Prenatal Update: 25 Weeks

Yesterday I went in for my monthly appointment. This is the appointment that I dread the most. I had to do the blood glucose test which requires a blood draw and usually I would have received a rhogam shot since I'm Rh negative. Thankfully they wanted to wait until I am 28 weeks to give me the shot so I only had to suffer from one needle poke this time.

The rest of my appointment was pretty routine. Jackson's heart rate was perfect. My blood pressure is fine. Everything measures well. I've only gained about 5 pounds. And I go back in 3 weeks for my 28 week appointment!

It all sounds so ho-hum and boring. Which is exactly how this pregnancy was supposed to be! Well, not the boring part. I'm really excited to be pregnant and I can't wait to meet Jackson.

When I first started seeing my midwives, though, they told me that since I am an "experienced" mom I only had to come in every 5 weeks for appointments. That hasn't happened.

Around 12 weeks I started spotting and ended up having to go in a few times extra for them to make sure everything was okay. Which it was. It ended up being a normal pregnancy thing. The baby and I are fine.

Then at about 21 weeks I got rear-ended and ended up having to go in for an extra appointment to follow up after the accident. All of these appointments I've been glad to keep. I love knowing that Jackson is healthy.

I'm just disappointed because I was pretty stinkin' proud to be an "experienced" mom.

Pride. Oh! that nasty little vixen!

Other pregnancy updates would be:

• When I asked Hazel who she thinks Jackson will look like she replied, "Ummmm, Africa!" Since I received so much flack for Amelia's blue eyes I'm starting to wonder what makes people doubt my loyalty to my marriage. Seriously! My mom's friends had a whole conversation about where Amelia's blue eyes came from. One of them suggested that maybe the mail man has blue eyes. Another rebutted with, "Hey! I've met him. He's a nice guy!" Now this! By the way, my mom and Hot Hubby's dad both have blue eyes. It runs in the family!
  

• I could eat Burgerville every day! I am definitely carrying a man-child. My favorite meal of the day is dinner. Salty and hearty. Pasta is the best!

• Jackson is earning mommy points already. He lets me drink coffee! When I was pregnant with the girls it was the last thing I wanted. With Jackson I didn't want it during the first trimester but now I want at least a cup a day.

• I keep forgetting I'm pregnant. I don't feel very guilty because there is a lot going on around here. I just get shocked when I, say... park too close to the shopping cart return area and can't squeeze my tummy through the opening which normally would be plenty of room... Or when I look down and can't see my feet even if I lean forward... Or when I sit leaning forward for a long time and then when I sit back I get kicked multiple times from the baby who is glad to have a little more room finally.

• Jackson moves a lot. My girls mostly moved just at night. They had bursts of major movement. Especially at this point in the pregnancy. Jackson moves all day. I'm hoping that rather than this being a sign that he'll be an extremely active child like his sisters, it will actually mean that he is a well balanced child. Like his dad. Take after your dad, Jackson! Someone needs to. And soon! Mommy needs a break from all the little busy people running all over the place! Oh that you will be an easy-peasy boy like your dad and brother!

Even though my next appointment is only three weeks away instead of the desired 5 weeks, I am glad that it means I'm that much closer to meeting this handsome little Prince.

Beware of the Grooooove!

What is the groove? It is the rhythm in which I live my life!

If you ever have the opportunity to watch my mom, my sisters and me in the kitchen you might notice an odd habit we have. Since we are women and there is hardly a quiet moment when we are together we use signals to communicate with each other when we work together.

Our most common signal is the butt pat. It's more like a hip pat, really. In order not to interrupt the person talking we just pat each other on the butt/hip when we need someone to move.

It's a system that works well for us. The only time we have an awkward moment is when someone outside of the five of us works with us in the kitchen. Unless they've been inducted into the butt/hip patting ritual already. And so far everyone has seemed to understand this form of communication.

Everyone except my dad and my Hot Hubby.

For some reason unbeknown to God, man, and beast those two can't seem to get this down. Hot Hubby has only been exposed to this for a short time so he has a little excuse. My dad on the other hand has been dealing with this for almost 30 years! Well, really, my mom has been dealing with him on this issue for almost 30 years.

We have home videos from days long gone filled with bad hair, leggings under over-sized t-shirts, and multiple parties where my mom is trying to prepare something in the kitchen. As you watch my mom move my dad out of her way you can hear him ask, "Why are you pushing me?!?"

That's the question he stills asks. "Why are you pushing me?!?"

This is actually how I knew I was going to marry Nathan.

Let's go back to 2002-ish.

Nathan and I had known each other for a few years but had just recently started spending time together with a few other friends. I kind of had my eye on him but wasn't sure. I had no idea where he stood on our friendship/relationship.

I was at work. Hot Hubby, then Nathan, had stopped by to visit before heading to work himself. Since he used to go to the "homeschooling school" I worked for he felt he had alumni privileges and could hang out there whenever he wanted. Apparently. Not that I minded. (He's HOT!)

Anyways, I was making a ga-gillion copies of something in the copy room and he was in there talking with me. But he was forever in my way! Everywhere I needed to go, he was there. Though the woman in me appreciated the close quarters, the employee in me needed to get to work.

Since he didn't understand the arm tap (As much as I would have loved to, I decided that tapping his butt/hip would be slightly inappropriate. So I adjusted accordingly.) I kept having to move him out of my way. Finally he asked, "Why are you pushing me?!?"

My heart stopped for a brief second and I stood there staring at him, hoping my jaw wasn't really as close to the floor as it felt. I always knew I wanted to marry someone like my dad, but this was freaky! Once I regained control of my senses I explained the situation. (Not the marriage one. The "you're in my WAY!" one.)

It never stuck.

I am still asked by him multiple times a week, "Why are you pushing me?!?"

All this to say, as I've adjusted my daily schedule to his work schedule over the years and even more recently tried to be more purposeful of my day, there is always one uncertainty that I am certain will mess with my groove.

Hot Hubby standing in my way. Not in the sense that he won't allow me to do something.

He's physically IN.MY.WAY!

Take yesterday morning. I got up with the kids and was trying to get through our morning routine: get dressed, breakfast, help kids with chores, school...blah, blah, blah. As I'm trying to get breakfast on the table to feed the children who are about to burst the sound barrier asking for food I kept turning around right into Hot Hubby.

I need a bowl to mix eggs in. He's in front of that cupboard.

I need my frying pan. He's in front of that drawer.

I need the milk. He's in front of the fridge.

And he's happy as a lark and completely unaware that HE'S. IN. MY.WAY!

And he wants me to stop every time I run into him and give him a hug. He's so stinkin' cute that it's hard to be completely irritated with him. And he smells good.



Moving on!

Though I've talked to him about this many, many, many, MANY times, this morning I found the words that I think helped him: "Dude! You're messing with my groove!"



We'll see if that one takes!

A Year of Purpose

I hate writing New Years resolutions. Every January I feel pressure to write something down but I know Myself. And Myself will forget about the long list of to-do's within a week.

By the next December Myself will remember that there was a list of things that she was supposed to do but forgot about. Then the guilt and sack cloth and ashes will have to come out of the Goodwill pile that Myself had been meaning to donate all year long.

I don't want to do that to Myself. She has enough to deal with.

But, Myself has also been heard complaining this last year about life just seeming to take over. The words purpose and intentional have slipped from her mouth many a time through-out 2010.

There have been tears of frustration. Days of depression. Weeks of trying to catch-up and "find a more efficient way." Myself likes efficiency. A lot! She wishes her home resembled that of the one in Cheaper By The Dozen. The book. Not the crappy movie.

So Myself has decided to make a list of things she wants to be more purposeful about. Which is kind of the same as resolutions, but because it's a different word she has tricked herself into thinking it's something completely different.

So I plan to share that list with you in the next few weeks. I say weeks because Myself is so tired from all the being purposeful that at the end of the day blogging is the thing that has to wait on the shelf. But the laundry is being done and food is being put on the table. And the children are more calm and obedient because they have a mommy who is spending more time with them than with Lola, the pink computer.



That's not me, by the way. Just making sure you're awake. And wanting to show off my Hot Hubby...using a pink computer.

I love this picture!

I did let Myself make one resolution for this year. And she's not afraid to call it that!

I resolve to lose 20 pounds by mid May.

How do I plan to do this? By having a baby! Remember, Jackson is due at the end of April. I figure that gives me a few weeks to shed the normal 20 lb baby weight. I'll FINALLY meet a New Years resolution and I'll have a cute baby to boot!

I know. You think I'm a genius. I'm not. Well, not certified. I did go to college for two terms though!

What's for Dinner?

Right before Christmas I posted on Facebook that I made a Cajun chicken fettuccine dish for dinner. Instead of comments about the cream/carb combo and how bad it is for a person, I got requests for the recipe. My dear Aunt went as far as to suggest that I create a weekly menu and post it here for you all to use.

I wish that I was that organized!

Though I have been trying to do that for myself, posting my weekly menu here would mean posting all the recipes. I would love to do that too! But the time! I just don't have it right now. So I will post recipes when I can and hopefully you all can use one or two of them.

Tonight's recipe came from a different Facebook conversation.

A friend mentioned needing some crockpot recipes. I left her a link to a recipe I posted here about a year ago and she left this recipe for me:

Mexican Chicken

Place 8-10 frozen chicken tenders in the crockpot. Rinse a can of black beans and add to the crockpot. Add frozen corn or a can of corn drained. Pour a jar of your favorite salsa over the top and cook on low for 7 hours or high for 4 hours. 20-30 minutes before serving add a package of cream cheese and stir it in. Serve over rice!

How easy-peasy is that?!?

I made this tonight and it was fantastic. I actually got bored between 4:30 and 5. Usually I am running around trying to finish dinner so we can eat by 6 and I had nothing to do! Besides laundry, dishes, and more laundry.

Since I used rice we had left over from a meal a few days ago there was just enough for our dinner tonight. I took the rest of the Mexican Chicken, added a can of olives and made a make-shift enchilada topped with a can of El Pato tomato sauce, cheese and olives. That little left over gem is in the freezer for a quick meal next week!

There are so many variations or ingredients you could add to this. I almost added shredded zucchini but I wanted to try the recipe as it was written first. You could also add the cooked rice to the pot and serve it in tortillas or pour it over chips.

It was definitely easy and we will be making this again. Soon!

What was for dinner at your house?

Hair

It used to be a joke between the two of us.

I would find a long brown hair on his shoulder or tangled in his beard. In a shocked voice I would ask, "Who's hair is this and how did it get here?!?"

He would look at me with those eyes that say, "Woman, you're crazy. And I'm crazy about you!"

Then he would chased me around the house, wrap me in his arms and remind me how that hair got there.

Now I don't just find long brown hair. Sometimes it's brown and curly. Or short and blond.

I pick the hair out of his beard or off of his shoulder and ask in a surprised tone, "Who's hair is this and how did it get here?!?"

He looks up at me over two heads.

One full of unruly, brown curls.



The other covered in disheveled, short blond locks.




His eyes say, "Woman, you're crazy. And I am crazy about you!"

And he mentions that when he gets a free minute from those other two he'd like to chase me around the house, wrap me in his arms and remind me how they got here.

The Low-Fat Cell Phone

I'm sure you've all seen commercials like this one:




Seriously?!?

Because it's totally the phone's fault that we spend more of our time looking at it then talking with the people we are with?

Isn't that like saying it's all the food's fault that we get fat? It's definitely not the fact that we ate more than we should! So let's remove the fat/carbs/sugar from the food and that will fix it!

Sorry. I tend to be on the "it's more about self-discipline" side of these things.

And for those of you who don't know me, I'm not a Twiggy look-a-like who has never weighed over 120. I have to purpose every day to be disciplined when it comes to eating.

Can't we just be honest with ourselves and admit that we lack some serious self-control?

It's your phone/email/facebook. You don't have to answer it or check it. You can choose to ignore it for awhile.

Seriously!

Stepping off my soapbox now...

The Gift Dilemma

Last year for Christmas Hot Hubby gave me a gift card to Barnes & Noble (B&N) and one for Starbucks and sent me on a day out by myself to browse the books while sipping on my favorite latte. To me it's one of the best gifts he could give me. To him it's one of the gifts that I ask for that he understands the least.

You see, while I love to read and write, Hot Hubby despises it. It takes him a sweet forever to get through the first few chapters of a book and then he puts it down for a year or so and never picks it up again. I, on the other hand, can read a novel in one day if I'm allowed (meaning no one demanding my presence for their every whim and desire).

What Hot Hubby didn't plan for was me coming home armed with a book for both of us to read! I had heard about The Five Love Languages for years and after boycotting it for awhile I decided to give it a try.

I sat in B&N and flipped through the book, trying not to read too much so that I could read it with Hot Hubby and not feel the need to speed ahead. When I brought it home I could tell that he was beyond elated.

Or maybe he was the complete opposite. His response wasn't a surprise though. I knew it would take time to convince him to read through the book.

At first all I asked was that he take the test at the end of the book. Simple. Not too demanding. He agreed and we had a lot of fun giving each other the test.

We weren't shocked by the answers. Now we just had words for the differences in each other that we'd been trying to get used to.

His primary Love Language (LL) is physical touch. He scored 10 out of 12. No surprise. You don't get pregnant 5 times in 5 years being married to a man who doesn't like to touch you.

However, physical touch is my lowest LL. I scored 1 out of 12. That explains soooooo much!

Though my primary LL is the same as Hot Hubby's 2nd LL (Quality Time) it means something very different to both of us. He likes quality time with intense snuggling (I won't expound. I promise!). To me quality time involves eye contact and maybe a little hand holding. Talking, visiting, and just being together. Also my 2nd and 3rd LL's just happen to be Hot Hubby's two lowest. Words of Affirmation and Receiving Gifts.

Knowing this you'd think that we have a hard time getting along. Really we don't. We are the best of friends. We just tend to have the same disagreement over and over about what we need from each other.

Anyways, after taking the test and finding this out about each other, Hot Hubby had the idea that the best way to work through this was to convince me that his primary LL is the best of the five. He's spent the better part of the last year trying to convert me. He didn't want to read the book. He had it figured out.

It didn't work. Shocking!

Finally about mid October I decided I would just read through the book by myself and put to practice what I learned and see how it worked.

I also decided that I would take all of Hot Hubby's hunting magazines out of the bathroom and leave this book as the only reading option. Well, minus the Highlights magazine. It didn't take long for him to find out what I had done and he knew right away why I did it.

Every time I would notice him "loving me MY way", as I call it, I would ask if he'd been reading the book. Each time he would laugh at me and then then then tell me that he hadn't. I think he began to see that it was really important to me though.

About two weeks ago he thanked me for making lunch and breakfast. This may not seem like such a big deal except that Hot Hubby is NOT a words person. It's not unusual for someone to ask him a question and for him to just stand there and stare at them. He doesn't mean to be rude and he's not upset. He just doesn't have an answer so he doesn't. Believe me. I have tried so many times to help him understand that it is okay to just respond with an "I don't know" or a "Let me think about that."

He's working on it. Sloooowly, because that's how we roll. Apparently.

So when he thanked me for making breakfast and lunch it caught my attention. When I asked him about it a few days later he told me he had been reading THE BOOK. And he was on CHAPTER 4 already! The last few weeks I've been amazed by his gestures at loving me "my way."

So, for Christmas, knowing that gift buying is NOT on of his strong points, I gave him the list of gift ideas he had asked me for. In the last few years it has bugged me that he waits until the last few days before Christmas to go shopping for me. This year I knew to give him the space. At least he's trying, right?

He did a great job. He even tried to think outside of the list I gave him. I'd give the details but it's a little too TMI for my blog. :) I made me giggle though. He's so cute.

One of the things I asked for was a Fiestaware salt and pepper set. IN SUNFLOWER! I made it easier for him by emailing him a link to their website and showing him the exact set (in the exact color) when we were in Kohl's one day.

Chirstmas Eve morning when we opened our gifts with our kids I unwrapped a new light yellow Fiestaware salt and pepper set. I filled them up and have enjoyed using them every day since.

The other day when I was throwing boxes and paper into the fire place I happened to look at the box from the salt and pepper set and saw that the set is actually Ivory. Not sunflower! I went ahead and burned the box thinking that since I've already been using them I couldn't return them for the right color.

Also, I didn't want to tell Hot Hubby. He's trying so hard and I don't want to discourage him!

But now I'm wondering if I could have and still could take them back. I'm sure that Hot Hubby will understand.

What do I do?!? Have you ever been in this place before? What would/did you do?

(The Amazon link is for convenience. I make no money if you purchase the book.)