Slowing down

It's almost midnight and I should be in bed.

But about an hour ago, I realized that I still had a few assignments due by midnight for my online class. Ahhh! So I jumped out of my comfortable bed and rushed to the computer. The assignments weren't anything big. I had a portfolio I had to organize, polish and make sure it looked good, and that took the most time. Then I had to finish up a short "self-reflection" paper on how I've improved over this semester. Piece of cake.

And just like that, summer vacation has begun.

I've actually considered myself done with school since Monday afternoon when I handed in a final paper. And since Monday, I've just kind of been taking things slow. I've been slowly trying to get my house back in shape. You should have seen the pile of dirty dishes from over the weekend while I was stressing about finals. It had grown to epic proportions. I had a roommate once who didn't know how to use the dishwasher (true story, after months, she finally came and asked me to show her how to do the dishes!) but she liked to cook so the dishes were always this ginormous, almost comical pile of stinky filth in the sink. Yeah, my dirty dishes looked about as bad as that! 

But I am getting there. I cleaned most of my room today. I have a bad habit of putting things on the floor on my side of the bed. There were empty water glasses, books, clothes, chapstick, lotions, shoes, you name it, it was there. Now I can walk without fear of tripping!

I also got the guest bedroom cleaned up for my brother-in-law, who is moving in with us for a month tomorrow. And my laundry that's been piling and piling up these last 2 weeks is finally being washed. Bryant's been a good sport and has been helping out a ton. I feel bad because they have been so busy at his work, and he's been working about 10 hour days, then he comes home exhausted, but still helps me out and plays with Savannah, and 90% of the time, I put him in charge of dinner, getting her jammies on, bedtime books and bedtime cuddles. Then, because I toss and turn and wake up about a million times during the night, so does he, so he's on just as little sleep as I am! He's such a champ!

I've also been just taking my days slow. Because I don't have class to motivate me to get up and going, Savannah and I spend most of the mornings snuggled in my bed watching cartoons. I know I sound lazy, but it's so nice, so I don't mind if anyone thinks that.

Now that I'm not scrambling to get assignments done and turned in nearly every night, I feel like I can slow down my evenings with Bryant too. We get to sit on the couch and catch up on our shows, we lay in bed listening to audio books before we drift off to sleep, we get more family time with Savannah before her bedtime. It's perfect. Tonight, the 3 of us sat on the porch for a while, snuggled up together in a blanket covering our bare feet, and talked with Savannah about trees and bark and dirt and flowers and the mountains. I want every night this summer to be like tonight.

A few days ago, my sister graciously offered to babysit for us and we went out to dinner. We go out to eat a lot, but we always have Savannah with us. It was nice going out just the 2 of us. I didn't have to order what I thought Savannah would eat, I was able to order what I wanted to eat. And I left my phone at home, and Bryant didn't touch his the whole time. No toddler climbing all over me, no checking sports scores or e-mails or text messages on our phones, no trying to keep the mess to a minimum (have you ever watched a toddler eat rice? It's ridiculous...) 

We just slowed down.

And we talked.

We didn't talk about money, or work, or school, or bills, or what is stressing us out or making us worried. We talked about books, about our kids, about our goals, about religion, about history, about how much we love each other. About how we want to be together forever and ever. 

We didn't even mind when our food took a half hour to show up, or the fact that we were freezing because we were next to the door. In fact, we were having such a good time, we sat and talked for 20 more minutes after we finished our food and paid the check. We held hands on the drive home. We sat in the car in the driveway for 10 minutes talking about books again. We put Savannah to bed and cuddled on the couch and watched the history channel for a bit. We just slowed down and remembered how nice it is to have "us time" once in a while. It's so important to a relationship. It really is.

Getting Ready

It's finally hit. That "nesting" bug has finally bitten me I think.

When I was pregnant with Savannah, I was nesting months before she was even due. I remember making Bryant set up the crib like 3 months before her due-date, and he was not happy about it. He kept saying "We have plenty of time! It doesn't make sense to set it all up now." (he reminds me of Spock, always the one to do the most logical thing...) But he just didn't understand. I needed her room completely ready! I had all her clothes washed, organized by size, and put away in her drawers weeks and weeks before she arrived. Looking back now, I find this all so silly. Savy didn't even sleep in her crib until she was 6 months old! 

This time around was different. I already felt pretty prepared. I have a car seat for him, I have a bassinet (well, and pack-n-play) ready and waiting, I have a baby bathtub, a baby swing, all of that. And the things I don't have, I wasn't really feeling pressed to get right away.

We have decided to move Savannah into the larger room eventually, but that room is currently a storage/playroom. It used to be my brother's and he had decorated it like a lodge, so it's painted brown and has barbed-wire around the walls, posters of deer and horses, some sheds, and duck feathers still in there. And our plan is to re-paint it all a nice peachy color, mostly to brighten it up because the brown is so dark and the room doesn't get a lot of light. And then we are going to paint her old room, which is currently a pink-purple color more of a gray-blue color (this room gets tons of light, so I'm ok doing it a little darker) with white trim for our baby boy. Bryant keeps asking if I want to get both these rooms done before the baby comes, but I just don't want to have to take on a huge project during these last 6 weeks of pregnancy. Whereas if this was my last pregnancy, I would be frantically trying to get these two rooms done and ready, I know now that it's not a priority. I know that the baby will be in our room for at least a couple of months, and Bryant's brother is coming to live with us for a little over a month, and he will be staying in that spare room, and I don't want to make him deal with us trying to move Savannah in there, and a big old mess right away. 

I'm ok with waiting to re-do these rooms after the baby comes. 

But still, there were a few things I realized I needed and was starting to feel that panicky I-have-to-get-this-done-right-now feeling I get with nesting. Mostly I needed clothes for this little boy. I had a couple of outfits for him, but not enough to get us through the first week. I kept telling Bryant I needed to go clothes shopping and once again, he'd say "we have plenty of time, we don't need to do it right now". He just doesn't understand...

But then, a couple of weeks ago, I was at the park with Savannah and got talking to another mom. She said her water broke with her 2nd baby 8 weeks early. I started to panic again. What if my water broke early, and I didn't have any clothes for this kid?

So I told Bryant again that I really needed to go shopping. He told me we should wait a few more weeks, or that I should have a baby shower (I didn't like this idea, since I already have all the major stuff for a baby. I didn't want to make people feel obligated to bring a present)

I decided I wasn't going to wait. On my way home from school one day, I stopped at babies-r-us and bought a few outfits. Enough to at least get us through the first week. 

But then Bryant totally surprised me. He came home from work that same night and said "don't get mad, but I just spent a ton of money". Thinking he had bought some video game or something, I just said "well, on what?" and he pulled a big bag from behind his back. It was completely full of baby clothes! He even bought Savannah a new dress! I was honestly so surprised! 

That boy is such a sweetheart.

 

So now I feel so much more prepared! The only things I think I need for this baby now are some receiving blankets, and we will be set. Oh, and I need to pull out the car seat, the baby bath, and the baby swing from the basement and get them all cleaned up. And I have begun making a list of stuff to pack for the hospital, and a "sleep-over" bag for Savannah (oh, hey mom and dad, I forgot to ask, but is it ok if Savannah sleeps over at your guy's place while we are in the hospital??)

We do need a double stroller, but where I won't be leaving the house with 2 kids for a few weeks after he is born, I can order one when he gets here. We also need a new crib for him because the one we are using is falling apart. Not to mention its a drop-side which makes me nervous. But, like I said, he will be with Bryant and I for the first few months anyways. 

The only thing that's still really stressing me out, is trying to get insurance for the baby. I'm still on my parent's insurance, and I can't add him onto it, and Bryant's work doesn't offer health insurance. The program we are trying to go through is giving us the run-around and making it really difficult. They keep adding more and more things we need to send in. Most of it is information we have already given them, but they want it again. But, I have confidence that we will get it sorted out. 

As for the cleaning part of nesting? That's coming along. Every now and then, I get the sudden urge to clean, but it doesn't last long. Like this afternoon, Bryant got off work and I asked him to keep Savannah entertained while I got some serious cleaning around the house done. I got both of the bathrooms completely clean and I kept thinking "after I'm done with the bathrooms, I'm going to do the dishes, mop my floors, and clean up my bedroom."

Yeah... didn't happen. 

Once I finished scrubbing the bathtubs, I went and sat on the couch and made Bryant go unload the dishwasher, and then I had absolutely no desire to do anything except watch some TV.

Maybe tomorrow I'll get around to it all. Maybe...

Anyways, we are just about 6 weeks away from meeting this little munchkin. In 2 weeks, I'll start my once a week appointments! Ahhh! I am almost done with school, and that will be a HUGE relief! Today was my last official day of class, and then I have 2 assignments due Sunday, A final paper due Monday, and then 3 more assignments due Thursday. Then I just get to enjoy my Brother's wedding, my anniversary, and then baby boy will be here! Also, we are planning on blessing the baby in Mt. Shasta over the 4th of July like we did with Savannah, I can't wait! 

So that's:

Finals

Wedding

Anniversary

Baby

Vacation/Blessing

all in the next 2 1/2 months. I can't wait!!!

(My favorite boy, my favorite girl, and my favorite mountain, July 4th, 2011)

Long Day

It's been a long, stressful day.

It started off with a voicemail from the insurance we are trying to get for Savy and baby #2. Apparently, they gave me some misinformation, which I have to correct by Wednesday. Thanks insurance guys. So I spent a good hour trying to get a hold of the person who called me. On the voicemail, she said I could call her back at the number she called me on to talk to her personally. When I did, I got a message stating that it was an inactive number. So then I tried another number that was listed on their website, which directed me to another number, then another, then another. When I finally got a hold of someone (not the same person who called me. She didn't even leave me her name) she was very snippy and rude.

We haven't solved the problem completely yet, but I'm trying to stay positive that it will work out. First thing in the morning, I'm going to be on the phone a lot again I think.

Then I had to pay a bunch of bills, that's always no fun. But they are done and over with. I even finally paid back my physical therapist from back in December! I bet they were pretty happy about that. 

Then I was on the phone with customer service from the company who makes the play kitchen I bought Savannah for her birthday. It's missing the fridge, and when I contacted Wal Mart, they were going to have me return the whole thing, get my money refunded, then I'd have to come home and re-order it and wait up to 2-4 weeks. Thankfully, the company was perfectly fine sending me the part, free of charge in 3-5 business days.

Do you guys want to hear something weird? I get really bad anxiety when I have to call people I don't know. I'm fine if they call me, but if I have to call them, I panic. I have to mentally gear myself up to call someone. When I worked customer service at Barnes and Noble, I DREADED when I would have to call customers to let them know their books were in. I don't know why, but calling people I don't know really stresses me out. So you can imagine that my morning was pretty exhausting for me.

Then I was playing phone-tag with Bryant all afternoon, (don't worry, I have absolutely no problem calling people if I know them!) who was going to go in and buy our new fridge on his break at work. But he was so busy, and I was on the phone and dealing with a toddler that we kept missing each others calls, so that was a little stressful.

But I'm happy to say we will finally have a new fridge tomorrow! Yay! (Goodbye tax return...)

Then came school. It's nearly the end of the semester and I'm finding it hard to muster up the desire to do homework. In fact, I was writing my reading summary for class during class today. But, I keep telling myself that I do my best work under pressure. It's why I'm such a procrastinator...

When Bryant got home from work, I did not feel like going to the grocery store or cooking dinner, so he ordered a pizza. Then I decided that part of my stress was probably coming from having such a ridiculously messy house. So Bryant offered to clean the living room, and I completely scrubbed the kitchen top to bottom. Savannah even came and got a rag and wiped down her play kitchen and "washed" her dishes. It's so nice to have clean rooms. Even though the bedrooms are still a complete wreck, at least the areas we spend most of our family time together in are spotless! It feels so nice and so much less stressful! It really does make a difference in my mood. I just need this nesting bug to bite so I will actually want to clean Savannah's room. It's kind of ridiculous. Books and clothes and toys are EVERYWHERE! I don't even know how it all fits in there honestly, I half expect to open the door and have everything come tumbling out. Maybe that will be a project for tomorrow. Maybe...

But tomorrow is going to be better than today. I can feel it. I'll get the insurance sorted out, I'll have a brand-new fridge, all my bills are paid off, (parts) of my house are clean, and Bryant has the day off!

Yup, tomorrow is going to be awesome!

Baby Update

I'm officially 32 weeks today. Which means I have around 8 weeks left in this pregnancy!

I'm officially down to 2 week appointments, and after the next one, I'll be down to 1 week appointments. That seems completely crazy to me! Where did the time go?!

The doctor said everything is looking great. The baby has a great heartbeat, good movement, and I'm measuring right at 32 weeks (Thank heavens! I was starting to think I looked like I was 40+ weeks!) The only issue I have is my iron levels are low and I'm once again anemic (surprise, surprise...) so I'm now on iron pills again. I've definitely noticed an increase in my energy level, I'm now just tired instead of utterly exhausted, but they are really harsh on my stomach, so that hasn't been fun. But, it's better than having a low blood count. 

The doctor told me that with how well this pregnancy is going, that I was welcome to schedule an induction up to a week before my due date. I told him to ask me how comfortable I was by then. But I've decided to let this kid come when he wants too. I think it will be better for the both of us. When the doctor asked how far along I was with Savannah, and I told him she came a week early, he said "Really? Wow, most 1st time moms go over their due date, we rarely see them go early. I wouldn't be surprised if this baby comes early too."

So, yeah, everything is going perfectly so far! (knock on wood...)

I'm getting really uncomfortable, especially in my hips and back. I'm really going to have to strengthen my back muscles before my next pregnancy. I also get winded and short of breath really easily. I was sitting in class the other day, not even moving, when I suddenly felt like I had walked up a huge flight of stairs. I was huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf, and I'm sure everyone in my class thought I was having some type of attack. As a matter of fact, as I'm sitting here at the computer, I'm getting short of breath again and starting to feel dizzy. Time to go lay down!

I can't believe that this baby is coming so soon! And I have a lot on my plate to keep me busy until then. I have finals coming up in a couple of weeks, my brother's wedding at the beginning of next month, my anniversary, and then poof! Baby will be here!

I guess we really need to find a name for him huh?

Happy Easter!

We had a really great Easter this year!

It was especially fun because Savannah is finally old enough to look for eggs!

The week before Easter, her toddler exercise class had an egg hunt at the park. This was her first egg hunt, so I didn't know how she would do, but she did a great job! They set it up so that one section of the park had toys that were on a list, like bubbles, a mini frisbee, a toothbrush, etc. And the other part of the park had the eggs. Everyone was asked to bring 12 filled and taped eggs the week before, and so everyone got to find 12 eggs.

Afterwords, they provided egg salad sandwiches for lunch. I don't eat eggs, so I rarely make them. Usually I'll scramble one up for Bryant on a Sunday morning, but he's not a breakfast person so even that is pretty rare. Because we don't really have eggs, I didn't think Savannah would like the sandwich, but she loved it!

I was glad she had a lot of fun!

On Easter Sunday, I was pretty lazy and didn't even get her basket out until she was already awake. We went easy on the presents because she just had a birthday, so it was just a couple of outfits, new crayons, and lots of candy. She wasn't that interested in anything but the candy.

We then decided to color the eggs I had boiled the night before. Can you believe that I had only attempted to boil an egg ONCE in my entire life before Sunday? And it ended up in disaster. But this time, I did some research and they came out perfectly! At least, they looked perfect, I didn't eat them so I don't know how they tasted. Thank you Alton Brown and Julia Child!

After all that, we got ready and headed to church, where we were able to get through all 3 hours! That's pretty rare these days between me getting really uncomfortable from sitting that long, and the fact that church is smack dab in the middle of Savannah's nap time. But we did it!

After church, Savannah and Bryant took a nap, and when they woke up, we headed to my parents house for some Moose steaks.

My little sister set out some eggs for Savannah to find around the house and on the deck. She loved it!

Our whole Easter was perfect!

My new favorite photos of these two together! (I've had her Easter dress since she was about 3 months old!)

I hope everyone had just as great an Easter Sunday as we did!

Party!

It still feels weird to think that my little girl is 2 years old! 

We decided to celebrate her birthday the day before, because it was a Sunday night and it was easier to get family together. I thought about throwing her a big party with friends, but then I decided that it would have been crazy trying to keep a bunch of 2 year olds entertained. So we kept it small with just my family and my grandparents.

We had the party at my parent's house, where my mom went all out and decorated the living room. I bought some balloons the night before and took them over there, because Savannah loves balloons and I wanted them to be a surprise (we even have a few still kickin' a week and a half later, and she loves to carry them around the house.)

She loved all of the decorations and especially all of the attention she was getting from everyone! 

We did a dinner, where my mom cooked some elk and moose roasts, and then I provided the cake and ice cream for dessert.

 I tried to ombre the cake... it didn't really work...

She loved all of her presents! She got a play cupcake set, a Tinkerbell doll and matching outfit, some clothes, a bike helmet, cute minnie mouse bows, some wooden butterfly magnets with paint to paint them, a penny bank, and some markers and a coloring book.

She also received some really wonderful gifts in the mail from family and friends! Her great grandma sent her some money, her aunt Sandy sent her a dress, a hello kitty toy, and a lei, and her grandma and grandpa Stokes sent her some play food, some squeaky BYU shoes, and an outfit.

I really feel like I'm missing someone or something, and I really apologize! I don't sleep much these days and finals are coming up so I basically can't think that well anymore. Let me know if you sent her something and I'm forgetting, because I really appreciate it!!!

Her Grandma and Grandpa Stokes also sent her a toddler bed! We haven't set it up yet because I haven't had time to buy sheets for it, and I don't have her new room ready yet. But I think we will try to set it up this weekend. She is really going to love it!

And Bryant and I ordered her a play kitchen with an apron and chefs hat. Unfortunately, when I started to set up the kitchen, it was missing the fridge, which is a huge part of the set. So It's all packed back up in the box, and when I called wal mart, they said I could return it, but I then have to re-order a new one myself. And no, they wouldn't give me free shipping to my home, or even free express shipping to the store. I'm a little mad about it, but I guess I can deal with it. It could be worse, they could just tell me "tough luck" and I'd have a kitchen with no fridge.

Anyways, Savannah had a wonderful party!

On her actual birthday, Monday, Bryant had to work most of the day and I had school. But that evening, we took her out for some pizza at our favorite little pizza shop, Brick Pizza (not to be confused with Brick Oven, which is also yummy.)

 

 (Savy trying to tickle her daddy with her Tinkerbell. Or as she calls her "pinkerbelle")

Then we came home and watched Wreck-It Ralph. She's kind of obsessed with that movie at the moment.

Thank you again to everyone who sent Savannah a message, called her, sent her a card, or sent her a gift. It really means a lot to me as her Mom to know that so many people in this world love her just as much as I do! I hope she will always know that throughout her life!