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Make Your Best Guess

With both boys we took guesses from friends and family about the baby’s stats so I thought it’d be fun to do that again with this baby.  I’ll be nice and give you the boy’s stats so you can make a good guess!

Aiden

Gender: boy   Height: 21 1/4”  Weight: 9lbs 1 oz.  Born on: his due date

Brennan

Gender: boy  Height:22 1/2”    Weight: 9lbs 1 oz.  Born on: went into labor on his due date, born 3 hours into the next day

So take your guess on this baby! (P.S. Both boys were 9.1, both boys were born on Friday’s, both boys I went into labor on my due date with.  A lot of similarities!)

Gender

Height

Weight

Born on

My due date is Sunday, February 16th and I am measuring 4 weeks ahead.  Aside from the GD this pregnancy has been very similar to my other’s.  Happy guessing!

37 Week Bumpdate

Yesterday I had my second Non Stress Test.  It went well, Baby passed again.  I love these NST’s, they are super relaxing … except for the fact that both boys had to go with me again due to school being cancelled for cold temps.  Seriously, can they not just go to school and let me go to my appointments on my own?  My loving husband met us there because I was so sure my dr. would check my cervix for dilation at my actual baby appointment.  For some reason, though, I had the other dr. and he didn’t check me (and I didn’t ask because I don’t want him ‘down there’) so Andy came for nothing.  Oh well.

My ankles and calves have been swelling up so much over this past week.  Doesn’t matter what I do, they are clubs by mid-day and by nighttime they are uncomfortable and it hurts to bend and stretch my ankles.  My blood pressure is still normal so the dr. isn’t worried but I do wish the swelling would just go away.

Last night I forgot to take my Zantac for my heartburn.  We went to Carlos O’Kelley’s for supper and holy smokes was it mistake to forget that pill!  I finally got up at 1:30 and came into the living room and read my book in the chair for about an hour.  I was upright long enough for my pill and Tums to take effect so I went back to bed and finally slept the rest of the night.  Man am I tired today, though!  And I learned my lesson – take my Zantac every night!

Only 19 days to go!  I am ready.  For the most part I still love being pregnant but evenings and nights are getting super difficult to endure, always super uncomfortable by then, trying to crawl out of bed 3 times a night to use the bathroom stinks, not to mention just not getting a full night’s sleep (not that that will change anytime soon!).  I am happy to know that no matter what I will not still be pregnant on February 18th, I will be induced on February 17th if I haven’t gone on my own by then.  It’s nice to know of an official ‘end date’, I know exactly how much longer I have to endure all of this.  And I know for sure when I’ll be holding this little pumpkin pie and cuddling it. 

Only 19 days to go!

Erin

Bargain Hunter

I saved most, if not all, of the baby supplies I had with the boys.  I knew there was a chance we’d have another baby someday.  A lot of the ‘bigger’ things were hand-me-downs: the crib, bouncer, swing.  After Brennan, though,  we gave the crib back to Andy’s brother/sister in law because we didn’t want to move it when we moved down here and it was a drop side and that was when they were talking about nothing else on the news but how dangerous they were.  So out it went.  The swing that was given to us must have had the batteries sitting in it for a long time because just before Baby Aiden was born they corroded and leaked and ruined the swing.  Because of that my MIL bought us a new swing, one of those travel and go kind, and neither boy ever really liked it because it wasn’t comfy.  And the bouncer, well, I hated it from the beginning.  Ugly, uncomfortable and just not that great. I still have the swing and bouncer but have known I didn’t want to try using them again because I figured if neither boy liked them then this baby wouldn’t either.

I’ve known since getting pregnant last time that we were going to need a new crib. The great thing about cribs these days is you can get ones that convert to a toddler bed/day bed and full size head board.  It helps eliminate the bigger bed purchase down the road.  Great!  Saving money already!  I went to Target and swallowed my tongue when I saw the prices were all well over $200.  I decided I’d better be doing some shopping around and looking online.  I started with Target.com and found quite a few options on there, all under $200.  I got an email the same day with a deal where you saved $50 on any purchase over $250, or $15 off a purchase of $150 or more.  Okay, I would hit one of those for sure when I also had to buy a mattress for the crib.  I had 3 picked out, narrowed it down to 2 then finally 1. But that 1 just wasn’t sitting right with me.  So over to WalMart.com I went.  Immediately I found a convertible crib I loved PLUS it came with a free mattress, part of the deal they were running at the time.  The crib was as inexpensive as the one I was making myself like on Target.com PLUS I got the free mattress, a savings of $50+ right there.Tack on free shipping right to my door and I am a happy camper! So I wasn’t really missing out on the savings deal with Target!  I was super excited, plus I got 1% cash back from Ebates!  Here’s the crib.

Next I started bargain hunting for the baby swing/bouncer combo I found and loved at Target.  I just couldn’t bring myself to spend $150 on a swing/bouncer when you can only use it for 6 months or so.  But I knew I wanted one that snuggled around the baby so I could use it as a ‘sleeper’ too, plus the fact that it was a 2 in 1 was pretty great, less furniture sitting around.  So I started looking online at all the stores I could think of that would carry baby swings.  I finally found the one I loved with a different fabric pattern that I liked okay at Kohls.com.  It was the same price as the one at Target but I started thinking about the 15/20/30% off coupons I get from Kohls and figured if I could find someone who had a 30% off coupon I could save almost $50.  Then I thought ‘Google it!”  So I googled ‘Kohl’s 30’ and up popped “FatWallet.com” with a 30% off savings code for Kohls!  Boom!  I shrieked out loud I was so excited!  So I went through Ebates again, got 3% off there plus the 30% off savings plus free shipping.  In the end my swing/bouncer ended up costing me right around $100!!!  A $50 savings!  I’m very happy with that!  And I think the fabric colors/pattern will be okay, even if it’s not the exact one I fell in love with.  After all, it’s only 6 months. 

I can’t wait for my bargains to arrive on my doorstep!  Moral of this story, shop around and do your homework!  Oh, and sign up for Ebates and tell them I sent you, I think I get a $5 bonus for that. Wink!

Baby’s arrival is getting closer!  I’m just waiting on the glider I’m having re-upholstered then I think I’ll be all set with the furniture! 

Now if only I could say we’re all set with names…

Erin

Dad’s Big Day

I am having major writer's block today but wanted to let you know we found Brennan’s case of DS games.  When I arrived at the hospital yesterday I saw a hospital employee cleaning the visitors lounge where we saw the case last.  I asked him if they had a lost and found and he directed me to the nurse’s station.  I asked the gal sitting there and she got a huge smile on her face, reached behind her computer monitor and pulled it out!  She was so excited to find the owner, she said her and another nurse were so worried about the owner knowing how much all those little games cost.  So sweet of them to worry about my Brennie-Bug.  I am so so happy the case was found but Brennan still doesn’t get to play his DS for a few weeks. 

My dad had a big day yesterday.  They were able to help him stand up for a bit!  Not very long, and it was a bit awkward, but he was standing up non the less!  He also followed their commands which is something he hasn’t been doing much of.  He held up 2 fingers, gave a thumbs up and lifted his foot.  They also had him put on pajama pants (the first pants he’s had on since his accident 2 1/2 weeks ago!).  He was able to grab them and pull them up!  Sounds so simple but it’s so great that he hasn’t forgotten how to do such a simple task. 

They haven’t said when he will get moved to a rehab facility yet, they throw around different days here and there (yesterday they mentioned Friday).  More than likely we will get less than a 24 hour notice.  It’s great that they are working with him at the hospital but it is no where near as intensive as the rehab facility will be, and I think he’s ready for something more than he’s getting now.  Hopefully he’ll be moved in less than a week’s time so we can get this ball rolling a little faster. 

Thanks for all of the prayers and kind words for my dad!  Yesterday when they had him set up in the chair his arms weren’t restrained (he was having a hard time leaving his PIC line, IV’s and ventilator alone so they had to restrain him) and I was finally able to get a hug from my dad again.  Before the accident we would never leave each other without a hug, and usually there were multiple hugs scattered throughout our time together.  Not having that these last 2 1/2 weeks was so hard.  It felt so great to have my dad’s arms around me again.  Now if he’d just know who I was!  That will come in time, I have to believe that.

Okay, so I was able to find something to write about!  Next week I’m going to ask you all to make predictions about the baby’s stats, birth date, etc.  I’ve done this with the boys so thought I’d better not break tradition.  I’ll let you know exactly what info I’m looking for then. 

You probably won’t hear from me tomorrow.  Have a great weekend!

Erin

SWW

I saw on IG Shannon post that she is changing up So What Wednesday a bit but I have no idea how she is changing it, so for this week I’ll do it ‘old school style’ and then pick up the changes for my next SWW post.

Life After I Dew

This week I’m saying So What If…

  • my boys have lost one of their cases full of DS games again and I went bananas and made them take all of their entertainment out of the car so now all they can do for a full month is look out the windows (and probably fight and annoy me even more than I already am about those damn games being lost!).  We found Aiden’s a month ago when he lost it, hoping we’ll have the same luck for Brennan’s.  Seriously, how do you lose it?  A full case full of games! Grr!!
  • I also made the boys pick up all of their stuff in the house that was laying around and then all they could do for the next hour and a half was read books.  No TV, no fun stuff, no playing with toys, DEFINITELY not playing with DS’s.  So mad at them.  And yes, I’m mad at both of them because they both play games out of each other’s cases so who knows which one actually lost the darn thing.
  • I don’t remember the last time I cooked a decent meal for the family.  All of this time at the hospital has left my house a mess and crappy food in our tummies.
  • I haven’t been very good about taking my glucose level after meals.  I am still eating as I should so know my levels are probably ok.
  • I am excited to have the baby so I can hug my husband tightly again without this giant ball in between us.
  • none of my maternity shirts are big enough anymore.  They’re either not long enough or too tight in the belly.  Ugh.

Happy Wednesday, all!

Erin

Week 36 Bumpdate

IMG_0461

Well here we are, less than a month to go until we meet this little one.  I have seriously been pregnant for the last 18months (minus 1 month of waiting and 2 months of trying to get pregnant again), I am ready to finally hold this baby in my arms!  The anxiousness of having the baby hasn’t set in quite yet, probably because: I still love being pregnant, I know this is my last time being pregnant so I want to enjoy it as much as possible and because I know once I have the baby I won’t be going to the hospital to see my dad as much.  For now I am perfectly content being pregnant and carrying the baby inside instead of outside – it’s easier this way.  Having said all that, I am very excited to meet this little bundle finally.

This morning I had my first Non-Stress Test at the hospital.  A brand new baby was born there last night and I could hear it crying during it’s first bath, swoon!  That made me and the boys (yes, they came along – darn 2hr delay!) very excited!  As for the NST, it is standard for a preggo with Gestational to have one weekly for the last 4 weeks.  Not because Gestational increases the risk of complications with the baby (except for size) but because if you have real diabetes that does increase your risk, and they just lump the Gestational preggers in with that group.  So I went in at 8:30, got hooked up to the monitors and just laid there for 45 minutes.  If the boys hadn’t been there I think I would have taken a nap, it was so relaxing in there.  I love the hospital stay when you have a baby!  Baby passed the test so we’re good to go until next week when I have my second one.

As for my appointment yesterday (we’re at weekly appts. now!), my dr. did the Group B Strep Test and checked me for dilation.  I am dilated to a 1cm and not thinned out at all – no surprise there, still having 4 weeks to go, and I was happy to hear that because it gave me a little reassurance that I won’t be sneezing the baby out while walking the halls of Dad’s hospital any time soon.  Otherwise I’m doing good – Baby’s heartbeat is in the 130’s still. We scheduled a 38 week US so we’ll get one more look at Baby before it’s born.  Fingers crossed we don’t accidentally see anything we don’t want to!  Wouldn’t that be so upsetting?

Baby:  According to my app Baby should weigh about 6lbs right now – yea right!  IMG_0460This little one has to be hitting 7lbs already.  It has run out of room so not as many kicks and jabs, but still very active with rolls and pushes.  My belly gets pushed into all kinds of weird shapes these days!

Symptoms:  I feel a lot of pressure when I walk, like Baby is going to pop out and say hello as I’m walking down the halls of the hospital.  Sleep is different every night.  Some nights I sleep great, other’s I’m up quite a bit.  I’m extremely tired during the day, most days feel like I could take a nap at 8 in the morning.  Braxton Hicks here and there, but nothing too major.  I have Restless Leg Syndrome, which I did with the boys, too, and that has been rearing it’s ugly head.  I just started taking Magnesium to see if that helps, hoping that gives me some relief for these last few weeks.  I have had 2 severe leg cramps in the middle of the night so far, those are like hell on earth.  Super painful!  And Andy sleeps right through me gasping for air and panting from the pain.  Lucky guy! 

Weight Gain:  Since my visit 2 weeks ago when I’d lost 2 lbs, I’ve gained them back.  I’m at a total of 20lbs again.  I’ll take that.

Highs:  Hearing the heartbeat, always. And knowing that I’m so close to meeting this little one! 

Cravings/Aversions: Sweets.  All I want is sweets.  Chocolate Chip Cookies.  French Silk Pie (found some at the hospital cafeteria, yum!).  Peanut Butter M&M’s.  Peanut M&M’s.  Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.  You get the idea.  So so hard to control myself and pass them up.  I’m trying, tho!

Excited for: These last 4 four weeks, they are going to fly by and then we’ll meet Baby!

Last week I found a diaper bag I could live with so got that and then Brennan and I came home and packed it.  My mom gave me the changing pad she made for it this morning, Brennan has already loaded that into the bag!  Clothes for Baby are packed for the hospital, diapers, wipes, ointment… I think we’re all set for the hospital.  It’ll be here before we know it!

Have a great day,

Erin

My Adorable Babies

I’ve been going through my files of pictures looking for pics of my dad to put on his Caring Bridge page.  While looking for pics of Dad I’ve been oogling over the adorable pics of my babies.  Thought I’d share a few with you.

Aiden first.

Aiden- 10 days old, first time in BIG crib!!!Tummy time!!  Holding head up at 4 weeks oldGO HAWKS!!!How big is Aiden?  Aiden's SOOO big!

Brennan!

100_02511 week old2 wks old100_0356100_03674 mo old

These make me so excited to meet our new little one!  4 more weeks!

Have a great weekend,

Erin

Baby And Dad

Today I am on a high!  Last night when I went up to see Dad and Mom, Dad actually opened his eyes when he heard my voice!  He moved his eyes to ‘look’ towards my side of the bed, although still not focusing too much yet, and turned his head towards me too!  He had a hard time keeping his eyes open for more than 10 seconds, he’s so tuckered out, but it was so great to see him responding in a small way like this!  So so exciting!  Thanks for all of the prayers, keep them coming so he can make a full recovery!

As for how I’m doing? Fine.  Baby is doing good, I’m making sure to stay on top of things where that is concerned.  Last Thursday, I believe, I noticed my ankles were swollen up.  This is the normal time for that to begin but I let my dr. know just in case it could have something to do with the stress from Dad’s accident.  They aren’t ‘concerned’ but want me to make sure I’m getting enough rest, fluids and activity.  Check, check and check.  I didn’t swell up at all with Brennan so was surprised by it happening this time.  Last night when we got home I took my boots off, which I’d had on since 9 a.m.  My socks had dug in to my ankles so much that it hurt to take them off.  Andy rubbed my legs and ankles and they felt better after that.  This week I am staying home from the hospital more so hopefully that will help keep the swelling down.

Today is the first full day I won’t be at the hospital.  I feel guilty about it but I need to be here with the boys some, too.  Finding that correct balance is really hard right now. There’s guilt on both ends.  I have a new routine to figure out now.  My days/weeks will be spent split between being home and being with Dad.  They are talking about moving Dad to a different hospital for an interim rehab before he can qualify for and get in a specialized rehab.  That hospital is just over an hour away instead of 40 minutes away like this one.  That will change things for me, too.  But for this week I will go to the hospital during the days when both boys are in school (Wednesday and Friday) and go up with Andy one day this weekend.  Once Baby comes I have no idea how I’m going to make it all work.  I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

Wow, this just snuck up on me – I haven’t been reading my Baby Apps since Dad’s accident but I just looked and it says I have 33 days left!  Holy smokes!  A tiny bit of panic just set in, ha ha! And excitement.  Better get my hospital bag re-packed.  I had it packed then took all of that stuff out to pack to stay with Mom at the hospital.  Wow, deep breath!  Baby is definitely head down, though, I can feel it getting really low when I walk back and forth to Dad’s room.  Every so often I have to stop walking and breathe until the discomfort goes away.  I love the feeling because you know it means the end of your pregnancy and that you’ll be meeting the baby soon!  But it does make it difficult to walk quickly to get where you are going.

Thanks to all of you who have sent prayers for my dad!  They are working miracles, please keep praying that he makes a full recovery! 

Erin

Time In The SNICU Waiting Room

SNICU= Surgical Neurological Intensive Care Unit

It’s amazing how fast time flies in the SNICU.  We don’t have limitations on how much time we can spend with Dad or how often we see him, so we can be back there as much as we want. However, it’s hard to be back there as much as we want because the nurses are always doing something in his room it seems.  It’s hard to find alone time with him back there so we do a lot of sitting here in the SNICU Waiting Room.

So, like I said, time seems to really fly sitting in here.  All of a sudden it’ll be 11:00, next thing you know it’s 4:00 in the afternoon.  And then your start to feel really tired and realize it’s already 8:30.

There are always people coming in and out so lots of people watching to do.  There are no TV’s in the actual seating area (there’s a ‘kitchen’ that has one in it).  That’s not a bad thing – can you imagine having to watch something you despise because it’s been turned on and you have no other choice? 

Sometimes it’s noisy in here, depends on the different families you have in here.  It’s amazing how, the first night in here, we felt so shell shocked and scared and didn’t know how it all worked.  We tried to be quiet so as not to disturb other families.  By day 2 we had set up camp in ‘our’ area, had a ton of family coming in and were finally able to laugh with them a little, be more normal.  And now we’re regulars in here with ‘our’ area and we’ve gotten to know some of the other families and their stories.  The poor gal who was crying so hard that I mentioned in my last post is now my SNICU ‘friend’.  She’s from Green Bay and her poor brother, age 37, stopped taking his blood pressure medicine.  He ended up having a sort of stroke and is in here.  He’s doing fairly well, can communicate with writing a little.  She’s heading home to GB today, I’m going to miss her. 

You get attached to some of these familiar faces.  You may not know why they are here, may not talk to them, but having this horror in common links us to each other.

I try to make sure to smile or say hi to the familiar faces, hoping it gives them a little bit of sunshine on their cloudy day.

When you see a family come in carrying a UIHC plastic draw sting bag you know they are just starting their journey.  This bag is what the patient’s ‘personal effects’ are put in when they come in to the ER and it is given to the family. I hate that term, personal effects.  Isn’t that what they give a family when someone dies on a TV show?  How about just “Here are their belongings”?  Sounds like they are still there with you.  So in walks this poor, scared family with their bag of personal effects, and they have no idea what they are in for.  Eventually they find their ‘spot’ and get settled in for this journey they were thrust into. 

Going through this makes you finally understand wholly what those other’s were talking about when telling their experience of being in an ICU with their loved one.  I’ve always felt the compassion for those people, always wished I could take their pain away but now I really  understand just how it feels.  I think of Lora with her sweet baby Harper.  I think of the family I heard about on the news who is sitting in a waiting room somewhere after their loved one was in a terrible accident.  I think of the family who’s scared to death, sitting, waiting, while their loved one battles cancer.  I get it.  I understand.  And it’s horrible.  There are so many things I’d do if it meant this all just went away and we were back to normal.  But I can’t do that.  I wish I could do that. I wish with all my might.  I just don’t understand this.  Why do we have to suffer through this?  My dad has never done anything in his life to deserve this, so why?  Another why in my life that will never be answered.  Another why that I will constantly question for the rest of my life and never get answered.

The sun is shining today, although here in the SNICU you can’t see it.  It’s a new day, but a day that we will never fully experience because we are here, in the SNICU.  Yes, time flies here but it’s not time that you are enjoying and living.  Sitting here doing nothing would drive my dad absolutely nuts.  He wouldn’t want us sitting here ‘wasting’ these days, especially today, the first 40 degree, sunshiny day we’ve had in weeks.  What would Dad be doing today?  He’d be outside working on the farm, tinkering around, maybe bring the sheep home from the West Farm to the main farm to get them ready for lambing next month.  He wouldn’t be sitting around wasting this beautiful day.  But now he is laying in a bed, not even aware of how gorgeous today is going to be. 

Today I am going home for the first time in 4 days.  It will be extremely hard to leave.  What if he wakes up when I’m not here and I miss it?  What if something scary happens and I’m not here for my mom?  The walls of our home, my safe place, will feel like they are closing in on me.  It’ll feel like a vice.  No school for my boys tomorrow so we will spend the day together, that will be good for the three of us.  But will I really be there? Be present with them?  I know I can’t neglect my boys, my dad would be so mad about that, but how do I just walk away from here?  Besides Andy and the boys my dad is my most favorite person on the earth, the person I love the most, the person I want to be with the most.  How do I just abandon him?  And my poor mom, she still  needs so much support, what if people stop coming to see her and she has to be here alone?  This is so much harder in so many different ways than I could have ever imagined. 

I hope none of you ever EVER have to experience this.  Please continue to say prayers for my dad.  It would be so great if he could just wake up.

Erin

P.S.  I’m not going back through this to re-read it and proof it, I apologize for any confusing areas and typos, it’ll be too hard to read it right now.  Thanks for understanding.

Week 34 Bumpdate

My appointment Monday was good, I’ve lost 2 lbs.!  They were fine with it and I was overjoyed! Still measuring 4 weeks ahead.  We discussed early induction the week before my due date.  I might be the one and only preggo ever to turn down an early induction, but I am holding out for February 16th, Dad’s birthday and my due date.  If no go that day or before we’ll schedule an induction for Monday, February 17th. 

Besides that there isn’t too much to report.  Baby is still very active but instead of feeling so many kicks I feel more rolls and stretches now.  Baby makes my belly look super weird sometimes!  So fun to watch. 

Last night sitting here at the hospital I put my foot up to tie my shoe and wow was my ankle swollen!  That’s the first I’ve seen any swelling.  I have a phone call in to my dr. this morning just to check in about it.  I know swelling at this stage of the game is completely normal but since I hadn’t had any at all yet and I’m stressed and tired and just blah this week I wanted to make sure it didn’t have anything to do with blood pressure or anything crazy.  So waiting for the call back, probably nothing but why risk it?  And the funny thing was when I took my shoes off back at our hospital hotel room – my shoes kept the swelling down in my feet so they completely normal, then there was my cankles, big and puffy! 

So today I am sitting with my feet up as much as possible. I look like a big lazy blimp sitting here in this waiting room, but too bad.  It’s amazing how quickly you get comfortable in here.  We have ‘our spot’, we call it the Wehr Camp.  We’ll be a bit upset if we come in someday and can’t sit here.  It’s our comfy place for now.

As for how my dad is doing, really well relatively speaking!  Instead of re-writing it all just go to his CaringBridge.org page, his name is Randy Wehr.  He’s the greatest guy you’ll ever meet, I promise.  You can tell by the comments we’ve received I’m not the only one who feels like this.

Oh boy, as I’m typing this some poor woman is crying uncontrollably.  It’s breaking my heart, not sure exactly what’s going on but it doesn’t sound good. I feel her pain. 

Well friends, I miss you.  I do.  I was telling Andy how hard it is to have such close friends who don’t live close for me to lean on for comfort in times like these.  But I do appreciate all the messages and prayers, please continue to pray for my dad!

Erin

Yet Another Tragedy

Well, I didn’t say 2014 was going to be a great year or ‘the’ year because I didn’t want to jinx ourselves.  That didn’t work out the way I wanted it to.

On Saturday my dad fell off a 12ft ladder onto a hay baler, hitting his head and causing severe head injuries.  He’s been in critical condition ever since.  He has some brain swelling but so far they have been able to keep that under control to a certain limit.  He is sedated so we do not know the extent of his brain injuries yet.  The first 72 hours are the most critical and we hit that today at noon.

At times we are encouraged by his progress, other times scared to death.  There are so many unknowns until he can be fully woken up and they start to examine and test him more thoroughly.

Some of you know just how close I am to my dad.  Andy has said my Gma, Dad, Brennan and I are all part of this tight little pea pod, we are all so similar.  We are kindred spirits.  We have a special connection.  This is so incredibly hard, I just want my dad back.  I want to hug him.  I want to talk to him.  I want to sing songs with him.  I just want him, here with me, now.  When I see him laying there in that damn bed I get so angry.  WHY!!!!  Why is he laying here!  This isn’t supposed to happen to my dad.  I WANT HIM BACK!!! 

I have started a CaringBridge page for him.  His name is Randy Wehr, you can look the page up under his name.

What I need now are prayers for my dad, prayers for my mom for strength.  Lots and lots of prayers.  Pray every moment you think of him.  Please, I need my dad!

Emails are welcome, aemcguire@msn.com.  Or you can leave a comment on his Caring Bridge page, I read all of those.

My dad is an amazing man.  He’s the first person on the dance floor at a wedding (think Elaine Bennis, maybe not quite so herky jerky), he doesn’t know a stranger, he’s the friendliest guy you’ll ever meet, he’s just AMAZING.  He’s the best dad I could ever have.  Besides Andy and the boys he’s the person I love the most in this world.  Please help us and pray!

Erin

Dynamite Recap

I was asked to compile all of Dynamite’s shenanigans into one photo collage for pinning on Pinterest.  I couldn’t quite figure out how to get all the pictures onto 1 collage (too many?) so I made two.  I am also including the letters from Dynamite.  Feel free to pin away for future reference!

Dynamite Hello 13-10033Dynamite Hello 13-20008

Dynamite 1Dynamite2

Dynamite Goodbye 13-10007Dynamite Goodbye 13-2

Have a great week!  I’ll be back tomorrow with my 34 week Bumpdate!

Erin

Jumping On The Bandwagon

Happy Friday! 

Every body is posting all about their resolutions this week. I am not a resolution type gal, mainly because I never follow through with them because I forget all about them by week 2 of the year.  If I had to nail down a resolution for the year, though, I would have to say to it’s to get our spending habits under control.  And by that I mean eat out less.  We eat out entirely too often, and because we don’t live in a town with restaurants that means we drive at least 20 miles one way, 40 miles round trip in the least, so we are spending money on gas to get there which adds to the total of the bill.  If we could just stop spending money on that and on needless things we buy when we go to town we’d be able to sock that money away and add to what we are already saving. 

So, how am I going to accomplish this?  By going back to making a weekly menu before I go to town to get groceries.  Also, I am going to get a designated amount of cash out of our account every time Andy gets paid and that is all we get to use for eating out.  The only bad thing about this is we won’t be putting our meals on our credit card which we use for the cash-back feature (and pay off every month).  But in all honesty it can’t be that much we’re missing out on if we’re already going to be cutting back. 

One more financial goal I am working towards is saving money throughout the year to pay for Christmas next December.  And I will also start my Christmas shopping earlier this year, like now.  Well, sort of. I’d like to give a few more homemade Christmas gifts this year so will need to get started on those asap so I don’t procrastinate and be struggling to get them finished next December when I should be enjoying time with my family.  For this goal I am planning on taking out $25 from each of Andy’s paychecks to save for shopping.  I’ll also save the money from our cash back rewards and any from Ebates as I get those throughout the year.  No, this won’t be enough to pay for Christmas (I wish!) but it’ll definitely take some of the financial burden off our shoulders next December.

And now to end on a light note.

Hell yeah!

For real, don’t even TRY to squeeze in in front of me!

Love this

Funny pregnancy quote!  She Calls Me Mama Leisha, callmemamaleisha.com  #funny #pregnancy #quote

Funny quotes | Collection of top 40 most #funniest #quotes of all time

 

Have a great weekend!

Erin