Oh, cute haircut...why must you tempt me so??

If you're watching Dancing with the Stars this season, you've probably seen this cute girl from the Disney channel:



Look at that cute hair cut!! I made a vow to myself when I found out I was pregnant that I would not chop my hair off (I have this tendency to let my hair grow for a few months, then chop it all off). But, I did that the last time I was pregnant, then I was irritated that my hair was growing so fast that I couldn't keep up with the cut & it just ended up looking sloppy. Plus, since this baby will be born in the summer, I'd like the option to pull it back in a pony tail.

So I'm going to ignore you for now, cute cut! I will NOT cave in and take you on! But we will revisit you in the fall.....

30 weeks

It's been quite a week here for the baby...last weekend, my blood pressure shot up. Again. *sigh* All day on Sunday, it was running around 145/95, with a few higher readings in between. Off to the doctor's office I went first thing Monday morning, where I spilled some protein in my urine. Between that, some facial & leg swelling & my blood pressure at the office (140-something over 96), I was shipped off to Magee for bloodwork and some monitoring.

I have to pause here to say how efficient Magee was; I walked in at 10:30am, registered, went to get my bloodwork, went up to labor & delivery, registered there, was immediately taken back to a room for the monitoring. Elapsed time for all of that: 35 minutes. Bravo, Magee!! And the best part about having to be there? The triage rooms are all private...I had my own TV! People may say it's a baby factory, but it's one well-oiled machine!

Anyway---I was hooked up to monitors & a blood pressure cuff that went off every 10 minutes. The baby looked great on the monitor, so that was a huge relief. My protein came back as 160; I still don't fully understand this whole protein thing, but the dr. said that I started out the pregnancy with a level of 120 based on tests they did. That day, it was 160; you are considered to have pre-e when it hits 300. So I was well under that...he also said that it's not something that necessarily increases all of the time; it might increase, or I might have a level of 160 the rest of the pregnancy, there's really no way of knowing. But I'm in the clear for now, phew.

The only bad thing was, my blood pressure didn't really go down in the 1.5 hours I was in the room. So, I'm now up to 500 mg of Aldomet, 3 times a day (that's an extra dose in the middle of the day from where I was before). I had a follow up appointment this morning & my BP is running consistently mid-130's/mid-80's. So still high, but under control for now.

No restrictions in terms of activity or needing bedrest or anything at this time, the doctor just said she'd feel comfortable if I agreed to take at least 2 thirty minute breaks where I do nothing but lay on my left side throughout the day and to not do much more than I need to do at this time. I will fully admit-I'm a control freak who has trouble sitting still sometimes, so that last part is hard for me! But, being shipped off to Magee on Monday was enough to scare me into doing whatever it takes to bake this baby longer. Please keep us in your thoughts!

On a lighter note, here is an updated belly picture, 30 weeks!

My genius!

Learning to write his name at school:

What's my role?

I feel that as parents, we have many roles that we play in the lives of our children...caregiver, provider, teacher and probably the most important role, being a good role model. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, probably due to the combination of knowing that we're going to be raising 2 sons and noticing the lack of common courtesy in every day encounters.

Brian and I always hold doors open for people; how many times have you been walking behind someone who just lets the door slam shut in your face?

Giving a simple please or thank you: to the cashier, to the bus driver, to anyone you come in contact with-is it that difficult to spit out one of those phrases?

Giving up your own comfort to someone else who needs it more. This is the main reason that I am thinking of all of these things this week---my bus routes have changed and I'm now stuck on an incredibly crowded bus. This morning, a gentleman was nice enough to give me his seat whenever he glanced up & saw my belly & noticed me holding on for dear life as the bus rumbled through stop & go traffic. He was the only person who did this; there were a number of other people who looked directly at my belly, then quickly averted their eyes elsewhere (both men and women). Do I want a seat because I'm lazy? no. I don't even want it because I'm tired or it's hard to stand or anything, I'm perfectly capable---but at this point in pregnancy, it's really a safety issue. I don't even want to think about what would happen if that bus comes to a sudden stop & everyone goes flying forward while standing.

And it's not just me being pregnant either---I've been on crowded buses before where there is an elderly person without a seat, or a woman who is trying to hold a tiny baby in one hand and hold onto a pole with her other hand to keep from falling. And all that I can think in all of these cases is, what would their mothers think? (the mothers of the people NOT getting up out of their seat, I mean). If we ever found out that our sons did something like that, we would be mortified.

That's my rant for the day...and all it does is give me more motivation to teach our sons to have respect and common courtesy for others.

Reunion!

It's hard living hours away from our BFF's, but it's always so much fun when we get to have visits with them. The Martini family came over on Saturday, and we were lucky this time that they were able to have a sleepover! We were also joined by another family-Jen, Michael, Jack & Sidney.




I have to say, it's so nice that the kids are at an age now where we can just kind of turn them loose in the house & let them do their own thing. Most of the time, the kids were doing one thing, the men were congregated somewhere & the women were in another room. Everyone got to have time with their friends, it was fabulous! Aside from a few of the usual scuffles ("NO, that's MINE!"), the kids had a great time together.



The boys played until they reached the point of sheer exhaustion (yet somehow, still resisted going to bed---ahhh, to have even half of their energy!) and we got to spend some time together in the morning before the Martinis had to head back home.

List-a-mania!

I'm a list-lover, and I fully embrace this trait. There is nothing more satisfying to me than creating a to-do list, then marking off each item as I go along. This applies to both home and work. When I started this job, one of the first things that made me squeal with delight was the huge dry erase board that is directly behind my desk. I make daily to-do lists on it, long-term to-do lists and just general notes to myself. Sometimes I even color-code the items, just to bring more joy to my day.

All of that being said, I decided to write out a "before baby #2 arrives to-do list". My usual feeling of calm did not wash over my body as I wrote out the items; instead, my heart started beating faster & I started flipping through a calendar in a panic-filled way. Today is March 22nd; the plan as of now is to induce sometime around June 1st. A quick calculation puts me at somewhere around 10 weeks, or 2.5 months, before it's go time. YIKES. Here is THE LIST:

• Paint nursery (this would also require picking out a paint color first)
• Select decor for nursery and put those decorations up
• Get necessary baby gear (pack & play, swing, etc...) out of attic, clean it off & figure out where to put it
• Buy a few baby items that we still need (new monitor since ours barely works, 2nd base for infant seat)
• Spring clean the house (yeah, yeah...I know it's not totally necessary, but I'd like to do it if possible, we'll see)
• Weed the outside flower beds, plant flowers
• The Easter Bunny is going to bring Jake a wooden swing set/play structure this year; once the bunny brings it to our house, my dad & Brian need to assemble it. From what I understand, this can be a full-weekend task.

Ok, now in an attempt to calm myself, things I have already checked off of my original list:

• Buy new bouncy seat (purchased this one at walmart for $30!)
  
• Sort & wash baby clothes; last weekend, we pulled all of Jake's newborn & 0-3 month clothes out of the attic & figured out what we would be able to use (he was born in January, this will be a summer baby). I also received a TON of baby clothes thanks to a very generous friend, so we sorted those as well and washed everything. DONE!
• Assemble furniture for nursery; this one was kind of a cheating thing to have on the list, as the stuff was already assembled, we really just had to move it to the other room :) but, it's done!

Well, that's what I have for now. If you'll excuse me, I need to go breathe into a paper bag for a few minutes to calm down....

Details, details...

I've been meaning to do a post like this forever, but never remembered to take the pictures. We needed some new decor when we moved into this house (I was really sad about the fact that I had to go buy new things, let me tell you!), but I'm proud of some of the awesome bargains I was able to get. A few of my favorites....

In our living room, a candle wall-thingy ($7 at Bed, Bath & Beyond--love the 20% off coupons), and a huge picture frame from Pat Catan's for $10. Side note-isn't it weird how the walls look 2 different colors of red? I swear, it's all the same color.



In our sunroom, this beach-y looking picture frame that I scored at Gabriel Brothers for $2.99:



And in the dining room, these wall sconces from Bed, Bath & Beyond ($15 after coupon) and painting from Kirklands ($10!) Don't mind the holes in the wall that still need to be patched:



Also in the dining room, fun new stuff for the built in corner cabinet. The 2 plates were a Goodwill find, for 10 cents each. The little teapot and matching mug were from Pier One, marked down to $4.99. Love!

Ultrasound #2

There's really only one perk to being considered a high-risk patient during pregnancy---extra ultrasounds! Here's the little one on Saturday (27 weeks, 3 days):



Everything looked great, his estimated weight was 2 lbs, 13 oz (I looked back through my pregnancy book from jake when we got home, around the same time with him, he was 2 lbs 8 oz) Baby was head down, directly on my bladder, which explains a lot.

We took Jake with us & he enjoyed looking at his little brother (and even asked to wear his "big brother" shirt to the event) Our ultrasound tech was a young, pretty girl, and Jake spent most of his time in the room flirting with her and cracking jokes. She commented that he was just a one man show...yep, that's him! My favorite line was after 10 minutes or so of looking at the screen with the baby, he said "Ok, let's watch one of my shows now". :)

I had an appointment last Monday, where the dr. decided to double my dose of medication. So I'm up to 500mg of aldomet, twice/day. (I had quite a few high spikes prior to the appointment). It's only been a week since the dose change, but so far so good. She also sent me for some bloodwork, just to check on how my organs are functioning & all of that fun stuff, and all of those came back just fine. I have to start going into the office once/week just as a precaution, and starting at 32 weeks, they will begin doing the non-stress tests during my visits. Less than 3 months to go!

No real belly shot to post, but here is a pic of Brian & I last week on our way to a wedding reception (hey, hey...we had a date night out, go us!). This would have been 26 weeks:

Mommy & Jake's DAY OF FUN!

Bonus points to anyone who knows which 90's sitcom that line is referencing....

I had the day off on Friday (thank you, Pitt spring break!) and declared it "Mommy & Jake's DAY OF FUN". After realizing in the morning that we were not snowed in (thank you for a completely wrong forecast, local meteorologists), I told Jake that our plans for the day included Jumpin Castle. We got dressed and headed out, only to arrive to a sign that in inclement weather, they would either open at 11am or close for the day; this was at 10am. *sigh* At this point, I have a kid who is crying crocodile tears & saying "I wanted to jump!" and a mommy who is irritated by the fact that they are even opening late (did I mention that we really didn't get much snow??) and doubly irritated by the fact that their voicemail says nothing about whether they will close all day or open at 11.

Fortunately, I remembered that there is another jumping place in the same area, so after a quick call to daddy to get the address, we headed there (Jake was sniffling in the backseat, I was silently praying that this place be open) Bounce U saved the day!! Crisis averted!



We came home & had lunch, Jake took a nap while I caught up on some trashy TV (oh, how I've missed you, Real Housewives of Orange County!), then we spent the afternoon doing Jake's favorite activities...books, puzzles, cars and playing restaurant.

I present to you....

....Jake's new room!!




The only thing we're missing is the wall decal I ordered from an Etsy seller; it just came in the mail yesterday so we have to figure out how to put it on the wall. A big thanks to my mom & dad for coming up & helping us move the furniture & get the room ready!



The first thing Jake did when he saw his new room was jump on the bed. Go figure.



The first thing Gracie did was jump up onto the bed & enjoy the new view of the street.



The first test with the new bed was nap time; it took a little while (he clearly enjoyed the novelty of getting in & out of bed by himself for 40 minutes or so), but eventually he fell asleep & took his usual 2 hour nap. We expected bedtime to go in a similar fashion, so we started the bedtime routine early...but we were pleasantly surprised that by 7:30pm (30 minutes early!) he was in bed, snuggled up and we were able to say goodnight, turn the lights out & didn't hear a peep from him! That was Sunday night; he did try to get out of bed last night, but it only took one time of putting him back in, so that wasn't too bad.

Potty Update

SUCCESS!!!

I am so happy to report that when I picked Jake up from school on Thursday, he nearly plowed me over when he saw me & yelled "I WENT ON THE POTTY, TIME FOR CHUCK E CHEESE'S!!!!!!" The kid forgets nothing. I verified with the teacher and yes, he had gone to the potty!! I had to explain to him that we would go the next night, because daddy wanted to go with us (Brian gets out of work early on Fridays), and Jake seemed fine with that. He went at school again on Friday, so it was off to Chuck E. Cheese's for us that night!

The good thing is, Jake is a really cheap date at these kinds of places...his interests include climbing through the tunnel maze & going down the slides (free), sitting on the rides without them moving, he doesn't like it when they start to move (free) and watching other kids play games (free!).



He had a great time, and Brian & I survived a Friday night there. He went again at school yesterday with no bribery involved this week, so hopefully he'll keep up the good work!!

The potty battle

I think I mentioned in a previous post that while potty training Jake at home over Christmas vacation was pretty simple (actually, it was probably one of the easiest parenting things I've had to do so far-he was totally ready for it), getting him to go on the potty at school has been a huge challenge. It's not that he has a fear of going in public, he has no problem at all letting us know when he has to go at a restaurant, the mall, etc... It's literally ONLY at school where he just refused to go. And I do mean refuse; it wasn't that he was having accidents, he would just hold it all.day.long. It was actually quite amazing that he had that kind of control, even through a 2 hour nap everyday!

At first, we thought it was because he was trying to delay the inevitable; in his school, once they're 3 AND potty trained, they move up to the preschool room out of their toddler 3 room. He LOVED his teacher in toddler 3 and often expressed to us that he had no desire to go to the preschool room. But, that transition came & went, it had been weeks and he was still not going (other than 2 or 3 random times).

I spoke with the pediatrician about it at his 3 year check up; the pediatrician told me not to worry, that eventually he would decide to go on his own & as long as he wasn't in pain or holding back from playing or anything, there was no need to worry. But as the weeks have gone on & on with no signs of him caving in & just going, I did begin to worry. A lot. I mean, he was going 10 HOURS without going to the bathroom-that could not be good!

So, after he went on his own last week at school, I felt like he really needed a push in the right direction to keep going. As we were leaving school that day, he said he wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese (we had been there for a party a few months ago and we pass by it on our way home every day); because I'm not above using bribery tactics, I immediately offered him a deal. He would get a sticker on a chart at home every time he went to the potty at school. When he got to 5 stickers, we would go to Chuck E Cheese. (I came up with 5 randomly-I didn't want to overwhelm him and it seemed like going the equivalent of once a day for a school week was fair). Jake was aaaaaaaaaallll about it.

That was last Thursday, so he got a sticker that night when we got home. No success on Friday at school. We reminded him about the stickers yesterday morning, and he practically ran me over when I picked him up last night, he was so excited to tell me that he went on the potty & would get a sticker at home. That's 2 stickers!!! 3 more to go....I never thought I'd say this, but I have my fingers crossed that we'll be spending our Friday night this week at Chuck E Cheese.

Recipe: 6 can chicken tortilla soup

Recipe: 6 can Chicken Tortilla Soup

A friend of mine had this posted on her facebook page the other day & I think it will be added into our regular rotation (thanks, Joy!)

1 15 oz can of corn (drained)
2 14.5 oz cans of chicken broth
1 10 oz can of chunk chicken (I shredded it before adding it)
1 15 oz can of black beans
1 10 oz can of diced tomatoes with green chiles (drained)

-Open all cans
-Dump into large pot
-Simmer over medium heat until heated through
-Garnish with cheddar cheese and crushed tortilla chips

That's it! Super easy & very yummy.

There's no place like home.

For as much fun as I had in NYC, it really did feel good to come home. Unfortunately, since it took me for-e-ver to get home that night thanks to a random snowstorm, I didn't get to hang out with Jake in the evening as I had originally planned. He was already in bed when I got there (though he heard me come in & snuck out of his crib for a few minutes to give hugs & kisses). But, he did leave me some messages with his bath crayons earlier that night that made me smile:



The next day, I picked him up from school & he said, "Mommy, you were in New York City. I missed you. I thought I lost you". My heart was breaking, he looked so sad & genuinely concerned with my whereabouts. But it was very sweet and kind of made my mommy ego swell a little bit, knowing that he did seem to notice my absence :)

How could I have not missed this face??

25 weeks

For as sloooooooowly as the first part of this pregnancy went, I am happy to report that I feel it's been picking up the pace lately. I'm almost in my 3rd trimester!!

25 week belly shot:



And a picture to melt your heart-I wasn't going to do anymore bare belly shots because it's getting to be not-so-cute looking, but as I was leaving for work yesterday, Jake asked to "hug the baby", and proceeded to pull my shirt up & give me a big squeeze. My heart melted on the spot:



I had my every-two-week check up this morning & all was well. I've had a few blood pressure spikes here & there, but the dr. wasn't worried at this point and said that it seems like that might just be my normal at this time. I'll continue monitoring it on my own 3 times a day and have appointments every 2 weeks at this point. I'll get an ultrasound to check on the baby's growth at 28 weeks (yay!)

No protein in the urine, heart rate was 141, belly measuring right on track and weight gain right on track (it was the first time I was a little anxious about the weight gain---I mean, I just spent 3 days in NY eating bagels, burgers & cupcakes!) But all was well.

3rd trimester-here I come!!

Now we're in New York.....

The weekend we had been counting down to for oh so long had finally arrived....girls weekend in NYC for Melissa & I!!!

After horrific flights in for both of us (I'm not usually scared of plane rides or turbulence, but this was the worst I've ever experienced-I won't go into specific details, but let's just say that between my flight & Melissa, there were spilled drinks, bags of ice applied to the airline attendant's head when she cracked it off a wall from falling and someone throwing up) But, we made it, safe & sound on Friday night!!

Saturday morning, we took our time getting up & ready for the day (we're such moms-we "slept in" until 6:45am) After enjoying a leisurely breakfast & coffee, we headed over to Rockefeller Center for our NBC Studio Tour (thanks to Melissa's aunt setting up the tour for us and including goody bags with all kinds of fun NBC stuff in them...I love my "Central Perk" tshirt!) I think we were most entertained on the tour by the fact that of the 28 participants, we were the only 2 Americans (the rest were part of a high school group from the UK), so they didn't really get any of the references on the tour. So it went something like this: the tour guide would say, "Ok, who knows who Jimmy Fallon is? Ok, besides my 2 Americans...anyone else? Anyone? No??" But it was fun & we got to see some cool stuff :)

After that, we got lunch at Stage Deli, where I enjoyed the Kevin Bacon Lettuce & Tomato Sandwich (delicious!) then we relaxed in our hotel room for awhile before heading out to a nearby pub for dinner, followed by cupcakes at Crumbs for dessert.

Sunday morning, we slept in a bit later (I think it was 7:30am, go us!!) and then headed to the Tribeca Grand Hotel to meet Melissa's cousins & their husbands for brunch. Brunch was delicious and we burned off the calories afterward by doing some shopping in Soho. I scored a pair of tall black boots for $24!

We headed back to the hotel mid afternoon to get ready for dinner & a show. We got a recommendation for a hole in the wall Italian restaurant called Tribizzi (I may be butchering that spelling), which was just a few blocks from the theater we were heading to...dinner was great, and very reasonably priced. Onto the show!! My friend Sarah is a travel agent & was able to get me a great deal on tickets to Chicago....we ended up being front row center. A-ma-zing. Side note-I never realized how much people spit when they sing. Or sweat when they're on stage. Or what great shape all of those people have to be in...you could see everything from where we were sitting!! We both thought the show was great, another successful night!



We had requested tickets for the "Regis & Kelly" show months ago when we booked this trip; I hadn't received them in the mail, but we decided to try to get standby tickets Monday morning anyway. Now, we had considered the fact that it was a holiday & maybe they wouldn't be taping...but TV guide online AND the Regis & Kelly website both said "new". Liars!! After getting up & ready at 6am, catching a cab at 6:30 & getting to the studio at 6:45, we walked up to the building all smug when we didn't see anyone, like "Oh yeah...we got this one!" the security guard came out with a smirk & informed us that they weren't taping due to the holiday. Oops.

Onto Plan B---we didn't really have one, so we just stuffed ourselves with more coffee & bagels while we tried to figure out what to do with our morning. It was snowing, but we ended up walking back over to Rockefeller Center and doing the "Top of the Rock" tour, only because we had free tickets. I think the people working thought we were crazy & kept saying, "You know it's zero visibility right now, right?" Free tickets, nothing else to do! Here was our view:



I won't get into my adventure trying to get back home that day, because it was an absolute disaster. But what matters is, we had great weather while in NY, we had a really fun time and I think we both returned feeling a bit more recharged and enjoyed the weekend of relaxation with zero responsibilities.

Happy Valentines Day!

Better late than never, right? Brian & I generally don't do anything for V-Day aside from exchange cards, but I did receive a cute little bouquet of flowers from him, Jake & Gracie this year.



We then had a romantic evening at home, during which we ate chili for dinner and watched The Bachelor :) Don't be jealous.

Once Jake heard there was going to be a party involved at daycare, he LOVED Valentines Day. I'll be adding in another nomination for myself for the "Mom of the Year" award; daycare sent a note home 2 weeks ago asking that we have our child decorate a brown paper bag at home to collect Valentines in at school during the party. Who totally forgot about this project until the night before, right after bedtime? And guess who was the one who was decorating said bag at 8pm that evening? Oops.

But, he still had fun at the party & has been taking his Valentines out of the bag every day after school to admire them. And Brian & I loved receiving these adorable cards that he made at school:



After a strange delay in the mail system, we received a V-Day package in the mail from Nana & PopPop yesterday---one of the goodies was this tiger, who Jake has named "Lovey". Apparently, yesterday was Lovey's birthday and we celebrated at home with a cake in Jake's kitchen.