We are having...

One baby! :D Little stinker kept its legs crossed!! I'll have anothe chance though, because they need to get more measurements that they couldn't get today. So in another month, I'll get to see Baby again. For now, I've got cute pictures of thumb sucking and a couple of other poses, all looked good that I could tell! It might be a couple of weeks before I get the pics scanned in but when I do I'll post the link.

16 week pregnancy pic!

I just thought I would post this to show my progress. To me, I look like I did at about 23 weeks with my son! But they say you show sooner after your first. I guess my tummy has gotten all stretched out! I am having an ultrasound on Tuesday, so hopefully that evening I'll get a chance to post the results here. Going to the UP on Wednesday so I won't have time to email everyone separately. I am going to try to wear the same shirt each time we take photos, so my progress is more obvious!

Belly dancing pics

Just thought I'd post links to a couple of pictures a friend of mine took recently. She had a bunch of friends over for a night of food and dance! We had a really good time! She had all her costume stuff out so people who had never tried it before could put on some coins and shake their booties! I was probably about 10 weeks pregnant in these pictures. I was so tired earlier that day, that I felt like I'd just crawled out of a hole but managed to pull it together anyway! (I was very glad I went, it was fun!) And, that is a sword on my head in this picture. I'm not sure when I'll be dancing again, but I'll get some pictures when I do!

16 week check and all is well...

We saw the doctor today and heard a nice, strong heartbeat, that is always so nice! I've got my ultrasound in a week so hopefully we'll have some nice pictures and find out if it's a boy or girl. I think we both think it's a girl but I was wrong the last time! But so far everything is going along the way it should, I'm measuring right on time and my blood pressure is fine. I'll hopefully have more news next week, and a link to some pictures too!

It's 64 in my hometown right now...

Why does it have to be 83 here? I am SO tired of sitting inside all the time because anything over the upper 70's is just too hot and I get sick. Hopefully it's not in the 90's again when we go up for Labor Day.

It was soooooo nice out tonight...

It just reminded me of home!!! Windy, cool, it just felt so good. I have the A/C off for the first time in I don't know how long, and all the windows open. It is SO nice to have fresh air in here instead of the nasty recycled stuff that has been in here for the past 6 weeks or so. Even now it's windy out, it's never breezy in the summer at night here, I've got all the windows open and it's supposed to get down in the low 50's tonight. I'm going to be in heaven!

Seriously, when I went outside, it felt like I'd crawled out of a hole, even better than coming out into a warm spring day after a long winter. This summer has been worse than winter, in my opinion. The heat makes me so sick!

Same crap, different day!

I don't have a lot to report on today. Thankfully I am feeling a whole lot better, I'm not sure what the problem was the other day but today I managed to get dressed before noon and get out and run a few errands. Will needs new shoes soon, he's outgrowing his current pair, so we went to the mall. I found just what I wanted right away, so that was great! I really don't like the mall!! Picked up a few things from Target too.

This house is just a huge mess. It seems like no matter what I do, it re-messes itself up when my back is turned. Or, maybe, could it be Will? Could be!!

Oh do I feel like CRAP today...

I am just NOT happy about this part of pregnancy. All day today, I have felt just down and out... no energy, headache, pukey, tired (that's not even the right word, more like run over).... my husband sent me downstairs to our guest room and I was down there from 2 pm til almost 7 pm... spent most of that asleep. I went to bed late last night (had a Coke - BAD!) and just didn't sleep well, couldn't get Will back to sleep in the morning either. It is so hard when I feel like I have nothing to give, my energy bank account, if you will, is bouncing, I'm constantly a few cents from going in the red. I just hope that I feel better, I don't want the whole pregnancy to be like this. I didn't get that second trimester energy the last time, and now I don't have much hope for it this time either. My poor son. I feel like he's getting the rotten end of this because I'm just no fun to live with right now.

We spent yesterday out and about, went to look at a car not far from Clane's folks' summer home, so we went up there too and spent the day. I was feeling kind of sick from the heat, and a nap helped, but we didn't eat well because we were on the go, and it was too warm I think, but Will had a really good time playing in the lake and it was nice and relaxing. I just think I'm paying for it today.

Well enough of this, I really should be spending this time getting to sleep instead of getting sucked into finding more stuff to do online...

Google Earth is really cool!

You can download it here. But, a warning... it is VERY addictive!! (Laura, I even looked up Ft. Irwin... weird!!) We just spent about 45 minutes looking up places we went in Germany, lots of places in Michigan and didn't even get to a lot of the really cool stuff. What a fun way to waste time online, as if we need more!!

Nursing

Today my son brought me a few of his toys to get nursies. He brought me a black bear puppet, lifted up my shirt, and put it to my boob! I pretended to nurse the bear, figured bears get nursies in the wild so why not pretend? But then he brought me this lego car (he has a bunch of those giant legos) and INSISTED that I nurse the car! I started to, then thought, this is crazy!! So I told him that cars can't get nursies because they don't have mouths. He was very persistant but eventually gave up. Then a few minutes later, he repeated the whole procedure with this little snack cup we put crackers in for the road. I had to tell him all over again about the no mouth thing. Anyway I found the whole thing highly amusing!

We regularly go through the "cats get nursies, dogs get nursies, whales get nursies, elephants get nursies, cows get nursies... birds don't get nursies..." I suppose now I need to add "cars don't get nursies, containers don't get nursies... " etc.

Blogs from Lebanon

Oh my. This just makes me want to sit and cry. I'm not sure how much of it I can stand to read. I just wish it would all stop, and soon... but something tells me the whole country will be leveled before it does.

Too #*$&*#&$ hot!

It's still 86 degrees with a heat index of 95 degrees. Did you make note of the time? Almost 10 pm. Did I tell you I hate summer? Please snow... please snow... please snow...... and I am getting on my knees and thanking God for whoever invented central air. If I could get away with it, I'd set it at 65 degrees! But, I'll have to settle for 76, and even that's generous considering how hot it is. This kind of weather makes me want to move as far north as possible. I just hate it!

Friend in Beirut

I have an email friend of several years who is Lebanese and has lived in Beirut for many years now. I had not heard anything from her and thankfully she was able to email me today. Things are just so horrible over there, and it makes me so upset, I just can't stand the thought of it, especially reading about it from someone right in it, first hand. She said they don't even feel sad anymore because it is just too much. :( Thankfully they were able to go up into the mountains so they aren't in the city anymore, she said the bombs from the airstrikes go so far underground that you can't hide from them anywhere.

It is now 97 degrees here at my house, heat index of 107. I really, really am starting to intensely dislike summer. It is still supposed to be in the 90's at 8 pm so too hot to even take Will out to play. This is the time of year I start wishing for snow!! Don't be mad, if you lived inside my body, you would too!

No time for computer!

I see that it's been about a month since I updated this!! Honestly, I've been SO tired from this pregnancy and chasing around a 20 month old that I just can't hardly move some days. Since I'm 12 weeks now I was really hoping that I wouldn't feel so bad still, but it's not really going away. Yesterday I was so tired that I knew I would fall asleep, it was just a matter of where it would happen. I could not stop it!

I had my 12 week check up yesterday and things are all going fine, all my blood was OK too. I am not immune to toxoplasmosis like I thought for sure I would be, but that's ok... no cat box for me I guess! I have not gained a pound either which is fine by me, I wouldn't think I would need the extra weight at all. If you want to see my belly pic for 12 weeks, here is the link. I just feel sick and fat and now I've got a cold which is not helping!

We spent some time in the UP (Houghton/Hancock) this month and it was really nice. Although there were a few days that were way too hot for me, I just stay inside in the A/C because the heat really makes me sick. It was wonderful to be home though, I got to see some friends and my parents and got out to Lake Superior a couple of times. I didn't want to come back here at all!! I am really homesick. I want to go back over Labor Day because that will probably be my last trip up until next year now.

Yesterday my son was so funny. He has a Sesame St. coloring book, and he went through the whole thing, drawing lines through everyone's noses! Then he would get a different color crayon and do it again! He was all serious about it too, and did NOT want me coloring with him! (Usually we do it together and then after about 30 seconds he turns the page on me!)

My friend Laura got a blog started and that's really the main reason I updated this one! (You inspired me!! ) I put it in my links, please go have a look!

All is well...

I saw the doctor today and things are going perfectly. Not much to say really! I'm just irritated that their new scale weighs me about 6 pounds heavier than the old one! My bathroom scale was the same as their old one and now it's way off! I think it's a conspiracy!

Anyway all is well but I figured it was... next month hopefully we'll hear a heartbeat.

I have a good friend who went in today to be induced, it's her first! I haven't heard a thing yet so I hope it's all gone well and that she didn't have a 50 hour ordeal like I did!!

Finally, an update

I'm 8 weeks pregnant now and the nausea is just starting to really bug me. Either that or I just had a bad day. I managed to make it through my dental appointment today, but since then I've just felt yukky! It is really hard being pregnant with a toddler. He needs a lot of attention and I just don't have the energy half the time. Either I can go out and play with him, or make dinner, but not both. I hope as things go along that I'll be feeling better in the very near future! For a while there, I didn't even feel pregnant, but this is a very familiar feeling now and it's back! I have been taking naps with him every day too because it's the only chance I get for a good rest... so that's been limiting my computer time.

Tomorrow I see the doctor for my first OB visit. I am sure things will be fine, it all seems to be going along normally!

Despite the nausea, I had a huge, sudden Taco Bell craving tonight! I'd gotten Will to bed and as I stepped out of his room, I thought... nachos bell grande!!! So after joking with my husband, off I went and got one of those and a 7 layer burrito. I have just felt starving and sick all day today and I just got done eating, it tasted soooo good and I'm sure it's really bad for me! Hopefully this will be a rare occurance because I don't want to make a habit of it!

This weekend my dad is coming for a visit and we're going to see some relatives on Sunday, then it's to my in law's summer home for a couple of days. We'll be off to the U.P. since I haven't been home in over 6 months... I'm really looking forward to it and I HOPE I am not sick the whole time!!! I was feeling so good there that we made travel plans... not I'm not so sure but I'm not cancelling them!

Some big news!

Clane and I are happy to report that I am pregnant, and we are expecting in February! It was kind of a surprise, we knew we wanted another baby but did not expect it to happen so fast! I am about 6 weeks along now and feeling pretty good. I feel totally different than I did when I was pregnant with Will, it seems like I was a lot more tired and sick by this time. I kept a diary so I've been referring back to that. I am also craving meat which is very strange since I am usually a semi vegetarian. I had a whole can of salmon for lunch today! So I must need the protein. I've also been eating things not typical for a woman in early pregnancy... like kale and swiss chard (with lots of garlic!)! So maybe I'll feel better this time around.

Not much else beats that news... I'm off to create a new ticker now, to add to my big collection!

OHHH! The bread!

In my last post in May, I promised I'd report back about the bread I made from "wild" yeast. Well, it did not turn out the best. It did rise, and had a mild sourdough flavor but it was very dense and just was not one of my best creations. This past week I made Parker House rolls, which turned out REALLY good! The problem was I made them too large so if you eat one you are really full. It made many so half of them went into the freezer so they wouldn't get moldy. The heat/humidity here in the summer (even with A/C on) is not kind to homemade bread! If you click on the link above and try them, you will need at least 2 more cups of flour than it says. My dough was REALLY wet until I added a lot more. Worth the time though!

More sickness...

It seems like my son is always sick. :( My mom said I was rarely sick as a child, and formula fed at that. My 100% breastfed, never-a-drop-of-formula in his life son seems to be constantly sick these days! He either has a virus or it's his teeth... but it sure has made for some horrible nights since about Wednesday night. I feel like the walking dead. And it feels like this week has lasted several years. You would think a sick child would at least happily nap, but not my son! No way. He's been running some pretty good temps that have been completely resistant to Tylenol, which worries me a bit but at least Motrin brings them down.

Today I made a pasta salad out of smoked salmon today that was pretty good. Think: tuna pasta salad with mayo, onion and celery, but with smoked salmon. I'm happy! Since my husband does not like canned salmon, it's ALL MINE!

I recenly had a birthday and had a little money to spend. So this week I've spent a lot of time on Ebay bidding on stamps for my collection. I had been watching a few auctions that I was really interested in, but unfortunately the price went too high for me... but I was able to get something similar but not as nice/large as what I'd originally found. However between the things I have won, I should be plenty busy adding to my albums for quite a few months!

Yesterday my neighbor Annie came over and we sat in the garage having a few beers. It was funny because we looked a little like the guys on King of the Hill standing out at the road with beers... except we sat in lawn chairs with the garage door open! It had been raining on and off and we just sat and watched Will play and watched the traffic go by. (He was in the middle of one of his Motrin doses so was feeling ok at that point.)

Not much else to say, except this month is the month of birthdays. My mom, step mom and mother in law, AND my hubby's grandma all have birthdays this month. So does my husband and one of his good friends. We have quite a bit of shopping to do!

The week flew by!

I cannot believe how fast this week went by. It was my birthday this week and that was fun. A friend and a couple of family members stopped by. Then my husband and son took me out for Italian food to the place where we had our wedding reception, we ate outside and it was wonderful! I had lobster ravioli. Yum! My husband got me some really nice things, some music, a really nice soup pot that has baskets for steaming or cooking pasta and a barrister's bookshelf. That's a shelf with glass doors that come down. It's for my colletction of Breyer Horses that I started getting when I was a little girl. I haven't had them displayed for many years so I am excited to unpack them and get them out. I even made little leather shoes for them that I painted silver! It used to be so much fun. I hope they are in good shape as they were not packed very well. They haven't been moved much so hope they are ok. I'll know more later!

I had no idea that you could "catch" wild yeast from the air and grow it in water and flour. I have never made sourdough bread before and did not realize that that's how it worked. I have my dough rising in pans (a lot slower than normal yeast dough) and I'll bake it in a couple of hours. It will be interesting to see how it turned out. I didn't use a recipe at all, just 1 cup of water to 1 cup of flour and let that sit out for a day, then I "fed" it with more flour and water last night. This morning my "sponge" was big and spongey and had a rather pleasant smell so I figured that was a good sign. I'll report back on my bread later!

My in laws have a summer home in Au Gres, MI and we're heading up there tonight to spend the night. They go there on and off all summer. It seems to be a central meeting place for family so it should be nice.

Sunday and Monday we are going to spend here, working on getting some things done. I know I want to get my horses up and I always have a lot of stuff to do... and Clane will probably do car work.

I will report back later on how the bread turned out. In the meantime, the Baltimore Orioles are back! I have put out dishes of grape jelly for them, and they always announce they are there with a nice whistle. Last night I was weeding the flowers right near the part of the deck with the jelly, and the male was really mad at me and scolded me til I left. Then ants get into the jelly so that usually attracts redheaded woodpeckers and catbirds! We get some interesting birds around here. I haven't seen any hummingbirds yet but earlier this year we had a pileated woodpecker at my suet! I will have to dig through my pictures and see if I can find one to post. I unfortunately didn't get any really clear, good ones. The orioles are not happy when I try to take their picture but I'm not going to give up!

Hope everyone has a good holiday weekend!