I would miss out on the 1:1 time with him in the middle of the night rocking him back to sleep. And that's sad.

So, I am making an honest effort not to speak these words. I'm trying to stop my brain from even thinking them. Instead, I'm trying to cherish every little moment of each day instead of always looking toward the next step, next phase, next day.

Everyone says that the baby phase goes fast, and I don't want to "wish" these days away any faster than they will already go. Lack of sleep and all.

Sleep when they sleep

2010-01-06T14:01:00.001-08:00

Last night was a less than delightful night of sleep. The babe slept 3 hours initially then was up every 1 1/2 to 2 hours. During one of those streaks I found myself laying in our bed unable to fall asleep...that's just WRONG. 5am I sent an email to cancel our plans today in hopes of sleeping every time that he did. That's what the golden advice is, right?

"Ha", says Conley. "Ha ha ha".

He fell asleep numerous times, usually in my arms after a bottle. So, I laid him down in his crib and sprinted to my bed in hopes of getting some sleep too. My head would hit the pillow and there was the sound of my precious boy calling me back to him. Again. and again. and again.

I think we repeated this routine a good 3-4 times and then, FINALLY, we slept. I had felt so exhausted, yet I think I only slept about 30-40 minutes and then for some reason hopped out of bed while he still slept. Ugh.

Now, as I'm blogging, wouldn't you know he just fell asleep in his swing? Oh the life of a baby and oh the life of being a mama! It's a great job, but surely an exhausting one!

Boys

2010-01-05T06:05:00.001-08:00

The post below is from the blog "Baby Rabies".
I read it the other day and found it so true.
I had been SOOO convinced that I was going to have a girl, but when I found out that it was a boy it didn't take me long to accept that.
Now I think I'd feel ok if baby #2 (in the next millenium) was another boy... they are kind of fun.

However, as Conley was repeatedly spitting up on Ryan last night and alternating with crazy gas, I had to wonder if girls have the same issues.... :)

Oh well, I'll keep him. Gassy and all.

So you

2010-01-05T06:04:00.001-08:00

So you’re going to be a Boy Mom…

Posted using ShareThis

1 month

2009-12-30T17:19:00.001-08:00

Conley is 1 month old today.

According to our own scale, he weighs almost 13lbs.

He holds his head up really well and does a fair share of headbanging against mom and dad.

Loves his hands and has to have them in front of his face.

Has sucked his thumb a time or two but definitely loves his hands by his mouth.

Makes more noises than I can believe (which we NEED a video camera to document!!!)--those that have heard his array of noises are quite amused by them.

Likes his swing and his bouncy seat.

Does not like his carseat if he is awake (but has slept 4 hours in a row the past 2 nights in a row in it!).

Seems to like music and dancing around to it with me :)

Does not like his crib much these days. He's been congested the past few days and I'll use that as the reason (hence the sleeping in the carseat).

Is often content being laid down in his pack and play while he's awake where he can sit and make his noises and wiggle around.

He has 2 signature looks that I LOVE-- 1 is the little bird look where he opens his mouth and does a little "elvis lip" action....usually when we tickle his cheeks or his chin; the other he crinkles his eye brow revealing a "dimple" he has above his right eye.

Has the MOST AMAZING blue eyes ever and eyelashes that are growing and are now longer than mine (not a difficult feat, believe me...he didn't get my lashes!).

Smiles often and has let out a few giggles.

Likes to be held on his side/belly with our hand on his belly.

Likes to rock in the rocking chair.

Likes to eat. Duh. ;)

Likes his changing table.

Loves baths.

Generally is a really laid-back baby, but lately he DOES NOT WANT TO GO TO SLEEP AT NIGHT. During the day he is fine, but as soon as I lay him down for what I want to be the last time that night, he decides not to and it takes about an hour and a half to finally get him settled. Ugh.

Loves to be held and can fall asleep most anytime in our arms.

0-3 outfits still fit for the most part, but we have already retired a few items that he has outgrown. He can wear a few 3-6 outfits as well.

Tolerates tummy time well.

Not a big crier-- mostly only when he is hungry or gassy.

That's it for now...I'm sure I'll think of more as we go. I got his first scrapbook page done today...yay!!!

Even when he is crabby and crying and waking me up in the middle of the night, I am madly in love with the little man and still can't believe he is ours. Those smiles melt my heart!!!

Pictures...finally!

2009-12-29T10:44:00.000-08:00

I have taken daily pics of the little man (too much? I just uploaded 438 pics...) since he was born and it is about time i get a few of them up here. Now, SIGH, if only I could scrapbook them, right? Oh how I want to scrapbook. I see it in the near future though...I cleaned the house today while he was napping (is napping!), so tomorrow should give me a few free hours...maybe?! Otherwise, Christy and I have a scrapbook weekend in the works for Jan/Feb.

I'm starting back to work VERY, VERY, VERY part-time on Monday. Yikes! It's kind of a spur of the moment decision, but my job is flexible enough that I will only be out of the house for a day or so for now(with Conley!) and that way I can save up some of my PTO for when he is a bit older (and less easy to work with) so we can do things like go to the zoo in the Spring and other non-blizzard weather things. The fact that I can work with him is such an amazing thing--I'm looking into drop-in daycare, but other than that, I'm just hoping to start work slowly so I can easy my way into doing both.

He's 1 month old tomorrow. I'll post more about him then, but here's some of my favorite pictures for now.

PS- I know I'm supposed to be keeping him awake during the day as much as possible, but HOW IN THE WORLD am I supposed to do important things like eat lunch, do laundry/dishes, and keep up on my blogs without his good noon time nap? I'll sacrifice a little in the middle of the night sleep for the couple of hours I get now. :)

Cousin Allison who is 3 weeks older. This is the 1st year or many years to come of matching Christmas PJ pics!

Allison again.

There ya go! Just "a few"! How to choose?! :)

My good little sleeper

2009-12-26T18:52:00.001-08:00

...is only a good sleeper during the day.

He can lay down and sleep like a rock for hours upon hours during the day. Then when he falls asleep at night when we rock him or feed him, he is out like a light...until we lay him down. Then he stays sleeping for another 5-15 minutes or so and wakes up grunting and groaning and making all kinds of noises. We don't pick him up until it turns into an actual cry.

He's waking up almost every hour during the night for the past week or so. Feed him, rock him, sleeps, lay him down, sleeps, wakes up soon after, repeat. It's pretty exhausting! He doesn't CRY much though, just makes all of his crazy noises and cries if he is hungry.

So, mamas, I need some tips! He's too young to let him cry yet (right?) and I have a nice soft blanket he lays on in his crib (very safe--all tucked in!!!), soothing music, a warm room, tried the pacifier, etc...what's next?

I would love some ideas of how to get the little man's schedule turned around so he isn't sleeping so much during the day and is actually sleeping at night. :) Help?

Christmas Vacation

2009-12-23T08:06:00.000-08:00

I'm blogging from my parents' house in Wisconsin where we have been since Saturday and will be til Saturday. Things have been going great with the little man and there have been numerous times over the past 2 days where Ryan and I have had to literally get out the calendar to confirm that he is really only 3 weeks old. That part isn't what is SO surprising, but the fact that he has only been with us for 3 WEEKS?! Unreal.

It seems like a long time ago that I got to experience that joyous delivery.
(ha. ha. ha)

I feel like we've had him forever.

It just seems so right.

So, it's been fun sharing him this week with family and friends (especially when my mom comes to steal him around 6am each day where I then continue to sleep for another 4 hours. Heavenly.).

Conley has been smiling a ton this week and I'll say they "officially" started on Saturday. Nothing could be better. I wonder if his smiles signify that he wants to live in Wisconsin?

I have a zillion pics to share at some point, but let's just say my parents' internet is less than stellar, ok?

Merry, merry Christmas!

2-Week Appt

2009-12-14T14:22:00.001-08:00

Conley is 2 weeks old already! How many times will I end up saying "Conley is _____ ______ old ALREADY!"?. A lot.

Here's the stats:

Weight: 11lbs (96.9 percentile)
Length: 1'10.24" (93.54 percentile)
Head: 15.55" (93.39 percentile)

Everything looked great and it looks like we have a nice and healthy guy on ours hands. Weird to think we don't need to go back until he is 2 months old!

The appt today was the first time I've ventured out by myself with him. It was tiring! We were in the car for a whole hour, stopped at Ryan's work to pick up some paperwork and show him off there, he cried in his car seat the whole 10 minute ride to the clinic, then was an angel for the appt, then to the house we used to live at to visit the staff and residents. He has pretty much been sleeping ALL DAY LONG which terrifies me when I think of the night ahead. Yikes! I sure could use a nap myself!

Overall though, a great day and it was nice to be out and about. We have plans again tomorrow and then we're heading back to my parents' on Saturday for a whole week!

Super Cute Video from YouTube

2009-12-13T08:50:00.000-08:00

Look out Jason Mraz

Daddy

2009-12-12T15:11:00.000-08:00

I got this picture on my camera when Gina was hearing doing her pro pics. I absolutely adore it.

First Outing

2009-12-12T14:49:00.000-08:00

Ryan, Conley, and I made our first real outing as a family today (other than an appt last week). I'm proud to say his first store was Archivers...haha. :) Ryan was glad that stop #3 was Gander Mountain, so I suppose it evens it out.

It was my first outing since Monday when I ventured out to WalMart on my own and I was glad to get outside. Sounded like a good idea, but I was tired and sore after an hour and we headed home. Conley was fine, it was me that was the big baby.

We got some Christmas shopping done at our 3 stores visited and then Ryan went in and grabbed us lunch from Chipotle followed by me and Conley's routine nap on the couch together. :)

I have a new appreciation for weekends when Ryan is home!!!

Big man

2009-12-10T10:02:00.000-08:00

I swear that Conley grew overnight last night while we slept. His cheeks are bigger today, I just know it. Might be due to the 26 oz of milk he ate yesterday? Yes. We have a little big man on our hands.

He is SUCH a good boy. I know that I am super lucky to have such a content guy-- he knows just how to show us he's hungry and otherwise he only cries if has a big burp to get out for the most part. The dog can bark like crazy and the TV can be on and we can vacuum and he just sleeps right through it (he obviously heard the dog barking enough while he was inside me!). I can set him in the boppy or the bouncy chair or lay him in the pack n play and he will usually just hang out with his eyes wide open looking around while I'm able to do a few dishes or get a load of laundry done. We are truly blessed by his good nature. Last night he only woke up 3 times. He got a bottle, got his diaper changed, and went back to bed. The funniest thing about him is that he is such a noisy little baby, especially when he is hungry or falling asleep. He's been sleeping in his crib since day 1 and the monitor is in our room (his room is right next to our room) and he lays there grunting and growling and purring and carrying on until he falls asleep. He doesn't need anything, he's just noisy. I think it's hilarious and wonder if he'll be as big of a talker as he is a noise-maker. I know that I should appreciate each day of this good baby!!!

So, this has been our first week home alone together and it has gone pretty well. The snow irritates me now that he is here because I wish we could go out somewhere, but instead we're snowbound with freezing temperatures. On one hand I'm glad I don't have to leave the house in this weather, but the other part of me is going a little stir crazy already. Visitors are more than welcome to break up the day!!! We do have an appt on Monday (2 weeks already!) and then a Christmas brunch on Tuesday and we're heading home for Christmas next Friday for a whole week. I can't believe it's Christmas already. In the afternoon when he is awake and we're waiting for Ryan to get home I put on the Christmas music station on our TV and we dance around to the Christmas music. :) He likes that too...for now.

On a side note, I found this deal on someone else's blog and thought I'd share. I just ordered one and know that there are some mama's out there that would appreciate this deal. Go to this site , put one in your shopping cart, then enter the code PLANNING. It ends up being free and all you have to pay is the $8.95 or so for shipping. Cute ones too! Enjoy.

Our baby

2009-12-07T14:21:00.000-08:00

We got newborn pics done of the little man and I am even more in love!

Check them out on the amazing Gina's blog: http://zeidlerphotography.com/blog/?p=1273

Leave a comment on hers and she's donating a can of food to the homeless per comment, so it's also a good cause! ;)

...and baby makes 3!

2009-12-05T07:33:00.000-08:00

So, time for a post I believe. :) Have to get some things in writing so I don't forget them (other things I will post knowing that I will never, ever forget them anyway).

First and foremost, I have been constantly amazed over the past couple days that Ryan and I are parents and that we have this absolutely amazing little man in our lives. I just sit and watch his little faces or snuggle up with him and think how amazingly lucky we are. I realize that I used the word amazing 3 times there, but I just don't see many other words that fit as well.

Conley is a great baby so far! :) He has a big sore on his head from being vacuumed out during delivery. I don't mean a little sore, it was pretty big, more like a burn (they had to actually vacuum him twice which is why it was so bad). Luckily he has lots of dark hair so you can't see it that much and it is looking better every day. Because of that, he was also at higher risk of jaundice, but that is clearing up nicely as well (after a number of heel pricks to on his poor little feet to check his billi levels). Despite these things, he is such a content little guy. He's getting up every 2-3 hours in the middle of the night (more or less), but just eats, gets his diaper changed, and goes back to sleep. He makes the most adorable little faces and always has his hands up by his mouth. He was weighed again yesterday and was at 9lbs and 8oz, up a little from hospital discharge which is great. My sense of size is way off however, because I know that nearly 10lbs is BIG for a baby, but to me he looks just SOOO tiny. I can't imagine a 6 lb baby!

Ryan has been absolutely awesome. He has had this week off from work, and I honestly do not know how I could have survived without him home! Conley is GREAT, but I'm still so sore that Ryan has been doing a ton...he's been super helpful by taking the baby, cleaning, running to the store for embarrassing items, and being uber supportive. He is an amazing daddy which is no surprise. It's weird to think that it's been the 3 of us for nearly a week now and that I feel like we're doing a good job. This precious little man was brought into our lives and we actually know how to be parents! :) Phew!

As for Tytan, he is also doing pretty well. We weren't worried that he would be bad, but were curious as to how he would react. He is definitely interested in the baby to some extent, but has been really good. He likes to know where the baby is and will give him a sniff here and there, but mostly I think he just wants our continued attention. We've been good so far at making an extra effort to do that. He is our first baby after all! :)

I'm feeling better overall, but didn't realize or think through the fact that I would be so sore still. I will be thrilled to wake up one of these mornings and feel good---what a difference it will make once my body is up to par! I've been managing well though and trying to take it easy as much as possible. I know that I haven't blogged about the labor and delivery part yet, so here's a brief summary:

We went in for the cervadil gel on Sunday for appt #1 or 4. We were supposed to be induced on Tuesday, but one cervadil gel later I had regular contractions within a half hour. They weren't uncomfortable, but so regular that they decided to keep me. I went from a 0-2 during that time and got admitted. That started around 12:30 that afternoon and he was delivered 12 hours later. I would say that the first few hours were a cakewalk, then got the epidural once I was at a 4. The epidural only worked on one side at first, so the doc had to come in and readjust the IV which helped. I still have a hard time believing that the epidural worked like it was supposed to though. I started the actual delivery at about 10:15pm and he was born at 12:53am. That's the worst part, obviously. Ugh. Here's my summary of that...

1. People always told me their horror stories about birth.
2. They weren't exaggerating.
3. Delivering him was the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life and I will NOT say that I forgot all about the pain once I held him, but I will say that it was worth it.

So, now he's here and I'm a mommy and Ryan and I have gone from sleeping 8 hours each night to needing much less. Our lives are turned upside down, but at the same time our lives are better than they ever have been, so maybe they were just turned right side up. Either way, life is good!

Baby boy

2009-11-30T19:06:00.001-08:00

Here's a few pictures of Conley's first day! I can hardly believe that he is currently less than a day old! He is wonderful and amazing and I am in disbelief that he is really ours.

Baby has arrived!

2009-11-30T00:13:00.000-08:00

Conley Ryan Abbott entered the world at 12:53 am today (Monday) weighing in at 9.2lbs, measuring 22 inches long (need I mention the 15" head?). He has dark hair just as I had hoped!

It was horrible, but now he's here and wonderful! More updates and pics to come after we all get some sleep! :)

NEWS!

2009-11-29T15:06:00.000-08:00

Finally--baby is on his way! We went in this morning for our first "gel" treatment to get my cervix moving along and BAM! my body really responded to it and I went from 0 dilation to a 2 right away with really regular contractions. So, we were supposed to get 4 of those over the course of the next 2 days, but only needed one and we're on our way. We got admitted rather than being sent home and now we're just anxiously awaiting some more progress. Sounds like baby wants to be born in November after all!

Stay tuned! :)

3rd Trimester in Review

2009-11-23T16:29:00.000-08:00

Following suit with my 1st and 2nd trimester lists...here's the final one!

1. A brief love affair with mac and cheese.... mmmmm!
2. Increased irritability
3. Good sleep through about week 37 or 38 then I spent about half my nights on the couch.
4. Swollen feet and hands starting around the last month
5. Most memorable craving= orange juice
6. Regular breakfast of PB and honey toast
7. Getting up for the bathroom 2-5 times per night
8. Wishing I could wear jeans but never finding any tall enough maternity ones
9. Overall really comfortable with very few complaints
10. Nesting--especially with the nursery! Happy with the result
11. Change in my vision...not sure if this happened earlier and I never noticed?
12. Not overly emotional (don't ask Ryan)
13. Excited and nervous about baby's arrival
14. Sore feet
15. Not as tired as first trimester--bedtime around 9 to 10
16. Low blood pressure
17. Never looked at the number on the scale at doctor appointments
18. Amazing at not buying clothes for the baby yet. I've been in all the cutest stores and haven't bought a thing! We have PLENTY of clothes for now!
19. Ready to wear normal clothes again
20. But overall really enjoying the ride :)

Week 40

2009-11-23T07:41:00.000-08:00

Holy moly. Here I am!

Puffy and swollen, but otherwise doing good still! Ryan is amused (and disgusted?) by the puffiness of my feet and my hands and I'm still going crazy from the tingling.

We had a laid-back weekend here. Planned on going out to see a movie, but decided to rent movies and get ice cream instead! :) We probably should have taken advantage of the opportunity, I know I know. It was so nice to be able to keep the sweats on instead though!

I got some work done yesterday to save a PTO day for later this week and am planning on heading into the office this afternoon as well. This should be a pretty boring week until baby comes because, like I mentioned before, I'm pretty ready.

Our entertainment of the weekend? Squirrels. :) Ryan bought a new bird feeder and a corn holder and the squirrels have been our amusement out our big window in our living room. Need I mention the constant state of stress and anxiety we are causing Tytan?! No, I think he likes it. He sits on the little perch we have for him in front of the window and stares intently out it. This morning there were 8 of them out there. I have an amusing (to me) squirrel post with Ryan coming up...maybe tonight. :)

Last news: we're going to have a Thanksgiving! Yesterday Ryan invited his dad and sisters up on Thursday, knowing that they'll either visit us at the hospital or there won't be a baby yet and Ryan will be cooking T-Day dinner. It should be a pretty simple one, so I'm not worried about being stressed about--especially since he's cooking! It will be nice to have something to do that day (if I don't have something BIGGER to do that day!!!).

And the very last news.... OUR CHRISTMAS TREE IS UP!!!!! :) WOOOOO-HOOOOO!

A few thoughts...

2009-11-21T06:36:00.000-08:00

Ryan and I sit here leisurely sipping on our coffee with french vanilla creamer. Love. He just finally started drinking coffee when he started his new day hours. I like weekend coffee time. :) It's such a nice crisp Fall day and there is frost on the yard. Makes a girl want to put up her Christmas tree, but Ryan is still trying to hold me off. We'll see how the weekend progresses!

Speaking of progress...none on the baby front other than the fact that I am getting to a more uncomfortable stage. Really sore back yesterday and still the ridiculous hand tingling. I feel confident that I won't need to be induced, but it makes me nervous to write that here because now I will have to! Jinxed.

I think we're basically "ready" now. Can I say that that is a really hard question to be asked on a routine basis? Are you ready? Are you ready? Ready how? Like do I have the baby's nursery ready? Yes. Are you ready? Well, I'm freaked out about the extreme pain that I know my body will be going through in no more than a week and a half, but yes, I guess I'm "ready". And as of yesterday at 5:30, I feel pretty ready in regards to work. Sure there are still things to do, but if I did have the baby this weekend, I would feel ok knowing things would be fine at work. That's reassuring! Since I ultimately will probably be going back to work Monday anyway, I will be able to use whatever I have of next week to finalilze those things and to work on some projects that I haven't gotten to. Very low stress. Love that.

Oh, by the way...know how to get your husband to answer his phone at work every single time you call? Be 9 months pregnant. Haha. I hesitate to call Ryan at all because everytime I do he has this anxious voice because he thinks I'm calling to say I'm going into labor. It's funny. Did I mention how ridiculously excited that guy is? Very. I should mention impatient too. :)

So, this weekend we're just going to do a little more nesting...a few errands, possibly a movie tonight. Hope you all have a happy one. :)

Appt: Week 39

2009-11-18T17:10:00.001-08:00

No progress. :)

However, we do have a timeline. If baby does not come by our next appointment (next Wednesday), then we will have an ultrasound on Friday.

If baby does not come by Monday, I will go to United 1-2 times each on Monday and Tuesday to start getting things moving along.

No baby?

We will then be admitted to the hospital on Wednesday, Dec 2nd (2 weeks from today) to start the petocin (sp?)and stay there til baby comes. Ryan's birthday is December 3rd, so we'll just have to see I guess! They might share their birthday!

So, at this point I'm assuming I will go late, but I'm planning on having everything at work ready to go by this Friday so next week will be totally stress-free workwise.
If baby wants to come this weekend then so be it. :)

Either way we won't be going anywhere for Thanksgiving which is a bummer, but we are DEFINITELY putting up our Christmas tree that day if there is no baby yet! I have been waiting since October I swear!

Stay tuned. :)

Appt

2009-11-15T18:06:00.001-08:00

We had a different doctor on Friday which was kind of interesting. She was nice and really helpful--just unique to have someone who met me for the first time. She guessed that baby currently weighs about 7.5 lbs.

That was about it from the appt. No progress.

I still feel really good (other than the arms and hands), so no hurry on my part. There is still Christmas shopping to be done! ;)

Baby's First Picture???

2009-11-15T17:58:00.000-08:00

So, me, RYan, Josh and Michelle went to Dave and Busters on Saturday. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's basically an adult Chuck E Cheese...a bar, restaurant, and huge video arcade where you can play lots of games and win lots of tickets. It was pretty fun. The funniest thing is that me and Ryan accumulated like 9000 tickets. Yup. That's A LOT! All we cashed them in for was a giant stuffed hippo for the baby and 2 things of sprees. :) We now have about 8000 tickets left. It's just ridiculous.

The best part of our time there? They have a photo booth that takes your pic then lets you either try out new hairstyles, morph yourself into an animal, OR..... find out what your baby would/could look like! Which option did we choose? See below.... I find him quite adorable. :)

So, he's not a baby, but he's a keeper. We'll see how realistic this one is huh? It's definately one for the baby book. :)

Pregnancy is a real pain in the....

2009-11-13T06:29:00.000-08:00

arms. and hands. ouch.

How did no one ever tell me about this? I heard about all the others and no one ever tries to sugar coat things in general, so why did no one mention the incredible tingling pain in my arms and my hands? Oh dear. This is especially painful at night and keeps me awake on and off as I alternate sides and then alternate arms start hurting. Doctor says its normal (like pregnancy induced carpal tunnel) and won't go away til I have the baby. Drives me nuts. Happens during the day too, but not to the capacity it does when I'm trying to sleep. Big time pain. In the middle of the night I was thinking of what to compare it too and at that point I felt like both of my hands had been slammed in a car door, but then the person driving pulled forward and my right arm went with it. That's what it felt like. ;)

So now, I type my complaints with puffy, tingly hands. Oh joy.

Note that my ticker at the top says 10 days. 10 days! We had our Wednesday appt cancelled because the doctor was delivering a baby, so we're seeing someone else today since she is now out of town. We'll see if there is any progress, but I won't get my hopes up. I keep giving the disclaimer that I'm due in 12, 11, 10 days but then I add the 7 days I could potentially go overdue so that I am being reasonable and won't have a completely miserable week of being overdue. Obviously it's realistic, right?

Weekend should be fun though--Josh and Michelle are coming up so we should have lots to do. They were of course hoping a baby would be here or on the way. Sorry guys. ;)

Happy Friday everyone.

9 years

2009-11-11T19:12:00.000-08:00

Is it silly that Ryan and I still acknowledge our anniversaries of dating? :) haha
That's today! Not like we did anything, but we did acknowledge that today is the day. 9 years!

Happy Anniversary Babe. ;)

The First Abbott Addition of November

2009-11-09T15:57:00.000-08:00

Ryan's brother Ben and his wife, Jackie, had their baby girl, Allie yesterday! Jackie was 6 or 7 days overdue but Allie came when she was ready.

I saw a pic today and she is beautiful with lots of dark brown hair.

2-3 more weeks til her lil' cousin arrives!

Project!

2009-11-07T16:48:00.001-08:00

Here's our work in progress! All done, just waiting to be hung on the wall once the glue dries. I have to hand it to Ryan--he was really the driving force behind this. He made us stop at Home Depot, convinced me that it would work, and did a ton of the work. Impressive! I keep asking where this handy man has been the past few years!

This was quite the teamwork effort.
I determined how big each frame should be.
Ryan made the cuts.
I freehanded the letters.
Ryan cut them out.
I painted them.
Ryan glued them.

Of course I can't show you the REAL finished project because that would give away his name. What can I show you?

How about a

???

OK. First a few more peeks...

OK, so we thought we'd try a few different name options... :)

Any votes? :)

So, there you have it ladies and gentlemen. Our weekend crafty project! Can't wait to hang it on baby's wall. Feeling MUCH better about it then the former (well, current) polka dots. These will pretty much be the finishing touch.

And do you really think we'd reveal the whole name? Nah. We were a little tricky (read: missing letters or extra letters). Oh what fun! ;)

I won!

2009-11-07T07:05:00.001-08:00

I entered Anna's halloween picture from last year on Pear Tree Greetings facebook fan page and WON a $50 gift card! So excited because I've already ordered my address labels and now just have to wait for baby to get here to order our Christmas cards/ birth announcements.

So, friends & family, I encourage you, you, and you to head on over to www.peartreegreetings.com to check out their awesome stuff. Super cute cards and great quality (plus lots of other stuff too)! Order yours from there! :) Christmas is just around the corner!

Appt update, Weekend ahead

2009-11-06T18:11:00.000-08:00

Another appt today. Not dilated. Doctor said she thinks we'll have a December baby. Nice, huh? Actually I'm glad she isn't telling me he will come earlier. I would rather have the mindset that he will be late and then be surprised if he is early or on time. That seems like it would help with sanity a little better. AND, I still feel good.

This weekend: BIG project! Ryan and I stopped at Home Depot on our way home from the appt and we have a big crafty project to do for the baby's room. Should be the last major thing and the room is set. It involves his name, so unfortunately I won't be revealing the WHOLE finished project for you once it's done, but I will show you a peek. Maybe. :)

My roomie from college is coming up tomorrow to see our place and to go to lunch, so that should be fun too. Can't wait!

Other than that? Organization, cleaning, and a little R & R!

More nursery

2009-11-03T18:11:00.000-08:00

Forgive the pictures lately. I dropped my camera when I was home for the last baby shower and the photo quality has not been quite the same ever since. Bummer!

Here is the bumper pad I bought from Target. I returned the other one I had bought which was striped on one side and polka dots on the other. Too busy. AND this one is breathable! :) It's called a breathable bumper pad and it feels/looks like shiny mesh kind of. I like that it's a good dark brown and gives some contrast to the busy-ness of the sheets and the white of the crib.

Here's the window valances I bought online from Target. They aren't meant to match the bedding, but I really like them. The brown is actually kind of corduroy-ish and then the stripes are brown, whitish, and green.

See the 2 circles on the window sill? That's my hand and Ryan's hand from Kindergarten! I'm planning on doing something with them. We found his last time we were home and then I dug mine out of a box. Kind of fun!

So, nursery is about done. I'm taking the polka dots down off the wall and have a letter idea in mind and I'm waiting to hear back from someone to make them. :) I really want the big picture to be complete by the time baby comes!

Belly

2009-11-03T18:08:00.000-08:00

37 weeks and counting!

Halloween and Anna's Bday Party

2009-11-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

I went to Brenda's for the weekend to help with Anna's big 6th birthday and to go trick or treating.

Halloween pics first. A pirate and....

Hannah Montana of course!

Ryan turned out pretty darn cute I will say.

And the birthday pics. Anna had 4 of her kindergarten girlfriends home on the bus with her after school Friday. Boy oh boy do 5 and 6 year old girls have a lot of energy. It was a 2 hour party and Brenda and I were spent by the time the parents picked them up! They even entertained themselves really well for a while, but they sure are a non-stop talking whirlwind. So fun though!

It takes a BIG BREATH to blow out 6 candles ya know! :)

November

2009-11-03T06:49:00.000-08:00

November 1st was a strange day. I'm having a baby this month!!! (Well...hopefully! I suppose it could be December, but....) I have a due date this month! :)

Last night was hospital tour day for baby class #4 of 5. These 4 weeks really flew by. I feel like I just posted about baby class #1 and next week we're done! That means that the past few weeks of pregnancy have also flown by. Geesh!

We had an appt on Friday morning and got lots of info from the doc about questions that we've thought of. I really like her. No progress on the baby front which did not surprise me in the least. Baby is WAY too comfortable in there to be wanting out. I don't feel like the pregnant women that are demanding to be induced or who are so miserable that they beg to have the baby out. I'm pretty comfy...for now. The only pain in the butt I have is actually my hands. THey are so numb and tingly...especially when I sleep. Other than that...days are good. Evenings I get a little crabby, tired, uncomfortable, but nothing too bad. Still sleeping really good most nights of the week. Next appt is Friday.

I made a little more progress on the nursery (bumper--check. valances--check.) Will post finalized pics oncce it's all done. I'm going to do letters spelling out his name on the polka dot wall and take those down for the most part. I just am not happy with the colors...I think that's the problem.

My sister-in-law was due yesterday with their baby girl. No news yet. Ryan's cousin is due a couple of days before us, so adding to the abbotts is a pretty fitting name! I've dreamt twice in the past week that I've had the baby. First dream he had brown hair which made me happy, and 2nd dream he was actually a girl which DIDN'T make his dad very happy. :) You never know!

So, today I'm going to work from home for most of the day since yesterday was a long one. I'm currently hanging out in bed with the dog. Funny thing is that as I was typing this post, I didn't realize that my water bottle had fallen on the bed. All of the sudden I felt wetness and of course I had the split second thought that my water had broken. haha! Nope. Just a really wet bed. :)

Pics of Halloween with Anna and Ryan to come.

Blog Stalking

2009-10-25T16:22:00.000-07:00

I'm done using Christy's blog as my homepage in order to see what my favorite blogs are up to. Nope, I finally took the time to add them to my own blog list. To the left you'll see my updated list of those I read on a day-to-day basis. I'm so excited! :) Haha. PLUS, a few new ones that I've stumbled across from the bump.com. Unexpectedly Expecting just had TWINS! ;) And of course, I am forever a fan of the Life in Transition blog. Fun, fun!!

Nursery Pics

2009-10-25T15:36:00.000-07:00

We have the nursery MOSTLY done. There are a few things to add (valances ordered. bumper pad ordered.) Here's some pics of our progress:

This was my project for today. I have one in our living room that I made with a square punch and it's one of my favorite things. So, I was in the mood to do something crafty and this is the result. Circle punch + glue stick + canvas (+ a few buttons) = wall art! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out in comparison to the crib sheets.

This is the million piece dresser we bought at Ikea a few weeks ago. Nice deep drawers.

This is the "changing table" Ryan made. We saw something similar online and thought it was pretty cool. So, Ryan surprised me with the handy-man side he has kept hidden all these years and made this. He cut notches so it fits right on the crib rails snugly, but then it can be removed in between. It's a good height since we're both tall and then we padded it with a normal changing table pad with the straps. I like.

See the polka dots on the wall? That one wall has large and small dots/circles in orange, brown, green, and yellow. I'd show you a full picture if I was set on it, but now I'm having doubts. We'll see if they stay up or if I change my mind. They're the great sticker ones and I cut some of them to layer up like the bedding. The rocker was free from a friend and the fabulous basket of blocks was a present from my mom. Very cute!

Cute li'l "Shh...baby sleeping" hanging from my neice and nephew for my shower... I want a small stand for it so I can keep it on the dresser instead of hanging it on the wall. The light is from a garage sale from my sister. :)

Large rubber ducky bath was filled with tons of baby stuff from Steph, Michelle, and Kirsten at my shower. For now I'm using it to hold baby's stuffed animals (some of which are mine from when I was little). Now...if only I could keep Tytan away from them. :)

That's that! Now all we need is a baby right? RIiiiight.... :)

30 days (or so...)

2009-10-24T07:56:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I had my last 2 week appointment. Now I'm down to weekly ones til baby comes!

I am not dilated at all. Not surprised. THis baby is way too comfortable in there to be coming early. I know he'll be late. I'm prepared for that and am ok with that for now. haha.

The other thing at my appt was that I got my H1N1 vaccine. My doctor basically said I had to get it, though she did say she wouldn't hold me down and make me if I didn't want it. Ryan was more opposed to it, but based on the fact that the doctor was telling me (along with all of the hype about pregnant women being most at risk), I got it. The doctor said there is up to a 30% death rate for pregnant women, so I went with it. What a controversy.

This weekend Ryan went to visit a college friend in Shawano and I'm home nesting and scrapbooking. I'm enjoying a weekend to myself and know that there won't be all that many more of those. :) I actually went to bed at 7:30 last night (thought Tytan gave me lots of mommy practice by getting me up TWICE in the middle of the night to go out side. SERIOUSLY?!). Looks like it will be a nice weekend!

Where we are

2009-10-21T08:37:00.000-07:00

-5 weeks away from a baby
-baby's clothes are all washed and in his drawers
-nursery is assembled with a few minor things to do
-finished baby class #2 or 5
-surivived the birth video
-lots to figure out for work before I go
-more pregnancy scrapbook pages to complete, but feeling so good about it!
-bought a diaper bag this past weekend
-trying to figure out what to do with the dog when I go into labor
-wanting to do some more major nesting (at home AND at work!)
-trying not to think or worry about this H1N1 stuff
-terribly nervous and distressed about the actually labor and delivery
-contemplating what to have baby wear home
-sleeping well again (knock on wood)
-not particularly hungry most of the time
-with incredibly sore feet--that's my only major pain
-enjoying some super cute new baby and parenting blogs I stumbled across from the bump
-realizing that there will be THREE Abbott babies born in November. Ryan also has a cousin due 4 days before us and his brother is due the first week of November.
-trying to finalize plans for my maternity leave and the details there
-needing to return the bumper pad I bought and order one online
-surreal to think that we'll actually have a baby in 5 (or 6?) weeks

Final Shower

2009-10-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

We had our final shower this past weekend at my mom's. My sister and sister-in-law were the hostesses. It turned out great--aunts from both sides, family friends, and a few girlfriends. Brenda took LOTS of pictures and here are a few:

Now? We're pretty much SET for this baby! There are very few things we have left to buy. I even came home and did his first load of laundry Sunday night. His sheets and blankets are all watched and his crib is all set. Crazy, crazy!

Thanks for the shower sister. :)

Surprise Shower

2009-10-13T18:03:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday my co-workers threw me and a fellow pregnant co-worker a surprise baby shower at the office. It was a total surprise which was fun. I knew that we normally do baby showers for people, but the fact that it was that day was surprising, so the fact that I had NO idea made it extra cool. I kind of ruined the surprise by walking in to the "meeting" about 10 minutes early, but it just meant I was surprised 10 minutes early....right?

Here's all the awesome stuff my amazing co-workers gave us (since I have no pictures from the actual shower.

Baby 101

2009-10-13T17:56:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I started baby classes yesterday. We signed up thinking it was one 2-hr class. Turns out we signed up for 5 weeks of class. 5 weeks of class. Yikes! That means that we will be spending 5 of our last 6 to 7 Mondays at United learning about birth preparation. Fun, fun! Don't be jealous.

Last night actually wasn't THAT bad. Ryan complained about it, of course, but I think he secretly agreed that it wasn't as boring or horrible as we both imagined it would be.

Next week? The birthing video. I think I might be sick that day. ;)

Sunshine Day

2009-10-07T07:47:00.001-07:00

Yay--the sun is back! No real complaints here. I don't like the rain, but I was SOOOOO incredibly ready for fall, so I'm actually totally fine with the cold. No more sweating (well, almost). :)

I had a surprise work shower yesterday. I didn't get any pictures since it was a surprise, but I did take a picture of all the great stuff they got us. Another one for the baby book!

This weekend is my last shower, and it is at my mom's. Excited to see some friends and family and the rest of the weekend should be great too.

On the homefront--I'm turning into quite the domestic goddess. Haha, well that's what I like to tell Ryan I am. With Ryan working days it means we actually have dinner together most nights. So, I'm talking to my mom on the phone every day planning out what I'm going to make and how. So far so good. The house is staying pretty clean too, especially after our power weekend of home projects.

As I'm morphing into domestic goddess, Ryan is turning into quite the handy-man. Who knew?! He made me one of THESE this weekend (ok, let's be honest. It's for the baby, but....) it turned out really good (it's a changing table to sit on top of the crib and to be moved when not in use). I just need to paint his and then I'll post pics. He also changed around light fixtures for me and did a bunch of other stuff. Now that i know he has these skills....oh boy. What fun I can have! Next up: a toy box/bench that Tytan can sit on when looking out the window in the living room but will double as a toy box. Yay for husband!

Baby is moving like crazy, like usual! Ryan gets to feel him all the time and it continues to amaze both of us. We think we experienced hiccups last night for the first time. How weird! Also, we are all signed up for our one and only parenting class and hospital tour. 6 1/2 weeks to go!

So, I should probably get to work here, but thought I'd do a quick update since it's been awhile. Happy Wednesday!

My First Shower

2009-10-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

Ryan's cousin Rachel threw a joint shower with their side of the family this past Sunday. It was for both me and Ryan and Ben and Jackie. Very fun! Ryan's Grandma Dixie is up from Texas this week and we haven't seen her since our wedding 3 years ago, so it was a good opportunity for lots of family pictures as well.

Here's a few:

OH they yummy cupcakes. Oh how I want one right now. Ben and Jackie are having a girl (hence the pink and blue).

Me and Ryan

The boys with their respective colors. Ben's bib says "I'm not a boy" and Ryan's says "Boys are better". I don't think this battle of the sexes will ever be over.

The ultimate baby shower game with the candy bars. So funny! I think it's safe to say this was the first time playing for the guys of the group. (I won!) :)

Me and Jackie. Rachel cut out the super cute BABY letters. Wow we're big. Thanks for the photo opp Rach. ;)

Bryce, Ginger, Avayda, and Grandma Dixie-- this is great-grandchild #2

The Ab Fam

Dixie with all her grandchildren (-4) and her 2 great-grandchildren

It was a really fun day and we got lots of good baby stuff. Very exciting!!! My sister and mom are having a shower for me in a couple of weeks. After that we should know what we have and don't have and should definitely be pretty prepared!

And it begins....

2009-09-24T17:28:00.000-07:00

I'm tired...

The past few nights of sleep have been far less than stellar. I even tried out the couch last night for a few hours but then headed back to bed.

I'm going to say it was a fluke and not just settle for the fact that I'll never again know good sleep. Right? Baby will be here in 60 days and I'm sure I'll have good sleep again before then. RIGHT??????

Major Change

2009-09-23T18:13:00.001-07:00

Ryan called me at work on Friday to say that his boss had called him. My immediate thought process was not necessarily positive. Not based on Ryan, but based on the company he works for. Turns out that he got offered a different position. Hold the phone....that new position is during the DAY. D A Y. What does that mean? It means that a) Ryan excepted the position and will have a ton of new stuff to learn. This will be more of an administrative desk job rather than a dirty hard labor job, b) He will now work from 7a-4p Monday thru Friday and c) RYAN AND I ARE GOING TO SEE EACH OTHER DURING THE WEEK NOW!!!!

It's very exciting. Different, but exciting. We actually had dinner together tonight!!! I'm so so so thankful that this is happening now so that when the baby comes we'll actually have time together as a family. It's absolutely perfect timing.

The job is different for him and the first days (or weeks) of new jobs always stink as you're learning, but overall, it's pretty darn exciting!!!

Scrapfest 2009

2009-09-16T18:07:00.000-07:00

Break out the mom jeans and fanny packs...it's time for scrapfest 2009!

Haha- this is my 4th Year going to Scrapfest with Christy! This was her fabulous idea from the beginning, and now it is a tradition. None of our friends can ever plan weddings this ever important weekend. I mean really. This is serious stuff!

So, tonight I'm trying to make a game plan so that I can be efficient and not spend the weekend trying to think of ideas. I also greatly cut back on the number of things I'm going to lug to the hotel. Usually we're both pretty ridiculous with the number of scrapbook things we bring with. This year= efficiency. :) Ha. We'll see about that.

And about the mom jeans and fanny packs??? We won't be sporting them ourselves, but will see our fair share pared with "Scrap 'til You Drop!" shirts. :) For some reason I'm publicly confessing I attend this event, but boy oh boy I wouldn't say we fit in there.

The worst part? We're going to ScrapFest to SCRAPBOOK but we have never ever taken a picture of ourselves and this tradition. Pitiful, just pitiful.

29 weeks

2009-09-08T18:30:00.001-07:00

When September hit, it struck me that the baby is coming in 2 months! Holy moly!!!

Here's our outlook:
Next weekend-Ryan has a softball tournament
Weekend after- Scrapfest 2009 with Christy (woot-woot!)
Weekend after- home for the Tyler/Abbott Shower
Weekend after-- my birthday :)
Weekend after-- home for a shower from my sister
Weekend after-- THAT's THE MIDDLE OF OCTOBER!!! 1 month til baby!!! YIKES

So, the game plan is that, in all the craziness, we try to make sure we're settled by that 1 month til baby mark. Showers will be done, so at that point we can figure out what we still need and make sure we're "settled". WOW WOW WOW.

Speaking of--here's a COUPLE more pics to show our progress... I sure did blog lots of posts and pics today!

Yay! We have a crib! Baby has a bed! Woo-hoo! :) We borrowed the crib from Brenda and Corey and they told us that lots of swearing would be involved in the set up process, but Ryan did really well. Probably because he had such a good instruction giver. :) Nice to look into the baby's room and actually have it look like a baby will be living there some day!

And on one more baby note--baby is moving like CRAZY! It is so distracting because I want to watch my belly move or feel for the movement all the time. Today I covered my belly during a meeting because I swear they would have been able to see my belly move from across the table. Weird! (Yet the coolest most incredible thing ever!!!)

...and 1 more

2009-09-08T18:26:00.000-07:00

Picture in my mom and dad's garden :)

Sprinkler Attack

2009-09-08T18:17:00.001-07:00

The wild animal stalking his prey

Testing the waters

Ahh--it got him! (((seriously. look at that FACE!!!)))

That'll teach him. :)

Ah the wet mess he created...soaked us both. Hard to be mad when I was laughing hysterically. What am I going to do with this dog?!

Belly

2009-09-08T18:11:00.000-07:00

5 weeks--the day we found out

29 weeks--the shirt shrunk....riiiiiiggghht? :)

Anniversary Self-Portraits :)

2009-09-08T18:06:00.000-07:00

2008 Version--2 years

2009 Version--3 years

Ryan LOOOOOOVES this self-portrait tradition--doesn't it just show?! :)
I have one from our 1st anniversary too, just not on this computer.

28-week Appt!

2009-09-03T16:52:00.000-07:00

Today we had our 28 week appt. We have one more monthly appointment, then we're on to every 2 weeks, then weekly (convenient since our doctor is in Woodbury and we're now in Brooklyn Park, right?). How exciting though!!!

Appt went well. Baby has a good strong heartbeat. My blood pressure was good (always low). Bad part--I had to get 2 shots today! I had to get the Rhogam shot because of my dumb O- blood, plus a flu shot. OH the misery... actually, I had always hated shots with a passion, but I think that I'm getting tougher with age. I made Ryan hold my hand for the first one. :)

So, I had more questions today than usual.

1) H1N1 vaccine--do I have to get it? According to my doctor, YES, Ryan and I BOTH need to get it (ABOUT TIME that he has to do SOMETHING for the baby, right?!). Doc doesn't think the vaccine will be available til the 1st of the year, but we need to get it then to protect the little one. The shot makes me nervous because it's new, but she assured me that the FDA is pretty picky and that they wouldn't release it until they new it was safe.... so, I guess I'm getting the vaccine?

2) Braxton Hicks contractions-- she explained what they would feel like and I haven't had any of these. I'll take it.

3) Any more ultrasounds? Hopefully not. The only reason we would get another one is if I was measuring too big or too small, or had high blood pressure or something. So, hopefully we won't see baby again until he's born. :)

4) How come some people are able to say "baby weighs 6 lbs right now", etc.--some get more than 1 ultrasound and she said that even then it is either +/- 2 lbs, so not really accurate. She guessed that baby will be around 8lbs for us, but that was only based on me so we'll see.

5) I asked when baby would be "full-term" and she gave me the 37 week mark. She noted that, thought we DO NOT WANT THIS TO HAPPEN, if the baby was born now (since we're at 28 weeks), it would probably be ok with a little help. That is NOT what I want, but comforting just the same, right?

I think that was all my questions. Crazy to think it's September and baby is really coming in November. I have SOOOOOOO much to do!!! Yikes!

Life and Lessons- Year 3

2009-09-02T17:43:00.001-07:00

Us 1 year ago

Today is me and Ryan's 3rd Anniversary! We don't get to see each other today except for sleeping, but Ryan got me a be-au-ti-ful bouquet of roses that were delivered to my work. Love em!

Here's a summary of our 3rd year: Life and Lessons :)

*We moved from Woodbury to Brooklyn Park
*We sold 3 vehicles--Ryan's crotch rocket, honda civic, and chevy truck...in exchange he got one vehicle :)
*We both kept the same jobs (though Ryan had a second job for awhile)
*Lesson: marriage isn't a given; once you're married you need to work even harder then when you're dating.
*We're growing a baby!
*We drove around the countryside looking at houses while we were on a kick, but ultimately decided to continue living rent-free for awhile more
*We booked and cancelled a trip to Mexico (thanks baby! j/k)
*We camped 2 times
*We enjoyed the giddy and amazing moment of feeling baby's first moves
*We had couples dates with Kari and Tyler
*Lesson: our relationship is like a cycle. If one of us does something that bothers the other, the other had the bad habit of doing something to bother the other person. Hence a vicious cycle, but all in all, a lesson learned. Mostly corrected ;)
*We went to some weddings--Josh and Michelle's, Cap and Antonella's, Ben and Jackie's.
*We canoed
*Ryan got training for my company (almost done)
*We got a fancy new camera--something we both like to play with
*We started a savings account
*We saw Toby Keith in a bar :)
*Lesson: talk, talk, talk
*We spent time with our oldest and best(est) friends :)
*We went to lots and lots of garage sales together scouring for baby stuff (the year before we drove past the garage sales with "dumb baby stuff"--now we can hardly find them!)
*Ryan played in his first softball league in MN
*We daydreamed about what our baby boy will be like
*We debated baby names
*We did a lot of reflecting on ourselves and us as a couple and are stronger because of it

So, not an especially eventful year, but another year of life together. These random moments and memories are what make up our lives! Cheers to the next years!

2nd Trimester list

2009-08-31T17:15:00.000-07:00

I refreshed my memory by looking at my list from my 1st trimester. Here's what's new this past trimester:

1. Started it out with a crazy love for Gushers. Haven't had them since the beginning, but I was at a pack or 2 a day. :)
2. I have eaten more Kraft mac and cheese this trimester then in the past 5 years. Gotta love that cheesy-deliciousness!
3. I am still (KNOCK ON WOOD!) sleeping really well. I have occasional bouts of being restless in the middle of the night, but overall, I have NO complaints. I usually fall asleep on my right side and then wake up feeling guilty and turn to my left. My book says that either is ok! I bought an awesomely soft body pillow and am in LOVE.
4. I had more "morning sickness" this past few weeks to a month then in the beginning, even one bout of throwing up (in the middle of the night!).
5. I gag when I brush my teeth. (Sorry for the details!)
6. I have had quite a bit more energy which means less naps during the week, but I sitll love a good weekend nap (as I did before pregnancy!)
7. Boy oh boy am I irritable! I have had so many bouts of extreme irritation. More than before pregnancy, that's for sure. It comes from frustration, Tytan being naughty, noises, not being able to fix things, annoying neighbors, whatever. It just comes.
8. I still SQUEEEEEZE into my pre-prego jeans because I don't have any maternity jeans (darn being tall!). I have a bella band and the rubberband itself is pretty helpful.
9. I haven't had a lot of back pain, but my legs and feet get sore.
10. Still stressed about my water consumption.
11. When I hear about a certain food, I WANT it. For example, Ryan and I were in Apple Valley and we rolled the windows down. I smelled what I thought was chinese and immediately wanted that. We stopped at a garage sale and I saw Subway which made me want THAT. Luckily I made it home without any other cravings. It's bad.
12. Baby kicks A LOT! It's sooo much fun that I can't help but smile when I feel the little bugger move. I feel like the first movements were pretty early, but they were DEFINITELY movements. It also felt early when Ryan could start feeling him, but sure enough! Ryan is very impatient though. If he puts his hand on my belly he has about a 5-second patience level and then he scolds the baby for not moving. It's quite funny and I think it goes to show that baby will be a mama's boy. :)
13. We are constantly on the lookout for kids/babies that we think ours will look like. Yesterday at the zoo for example. Personally I look at the way people dress babies and kids and then check with Ryan for his opinion on that kid's "style". hah.
14. My belly button has popped out a little.
15. Another favorite: thick and creamy yogurt. This is strange to me given the gagging while brushing my teeth, but I just love it.

Random list, but I'm sure I'll think of more now that I his to publish this post. What a crazy and exciting time!

Neighbor dogs

2009-08-30T17:33:00.000-07:00

Ugh.

Here's Tytan on the look out. Both places we have lived have had "ledges". Ledges that are hardly enough to fit a 95-lb dog, but Tytan somehow does it. If you can't tell, the following picture is of him perched up on this ledge looking out the window at the neighbor's Saint Bernard. The Saint Bernard who barks AND barks AND barks whenever he sees anyone and then continues for 15 minutes after they've left. LOVE THAT. Again...ugh.

If this was the only dog, it would be more tolerable, but no...there are two. I would choose the Saint Bernard anytime over the other option: a hyperactive, bipolar "mutt" who is clearly part pit bull. I'm thinking a nice 10-foot fence would be helpful? Geesh!

Day at Como

2009-08-30T17:20:00.001-07:00

Brenda, Corey, Anna, and Ryan made a spontaneous trip up here today to see our new place and to take the kiddos to Como Zoo. It was PACKED! I was hoping that with the State Fair being right down the street, that maybe the zoo wouldn't be busy, but it definately was! Once we actually found a parking spot it turned out to be a GREAT day.

Here's some pics...obviously!

I loved the giraffes. Did you know that they never sit?! What a horrible thing! These guys and the gorillas stole the show for me.

Brenda and Anna--Brenda looking very "Kate Goslin-ish", no?

Bad picture of us, but at least it's a picture!

So, it was a fun way to spend a Sunday. It's such a nice zoo, and since it's "free", you really can't go wrong. I can't wait to be able to go back in a year with a 9 month old baby--wow! :)

Look what I got!

2009-08-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

So, after seeing some super cute baby things on newborn photography sites, I found my way to Etsy. There, I narrowed it down to two hats that I wanted to choose from to get for baby.

Adorable Crocheted Hat with Ears by Karenisa

Sage Green Earflap Hat by IrishHooksandYarn

So, obviously it was a tough decision! Both are super adorable and I'm so excited to have them for newborn pics. Which did I choose??? Well, I did what anyone would have done in my situation...I got both. :)

Send Happy Thoughts

2009-08-29T09:42:00.001-07:00

My best friend from High School, who I don't talk to enough anymore, had twin boys this past week. I know this from her mom's facebook, and have an update to share in order to get some happy thoughts sent her way. :)

This is Collin and Kyle. I'm not sure which is which. Cutey-patooties, huh?

Collin went to the hospital shortly after going home (I think) because he wasn't breathing. He's currently still in the hospital on a machine to help him breathe. Grandma said he's gaining weight and becoming more alert. THey're watching Kyle closely since it was an infection that made Collin stop breathing.

So, prayers and happy thoughts for this little family and these little guys please. :)

2009-08-26T18:46:00.001-07:00

why cant i send pics from my phone???

2009-08-26T18:35:00.001-07:00

testing with my phone

August

2009-08-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

I vote August as my least favorite month of this summer. Ugh. I have done more cleaning in the past week then in the past year. Not only am I cleaning our new place, but we obviously had to clean our old place (to get our deposit moved), AND, one of the homes I supervise is moving to a new location which means overseeing the cleaning and moving of yet another house (this one with 4 highly active residents all in one day!). Yuck.

So, Friday, I crashed. :) I got home, Ryan was at work, and I let myself become overwhelmed by self-pity. It was a pity party complete with freshly baked (from the package!) cinnamon cookies. Here's why:

1. I had to go back and reclean certain items at our old place which was the last thing I wanted to do AND it really, really frustrated me (especially since I know they were cleaned well because my MOM did it! ugh).

2. The new carpet will be in this Wednesday. So, that means that everything we've unpacked (and I had to get somewhat settled in the past week, ya know?) has to be moved on to the following floors: laundry room, bathroom, kitchen, or man cave. NOT Wednesday, but Tuesday, which means a night of no furniture or anything in the living room that has no carpet. Joy. Then, I might actually be able to find our toaster, our plates, our silverware, and our utensils.

3. #3 needs to be taken with a grain of salt because I DO REALIZE HOW INCREDIBLY LUCKY WE ARE to live rent-free. However, I did not want to move to this new house. Wait, I did want to move HERE, but only because I didn't have any choice but to move out of the other place. It is a great house, but I was also living in at the other place because of the 4 residents that I have known for 7 years (and some staff I have known that long too). My role there was comfortable--I knew where to park, who to ask to move their car, knew who was making noises upstairs, etc. etc. HERE--the staff and residents are great, but they're not mine. :( It's uncomfortable being "the new girl"--I really never had to experience that at our last house (FRB) becasue I was always one of the longest term people. Here I don't know staff names. I don't know sounds. I don't know the residents. I don't know where to park. I don't know whose job it is to take the garbage out. I don't know whose getting the mail. I don't know if Tytan's barking is driving people crazy....and they don't know me. So, I'm trying. This type of living situation always makes me worry about what other people think--something I'm very good at doing. Over-analyzing and worrying that people are upset or questioning the way I'm doing things. The move has made me want to move ON and out. We're grateful for the financial situation this allows us, but we definitely have a goal to move out as soon as possible (a year?!).

So, I was able to go to bed and wake up with a better perspective yesterday, but it's still there.

Sorry for the rant--I'll blog about the rest of the weekend later with no complaining. :)

Sugary orange pop

2009-08-16T18:54:00.000-07:00

I quick glanced at my Twitter updates to the left and realized I never updated on my appt on Friday.

1. The sugary orange drink was not bad. It was cold and very, very sweet. Luckily, I like sweet stuff.
2. An hour (the wait after drinking it) ticks by VERY slowly when you have a timer with you literally counting down the seconds.
3. The doctor won't be moving our due date to the 15th (what baby was measuring at at the last ultrasound).
4. She only let's people go 1 week and 2 days over their EDD. That means that the latest I would be induced would be December 1st. Ryan's birthday is December 3rd, and let's not be crazy and even JOKE about me being in labor for that long people!
5. I'm measuring right on at between 25-26 weeks.
6. I don't even glance at the scale. Puh-lease. Just tell me if there is a problem, please. :)
7. I didn't not pass out, get hot, sweat, turn pale, need to be leaned back, or feel like I was going to throw up when they took my blood. That's a first.
8. You would not believe the sense of pride I had after that. I was bragging to Ryan about how amazing I did and I told him to just see what bragging rights I would have once I push a baby out after being so excited about surviving a blood draw! :)
9. I do not have gestational diabetes. Huge relief.
10. Next appt: the shot for having a negative blood type. Another fun appt to look forward to!

Ticker

2009-08-16T18:53:00.000-07:00

Check it out!
Only 99 days to go!
Craziness!

Moved

2009-08-16T18:20:00.000-07:00

Well, god bless america, we are moved. I use the word "moved" loosely since OUR stuff is indeed in this NEW place, but that doesn't mean it has to be unpacked....right?

My mom came up Friday to help me clean which was amazingly helpful. She left Saturday morning and Ryan had 3 guys from work come help us move which was also amazing. They work at a furniture distribution company, so they were fabulous movers. I told them I was keeping track of errors like they do at their work, but I haven't found anything broken. Way to go boys! I wish I would have taken pictures yesterday of the packing job they did. We loaded up 3 trucks, a trailed u-haul, and a 10-foot trailer. Boy, was it a sight to see! I tried to take a picture, but it was SOOO humid out that my camera fogged up right away and it wouldn't work.

So, this is what I faced this morning (keeping in mind that, again, we are not getting new carpet for another approx 2 weeks which means that we can't unpack in any of the rooms other than the bathroom, laundry room, and kitchen. cool.).

Exhibit A:

I went to the grocery store today and was pleasantly surprised to find it very Woodbury-ish. OK, OK, Ryan and I are slightly intimidated by living in Brooklyn Park (aka Crooklyn Park or another one, right Christy?). Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore! So, what I've realized is that if we stay North of 85th Avenue, we are golden. We will enter our neighborhood from 610 and never enter anything that resembles "the hood". So, that said, my grocery store experience was wonderful as was the lovely drive-thru Caribou I encountered. :)

Here's where I'm at as of right now:

Things are looking up....

...just don't look over on this side of the kitchen. haha. :)

A couple more things:
1. The dog is beside himself. He just does NOT understand what is going on and WHY all of our things are in this place. He has been literally under our feet the entire past 24 hours and given the fact that boxes and stuff are also underfoot, it hasn't been "cute". OK, so he's kind of cute. :) He hasn't been left here alone yet, so I'm super curious/anxious to see how he will do tomorrow on his own.
2. We met the neighbors. Kids names are Hixton and Madden. I had to write them here so I'd remember. THese kids reputably peek in windows, so it's a good reminder to keep the blinds closed tight, huh?

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD? :)

Weekend update

2009-08-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

I really should be posting pictures of the chaos that we are living in right now! Geesh! That said, we do have a lot more progress. It was a productive weekend.

First of all-- Friday night we went to Hammond to see "The Johnny Holm Band". Nick made us go for 2 reasons....1 was to see if the band would be good for next year's RF days....and 2 was to meet his new girlfriend. I voted yes to both. :) It started DOWNPOURING while we were under the tent though, so first we were stuck (not wanting to run through the downpour) and then we decided to go for it and ended up soaked.

Saturday we packed up all of our boxes in the truck and made our first trip to the new house. We unloaded everything we had packed so we could reuse the boxes (not to mention that I NEEDED to see some visible progress after all this stinking packing!). We decided whose room would be whose, and alas, Baby has a room (I should mention that I have a name in MY head for this baby and Ryan and I are in agreement. We refer to the room as "_________'s room", and I need to be careful so I don't slip up on our secret.). BUT anyway, baby has a room. :) It's a light brown which I think will be fine since there are so many colors in his bedding. So exciting to actually have HIS room to put HIS stuff. Here's a positive AND a negative: 1) we're getting ALL new flooring at the new house. Carpet throughout, plus new laminate to replace the linoleum in the kitchen. Very excited about that; however, 2) It won't happen until 3 weeks after we move in. :( SOOOO, we'll move and then we'll have to be moving everything around afterwards anyway. Boo.

We took a packing break last night and went to dinner at Famous Daves and then out to a movie. Saw "The Ugly Truth". Pretty funny, especially certain parts. Not the best movie I've ever seen, but I laughed pretty hard (AND I love that Irish accent! yum!).

Today has been nothing more than packing and cleaning some more. Ok, ok, I did sneak in a 2 hour nap. :) I think I deserve it.

We really do have almost everything packed up and sitting in our living room right now. Nothing is really left in our cupboards. I can not wait to actually be moved!!!!!

Big Dumby

2009-08-04T17:07:00.001-07:00

The shoe is attacking him. Prior to this he had been attacking the shoe, but then it got SOMEHOW stuck by a tiny thread of the shoe to his ID tag around his neck. It was stuck. Haha. What a dorky dog. That's what he gets for eating my shoes. :)

Bedding peek

2009-08-03T16:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a peek at the bedding I chose from good ole' Target (pronounced tar-jay). :) I bought the sheets already so I could have the official color scheme.

150

2009-08-03T15:54:00.000-07:00

That's how many diapers baby has when he is between 8-14 lbs.

My direct co-workers did a bet about whether I was having a boy or a girl. 3 of them lost and had to pay up in diapers. Good deal, huh?

Now, the question for you mamas out there is: is 150 enough? I swear the baby will come out as a 10-pounder. That's only 4 more pounds to go! What do you think???