Sick baby

So last week the baby started to get sick. It was a lot of sneezing and coughing. This happened about a month ago and when we took her in the doc basically said unless she has a fever, pulling at her ears like they are bothering her or she is eating different then to just let it pass. There isn't much they can do for a baby who's that little. Well after a week of her being like this, I finally took her to the doc on Tuesday. After examining her closely they believe she has allergies. I just can't imagine how she has allergies at 5 1/2 months!!! So we now have a machine that is a nebulizer inhaler. It's got the little mask that you have to try and hold up to her mouth. She does ok with it but she moves around a lot so I am constantly moving the mask around with her face. I know she would freak if I tried to use the straps to put it on her so I will just do that for now. They also referred her to an allergist to see if he can give her anything for the congestion in her nose. I'm hoping so!! I have to call them today because they gave Dec. 30 as the first appt available for her but I just can't imagine going two more weeks with her like this. Hopefully the inhaler helps with the coughing. The hardest part is she is too little for the allergy test so it will be awhile before we know what she is allergic too. I just hope we can find something for her soon. Ben has a lot of allergies (environmental) so she definitely takes after him in that department!

I still can't believe Christmas is next weekend!! I'm pretty much done with shopping - just need to finish Ben's mom and then give his uncle some money for his grandpa's gift. I do have some wrapping to do and I'm making picture frames for Ben's Aunt/Uncle and Grandparents so I need to finish putting those together this weekend and wrap them. But I feel good about being pretty much done with everything!

Next week is going to be a quiet week at work! It always is because our field people aren't really doing too much work. Hopefully i find some things to keep me busy because it's going to be such a long week if not. It will be nice though - I only have to work Tues-Thurs! And same for the following week because of New Years! I love this time of year! I do need to post some pics of our Christmas Tree and I need to also come back and post our family pics (which turned out GREAT).

Pics Only!

Sorry they are out of order but here are some newer pics...

 Baptism Sept 2010

 See she doesn't like Ohio State....

 She loves her Michigan Stuff though :)

Our Thanksgiving Turkey!

This is me and Ben's cousin - our babies are only 10 days apart

Family Pics this weekend

Well this week at work went by pretty fast. I had a lot of things to get done. Last night we went to dinner with Ben's mom and her new boyfriend. Ben's great aunt and her grandson came also. It was a good time. Me and Ben also got went to look at TVs and furniture. I think we might be getting both when tax time comes. We will see. For sure we are getting a TV and furniture is a possibility too. Depends on how much we get back from taxes and how much my bonus is. Not counting on much for my bonus because we didn't do well as a company this year. But I'm very excited about getting a new TV, our old big screen is a projection TV and it was handed down to us from Ben's parents. So it's quite a few years old and the picture  quality has to gone.

Our family pictures are tomorrow and I'm very excited! I can't wait to see what amazing things she does with our  family. She did wonderful with my maternity pics so I"m sure she will do great with these as well.

My bug stayed at my sister's last night so I've just been cleaning up around the house and getting ready. I think I migt be doing some scrapbooking with my sister today. I'm excited! I got some pics printed last night (almost 100 of them for a great deal!). So hopefully we get some time to do them.

I can't believe Christmas is only a few weeks away! My how the time has flown. I will probably do a post with some pics next just to update everyone (if anyone even reads this...)

Another update 11/28

First off we took baby to her 4 month check up (even though she's closer to 5 months if you go by weeks), and she is looking just wonderful the doc said! Her appt was on 11/18 and she was 13 lbs 1 oz, 24 in long. Head circumfrence was 16 in. She is around the 30th percentile for all 3 measurements. So she is doing wonderful! She is a very happy baby now, she loves to smile all the time. The only time she really cries still is when she is hungry or tired. We have had some of the fighting sleep at night but not too bad. And she loves her toys and TV now. She loves all the bright colors I think. She is our world though and we just love her to pieces!

Thanksgiving was kind of crazy this year! Lots of running around. Ben got up and made his apple pies - one for his family and one for mine. Then we stopped up at his Aunt Cathie's house for a few mins then his Grandma and Grandpa Boyd's. Carmie, Timmy, Ronnie, Chrissy and baby Johannah were all there also. It was nice to see them all on Thanksgiving and we got some pictures too. Then we went to Uncle Don and Aunt Bev's house for dinner #1. It was very good! Ben's grandpa, aunt and uncle, mom, cousin Bleu and his girlfriend Keri, me Ben and the baby were all there. Then around 4 we headed to my family's house. We had dinner over there as well so we ate a ton!! We stayed until around 8 then we headed home. I got up around 3:30 am on Friday and went shopping with my mom. I've only been out 1 other time for black friday and that was 2 years ago. I forgot how crazy it coudl be! The checkout line for Target wrapped ALL the way around the store. And Best Buy was a little better but still a pretty long line. It was a lot of fun though and I got my shopping finsihed for the baby. Now it's time to do everyone else. Hopefulyl that will get done this Friday when we get paid. So I will probabyl just go out and get it all done enxt weekend.

And I can't be more excited our family pics are next Sunday! I can't wait - the photographer is amazing and I can't wait to see what she captures. We just found a place to take them this (Univ of Akron Student Union and Quaker Square) so we will see what happens. Maybe it will be slightly warm and we can do some outside ones too. I'm excited to get a few of the baby too but most of them will be family group pics. Just hoping the baby cooperates. I want to gets lots of pics taken- we have 2 hours booked so I'm ready to take some pics!

Updates

So the baby is doing well! She is 4 months today - I just can't believe it. I don't even remember (or want to) life without her! She is doing soo good. She has just started this week with TONS of talking and gibbering. She loves her Tigger! She chews on it all the time. She is doing pretty well at sleeping through the night - she usually goes to bed around 10 pm and gets up between 5 and 6. Besides that, she is starting to grab things, especially her bottle. She is sleeping in her crib now, we started that about 2 weeks ago. She actually seems to like it a lot.

We went to Boo at the Zoo this past Sunday with my parents and my sister and brother-in-law. It was a lot of fun! We just put the baby in a onesies that said my first halloween. But this coming SUnday is trick or treat in our neighborhood so we are going to dress her in a real costume - she is going to be Tigger. I can't wait! Lots of pictures will be taken :)

Not much else going on just working and working. Ben is doing a lot of the same. Not too much time for anything else! But that's ok - loving every minute of it. 

Update

Time for an update. Our little bug is doing pretty good! Things have just been so crazy lately. We had to switch her to the liquid formula since there was a recall on the powdered. That didn't sit well with her so we had to switch her back. So she was a bit fussy this wekeend! But other than that she is doing great. i dont think I posted about it but her 2 month check up was on Sept 16th. She was doing good - she weighed 10 lbs 2 oz, 21 3/4 in long. They said she looked good and everything was fine. They gave her 3 shots - it was heartbreaking. I hate seeing her cry like that :( But 5 mins later she was just fine.

Not much else going on - just working and trying to keep up with everything. My house work has been lacking lately and it's driving me nuts but I have no choice. There's just simply not enough time in the day for it all. Don't get me wrong, it's still clean I just don't get to deep clean like I used to.

We did just buy a new car on Sunday though! We traded in Ben's car for an '06 Honda Pilot. It's a green/blue/gray color and I love it. We need something 4wd anyways because we live on such a steep hill. Plus we need to be able to get around with the baby now. And it has plenty of room which I love! It can fit 8 people :) Probably not comfortably but it can! I'm pretty excited about it and now I just have to get used to driving it.

I lost two good friends yesterday. Well I thought they were good friends - now I'm thinking not so much. Oh well. I guess if they want to act as childish as they did yesterday then I don't need them in my life. Of course, I was upset about someting and they turned it around on me and made everything my fault and brought up so much shit. It was just childish and I'm over it. Oh well. We are better off without the drama.

Baby Pictures - Finally!

After her bath!

I love duckies!!
8 wks

8 wks

Sad face 8 wks

First trip to church

The next 3 are her 1 month professional pics we had taken...she might end up being a red head (the gma she is named after was a red head...)

Update and My Birthday!

So baby is doing alright right now. We took her to the ER on Sunday because she was SCREAMING almost all day Saturday and most of Sunday because she couldn't poop :( I just couldn't take it anymore and needed a peace of mind that it was nothing more serious. So we took her and she is ok. They recommended giving her apple juice and we also switched her formula back to the Similac fussiness and gas one, we had moved her to soy but they said that makes the stool hard. She just hasn't been herself the last few days though so that's sad to see. She is getting big though- she was 9.9 lbs when we were there on Sunday. Perfect for 9 weeks lol! She has outgrown most of her newborn stuff, she still kind of fits in it though. So she is mostly in that stuff still. I need to wash her 0-3 clothes. I don't know if I have a lot of those though - more of it is 3-6 months. I guess I just need to looks through it all again and see what we have! Sis smiling a lot more! She likes to look at things now so we have her bug that plays music on her car seat. We also are going to start putting her in her crib more when she is home so she can see her mobile. She is still sleeping in her bouncer or her boppy. Mostly in her bouncer at night by the bed right now - we need to start moving her to her crib though. I need to get the monitors set up though before we do that. We will still put her in the boppy in the crib to keep her upright so she doesn't have acid reflux problems.

Her baptism is on Sunday! We can't wait. Our friends Melanie and Brian, Kyle and Liz, my parents, my sister and her husband, Ben's mom and grandpa are who we know for sure will be there right now. There may be a few more but we aren't for sure yet. We are going to go out to breakfast afterwards as well.

My goddaughters 3rd birthday party is Sunday at 1 pm. I can't believe she is 3 already! So that is about all our plans for the weekend. Friday and Saturday I'm going to try to get her scrapbook done but we will see if I can. As long as I get some of it done I will be happy. I'm through her birth right now but I still have to do all the pictures from the hospital.

My birthday was this past Saturday. It was kind of a rough day though because like I said the baby was screaming and upset most of the day. I did go to lunch with my mom though at Swensons and then we went shopping at a few places and got the baby a dress for her baptism on Sunday. My mom got me a gift card to Wasabi (where we went for dinner Sat night), gift card to Kmart, and gift card to Archivers to get scrapbooking stuff. My sister got me a wall plugin from Yankee Candle and cash to go to another scrapbook store near my house. I'm very excited! I want to do a really good job on her scrapbook so I want to be sure I can get as much stuff as possible. Then Saturday night we left the baby at my parents and we went out to dinner wiht my sister and her husband, Melanie, Brian, Liz and Kyle. It was a pretty good time. No one was too happy about their bills though - it adds up so quick and they charged us the gratuity fee! After dinner me, Ben, Amy and Matt went to Muskateers for some drinks. It was a good time - we all got pretty drunk! I tried to count it but I'm not sure I got them all...I had at least 3 drinks and 9 shots at the bar alone. I did have 2 drinks at dinner too. So I was pretty wasted but it was a really good time. Except my camera got broken :*( Hopefully I can get kodak to fix it without it costing me anything. We got home around 2 am. I didn't get to sleep much though because my mom had to be at work at 6 am and so I had to get up with the baby. So I was pretty cranky on Sunday but I wasn't sick at all!

Again, you will need to see my facebook for all my pictures. I just takes too long to upload them on here...I might do a few in a minute though!

I think that's all for now! More updates after her baptism Sunday :)

Just some things I want to remember...

- Carter's newborn onesies were the smallest ones we could find for Tricia, she is just now growing out of them after 6 weeks.

- She was on the regular similiac and then we moved her recently to the orange label for fussiness and gas. I am starting to think though that she might be ok on the regular but she does have some tummy issues so I guess we will stick with the regualr. I do put mylicon drops in a few of her bottles because it seem to help her also

- She likes her baths! She is not happy when she is out of the tub and cold though.

- She only had a small diaper rash a week after she came home but it cleared right up with destin!

- She likes to be warm. She will wake up in the middle of the night whimpering because her legs are uncovered because she likes to kick her legs ALOT. So at night we are putting her in body suits so she stays warm.

- She is eating anywhere from 4-5 ounces now. She started wanting 5 right around her 6 week birthday but now she isn't really eating that at every feeding. Maybe only two or three a day. Some feedings right now she will barely eat 2-3 ounces. But sometimes then she will wake up an hour later wanting more. Crazy little girl for sure!!

- She has a rash or baby acne on her skin that just developed over the last few days. I thought it might be heat rash but it could be either. It seems to have spread down her face to her neck and chest a bit so I'm just not sure though!!

- I still haven't done anything on her scrapbook. I lost some of my pictures that I took weekly of my belly so I'm not happy at all and want to cry about that so I am almost too depressed to print the pics because I don't have them all like i should. But I'm hoping to do some work on it over Labor Day weekend. I'm going to get the pics printed here soon hopefully.

- I go back to work on Tuesday. I have so many emotions it's not even funny right now. I want to stay home with her so bad because I just think she needs me and I know her. And i know how she is and what to do with her and how to make her feel better. I'm just so worried. But financially we can't afford that. I don't know what we can even afford even if I do go back!! I'm just a huge stress ball right now...

Birth Story

**I wrote this back a few days after I came home**

I was having some pretty severe upper back pain since like July 1st. It wasn't horrible but everyone once in a while it would get bad but i would take Tylenol and it would go away. Well on Tuesday the 6th I couldn't take it anymore and went to the doctor. They gave me some percocet and sent me home and told me to take off the next two days from work. They did bloodwork and said they would call me if they saw anything. I laid down and about 2 hrs later my doc calls and tells me that my blood work showed I had pre eclampsia and that I needed to start heading to the hospital. That they would call and let them know I was on my way. And oh yeah by the way because of it no epidural. Of course I freaked out. Then 10 mins later get a call back again from the doctor and they said you need to go now because your levels are severe and you could have a seizure. So off we went to the hospital.

They started me on magnesium and got me induced with a foley ball and cervidel around 7 pm. It was really painful with the contractions and I'm pretty glad the magnesium made me feel so out of it. Around 3 pm on Weds they started saying I was around 9 cm and that I would be pushing soon. Then a resident came in and told me that I was only 6-7 not 9, after another doc and 2 nurses had told me I was. Everyone was pissed at the resident but then the doc came in and confirmed I was only 6-7. I did end up taking some pain meds at that time since I was only that far along they would allow me to have some. After that things did progress pretty quick and by about 8 pm I was back up to 9. So they started getting everything ready but my contractions were still so far apart - like 6-7 mins. They kept saying if they would just get closer together I would be able to get her out in like 1/2 hr. Finally the doc came in and they really had me start pushing which was so painful but i had a great nurse and she really helped me through it. I pushed for about 3 hours or so. The doc finally decided that things just weren't going quick enough so they got out the vacuum. They tried twice with the vacuum before they got it to work and they did end up having to cut me down there as well. Thank god she was as small as she was. But she was perfect.

I lost a lot of blood after delivery and they were having a hard time getting it to stop and I still don't remember a lot from that time. I do know my blood pressure dipped pretty low and they were worried about me. They kept me down in labor and delivery overnight so they could keep a closer eye on me rather than moving me to post partum right away. And from there things just have been not good with my health - I was on the magnesium for 24 hrs after her birth and then we thought things were ok. Then my blood work came back and I ended up needing calcium and a blood transfusion. Then I started to get that upper back pain again - turns out that was gall stones. Then my liver enzyme levels still aren't right and my blood pressure keeps going up. So they finally let me go but I do have to go back for blood work tomorrow.

2 weeks :*(

So my surgery went well last week. Still having some pain here and there but they got everything out. I was doing pretty good right after and felt pretty fine. Just a lot of pain in my stomach area but the motrin they prescribed helped a lot.

So what else is new...I'm just going to list these because it's easier for me...

- I gave up breastfeeding. She wasn't latching on and she was having some tummy issues. I thought it might be from breastfeeding and formula feeding. I think she was getting confused. I hurt to give it up but I feel ok about it. I really wanted to go at least 6 weeks but then I had to have this surgery also and I wouldn't have been able to anyways during that time. So it was 4 weeks but some times I'm still sad about it. Plus my production wasn't going up, in fact in seemed to be going down and I was having to use more and more formula.

-The baby is doing great. We did take her for 1 month pics and they were absoultely adorbale. I can't wait to do some family pics in a few months. Around Christmas time we are doing those and we are going to include my sister, her hubby and my parenst as well.

-Tricia is a lot more alert and awake now. She hasn't started really cooing or anything yet. Ben's cousin had a baby 11 days before me and her baby started that about 2 weeks ago. So I wonder when Tricia will start. I hate to be one of those mom's that compares their child to others but I can't help but wonder.

-I can't believe I only have 2 more weeks before I go back to work. I want to cry. I miss work more than anything because I love the people I work with and it will be nice to see everyone but I can't help but wonder how I will be away from her everyday :( I just hope I can handle it. I know I will be wreck when I go back the first few days.

-In prep for me going back to work and being away from her everyday, my sister took her all day today. My sis wanted practice with her anyways alone and I wanted to see what it was like. I miss her so much though :( Its too quiet and I'm bored without her. I just miss being able to look at her.

-Ben is having a meeting with his district mgr at work tomorrow so we will see what he wants. HE was supposed to get a raise and promotion to mgr months ago and it never happened. Tomorrow he might get promoted, or he might get demoted. He doesn't really know. I'm doubtful that he will get promoted but I'm also very angry with that company. He's been doing the managers job at his store for months now and they havne't even paid him for doing that work with the promise that it was coming "soon". So at this point I could care less if they do promote him because he's just so tired of doing all this work and not getting paid for it. So we will see...

- And last but not least, I love being a mommy :) I don't know what I would do without her but some days it's still hard to believe I have her and she's all mine. I just love her so much and she's my world!

I think that's all for now...still gotta come back with the birth story and pics...

Issues Issues

I still need to come back and post pics and the birth story but here's an update on what's going on now. Don't read on if you don't have a strong stomach.

So last Friday and Saturday I was having some bleeding issues - I was having these huge gushes of blood and then passing some larger clots. So after talking to the doctor 3 times between the two days I finally went to the ER on Saturday. Luckily we were at my parents house (we were making dinner for them and my sis and her hubby to say thank you for everything) and there is a satellite ER for AGMC right by my parents house in Bath. So we went there and I was in and out in a hour. They wanted to do an ultrasound but I would have needed to go to the main campus to get that done and after talking to my doc they decided not to send me. But my blood work came back fine and my exam went fine as well. So they had me go back to the doc on Monday. So Monday I see the doc and they want to do an ultrasound but again everything else was looking fine. So Weds this week I went for the ultrasound - it's what they thought - part of the placenta was still inside of me. I couldn't get in to see anyone Weds so I had to go back Fri (hello 3 times in 1 week!!). So now I get to have surgery on Tues to remove this part of the placenta that is still in there. It's about the size of a nickel. So they are going to knock me out for this because they coudl use a local and a numbing agent but I guess people still tend to squirm around a lot and because it's so precise what they are trying to do its easier to knock people out and just get it done. So I have to go at 1:30 pm on Tuesday and it's outpatient. So I will be in recovery for around 3 hrs and then I will get to come home. They said to take it easy that day but I should be back up and going on Weds.

Still waiting to hear what they are going to do about my gall stones. I just got the report sent over to my doc so hopefully next week I will hear something!!

She's here!

Our baby girl graced us with her presence almost 3 weeks early! Patricia Grace was born July 8th at 12:39 am, 5 lbs 5 oz, 18 in long. It was a really rough labor and delivery. I developed HELLP syndrome therefore I couldn't have an epidural and while I did have some other pain medicine, it was really rough. And I had some complications after but things are good now. We are doing well and just adjusting to having her here and getting on some sort of a schedule! I will hopefully jump back on here soon and post some pics!

It's the weekend!

I'm so ready for it to be the weekend. It's been a pretty rough week. I went to my appointment on Monday. Everything is still looking good and I'm measuring right on. I go back next Weds for my next appt and the Group B Strep culture. We will see then how things are going and if I'm dilated at all. I don't know if I am but I can hope! :) I don't like having to wait until Weds but they are closed Monday and no midwives are in on Tues for some reason. So then I will turn around and go the following Monday again because I'm off on Mondays so my appointment needs to be then. Hopefully they don't get mad about that!

I did have some upper back pain the other night. It was so bad that I got sick from it. Not sure what was going on there. It did stop for most of yesterday though and then it has come back some today again. Not sure if it is form the way she is laying or what but it doesn't feel good at all. I am taking some regular strength Tylenol and that helps some but I don't like to take too much of anything right now so I try not to take it unless I am really hurting. I also have started to get some pelvic pressure so that could be a sign of something? We will see!

We did finally get our crib mattress in the mail the other day. So that means this weekend I can put her bedding set on her crib finally! My sister bought our pack and play yesterday and a bottle set for us. And on Monday me and Ben are going shopping and picking up the rest of the things we need. There is still stuff we need from both stores so that should be fun. I'm excited to get the rest of our stuff and get everything put away and be done with it until she's here.

So plans for the 4th....Ben is going out of town. Not too happy about it but it's kind of his last chance before the baby. I don't want him to go but I know he won't be bale to go in the next few weeks because I could go at any time and even though he's only 2 hrs away that's too far if I do go in to labor. So he will be d own at the farm and I'm not doing much of anything tomorrow but Sunday I am going to my godmothers house in Austintown for the parade and a cookout at her house. She has a pool so I will probably take a dip in there. I think that's all my plans for this weekend since I just want to lay around and hopefully my back stops acting up!

I will need to come back and post pictures but Ben's cousin (who was due 10 days before me) had her baby this past Sunday, June 27th. She is absolutely adorable! She was born on 6/27 at 7:19 am, she was 7 lbs 4 oz and 19 in long. Kind of scares me because she was three weeks early and that would be next week for me! Everyone keeps saying they think I will go early but I'm not so sure. She seems quite comfortable in there and not ready to come out yet. But I know that could change overnight and plus I want people to stop saying that - they are going to get my hopes up! LOL!

Well i think that's all the updates I have for now. I will come back and post pics of the baby and from the 4th! Happy 4th of July everyone!

Busy Weekend!

So it's going to be a busy weekend!

Tonight I have to go to my boss's surprise 40th birthday party. It should be fun but it's quite a drive to get back home so I won't be home until late probably. Tomorrow I have to get up and go shopping (and try to return some stuff) to Babies R Us and Target. I have to get a baby shower gift for a coworker and then a wedding gift for someone. Then it's off to said wedding that is about an hour and a half away. Probably won't be home until late again (going with my parents and they say that they want to leave by a certain time but we will see!). Then Sunday I'm very excited to be getting my maternity pictures done! I think they are going to awesome and I can't wait!!! Then I am meeting my friend who lives in Michigan now for a bit because she wasn't able to make it to my shower and she has a gift for me. I'm very excited to see her because it's been a few months! :) Then Monday I have my next doctors appointment. So all in all a very busy weekend with not much time to relax or sleep. Hopefully I won't get too cranky.

I don't think I've done much of an update on how I'm doing with baby so I probably should. I'm still feeling pretty good overall. My right foot and ankle swell just about every day. But not my left. They say it has to do with how the baby is laying. I just look like a freak that's all! It doesn't really bother me until it gets really bad and hurts because the skin is stretching so much. But I try to stay off my feet as much as possible so I don't make it worse. Everything still looks good though and no other problems. At my last appointment two weeks ago I did have to do a non-stress test because I hadn't been feeling her as much but as soon as I was hooked up to everything she went crazy! So I think she was just relaxing for a few days but they wanted to be sure so we did it. I can't believe how time is flying. Only 34 more days until she (might) be here. I'm hoping I don't go over but knowing my luck I will! I'm working up to the last minute possible so hopefully there are no issues and I'm able to. After my appointment on Monday I will start going every week until she arrives so that will be fun. Hopefully she comes a little early though because I don't want to be late :) I'm also scheduled to go to a breastfeeding class on July 12th so hopefully she doesn't come before that because I would like to go to that class! I think that's about all the updates for now!

Our Baby Shower

So last Sunday was our baby shower and it was wonderful! We spent most of Saturday at my parents house getting last minute things done and it rained some so we were nervous. But there ended up being no rain at all! It was kind of humid and warm but I would take that over rain anyday!!


We were very blessed and got almost everything we needed for her! There is still some things we need to pick up but we will do that probably in the next 2 weeks. I might go shopping this weekend at Target and get some stuff. We will see. I have more clothes than I know what to do with (at least in the smaller sizes - bigger sizes not so much so I do need to buy a few things in bigger sizes) and we got tons of wipes! Not as many diapers but lots of wipes :)


See pics below!

Me right before the shower with my beautiful corsage made by my mom's coworker!

My mother in law and me
Ben's cousin Carmie Jo who is due 10 days before me
Our gifts and my pink chair!

Me and my wonderful momma!
My sister during the games
Ben was so excited about the diaper bag and all of the Michigan stuff my mom got him!
Amy, me and our cousin Kelsey

So much going on!

So much is going on right now I don't even know where to begin!

This week was our annual work meeting for GOJO. Everyone from the company was in. It was a good but long week!! It's nice to see everyone though. We did get to go out to Clay's Park on Weds but it had rained all day so it was really muddy. I almost fell a few times but luckily I didn't! I didn't win anything though which made me sad :( I won two years ago at bingo a few times but with the rain and not much else to do so many people were playing and so odds were slim. But it seemed like the same people won multiple times. Just luck of the draw with the cards I guess! My co-workers did have a baby shower for me on Monday though :) I was surprised - I had some idea that they were going to do it this week while everyone was in but I had no idea it was going to be Monday. They were all beyond generous with gifts and I'm so grateful. I got something I really wanted which was the rocker and ottoman! They also got me two activity sets (one that she can walk around the toys and the other was a jumper), our swing, our bouncer, the cover for the car seat for the winter time to keep her warm and the carrier to have her strapped on us. Plus some other people got me clothes, a glow worm, head bands/hair clips, diapers, wipes, books, and so much more! They were all so wonderful and I couldn't be more thankful!! I love them all dearly and they are the best!!

And on the note of showers - ours is the weekend! I can't believe it's here already. I took today off to recuperate from this week and to finish some last minute shopping with my mom. We are going to be doing that in a bit and then spending some final hours at my parents making sure everything is ready. Unfortunately, I think it's going to rain all weekend. It's just our luck. Oh well. We will just do the best we can. I can't wait to see everyone though!!

On a baby note - everything is looking good! I'm 33 weeks and 2 days today, less than 7 weeks to go! I can't believe how fast it is approaching. I think we have figured out our hospital (Akron General) and I think we are pretty much ready. We just have to finish up her room (Ben has painted but he has some trim to put up around the door still). Once Ben finishes that I just need to mop the floor and then its time to start putting everything together! I plan on doing some of it on Monday after the shower but knowing my hubby that's not going to happen. We will see though :)

Alright I will be back after this weekend to update on how the shower goes!

And I'm back!

I'm finally back from all my work trips. I survived them but just barely. The one to Nashville was really rough with all the flooding but what can you do? I had some extra flights and I was stuck in Charlotte. And when I got to Nashville we had no hot water! Not a very happy momma after taking a cold shower every morning. I was so happy to be home after that. But it's over and now I'm home for good. But I've been super busy since I've been home.

We are moving to a different floor at work and that has been hectic. It's nice that I get to go through all my files and clear everything out and I've been doing it little by little. But it's still a lot of work! We are moving on Weds although the rest of our group moved yesterday, they have to reconfigure the desks in our area so we have to wait. Oh well...it's peaceful for the time being at least without the rest of the group there.

As far as the baby goes...things are well. I was just at the doc on Monday and they said everything is fine. I'm not sleeping that well because my hips hurt really bad and I just toss and turn all night. But oh well. They say I am measuring right on as far as my size. I'm 30 weeks and 3 days as of today. I can't believe in less than 10 weeks she will be here. It seems like forever but I know it's going to fly.

Ben still hasn't finished the baby room. He did the patching and painted but now he has to paint tthe whole room because the paint doesn't match for some reason. He thinks it's because we didn't get the same finish but how are we to remember which finish we got last time 4 years ago! So he needs to do that. He took the trim down around the door so we can put the new up since it was ruined. I think we are going to lowes tonight to get paint for the trim also and hopefully pick up the trim pieces so we can get this room done.

My shower is about 3 weeks away now and we really haven't done anything so I'm freaking out. My sister made a list of everything we have to get but we haven't gotten anything yet! So hopefully this week we can start to make progress on that and I will feel much better!

Alright I think that's it for my updates for now!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, moms-to-be and fur baby moms out there!!! I am hoping to get back in here and write an update soon but I still have 1 more work trip this week from Thurs-Sun! So hopefully after this I will be back!

I'm outta here!

Well I figured I would do one last update before I leave tomorrow. I'm out of here until Weds for a work trip to Orlando. It should be a good time but of course I'm nervous about flying. And even more nervous about flying with a baby in my belly! But I will be ok and I just can't wait to get there. It will be good to see all of my field sellers from work for a few days and be out of the office.

On Thurs is my glucose test at the doctors. Hoping that everything goes ok with that! I think I should be ok but you just never know. So that will be a fun time sitting there for an hour until they do the blood draw. I hate needles though so this is not going to be fun!

In other news, I ordered and recieved our invites for the shower! I love them and they turned out really good. I designed them myself and it only cost me 50 cents to print them on vistaprint including shipping! So I'm very pleased and will probably use them again to do my birth announcements once the baby is born.

I also ordered our crib and changing table. It had been out at Babies R Us. I just by chance was looking at my registry yesterday and it was available so I ordered it before it wasn't anymore! I was supposed to get an email when it was back in stock but that never happened for some reason. Oh well! It has now shipped so we should get it by Thurs I think the tracking said. We won't be assembling it for probably another month or so but that's ok. As long as it's up before the shower so we can bring everything in I will be happy. And the changing table came from Amazon because it was cheaper by 30 bucks plus I saved some shipping too. So all in all i'm very happy that it's on it's way and no more waiting!

Well I think that's all for now. I will try to update between trips but not sure I will be able to!

Time is ticking away....

Time seems to be going slow but then I look back and it has gone so fast! I only have 15 weeks left which seems like forever and tomorrow at the same time. We just got the baby's room cleared out (Ben's mom was in there) and so we can just now start work on it. Just a few little things to do - we have to sand down the trim and repaint it, we had some patches on the walls and we need to sand them down some more because they were poorly done the first time around because we were in a hurry. Then we need to repaint that. And we need to replace the trim around the door. So not too much to do, if we had the time we could probably get it done in one weekend but I don't think our schedules will work like that. So hopefully in the next two weeks we can get that stuff done so I can start cleaning and decorating the room.

We did get our bedding set yesterday (see above) and it's absolutely adorable!! I love that it's not over the top pink, it has lots of brown, green, red, and other colors. I got a great deal on EBay for a 13 piece set and then we also bought the lampshade that matches. Just need to buy a lamp base for that and then a mobile and the crib will be all set! As for the crib and changing station - I think I am going to be ordering that in the next few days here because I think the crib is on clearance at Babies R Us. So it said something about saving 10% when you buy clearance plus it's free shipping. So I will probably order both pieces now and get it over with, which is why I would like to get the stuff done in the room. Hopefully we can get this stuff done within the next month or so before the shower so I can bring everything home from the shower and start putting it where it needs to go!

We did go and register at Babies R Us last weekend which was a fun experience! Ben still doesn't understand why we need to register at two stores (we are going to Target this weekend to finishregistering there) but he doesn't understand not everyone can get to a Babies R Us! Luckily the one in Chapel Hill will be done with their remodel soon and so people will be able to shop there. Although I was there last weekend and they had plenty of stuff so that was good. So people might not be able to find everything on registry if they go there but they should be able to find some stuff. I'm excited to finish up our Target registry this weekend. And I think I'm going to order our shower invites online in the next few days as well. I designed them myself so I just have to send them off to the printer to be printed. Everything is starting to come together!!

I am going to be travelling for work coming up next weekend and I will be gone off and on for the next few weeks. I'm gone April 24-28 in Orlando, May 2-5 in Nashville, and then back to Orlando May 13-16. So it will be a busy next few weeks and then before you know it, it will be time for our shower in June!

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Since our anniversary is coming up we went out last night with my parents to celebrate. We went and had dinner at Hoggy's in Independence. It was really good. Everyone had been there before but me! It was a BBQ place and it was pretty darn good! We will be going back there. Then we went and saw Clash of the Titans in 3D. Not my pick but everyone else wanted to see it so I went for them. It was different because I don't think I've ever been to a 3D movie before. Again, not a movie that held my interest but that's ok.

I also want to say a big CONGRATS to our friends Melanie and Brian. Their son Mason William was born last night (Saturday, April 3) at 9:19 pm. She did end up having to have a c-section because after being induced Friday night at 7:30 she had made no progress at all. He was 9 lbs 12 oz and 21.5 in long. Because he was so big they don't think she would have been able to deliver him naturally anyways so it worked out for the best. He is currently in the special care unit though due to Mel being diabetic and the baby needing to get used to no insulin. He will be fine though but they have to watch him so they moved him down there. We did go up and visit this morning but we weren't able to hold him because he was in that unit. But we did get to visit with him and I will have to come back and post pictures. I am going over tomorrow as well so maybe he will be out of there if things go well tonight with regulating his sugar.

We did spend Easter at Ben's Grandpa's house. He made a huge feast as usual - ham, chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, peas/corn, buttered noodles, coleslaw and rolls. I'm still so stuffed I feel like I can't move!! It was Ben's grandpa, me, Ben, Ben's mom, her boyfriend, my mom and my stepdad. My parents didn't really have anywhere to go for Easter so they came to his house. It was good to see them :) And it was such a beautiful day out so it was nice to be able to relax outside. It was one of the first Easter's in a while that it hasn't snowed or rained around here.

Well this week I am supposed to be on jury duty so we will see how that goes. I know I don't have to report tomorrow but not sure if I will be called at all the rest of this week. Hopefully not seeing as I have plenty to do at work. But we will see!!

Have a great week everyone!

Update finally

How far along are you today?: 23 weeks exactly
How have you been feeling this week?: Pretty good overall
Any morning sickness?: None!
Gender prediction (if you don't know yet): It's a girl! :)
Food cravings?: Fruit, lots of fruit
Food dislikes?: Same as before. Nothing in particular right now though
Smells dislikes?: Not really

So it's been a little while since I haven't updated. Been kind of busy. I started a scrapbook for baby girl though! I spent last weekend doing that. I still have a lot of catching up to do on my regular scrapbooks though. I am supposed to go scrapbooking on Friday though with my friend so that should be fun.

We did finally buy our stroller as well. I found one we liked and had good ratings and reviews so I decided to just buy it. We have plenty of other things people can buy for us! So that's one thing down, 8000 to go :) I'm very excited about registering for our shower though! We are waiting until after Easter though because they usually reset stuff after Easter so I just want to be sure everything will be available come time for our shower so I don't want to register too soon. We are going to register at Babies R Us and Target. Plus the Babies R Us by our house is in the middle of a remodel right now and we can't register right now anyways because they have limited inventory until that's over. So we wait. Hopefully the end of this month we will be able to register. Still working on the rest of the details for the shower - I think we have the date but we are still trying to confirm that it will work for our church since that's where we want to have it. If not, we will probably have to move the location because it's the only day that will really work for us without me being further along! So June 13th it is hopefully!

I had a doctors appointment yesterday as well. I think I was only up 2 lbs from my last appointment but I forgot to ask for sure. I think my total gain is only about 3 or 4 lbs from pre pregnancy because of the weight I lost in the beginning. I am starting to show pretty well now but I would hope so since I'm almost 6 months! Heartbeat sounded good and was at about 150. Everything else was going well - my next appointment will be the glucose appointment so I will be sitting there awhile! I will have to remember to take a book to read while I wait. After that appointment I will start going every 2 weeks. I have some travelling coming up but they said that was ok. Still makes me nervous since I don't like to fly as it is but they say everything will be ok so I trust them :)

We also got our air ducts cleaned on Monday. We found a coupon in the paper and we have been wanting to get it done for a little while now because we get so much dust in our house. Unfortunately, I haven't noticed a difference yet with the dust but maybe it takes a few days to clear the air?? I am hoping to be able to open the windows tomorrow and the rest of the week to air out the house some since it's supposed to be warmer. Maybe that will help with clearing the air. We ended up spending additional money to get an extra main duct and our furnace cleaned to help with the air with the baby on the way and my asthma, we are hoping it was worth the extra money because it was a hefty bill after it was all said and done with!

Oh and finally I think we finally have a name for our little girl - took us a while to decide on one that we both wanted. The name we choose was Patricia Grace. I will either call her Tricia, Trish or Grace. Patricia, Pat, Patty, Patsy all just sound too old for me. So that's what we have settled on for now.

17 weeks and counting!!

Just wanted to pop in real quick

and give the results of our ultrasound yesterday. It's a girl!! Mixed feeling of course on it but happy the baby is healthy and fine!

We wanted a boy for family name reasons and of course we have agreed on a name for a boy. No name has been agreed upon for a girl. Ben won't budge on the name thing which is starting to annoy and upset me. But he doesn't care. So this is oging to be a long few months...

Update for the week - 19 weeks

How far along are you today?: 19w5d
How have you been feeling this week?: Doing good. Still worrying a lot as usual!
Any morning sickness?: Nope
Gender prediction (if you don't know yet): I still keep going back and forth. EVERYONE thinks it's a boy but we find out tomorrow so that will hopefully but this debate to rest finally!
Food cravings?: Fruit still
Food dislikes?: Nothing new
Smells dislikes?: Nothing new
What are you looking forward to?: Tomorrow to find out what we are having!

I also wanted to post that Ben finally got a promotion at work! That means more money which we really could use right now!! We don't know how much, he should find that out tomorrow which will be nice but I'm just excited he finally got something! He has been acting manager of that store for weeks now and it's nice that they gave him some credit.

Can't wait for this appointment tomorrow. I just hope everything looks good with the baby and that they tell us everything is good. I worry too much :) And hopefully baby cooperates and we can see what baby is!

Cravings Update

So I need to update the cravings thing...definitenly fruit, chinese food and pickles. Not together but I'm def. craving them. I especially want fruit! Too bad I can't get decent fruit yet...soon enough though!!

Also, I started to feel the baby kick this week. It's not just flutters (which I never really felt). It's like these pushes from inside my belly. So wonderful to feel! I was starting to get worried there. But I feel them mostly in the afternoon right after lunch and some times at night when I get home.

I think that's all for now!

Update for the week

How far along are you today?: 17w5d
How have you been feeling this week?: Good, still worrying a lot. The emotional side has also def. kicked in now. I feel like I cry all the time. Especially over things that I would normally just get mad about.
Any morning sickness?: Nope
Gender prediction (if you don't know yet): I go back and forth daily but only 2 weeks until we find out!
Food cravings?: Nothing really this week I don't think...
Food dislikes?: Still the same things as before. Nothing new really.
Smells dislikes?: Nothing new
What are you looking forward to?: Finding out in two weeks what we are having!!

Well this last week has been crazy. There have been some crazy things going on at Ben's work and they have just gotten worse. But hopefully it's over now and things will be fine. Again, I worry a lot.

Melanie's baby shower was yesterday. It was a good time. She got a ton of stuff!! There were a few things she still needs but I'm sure she will get them now that the shower is over. Hopefully she gets everything ready - she is getting induced in 6 weeks. I will come back and post pics once I get them off my camera.

Speaking of cameras - I got a new one! My sister had gotten a new one I guess I just couldn't resist. It's blue and I'm so excited to have it! Now to just start using it and getting some pictures taken!

I'm still doing and feeling good with the pregnancy - I guess I just feel weird right now because there are days where I just don't feel pregnant which almost scares me because at almost 18 weeks I feel like I should feel that way. I don't know why I don't? Oh well...I just can't wait for my appointment in 2 weeks to know everything is ok. I don't feel like I'm getting very big either which is strange to me. I feel like I should be bigger. I just keep praying everything is ok and try not to worry too much :)

Well I think that's all for my update for now...my computer is still being stupid so I will try to keep updating but if I don't thats why!

More for me...

So I am creating a little survey of sorts that I am going to try to post each week, it's more for me so I can remember how i was doing and feeling throughout my pregnancy...but first lets start with some important dates I want to remember...

Found out we were pregnant: Dec. 14, 2009
First OB Appointment: January 13, 2010
First Ultrasound: January 20, 2010 (Ben's Birthday!)
Gender Ultrasound: March 9, 2010

I'm very much a worrier so I can't wait until my appointments to hear the heartbeat and know everything is ok. If I could go every week just to hear that I would be so happy :) Yeah, I'm crazy...now for this little survey (that I'm going to create because I can't find the blog I saw it on once...)

How far along are you today?: 16w5d
How have you been feeling this week?: Good, still going to bed early but I really think that's because of what time I get up. Had a few time where I got nausous because of food. THought that was supposed to be over??
Any morning sickness?: Nope
Gender prediction (if you don't know yet): I think girl, everyone in our families thinks boy
Food cravings?: Nothing really, I crave sundaes with whip cream a lot but I have yet to get one...
Food dislikes?: Ground beef, except in very certain things (burger from Swensons and taco bell chalupas)
Smells dislikes?: Food cooking - which is not good for my husband lol. I just can't stand the smell!!

Maybe I will add more questions as I think of them but that's all for now...

Next weekend is Melanie's shower. Came up pretty quick, seems like just yesterday she told us she was pregnant and now she is due in about 6 weeks. Crazy to think! Then I should be about 4 months behind here with our little one.

Not much else going on, Ben's work has been a little crazy. His manager got fired the other day and I thought Ben was pretty much in for the position but now I am not so sure. Which sucks because it would have been a substational raise, and he makes so little now, anything would help. They ahven't even given him the assistant manager position yet - he's still in the trial period. So now raise there yet. It just sucks. We will see though what hapepns. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he gets it even though he hasn't been there long.

My computer is broke right now so hopefully my mom can get it fixed. Not sure what is wrong with it! It just freezes up for some reason and won't get unstuck. Nothing I do helped so I'm borrowing my mom's laptop while she tries to fix mine. I really hope we don't have to spend the money to take it in to get fixed!

We get our bonus at work next week and I'm very excited because I ordered a new camera! Mine right now works fine but my sister got a new one and I liked it so much that i just had to get it! And the price was only $120 after tax...and it's blue :) I love blue! It's a pretty good step up from my current camera - my current is 8.2 megapixels and 3x zoom, the new one is 12.2 mp and 5x zoom. So I'm pretty happy with that for the price. Just have to wiat for it to be shipped to the store - I did that so I didn't have ot pay for shipping! But it's saying it could be Feb 24-Mar 2 before it arrives at my store. That seems like a bit long! So hopefully it won't be that long but we will see...

I think that's all my updates for now! Have a great Valentines Day!

RIP Harley Hog Boyd

Yesterday was a very sad day for us...we had to put our Harley Hog to sleep. Back in December they found a tumor in his stomach and cancer through most of his body. They gave him a month or so and he fought it out for almost two months. He just declined a lot the last few days and he wasn't eating. So Ben took him to the vet yesterday and they were surprised he was still alive because he had dropped so much weight and wasn't doing well. I miss him so much already. I just keep crying...but I know he isn't in pain anymore. We are having him cremated so he will be back home with us next week. RIP Harley Hog....we will miss you so much...:*(

Doc Appt today!

So just a quick update. Went to the doctors office today - everything is good. I am 15 weeks, 6 days today. I have finally started to show, at least people are noticing it so I must be. I have only gained 2 pounds, doctor said not much to be worried about really. So I'm not too concerned. I eat and I eat well so I'm not worried yet. I'm sure the weight will come :) Heartbeat was around 150. I have started to get headaches a lot which sucks but there's not a lot I can do about it. The doctor thinks it might be sinus related, so I am going to try Claritan and see if that helps.

As far as foods, I am still doing ok with that. I still can't really cook anything because raw meat still grosses me out. I am still not too good with ground beef. Here and there I can do something but not often. I am finally able to eat Chipotle again (I was worried there for a few weeks!). Other than that not much else that's crazy. I do have a hard time sleeping right now, I toss and turn all night. I am generally in bed by 8:30 or 9 though so I get in plenty of sleep since I'm up at 5:45 usually.

We go back to the doctor to find out what we are having on March 9th so I'm counting down the days to that appointment already! I think Ben, my mom, my sister and Ben's mom will all be coming so it will be a crowded room. A lot of people are convinced it's a boy, but I'm pretty sure it's a girl. Probably ebcause everyone else thinks it's a boy :)

Work is going well, got a raise which was nice. Now we just need Ben to get in to a new job (which hopefully will happen in the next few months), then we will be doing better. So that's about all for now!

The Big News

So I was supposed to come back over week ago and put this up but I didn't - opps! Our big news is we are pregnant!!! We couldn't be more excited. We did find out in December (at the doctors office after I thought I had some kind of stomach bug!) but we didn't want to announce until we had been to the doctors and had our first ultrasound. I'm really excited about it and so is Ben. Our families are happy becuase it is the first grandchild for both of our parents. I've been feeling much better lately too...I was really sick in December and the beginning of January. But I'm doing much better now but I am still sleeping a lot. I get so tired around 9 pm so I don't stay up much later than that but that's ok! :) Here is our first ultrasound of our little one!


Bens birthday was on Jan. 20th and we went out to Olive Garden with my parents and his mom to celebrate. We had a good time and they came out with a cake and sang happy birthday to him! Then on Saturday we went out to a bar in the valley called Coopers and hung out with our friends Mel, Brian, Kyle and Liz. It was a good time. We left there about midnight and then my sister called and wanted us to come meet her and my mom in Montrose at Brubakers for a drink. So we went out there and meet them for a little bit. We didn't get home until 2 am (which was wayyyy past my bedtime!). But it was a good night and we had a good time celebrating Ben's 27th birthday!



Work is still going well. Just slowing down slightly now. We have started to catch up on a lot of stuff so it's going to but now I get bored some times! Next week we find out what our raises and bonuses are so I"m excited and nervous about that. We will see how it all goes! I am going to be travelling at the end of April and beginning of May to two different tradeshows. One is in Orlando and the other is in Nashville. I've never been to Nashville so I'm really excited to go there and I've never been to that show either so it should be a great time! It will be rough becuase it's two weekends in a row but then I will get to relax after that until the baby is born! I might try to go to one more some time in May but I'm not certain yet.

Well that's all for now! I will be updating after my next appt on Feb 8th (if not sooner!).

Fun night

Last night was a fun night. We went over to Danielle's house for a get together for Matt's birthday (Danielle's boyfriend). It was a good time. It was Danielle, Matt, me, Ben, Willie, Beanie and the kids there. We just sat around and talked for a while and then we ate. After that they got the Wii started up and we played Mario Kart (which is actually really fun!) and then the guys played bowling then a shooting game. It was a really fun night even though Danielle couldn't talk becuase she had surgery on Weds. I felt so bad for her :(

This week has been a really good week. Have some exciting news to come on Weds (don't know why I am not sharing now becuase I don't think anyone reads this but I will on Weds). Not doing much this weekend besides relaxing. Hopefully this week at work goes quick, my boss will be out so maybe that will give me something to do! Work has died off some lately and I'm getting bored again. I need to start finding things to do!

Well I hope everyone has a great week!

Where does time go?

I feel like I just updated this thing and here it has been weeks! Grr...I'm going to try to be more on top of this!

Our Christmas went really well. Spent time Christmas Eve at Ben's grandpa's house. It was a good time. Got wonderful gifts from his family! Christmas Day we got up and went to Waffle House to get breakfast then went out to my parents for a bit. We weren't planning on doing that but it was a good time. Got to exchange gifts with them and my sister and her husband. Then we left to go visit my family in PA. It was a really good time! I miss seeing them. They all live so close and we live so far :( It was a great time as usual and we stayed until about 10.

New Years Eve I worked (got out a little early at 3 pm!) and Ben had to work also. Then we went over to his grandpa's house for some yummy sauerkraut, pork and sausage. He also was making up his usual margaritas! I didn't drink anything because I knew Ben would be drinking a lot so I just let him have his fun and boy did he! And he paid for it too :)

Other than that not a lot going on. Both of us have been working. Ben got promoted to assistant manager but he did not get a pay increase - something about how he hasn't been there long enough. It just sucks because he is doing all the work for nothing really unless they get a bonus (which they have only done once since he's been there out of about 5 or 6 months). So that's not a big deal right now. Just kind of sucks. Hopefully soon though. They said maybe March he will get one. I don't believe a lot of what they say anymore though because they already lied to him a few times about things so I will believe it when I see it!

I think that's all for updates for now! Have a great weekend!