Charity Raffle

Recently an internet friend of mine passed away after a battle with cancer. She left behind a husband and two children. There is a raffle at this site with some really great items and all the proceeds go to this wonderful mother's family. Please check it out. All raffles are only a $1.

T

new year

Anyway I'm feeling a little gittery today. Could it be because I've had so much sugar (pumpkin pie, birthday cake, 1/2 coke, power bar, 1/2 bagel)? I'm making a cup of herbal tea right now to try to counter the effects. I'm sure it isn't good for Clark either. I'm trying to get used to the fact that as a bfing mother everything I eat effects him.


This leads to my new years resolution. I've been thinking about it a lot. I have lots I want to accomplish but the big thing is my diet. Lately it's gone to pot. Definitely too much sugar but also too many processed foods and I shamfully skip meals and get so hungry I snack on junk all day. It is harder with an infant and a toddler but most of it is just laziness. So #1 goal is to slowly refine my diet and that of my family (I might be nuts on that one).


#2 is organization (I know it's cliche). I've been in a real declutter mode lately. These sugar jitters help with that at least, keeping me cleaning and organizing. Since December is a big gift month for us I went through the toy box yesterday and made three piles. There were the keepers, the trash, and the stuff to donate. Now when I add all the stuff that is still under the tree it won't be so bad. Still I plan to slowly get rid of more and more throughout the year. there is just no need for kids to have as much as we do and so much of it is noisy plastic junk. Curtis has more fun with acorns and play dough than most other things (yes the play dough stuff was the best gift this year for sure).


So now that I've laid it all out there, time to get to it. The cleaning and orgnaizing will be easy compared to the diet stuff. I'm just terrible with food self-control until now, but that will change slowly and gradually over the next year, I am confident!


Clark really smiles at me now. Every once and a while I decide to give him a little sponge bath. I put him on the bathroom counter on this spongy bath pad thing and wipe him down with clear water and shampoo him with special baby shampoo. Today when I did it he looked into the mirror and saw my reflection and smiled so big at me. I stood there smiling back at him for several minutes of heaven!


Wednesday in the Target a woman stopped me and said, Your boys are beautiful!" I was beaming. Life is so good. Both boys are napping now and I'm off to my tea to calm down some.


Tara

3rd b'day

2 weeks ago Curtis had a great b'day party at CEC.

Today we exchanged gifts with my DH's side of the family. I made most of the gifts yet forgot to take pics for the blog. Bummer. Just trust me there were some great handmade gifts and next year I'll try to document better since I won't be preg or with a newborn during the holiday.

T

Santa 2007

MIA

Just a tase of things this holiday for us. I've not been much into blogging lately but I'm sure I'll be back here regularly eventually.

Tara

What we've been up to

Clark enjoyed his first Thanksgiving.

Curtis loves his baby brother.

Not much sleep lately so I haven't been posting here as I try to nap when I can. Clark is great and Curtis is doing fine too. We're excited about Curtis' 3rd b'day this friday!

Tara

Brothers

Clark Daniel

I didn't realize I had less than 12 hours to go when I asked Curt to take this pic.

Clark is less than a day old here.

Our family just hours after birth.

Tara

Clark Daniel

was born 11/11/07 at 3:13am

7lbs 4 oz after less than 4 hours of labor

he's super cute and looks like his big brother only he has dark hair

pictures coming soon

update

Halloween was great. Here are some pics to highlight our family fun.





No I'm not in labor yet. I am now 3 cm dialated and he is fully engaged. I've had some bloody show since yesterday but no contractions. It could be tomorrow or it could be in two weeks.

Tara

2 cm

At my MW appointment today I found out I'm 2 cm dialated already. We both know this doesn't mean much since you can stay this way for weeks but it does give me hope that I won't go over like I did with Curtis. At this point in that pregnancy I was still shut tight.

We need to get my car vacuumed and my infant seat installed this weekend. Also I'd like to get the sports stuff off the baby's room walls and find some more fish themed stuff to put up. Otherwise I feel pretty prepared. I have a box of newborn diapers, a bassinet next to my bed already, and two boobs ready to give milk. Maybe we'll think about packing the hospital bag this weekend too.

I still think I have a few weeks but better safe than sorry right? It's such an exciting and magical time!

Friends

We have visitors this weekend. Curt's best friend from college is down from NC visiting with his 4 year old daughter. Yesterday the four of them went to Seaworld and Curtis and Lauren had their faces painted. I stayed home since I'm big and uncomfortable and had a nice relaxing day watching my favorite cooking shows. Apparently Seaworld was doing a Halloween every weekend this month and the kids got to have their faces painted and got to go trick-or-treating at several stations throughout the park. Curtis had his face painted like a monster and had lots of fun growling at me when he got home.

T

Less than 4 weeks to go!

Traffic and such

Well, I've been a little mia here lately. No real reason just having trouble getting comfy at my computer desk. I can't wait until we get a laptop. That is supposed to be our Christmas gift to each other if all goes as planned. This computer is probably 7-8 years old and have very little storage and runs so SLOW.

I thought we had our first day of fall today since it was so cool this morning but it has definitely warmed up now. I think it's mid 80's now even though it was in the 60's this morning. Maybe it'll cool off faster this evening. We're having pot pies tonight for dinner which is kind of a fall dinner. It's Curt's favorite brand and they were 50% off. Lately I keep my eyes peeled for easy to make and clean up after dinners for obvious reasons. By dinner time I am a bunch of braxton hicks contractions and washing dishes is near impossible.

Curt and I are actually daydreaming about moving to a sleepy little town in the mts of NC. He's hating his job lately and I got stuck in two weird traffic situations today which got me thinking about how frustrating Central Florida traffic is. I think we'd be so much happier if he had a different job and we didn't live in such a trafficy (is that a word) area. His friend Ryan from NC is coming down next weekend and he has been discussing an opportunity with Curt for a job with him up there. I guess we'll see what he has to say...and of course we couldn't really move until the baby was a little older...but the daydreaming is nice.

They had all of sand lake road closed with cops and school buses everywhere when I went by today. That's the road the high school is on and I went by around the time school gets out and was diverted around a different way by a cop. I'm really hoping it's not anything bad. My neighbor, who has a son in the middle school, told me they have gangs there and some other stuff and these are also things that make me want to get out of this area. Orlando seems to be going down hill fast with gang and random crime.

Ok, well, enough negative stuff. I had the morning off since Curtis was in preschool and I cleaned all of our floors so now while he naps I can rest up.

Tara

Beading

I made this necklace a week or two ago as a gift for a friend. I was pretty pleased with the way it turned out. You can see the picture from my pattern-a-day calendar that was the inspiration. I found it funny that it was actually difficult to do a random pattern. I am so used to making everything into a pattern that I had to try hard to stay random and found it almost a struggle. It is funny how so much of our lives is patterned and how much of a refreshing struggle it can be to embrace true randomness.

I have reached a point of boredom lately due to the fact that I have some physical limitations, what with being all big and pregnant now. I go from feeling so magical and appreciative of my baby growing inside of me to feeling so frustrated with the limitations on my physicality right now. The wonderful thing is knowing that it is all temporary and I will be jumping and running again soon, but this also makes me a touch sad since that will mean that my time of pregnancy will be over and I will most likely never experience this again. Life is full of duality and I guess the key is to focus on the positive as much as you can. So in that light, I am very happy to be nuturing this baby inside of me and I feel very blessed to have had this magical experience twice now in my life.

Tara

September Vacation

Here I am, belly and all, in a bathing suit at the B&B. I'm the same size I was when I gave birth to Curtis yet I have 7 weeks to go!
Here we are on the dock on the back of the B&B. Dig my belly button! Can you believe we've been married 5 years now!?!?
This is our little sitting area outside the room.
This is the pool area right on the bay at the back of the B&B. We never swam in the pool but we did swim in the Gulf twice.

So there's a little recap in pics. We had lots of fun and got to see dolphins in the gulf right in front of us jumping and everything, and we also saw sting rays along the edge of the water a few times. We ate tons of seafood and stayed in bed until 9am when breakfast was served each morning. We found two cool gem stone shops and I had so much fun looking at all the gem stones and bought a couple to bring home for me and some for Curtis too. All in all it was fun but I don't think the hormones of a very preg woman are made to be separated from her son for long. I missed Curtis sooooo much.

September has been a rough month for us and it's going out with a bang. Curtis has Bronchiolitis. He was just getting sick the day we got home. He finally slept through last night and seems a touch improved today so I'm a little less on edge now. I'm really looking forward to October as a sort of new begining or fresh start. The weather here has changed a touch for Florida. We have cooler breezes and it's not killer hot...just plain regular hot. In the morning and in the evening it is down right pleasant outside. I'm daydreaming of pumpkin pie and crisp apples and cool evenings on the porch which require long sleeves.

Tara

Catching up

I have a lot to catch up on and I'll do a little now if I can. I had a great visit with my Mom and she's now safe back in her home so I can post about some things I didn't have time to post about before she came.


As promised here are the before and after pics of Curtis' big boy room. This used to be our guest/craft/office room. I've had some trouble finding places for all of the stuff we had in there and my closet is now filled with not only clothes but a filing cabinet and office supplies. You can see Fani the cat lounging in the before pic and Sebastian the dog with Curtis in the after pics. We've changed the curtain since this pics was taken since my Mom made one for the room but otherwise it's pretty much the same. The desk was made by Curtis' Paw Paw (Curt's step-Dad).


















Secondly, we went to Seaworld a few weekends ago. It was HOT! By the time we left I was having Braxton Hicks contractions and my feet hurt so much. Curt put Curtis on every kiddie ride and some seemed scary but Curtis loved them. He's already a thrill seeker. Must take after his dad.























Well, Curtis is up from nap so that's all I have time for now. More later.

Tara

First Day of Preschool

Here he is on his first official day of preschool. The preschool assigns each kid a special tote bag with a shape and color on it to match the cubby they get there. It wasn't really the first experience since it's a coop and I was the helper Mom on the first day. So Tomorrow will be his first day w/o me being there. I'm a little nervous but I know he'll have fun. The teacher is great and he seemed to really enjoy it there, and I think I'll enjoy having a little time two days a week to do errands or just rest.

Tara

Lists

I've been making lists today. I'm going to share here in case anyone wants to know. If not, then don't read them ;)

To buy:

• infant socks
• car seat
• baby book
• long sleeve shirts in 0-3 and 3-6
• pants in 0-3 and 3-6

To do:

• find bassinett in attic
• make more freezer meals
• make merge file of addresses for baby announcment
• pack hospital bag
• arrange for Curtis' b'day party at CEC
• find bouncy seat
• finish decorating nursery - stuff on walls, curtains, crib skirt
• finish all Christmas gifts - 1 toddler poncho, gift cards, stuff for Curtis

My Mom is coming to visit in 2 weeks. Maybe she'll be able to help me get motivated to tackle these last items. I'm feeling prepared but I guess nesting is starting a little because I just feel like more needs to be done...and NOW.

Tara

Last night

Wednesday was his last night in the crib....we took this pic to remember it by.

Before and after pics of the new big boy room to come.

Change

Curtis loves "match cars" as he calls them and his favorite thing is to "build a line" with them.

For the first time ever today Curtis wore underwear w/o peeing in them. Usually w/in mins of putting them on he has an accident. He's fine using the potty if he's naked but we've been having trouble transitioning to undies and I can't really take him out of the house naked. I'm hoping this is another step towards him being diaper free sooner than later.

Also his new bedroom with big boy bed is almost ready. The plan is to have him in there starting tomorrow night. He seems excited by it and the room really is turning out nice. I'll post before and after pics when we're completely done with it. This is another exciting step in his growing up.

So, on a completely other note, it looks like I'm having a hospital birth this time too. Some of you may know that I'd been contemplating a birth center birth, but as it turns out my insurance will not cover this and I'm not willing to shell out a couple thousand for it. Honestly I was on the fence about this to begin with so it is a little nice to have the decision made for me.

But.....I'm still a little disappointed. There are many pros to a birth center birth, the main one being that it is not a hospital. I am, as I did last time, aiming for no drugs during this birth and I believe that would be easier if none were available to me. Instead Curt has asked that I make a little list of the things I'd like to do differently this time and he'll try to help steer me in those directions, should the case come. Honestly I'd love to either arrive at the hospital ready to push and/or "accidentally" not make it and have an "accidental" home birth. I pretty sure Curt won't let the later happen though, so we've discussed and decided to labor at home as long as possible before hitting the road.

My MIL will be watching Curtis while I labor and birth and maybe even keep him overnight depending on the time frame. I'd really like for him to not be near me while I labor. I know some people like including their children but I can't even imagine talking to him at all while in labor. Hopefully she'll come and take him away when we ask because I really don't want to labor with her nearby at all either. So he's pretty much taken care of and the plan is set and now I feel good/excited/scared.

Tara

Happy Cake

This is a happy cake. I made it on Wednesday after I found out I had passed my 1 hour GTT. The relief this brought is unexplainable. I'm no longer high risk, I don't have to take the 3 hour fasting test, I don't have to see a perinatologist, I won't be pressured into induction if I go "overdue".....all of this plus the wonderful feeling that I've passed and I'm a success. So I made a cake and had a few slices this week and then gave the rest away. I mean I'm not going to go crazy here or anything but I did feel it was a scenerio which called for celebration.

On top of that I've won two drawings recently from that birth fair I went to 3 weeks ago. I won a photo session and cd with 15-25 shots on it from a local photographer and I won a $40 nursing bra and fitting from the hospital lactation consultant. Pretty cool.

Since getting deeper into the book Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline I've been notice a change in my difficulties with Curtis. He's still a volitile toddler, but I've learned to be less passive and more assertive with him and people in general. He's super cute and loving most of the time and I'm just going to focus on that more that the small amount of time we have difficulties.

So that's my update for now. Notice when things are going well I have less to say...

T

Check out my (frustrated) booty

Here's a shot of the booties I've made. Turns out I made three pairs. I was only planning to make one but the first booty was knit much looser than the second and they didn't match. So I knit one more loosley and one more tighter to make two matching pairs. Then I went to my MW appointment with nothing to do in the waiting room and ended up starting a third pair. I'm sure I'll find someone to give them to. I am still considering changing the tie/bow to a different color yarn to highlight the way it weaves in and out of the eylets. I'm sure you can't see this detail on this pic especially with them being the same color.

Today's been a day of frustrations and it's only 3pm. First the plumbers who owe us almost $600 and promised to mail a check 3 + weeks ago have still yet to get the check to us. They claim to have mailed two out but we've never recieved them even though we recieved the bill w/in 3 days of them mailing it out. I hated to do it but I confronted them AGAIN on the phone and demanded they bring one to me ASAP. I have been promised they will deliver it here tomorrow to my home but I'm not going to hold my breath. The next step will be to threaten them with a lawyer. I just want to be done with this and will never ever refer anyone to The Plumbing Service Co. of Orlando, FL.

Then I became more upset about this poor puppy these neighbors of mine have. They are behind us catty corner and got this puppy maybe 2-3 weeks ago only to leave it chained in the backyard all day in crazy August Florida heat. Poor Curtis has his bedroom right there and has had to listen to puppy cries during his nap everyday. Finally today I couldn't stand it anymore (it's the hottest day yet). I planned to go knock and ask them to please do something but then got scared (me all preggo and alone while Curtis is up the street in bed alone) so I just got the address and called animal control. I hate doing it but the poor puppy needs someone to stand up for him. Why the heck did they even get the puppy in the first place if they're going to leave it week after week outside all day?

Then these little girls (8-12 y.o.) who live in our neighborhood decide to ring the doorbell at 2:30 to see if they can play with my 2 y.o. son. He wakes up from 1 hour of nap when the dog freaks out (see my dog is inside since it's a billion degrees out) and I have to try to get him back down. Luckily he seems to have gone back down, but I can see I'll have to start putting a sign on my door again when he napping. I had to do it for a long time before and I thought they all had realized but I guess not. They come over to "play with Curtis" and end up ignoring him and playing with all his toys and trashing either his playroom or his yard depending on whether I let them inside or not. I feel badly because Curtis loves them being around but I can only stand so much from a group of 2-6 pre-teen girls before I need them to go be parented by their own parents. I had once had high hopes of a 'mommy's helper' or babysitter coming out of this group but unfortunately none of them are really mature enough for that yet (if ever).

So that's my crazy hormonal pregnant frustrated rant. Now I'd like society to leave me alone for the rest of the day thank you.

T

Look who we met

Curious George did a story time at the book store today. It was ok, but Curtis isn't really fond of sitting in a large crowd for a story. It ended badly with a huge tantrum and a 5-6 month preggo me trying to drag my 2.5 year old through the parking lot. I'm actually sore now and prayed the whole way home for God to show me how to deal with this behavior because I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by this new stage.

Anyway, we did get a couple cute pics out of it :o/

T

My Poncho

So I fininshed this a while ago but didn't get a picture until recently. Originally I had planned on a Spring baby which would have made me pregnant through the winter, not the summer like I am. I started this a long time ago with that plan thinking it would be good when I was big and preggo in Jan and Feb. Well, it took longer than planned to get preg and I set this aside half finished. I picked it up a few months ago and finished it. I have no idea if it will be cool enough in Oct or Nov to need this but I figure if I never wear it I can always gift it to someone who could use it. It is from a pattern in last years Crochet Pattern a Day calendar.

T

Better Look

Here's a better look at my henna belly.

Henna Belly

Yesterday I found out that one of the midwives I'm interested in talking too was going to be at a baby fair in downtown Orlando. So I drove out in the torrential rain after Curtis was napping and checked out the fair. Unfortunately I only got to talk to the MW assistant since she was off catching a baby, but one cool thing was that a doula was there advertising her services and giving free henna belly tattoos. I decided WTH, and got one. It's not a great pic but you can get an idea of what it looks like (and how big I'm getting). After all I've learned about how a message or blessing affects the food and drink we eat I decided to get a message of love with some heart shaped vines to send some love to my boy inutero. I think it turned out pretty cool and it is supposed to last 2-3 weeks. I probably never would have paid for it but since it was free and I was in the right place at the right time it was a fun thing.

T

toddler poncho

I finished this knit toddler poncho the other day. It will be a Christmas gift for a neice. I am desperatley trying to make all of our Christmas gifts before Oct 1st so I don't have to worry about them once I'm 8+ months preg. This ponch was easy. I added a small button and didn't seam it up all the way in the front so it can go over heads easier but otherwise it's just two rectangles, CO 30 stitches and knit for 16 inches each. It's a nice soft slightly varigated purple yarn.

I've finished my own poncho in crochet for this Fall/Winter but I never took a pic. Once I get DH to take a pic of me in it I'll post that. Right now I'm working on knit booties. I plan to make one pair for a friend and one for my little boy inutero.

Tara

Belly on Vacation

Here's what my belly looked like on vacation last weekend. My MIL and her DH came into a little money and took the whole family to a resort in Daytona Beach for 2 nights. Curtis had a blast both on the beach and in the many pools they had. We also had fun playing skee ball in the arcade and won some neat little prizes. No one got sunburned and Curtis slept in a big boy bed in his own room in the hotel for both naps and night. We had a two bedroom suite and I was amazed at how easily he went down in the hotel bed. I guess he's ready for his big boy bed.

We tested out some green paint we had left over on his new room but it was too dark so we'll have to go paint shopping this weekend. There is only one window in that room so we want something lighter. Curtis keeps asking for yellow so I guess we'll see about that. I'm sure we'll make our deadline of having him moved in and in his big boy bed by the time preschool starts. The computer is moved and the old computer desk went out to the curb since it was already broken in a couple places. All that is left is the CD cabinet in there and I'm still not sure where that will be moved to. He'll keep the guest bed as his new bed and the dresser in there for his clothes. His Paw Paw (MIL's DH) is probably going to make a small little table and stool for him to also have in there to play or color on. We will move all his sports themed decorations over and keep the crib and changing table in his old room for the baby. That room is blue and I'm going to put up a few underwater themed decorations up for the baby. After that all that is really left is to get an infant carseat since we got rid of the one Curtis used. I feel much better about our progress now-a-days.

T

breakfast of yarn

Here's something I whipped up a while ago as a toy for Curtis. He likes to make egg sandwiches and "feed" them to me. He also thinks it's super funny to put the "bacon" in the "juice" cup and then say a really emphatic "YUCK". I couldn't find the second bacon I made but I wanted to show this anyway. I thought it was a cute idea to make food in crochet. I got the egg pattern in a pattern-a-day calendar but the rest I made up.

Weighty Issues

First off, 66 hots dogs is insane. I can't believe we actually have a contest each year and people put 66 hot dogs in their bodies. I did eat a hot dog yesterday at an Ole Time Fourth Celebration in Winter Park, FL. One was enough for me (combined with the chips and watermelon and lemonade). I just shiver with disgust when I see news of the contest and the men who eat that much at once. Really one is bad in itself considering what a hot dog really is.

We also went to a friends for a pot luck yesterday evening and I ate like a pig on such great food. Curtis had a blast with his best buds Cece and Nicholas and we all had fun chatting and eating. Afterwards we sat on the end of our driveway and got to see some awsome fireworks. People in our neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods really go all out and buy some seriously professional fireworks to put off. Curtis didn't like the really loud ones but he did like the sparkly ones and had fun watching even if he was up way past his bedtime and very sleepy. This pic is what we looked like watching them.

Now I weighed myself this morning and was quite surprised. At 21 weeks I've gained 18 lbs total. This is surprising since I only gained 26 lbs total with my first pregnancy. It's looking like I've gained 5 lbs in 3 weeks. It worries me some, especially since I feel hungry all the time. I eat a lot now-a-days and it's not always what I should be eating. I obviously have a tendency towards high blood glucose and have no right to be eating donuts and cookies and such. I have very little will power and whenever I go to a cook-out or pinic and see all the great desserts and snacks I can't stop myself. My baby is so important to me and I don't want to do anything to harm him and yet I keep eating and eating. I feel so guilty. When I saw that # on the scale today I made a pact with little baby boy (Wesley, Clarke, ???). I came home and ate high protein for lunch. I hope I can keep this up. I will be taking the GTT again soon and I don't really know what to expect. My boy's health is most important and I need to keep that forefront in my mind. A girlfriend of mine who was due the day after me with twins lost her two boys a couple days ago. It hit home for me and now I feel like I need to get serious about my diet. I excersize regularly still and get plenty of rest so all that is left on my part is diet. I MUST do better no matter what picnic, BBQ, holiday comes by.

Tara

Progress

Things are progressing here.

Our 2 day plumbing job turned into a 4 day job that finished this morning around 11am. Everything looks good but Curtis and I have been feeling a little nuts being stuck here for almost 4 days. Plus add the chaos of having men in my house cutting and working and all of my cupboards had to be emptied. A couple of holes were cut in walls but they patched up nicely and were in very subtle spots (like inside a closet). Overall I'm happy with the work but unhappy with the lies. On Sunday they told me they had 1/2 a day left. Well they worked all day yesterday and half a day today. I think they should be able to estimate better than that and they were just trying to tell me what I wanted to hear instead of breaking the bad news to me. Remember my water is turned off this whole time and I'm a preggo who pees a lot. There were other things they down right lied about to make me happy when I'd rather just hear a disappointing truth first thing. Needless to say tomorrow we are celebrating our independance and indoor plumbing.

Also about our pool. I did take some advice and took a sample to a pool store. What happened was I got algae (not sure how) and killed it on my own but then there was/is dead algae in my pool making it cloudy. We are running the pump longer now during the day and cleaning the filter often and hope to have clear water soon. The good news was that all the levels checked out fine, so I must be doing the chemicals right. I had no idea you had to be a chemist to own a pool like this. It's been a learning experience that I'm sure will continue.

So that's my update for those reading. I hope everyone has a happy fourth and enjoys the day off, if they get it. We are looking forward to a BBQ at a friends house tomorrow afternoon and some quality family time tomorrow morning.

T

slacker blogger

I've not been blogging much. I'd like to blame it on this wicked head cold I have but that just started yesterday. I slept so awful last night and personally think there might not be a whole lot more worse than being sick while pregnant and a mom to a 2 y.o.

I've been reading some development books since Curtis has taken a liking to kicking me a lot lately and it seems the consensus is that the 'terrible twos' really start at two and a half. I feel for the little emotional guy trying to understand this crazy mixed up world, but there isn't much more frustrating than going round and round with a two and a half year old who is angry about something. He seems to be learning how to deal with anger slowly, which I assume is normal and to be expected. We seem to be either having a blast or having a big fight now-a-days and nothing in between.

Also, since I'm whiney today, I also feel frustrated since I can't get this new swimming pool right. We put it up a few weeks ago (a long lost internet pal sent it to me as a gift) and we were loving it. Then we swam on Sunday only to wake up Monday to green water. I've put in chemicals and run the pump but still it's cloudy. I bought a big brush thing and did that to the walls and floor both yesterday and today with what little strength I could muster and I'm really hoping it goes back to normal. Who knew pools were so hard to figure out? It's like science and I'm no scientist.

We've knocked out lots of tasks from our pre-baby list recently and I am feeling good about the state of things here. Unfortunately we recently found out our house needs to be re-piped. This is expensive and frustrating since in the 3.5 years we've owned this house we've had to get a new A/C unit, new roof, and now this. Luckily we got the house cheap or I'd be extremely frustrated. Once the pipes are done (this weekend) I'm diving back into changing this office room into Curtis new 'big boy' bedroom. I hope to have him in it by August before his preschool starts. The baby's room will be easy since everything stays except some of the toys and decorations. I can't wait until Curtis is in his 'big boy' bed so I can crawl in with him in the early morning hours.

Tara

all about me

This is what I looked like yesterday afternoon at a little over 16 weeks.

I've been dealing with health issues of late. I failed my 1 hour gtt by 2 points. I thought I had passed since no one called me but it turns out they changed the cut off and I would've passed with last years cut off, but not this years. I reluctantly agreed to the 3 hour test and it was awful. Seriously awful. I was sick and threw up and spent the 24 hours after the test feeling awful. I assumed I would fail and was surprised when I called two days later to find out I passed. Now I'm worried, as I believe they will want me to take it again at 25 weeks. I plan to decline this time. I wanted to decline last time and I tried to listen to my gut, but my MIL and DH talked me into taking the 3 hour test. This time I am just going to decline and hope there isn't a fight. I will check my sugars with my monitor and do just about anything else besides this test. Yes, it was that bad. It messed up my body chemistry so much and I don't believe it was good for me or my unborn babe.

Otherwsie I feel pretty good lately. A couple of things bug me here and there (blurry vision, low back ache, heartburn), but nothing major really. I did begin a mild panic when I realized it was June and we haven't done anything to our house that we had planned. I need to move furniture out of the spare room, paint it and set Curtis up in his big boy bed there before August (my goal). Also we have this above ground pool sitting in it's box for two summers now and I really want it to get set up ASAP. Let's hope DH and I get motivated in the next couple of weekends to get some of this stuff taken care of before Curtis starts preschool in August.

T

The good, The bad, and the Beautiful

The good - I'm no longer sick at all. I feel pretty good most of the time and have even felt the baby move a little here and there. I am getting an u/s to see the baby again and find out the sex for sure next week.

The bad - I failed my 1 hour gtt by 2 points. Last year the cut off was 140. This year they changed it to 135 "to catch more borderline cases". I scored 137 and the computer didn't flag it since it was still set to 140 as the cut off. I spent 2 weeks thinking I passed it only to go in and have the MW tell me I had to go have the 3 hour test done because of those 2 measly points. I'm trying hard not to dread the 3 hour test and thinking of it as a way to get lots of knitting done. I would like to have Christmas gifts done by my b'day (late Sept) so this could be a productive morning even if it involves fasting for a long time and 3 blood draws.

The Beautiful - This is what Curtis now does when you ask him to smile for the camera (he had just come in from playing with the hose so that's why he's wet). He's super cute as always and keeps me on my toes. We are in the two's for sure but even with the stuggles over independence, we still have some great times and I love nothing more than watching him learn and grow more and more each day.

T

Smoke in our eyes

Not a great pic but....Curtis was at his cousin's b'day party and she is very girly. He ended up enjoying the feathered boa and fancy pink microphone a lot. MIL said he looked like a young Elton John!

My throat is dry and I'm finding it hard to breathe. We've been stuck inside for two days because of the smoke. There are something like 80k acres of forest on fire in GA and FL right now and the subtropical storm is blowing the smoke on us. It's so gross feeling and Curtis and I hate being couped up indoors.

Tara