Baby Girl - Week 26

Another week, another update. :)


How far along: 26w4d

Total weight gain: 16lbs!!!  But my doctor saw that and was all a-ok about it, so I guess I am too.

Maternity clothes: I'm irritated with my Pink Blush Maternity shirts.  I bought 5 of them at the beginning of my pregnancy - 2 tank tops, 1 short sleeve, 2 3/4 sleeve - and the 3 I've been wearing this summer are starting to pill.  I thought they'd be better quality than this!  I don't dry them, they all get dried on my drying rack.  Not super happy about it.  Word of warning to all you out there buying new maternity clothes. 

Sleep: It's been pretty darn good as of late.  I have a nasty cold, my first of the summer so not going to complain too loudly, and that has messed with my sleep, but otherwise I'm doing good with it.

Best moment of this week: My baby appointment.  I just love my dr., she's so great and we get along so well.  She makes me feel super at ease and when I told her I have major anxiety about losing this baby she totally got it and reassured me.  Love her!  My other 'best moment of the week' was receiving a gift in the mail from my sweet friend.  She just had a baby girl and while bow shopping snagged some for me, too.  She even got us Hawkeye Black and Gold headbands!  That's a big deal considering she's a State fan!  Thanks again, Des!

Miss anything: Being able to breath. It's not pregnancy related, just cold related, but it totally stinks and I want it back!

Movement: YES!  During the night when I was awake most of it due to my cold Baby Girl was quite active.  The boys have all been very active at night while I sleep, too.  (I know this because Andy has told me.)  That night in particular she was doing a lot of rolling and stretching and pushing.  Not so much kicking, although she does lots of that too!  And the other night I was poking at her as she was moving around, I think I felt a foot, and so I had Andy feel her.  He pushed in and about 3 seconds later she kicked him back!  So fun!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Riding in the truck.  It's a tad bouncy and every time we get it in for a Menards run I feel icky.  Once we get to the store and stop moving as much I get better.  That stinks.

Gender: GIRL GIRL GIRL!!!    

Labor signs: No Braxton Hicks that I noticed this week.  At my appointment we talked about when my Dr. would be on call in November and about possible dates for induction if I have gestational diabetes again.  It was kind of fun to discuss dates already!  She said that sometime between 32 and 36 weeks I'd have another ultrasound to check on baby and her size and we could nail things down more then.  The good news is the other Dr. will be gone from November 16th on so I shouldn't have any problems not getting my Dr. for delivery.  Yay! Such a load off this mind!

Happy or moody most of the time: I've been happy this week.  Between getting the boys moved down to the basement, the trips to the Fair and Kinnick, and being with friends a couple different times, it's been a really great week.  

Looking forward to: Completely getting the boys moved out of their room so I can start painting it for Baby Girl!

Symptoms/Side effects: Just growing.  I keep getting bigger, obviously.  

Name:  Still not settled on one.  After hearing about how meaningful Jenna Bush Hagar's daughter's name is I am on a crusade to find something that is meaningful to us, too.  It won't be Poppy, I promise, but hopefully something special will show it's face.  

Iowa State Fair 2015

The State Fair is something I look forward to all year long.  It's a tradition we started in our family when it was just me and Andy, and now it's something the boys look forward to, too.

About a week prior to the fair I started paying attention to the weather. We always go the first Friday, part of the tradition.  Initially it was forecasted to be 82 degrees.  Totally doable.  A couple days later, 84 degrees.  Ok, warm but I could still hack it. The next day they added in humidity.  Oh no.  And the day before we were to go it was forecasted to be near 90 with humidity and sunshine.  Deadly.  I started dreading going to the fair.

Friday morning we woke up bright up and early. Well, not as early as I had planned because Andy shut the alarm clock off on me!  We still were able to get out of the house by 7:00 a.m., which put us at the fairgrounds right before 9 when it opened.  We got rock star parking and made our way into the fairgrounds after loading everyone up with sunscreen.

Our first stop, every.single.year, is the poultry barn right inside the east gate of the grounds.  You might have heard a few months back how Iowa was having a bird flu epidemic.  Thousands of turkeys and chickens had to be put down because of this disease.  To help stop the spread of the disease they cancelled all bird shows in all 99 counties across the state, which included the Great Iowa State Fair.  Needless to say the barn was empty.  Except for the main reason we stop there first every year -- the bathroom!  Ha ha! Been using that bathroom since I went with my parents as a kid! :)

As we started walking down Main Street ISF we commented on how nice the weather was.  I knew that was going to be short lived.

First up, the big boys and Andy took a cruise on Ye Old Mill.  It's a tradition!  Tate and I sat it out.

After that we walked over to the live animal birthing barn.  I can't tell you any stats, but over the course of the fair there are baby cows, goats, sheep and pigs born in this air conditioned, state of the art barn.  They also have bucket bottle calves to pet.  All other years they've had ducks, chickens and ostriches there, too.  If you aren't one of the lucky few to be there to actually witness the births, no problem! They record them and play them over and over on the 10 or so TV's they have hanging throughout the barn. :)  Probably not the smartest thing for an almost 7 month pregnant woman to watch.  You know, sort of a preview of what's to come in a couple shorts months.  Gulp!

Tate was such a brave boy, he pet a bottle calf!

Next up, Little Hands on the Farm.  It's a super popular area for families with kids ages 2-10.  We might have cheated and let our little 18month old go through, too.  But come on, look how cute he was in his little apron!!!

As you go through the 'farm' the kids pretend plant and harvest vegetables, milk a cow, grow corn to feed their chickens, harvest eggs, drive a pedal tractor, shear their sheep and a few other things.  It's super fun and teaches the kids some of the basics of where their food comes from, how things work on a farm.  The line was SOOO long, and slow moving, so we bailed after the second activity.  #parentfail  But Tate had a great time playing in the dirt, 'planting' his seed.

We moved on from the farm to see what else the fair had to offer us.  The ISF is a huge draw for politician, particularly Presidential ones.  Look who we found!

Rick Santorum!

So he probably won't even get the Republican nomination (and he's not The Donald), but it's neat to see someone so close to you that has the potential to be President! And who knows, maybe someone will add him to their ticket as their running mate!

We went in to the building with the 'sellers' trying to get to you buy this, that and the other.  Some miracle machine or whatever.  It also holds the fire and police department areas.  The boys all had fun driving the 'fire truck'.  And then Tate stood in front of the talking dalmatian fire dog, wondering what in the heck it was and why it was talking to him.  Ha ha!

Tate also liked the dalmatian dog statue, kept petting it like it was real.  Cutie. :)

As we were walking out of this building I saw a celebrity -- Chuck Todd from NBC news and Meet The Press!!!  He walked by us, and just as he was going by it dawned on me who he was.  I turned to Andy to say "That was CHUCK TODD!" when he recognized him at the same time.  I may have maybe screamed just a little bit.  Ok, I lied.  I full on screached "CHUCK TODD!!! CHUCK TODD!!!"  Ha ha, not my coolest moment but holy smokes was I excited!  Not quite as good as seeing Matt Lauer in person, but still, exciting!!!  Now if I could have seen Kelly O'Donnell from NBC! :)  Chuck wasn't super friendly, he didn't smile at me or even acknowledge I was screaming at him, he just kept chatting on his phone.  But I did snap this picture!

After this it was HOT outside.  We checked out the DNR building, with all of the fish aquariums and various hunting things.

We walked out of here to check out the old car show, my favorite part about going on Friday, but it was so stinking hot already, the sun was beating down and Baby and I just couldn't handle it, so I didn't get a single picture of a car and we didn't look at all of them because I just needed some shade.

We walked into the Varied Industries Building, which is the big air conditioned building where all of the booths are set up with various groups, businesses and colleges in it.  Since having the kids, thus having a stroller, we only hit up two booths - the PBS booth and the University of Iowa booth.  It's just too nuts in there to see anything and try to navigate with a stroller.  We picked up some coloring sheets and crayons at the PBS booth, and some Hawkeye football posters and tattoos at the U of I booth.  

This is our second bathroom stop of the day, then we usually head out the backdoor to play on the John Deere tractors and equipment.  We bi-passed the JD stuff and headed straight for lunch at the Cattleman's booth. Again, too hot to mess with all that.  For lunch the boys each got a cheeseburger, Andy got a bacon double cheeseburger and I got (surprise, surprise) a Hot Beef Sundae.  This is the only picture I took of it, and it was soooo delicious once again!

We headed into the air conditioned horse arena where all the girls were riding and warming up their horses.  It was a nice chance to sit and cool down and relax for a bit after stuffing ourselves.  From there we headed over to the 4-H building to see all the cool projects the 4-Her's had made and submitted.  Then my bump started aching.  I had been walking and holding it up all morning but that 20 minutes of sitting in the horse building had relaxed me just enough that I could feel all the stretching and pulling on my belly.  It was horrible.  So the rest of the day kind of stunk.  I stopped taking pictures and we buzzed through the rest of the buildings we normally go through at break neck speed.  We saw the big ram and big boar, briefly, then stopped to say hello to the big bull.  He was laying down when we got there but then decided it was a good time to stand up, so that was fun to see that big ol guy figure out how to get himself upright.

We then went over and hit up the Big Slide.  Tate and I stood at the bottom and watched - it was HOT!  I did manage to get a couple of pictures of the other 3 going down, they did it twice and had so much fun!

From there we hit up the Agriculture Building to see the butter cow.  This year's display also included Mr. Moneybags and the Monopoly Board.

We can't go to the fair without Andy and the big boys riding the sky lift.  They rode to the top of the hill but Tater and I huffed and puffed up it.  Pushing a stroller with a 30 pound toddler and a basket full of 'goodies' is hard work!  Add the baby in belly and holy cow, was that a workout in the heat!  We found a patch of shade to sit in while we waited for the riders.

At this point we'd all had it and were done.  We made the trek back to the car and loaded ourselves to head out.  I snapped a picture of the clock in the car to document how early we were leaving this year.

I'm bummed it was so hot and miserable for me.  I popped 2 Tylenol for my headache and cranked the AC the whole way home.  We  made it home about 4:00 and I headed straight for the couch and a nap.  That 15 minutes of sleep felt so good.  I'm hoping next year the weather is cooler (and less sunny) so we can really enjoy the fair again.

Weekend Rewind

Here we are, another week!  Man, August is flying by!  I'm excited, seemed like July was slow as molasses.  I hate wishing time away but I'm ready to move on from this summer and start the next phase.  Up for this week: Aiden is staying the night with my folk's tonight - meeting my mom in town at 9:30 this morning and won't get him until tomorrow afternoon about 4:30.  Tuesday is a baby check up, and that night Tate gets Papa and Grandma Jean time while the rest of us go to a friend's house for a fantasy football draft.  Wednesday, Mom, the boys and I are heading to the quilt shops to pick out material for blankets for Baby Girl.  That just leaves us with Thursday and Friday to fill!

Now for my weekend rewind.

Our weekend started on Friday with the one, the only, Iowa State Fair. I'll have a full post update on that tomorrow but for now here's a quick pic from the day.

Never thought I'd see Aiden as a buxom blonde! ;)

Saturday was HOT, so why not go to Kid's Day at Kinnick?  The Hawkeyes put on this fun morning for the kids and end it with watching the players practice and scrimmage.  We went solely for the autograph session and the practice -- the kids don't even know they have bounce houses and other fun activities.  We arrived as the gates to the stadium opened, at 11.  We hung around outside for a bit hoping to see the players make their way into the stadium from their practice facility but I was too impatient so we headed in about 11:15.  We found seats about halfway down to the field, got me and Tate settled in, then Andy and the big boys went down to the front row to wait for the players to come out to autograph their items.  Aiden took a book that was given to him at one of his baby showers over NINE YEARS AGO!  We had it autographed when he was 1 but haven't made it back for kids day since.  And Brennan took a mini helmet that was Andy's uncle's (he passed away last month and the family was nice enough to let the kids have a heyday going through his Hawkeye memorabilia).

As we waited for the players to come out I started noticing Tate's nose was running, then he was sneezing, then his eyes started to water -- all in a matter of 5 minutes.  Poor bubby, he looked miserable!  It was hotter than blue blazes, 90 degrees +, and high humidity.  I kept shoving his ba of water in his face, he'd take a tiny sip but it wasn't helping at all.  After about 30 minutes Andy and the boys came back up so Tate and I left to go up to the concourse where is was shaded and cool(er).  I think his teeth are giving him a tough time, thus the cold symptoms.

We tried to be as patient as possible but after about 20 minutes of that I finally texted Andy and begged him to come.  We left and went to one of our favorite pizza places that is close to the stadium, and more importantly, AIR CONDITIONED!  Ha ha!  The Flying Tomato pizza and Bruschetta was top notch, totally hit the spot!

A quick trip to Menards and we were heading home.  Tate fell asleep before we pulled out of the parking lot from lunch so he and I stayed in the truck while the boys went in for supplies.

We booked it home just to clean the house like mad and prepare food because we were having some of our sweet friends over for supper.  They arrived a little after 5:30 and we ate at 6.  Becca brought chicken lips dip (ah-mazing!), Little Smokies, and a taco dip.  I made cheesey hamburger dip, meatballs in BBQ sauce, bacon wrapped chicken bites, peanut butter pie and smores bars.  Yea, we had plenty of food for their crew of 5 and our crew of 5.  Jake and Becca's boys are super cute, fun kids ranging from a 1st grader down to a 2 year old.  All of our boys played together really well and had a fun night!  Andy and I enjoy spending time with Jake and Becca so it was a great night for all of us!

Sunday was another super hot day but luckily we had to be inside. Andy filled the holes in the baseboards and trim, and after that dried I painted a final coat on all of it, plus painted 2 coats on side of the doors and 1 coat on the other. I'll finish those up today. The carpet comes tomorrow (yippee yiy yay!!) so we had a deadline we had to hit.  We ended up missing my family reunion picnic at noon but it was going to be so dang hot anyway that I think I would have been pretty miserable. Spending the 2 days prior in the heat, I had had it.

To end the day we moved the boys' mattresses to the basement.  We thought it'd be fun to let them sleep down there in the main room until their carpet comes tomorrow.  They were so darn excited! First I had them fold up their blankets to haul down there - look how good of a job they did!

Then we hauled down their mattresses.  I helped with Brennan's but then Aiden said he could carry one so he helped with his own.  Strong muscles!

Then Andy gave them "The Talk".  That consisted of breaking down all the weird and different noises they'll hear down there from now on.  Totally cracked me up but such a good idea otherwise they'd have run upstairs every 5 minutes asking what that noise way.  Look at those serious faces, ha ha!

Then it was time to say goodnight.  They snuzzled down, all excited.  We came upstairs to do dishes, then the bittersweet feelings hit.  It was weird to know they were 'down there' and we were 'up here'.  Hard to let them grow up.  And then I panicked because we hadn't gone over how to get out of the windows in case of a fire again.  The last time we talked about it was when the windows went in, clear back in April!  So Andy went down for a quick tutorial.  When he came back he said the nerves and fears were kicking in.  Brennan's eyes were big as saucers he said, ha ha! Poor boy!  Brennan asked, "Dad, what if a deer came in here?"  What?!?  Ha ha, silly boy! So Andy had to reassure him there are no deer in our town, there isn't any timber around it so the deer don't like it here.  I'm sure he was worried about a million other things but that was the one he verbalized. We're guessing he'll be sleeping in his sleeping bag upstairs tonight when Aiden's gone to Papa and Grandma Jean's.  :)

That was our weekend, let's hear all about yours!

Have a great week and don't forget to link up!

An InLinkz Link-up

Baby Girl - Week 25

One more week til my next baby check up. After that I go every two weeks -- how are we there already?!?  But I'm so excited, I love my baby appointments and it means things are starting to ramp up to get us in gear for Baby Girl to arrive!  And holy smokes, isn't August absolutely flying by?  After this month it's just 2 1/2 months until we're holding our little darling in our arms!

How far along: 25w4d

Maternity clothes: Last night I had a meeting so I put on some maternity skinny jeans and finally felt a little cute.  Today, same thing, skinny jeans. Again, felt a little cute.  So, BRING ON FALL!!!  I need cooler temps so I can wear jeans all the time.  The shorts aren't cutting it for me anymore. Neither are baggy shirts.

Sleep: Sleep has been so good lately.  Not that it's helping me feel rested.  I swear, I have never gotten that 2nd trimester energy boost.  I just drag all day every day. Some days are worse than others.  And to think, my 3rd trimester starts in a couple weeks.  Yikes!

Best moment of this week: Going to a friend's house to swap baby clothes.  Her daughter is 2 weeks older than Tate (and about a whole head shorter than him, ha!). She just had a baby boy about a month ago, so we decided to get together and swap clothes.  It was fun!  Her little daughter was pretty true to size so I didn't get much in the way of clothes because I don't think season-wise they'll work for my chunker. But I did get a bunch of jammies, which I was needing. I also got 2 sleep bags, a pink swaddler, some socks and the cutest little gray sweater boots.  Ok, so they probably aren't called that, and I just made myself sounds like my mother, but that's what they look like.  Someone help a girl out!

Miss anything: Friday we are going to the State Fair and I already know I have to sit out The Big Slide.  I'm going to miss that. But Princess Grace is so worth missing out on that!

Movement: Yes!  She sort of quivers in there, or at least that's what it feels like.  I feel that quite a bit.  Along with the big Royal Horse kicks. :)  

Gender: GIRL GIRL GIRL!!!    

Labor signs: A few Braxton Hicks contractions.  Nothing much, nothing major.  

Happy or moody most of the time:  Whoa, did the moodiness/hormones hit yesterday!  Out of nowhere I just felt like the whole world was against me and couldn't help but go on a crying jag. Luckily Andy was here to bring me back to earth.  He's such a good guy. :) 

Looking forward to: getting the boys moved to their rooms so I can start working on the little lady's room.  It's going to take me awhile to get everything painted and decorated, and the decorations made, so the sooner I can get started the better.  All the trim, the doors and the window need primed and painted white, then I'll paint the walls a pale pink/blush color. After that's done, the crib can be put together.  I also need to paint the dresser, it's needing touched up.  I saw on Pinterest someone used some lace as a sort of stencil for the drawer fronts, I'm thinking of trying it.  

Symptoms/Side effects:  My belly feels super heavy these days, is very tight and hard, and trying to do dishes is getting to be quite the ordeal because my belly is out there far enough I have to lean over a bit, which then makes my lower back ache terribly.  When looking at my friend's clothes I found my belly kept running into the piles and knocking them over.  It's getting out there!  But I love rubbing it and talking to her (in my head).  Grow, Baby, grow!

Name:  Still no name.  We throw 2 or 3 around but I wouldn't say it's down to those three.  If something better came up I'd totally throw those all out and go with that one.  

That's week 25!  

The Sisterhood (of Bloggers)

I was lucky enough to be nominated by the beautiful Des for an award.  She blogs over at Macke Monologues.  Des and I had a connection from the minute we discovered we are both Iowans.  No, she doesn't live here anymore but we have plenty to chat about anyway!  Of course, that connection could have been totally ruined when we discovered she's an Iowa State Fan and I am an Iowa Hawkeye through and through.  Luckily we didn't let that one little (BIG) thing get in our way!  I want you to go over to her blog and get to know her as soon as you're done reading my post because she is one of those people everyone will want to be friends with.  I'm not going to tell too much about her because I want you to 'meet' her yourself!  Go on over and say 'hi'.  And thanks, Des, for thinking me worthy of this award!

The rules are pretty easy:
1. Provide a link and thank the blogger who nominated you.
2. Answer a few questions about yourself.
3. Nominate 5-10 bloggers that you love.
4. Include questions to be answered for the bloggers you nominate.
5. Include the award logo within your blog post.

The questions:
1. What do you hope to accomplish from blogging? I honestly cannot say what it is I hoped to accomplish when I started this blog.  I remember thinking it seemed kind of cool to have a blog so I started one up. Then I went into true Erin panic mode that maybe some scary person out there would find me in real life and hunt me down after finding me out in the blogosphere.  Yikes!  Luckily that's never happened (so far).  :)  Today, what I hope to accomplish with this blog is getting my memories and thoughts down somewhere for my kids and me to look back on someday.  I have always loved the idea of a diary but I get so frustrated with how terrible my handwriting is and how my hand can't keep up with my mind, typing goes so much faster and is prettier.  So, that's #1.  #2 would be to make friends, connect with others.  I have made some very good and REAL friends through this blog and I love them dearly. Sad part is so many of them have stopped blogging themselves so I hear from them very little.  With that means less comments, and I really crave those comments because it gives me someone to chat with over the age of 10 every day. So be sure to leave me comments from now on, I promise to reply if you aren't set up as a no-reply blogger!

2. What have you learned since you began blogging?  I have learned that I will not be making money from this blog.  I'm not that type of blogger and in real life I'm not that cool, and to get paid for blogging you need to be cool in real life and have something great and amazing to blog about every day.  Or be fashionable, which again, I am not.  :)

4. Please provide a link to one blog you follow/read daily, and briefly tell why you enjoy that particular blog/blogger so much.  Normally  I wouldn't choose a 'big' blogger because I figure they have plenty of readers already so why give them a shout out.  But, today I am choosing a 'big' blogger.  Shay over at Mix and Match Family is just so great, you guys!  I love love how positive she is, every single day!  I love that she blogs about her faith, but not in a "shove it in your face" kind of way.  Her kids are adorable and I love following along with their daily shenanigans.  She has a food blog, also, with yummy, easy and kid friendly recipes on it.  She's just a really neat gal (and has no idea I exist in the world) so I think you should go check her out.

5. What is something you enjoy doing just for you? Just for me, hmmm.  Well, I like to read sometimes.  I like to watch junk reality TV and The Young and The Restless.  I love spending a couple of hours with my friends, just hanging out and eating something yummy.  If I could, I'd spend a few hours laying in bed chatting with Andy every week.  It's so relaxing and comfy!  I guess if you count how long we lay in bed chatting before bed every night it'd probably be close to a few hours, but I'm talking middle of the day, no kids interrupting, just laying there vegging out.  Awww. :)

6. Do you have a favorite quote or Bible verse? If so, please share, and explain why it's a favorite.  I have never been a quote type of person, and I believe in God and go to church but couldn't recite a Bible verse if my life depended on it. (Ok, 2 just popped in my head but they aren't what I'd call 'my favorite') 

7. What is your favorite holiday?  It's hard not to pick Christmas, because of the cheer and the magic in the air.  I also love Thanksgiving because it's similar to that same Christmas-y feeling but without the stress of the gifts.  And who doesn't love all that yummy food and carbs??  

8. What is one book you think should be on every ones "must read" list?  I've said it before and I'll say it again -- GO GET SUMMER SISTERS BY JUDY BLUME!!!  I'm not messing around here, folks!  It's by far my favorite book of all time!  If you're looking for something 'newer' go check out any of Liane Moriarty's books - they are fabulous!

9. What is your go-to meal for dinner? How about this - what's my go-to lazy meal for supper.  Hands down, pancakes!  If I can't think of anything else, or nothing else sounds good I'll make pancakes.  For awhile there I was on a cheeseburger kick, made those quite a bit in the winter on my grill pan on the stove.  Those were so good!  Now I've got a hankering for those, ha ha!  Next on the list - Casey's pizza.  Casey's is a convenience store you'll find in the Midwest.  If there's a town on a state highway it has a Casey's in it.  Their pizza is super yummy, especially their Taco!

10. What is one piece of advice you would give to fellow bloggers?  I'd say don't worry about number of followers, worry about your content.  If you aren't in to it anymore then take a break -- you can always come back and start it up again, revamp it.  Sometimes a blogging break is good for the soul.  :)

Now to send some love on.
I nominate:
Shelli, Beauty and the Baseball Coach
Chrissy, Mama Chrissy's Chaos
Christi, A Full Time Keller
Tia, Hands On, Pants Off

Questions for those lovelies to answer in their post:
1. How long have you been blogging?
2. What made you start your blog?
3. Why did you name it what you did?
4. If you could change one thing about your blog what would it be?
5. What mistakes have you made as a blogger that you can share so others don't make the same mistakes?
6. What did you have for supper last  night?
7. What was your first job in high school?
8. If you could live in a foreign country 100% free for one year which country would it be and why?

Thanks to Des for the sweet nomination.  As you read this she is probably enjoying the sweetest little new baby cuddles with her sweet little angel.  Be sure to stop by her page and start following her!