I’m still looking for the time to add a great blogroll and some other fun stuff to it, but blogger is SO MUCH easier to work with (since I’m not too bright) and I trust that these additions will come easily when I have 5 minutes to myself without a toddler on my lap.

Go see us at our new home, I think you’ll be pleased with the progress.

http://babymakesfamily.blogspot.com/

I have a basketball under my shirt… or so it seems.

I’m swollen everywhere – and thats not very pleasant “down there.”

It’s hot outside – and humid.  I’m from Colorado, where hot and humid don’t happen on the same day. I miss home a bit.

I lost the bottoms to my only maternity swimming suit. So, when I want to go swimming, I have to go in boy gym shorts and my suit top.

Julia has a cold.  A toddler with a cold.  Enough said.

The baby’s room still needs trim put up and the closet cleaned out.

The playroom still needs…  wait, what playroom?

I have to find my own replacement for the 2 months I plan to be gone on maternity leave for one of my jobs, and that’s not going so well.

Water gives me heartburn.

The very frequent trips to the pee-hole aren’t cute or fun anymore.

I work with ALL women, many of which think it’s appropriate to feel my belly at any time.

Julia has been testing limits ever since we got the crib put together…  coincidence?

My doctor canceled my last appointment, which was supposed to be on Friday. (He had a funeral to go to.)

Many of the volunteers at church that I am supposed to coordinate and schedule for Sunday mornings are burning out and finding excuses not to come anymore.

My dad is coming to visit in early August and he and his wife will have no where to sleep unless we get busy with the downstairs level of our home, which needs a lot of TLC.

My feet itch like crazy – well my whole body does – but my feet are hard to reach.

My back muscles are mad at me for lifting things I really shouldn’t be lifting.

My nesting instincts are kicking in, but I don’t feel a lot of progress – and that’s just depressing.

There, that feels better.  While it’s nice to be pregnant, and I do appreciate everything that I have – an occasional whine-fest is healthy once in a while.  Thanks for listening.

Yesterday…

Hubby turned 30.  He got a gift card to the brew store. He loves to brew his beer… I’ve been craving beer, but have only had one small sip of the stuff since almost a year ago.  I’m glad he has some good hobbies that keep him out of trouble anyway.

He also had his second Father’s Day.  I think I gave him the best gift ever…  Julia got him a gift certificate to go golfing, and I got him a whole day off from church.  Rich hasn’t missed a day of church since I got hired (except twice, when we were both out of town together)… and he was able to take that entire Sunday to golf with his dad and his brother.  I think they had fun – they came back smelly and tired and telling stories of the beaver they saw on the course.

We also had our 6th wedding anniversary.  We dumped Julia off at her Auntie’s house so that Rich and I could enjoy dinner together without her.  We ate at the Cracker Barrel, and then went shopping and putzed around town for a bit.  When we picked J up at Auntie’s house, we also brought her two cousins home with us… they spent the night at our house, as a small favor to Auntie and Uncle – who needed a sitter the following morning.  It was a lesson in patience, but it was fun nonetheless.

Then VBS happened, and now here I am trying to come up with all kinds of details that have happened in 3 weeks time to keep this blog updated.

The baby is kicking – she seems healthy and happy.  This coming Thursday will be my first OB appointment that is 2 weeks after the last one.  I’ll get to visit every 2 weeks for a while, then it will go to weekly during my last month.  The due date still hasn’t changed (which is a good thing, since I’m kind of an anal planner)… she’s scheduled to arrive sometime around the 26th of September.  That puts me close to my 28th week, and now I’m starting to feel the pain.  This pregnancy is much harder than the last one. Much much much… but I’m managing to enjoy it when I can.  Julia is excited – and I think life around here is going to change drastically over the next week or so, when we FINALLY get the nursery put together.  God bless my hunk of a hubby who has put new cork flooring down in the nursery … the walls are painted.. the trim has been painted… and it’s all going to come together soon.  He puts up with my impatient nagging… I keep asking him when it’s going to be done – and he patiently reminds me that it’s hard to paint walls and install a floor when taking care of a preggo wife, a toddler kid, running a VBS station, and working full time all at once.  I forget sometimes how much he does for us. He’s amazing.

When we get the nursery put together, then we can refocus on the playroom – which is supposed to be the whole downstairs of the house (next to the this-here-office of ours).  That will be such a blessing…  though, I wish it could miraculously get done within the next 5 weeks so that I can seriously consider starting my home childcare business.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see….

I think my dad and his wifey are coming out in early August.  I told him they’re crazy – they might as well wait until early October… saves them a trip, because they will HAVE TO come out to meet little missy when she’s born..  but he insists and they have the time and plans to come anyway, so that’ll be cool.

I’ve been thinking about and missing my mom and my brother a lot lately.  It’s been years since I’ve talked to my now-estranged brother… but he’s been coming up in my thoughts a lot lately for some reason.  I hope he’s okay.  My mom and I chat very briefly from time to time online… but never with any sustenance to the conversation.   I think this pregnancy is making me hyper-aware of the relationship that is missing there.   Oh well.

I’ve been a horrible friend to everybody around me lately.  My long-time friend Abbey recently graduated college and I didn’t even so-much-as send her a card.  My friend Angela has given us a ton of stuff for the baby and I haven’t sent her a card or called her at all recently.  I have no idea how my Aunt Julie-O is doing… I haven’t talked to her since right after she had her back surgery months ago.  My friend Megan visited a couple of months ago with their newborn baby and she’s since sent pictures over email and I haven’t taken the time to write her a few sentences to let her know I’ve been thinking of her.

I’d love to say that I’m going to sign off now so that I can catch up on all those regrets… but what really must be done is some tidying up of the office before I lose myself in the piles.
Thanks for reading! Look forward to another long, rambling, senseless update in the future.

*exhale*

Happy birthday, hubby. Yer so cool.

Oh, and Happy Father’s Day, too.  Since that’s today, ya know.  Yer a father times two now – what a stud.

Oh – and this Friday will be our 6th wedding anniversary.  Awwww….   I’m so in love with my 30′something father of a hubby. SMOOCH.

I’m losing things that I could never possibly lose:

- My swimsuit bottoms.  I have the top, I have the towel, I have everything I had when I last had the top and the bottom together – but now I don’t know where my bottom is.  ARUGH frustrating… and I only had one maternity swimming suit.

- Apparently I’ve lost four reimbursement checks that the church has cut me.  The finance guy came to me today with a list of checks that have been written to me but never cashed, and how the HELL could I lose a check? I immediately sign the backs of those babies and go deposit them.  The good news is (I guess?) that I didn’t miss the money… apparently I didn’t even realize that the checks never cleared until I was told so today.

- A whole bunch of stamp pads.  I’m not into stamping or stamps or anything stamp related, but I did have a bunch of ink pads for stamps in with all the other crafty crap I have to keep in my basement for the church… and I can’t find a single one.  I did go out and buy a new one since one of the Sunday School classes needed it today for an art project… but of course I lost that one, too…  not even 24 hours after I bought the dang thang.

- Patience.  Have you seen it? My patience is missing.  I’m UBER good with 3/4 year olds. My daughter will be 3 in 3 months – she acts 3 and thinks she’s 3. I should be really good with her…. but I’m not. Where did my patience go?

- My ability to reason. I have been acting on impulse.  What the hell? I’m SUCH a reasonable person.  Does anybody know where I left my ability to reason?

The worst part about all of this is that “preggo brain” never really goes away, right? Once you lose those brain cells, they’re pretty much gone for good.  At least, that’s what everybody tells me and it was true with the brain cells I once had before becoming preggers with Julia.   Ahhh – good thing I have a smart AND good looking hubby to take care of me.

My body is preparing me.  Sleep is unpredictable – just as it is going to be after the new addition arrives.  I lay in bed and watch the clock – only when I’m lucky does it jump ahead a few hours in a blink.

The other night, Igot 3 1/2 hours normal business hours work done between the hours of midnight and 4:30a.m.  Then, I went to bed to rise and shine at 7am with my toddler and hubby.

I don’t know that I’m complaining all that much … sure the lack of sleep wears on me when I have a chance to sit down for a moment during regular functioning hours … but, really, how can I complain when I actually have all those hours to myself in a quiet house.

I can’t help but wonder if I’m relying on my Benedryl to knock me out.  It helps, most of the time. And, if I don’t take it then my first time up to pee is when I’m up for good – because my sinuses drain like niagra falls…. and my first time up to pee is usually about 3 hours after I’ve just laid down for rest.  But, I almost look forward to the 8 o’clock hour when I know my benedryl is coming soon.  Is that a bad thing?

I took my benedryl tonight about 2 and 1/2 hours ago and I feel wide awake.  I like to think that I’m still up because I’m hungry – but really the eating part is just there to entertain me right now.  My blog friends aren’t updating as often as I’d like… I need something to read – pictures to see – information to absorb.  All the websites that I frequent are only updated daily… if that.  There’s nothing good on TV.

I act as if I have nothing to do. There’s laundry to be folded.  Hey, really – does anybody NOT have laundry to be folded?  I swear the laundry pile NEVER GOES AWAY.  It’s stubborn.  The clothes are all clean – they just don’t know their way to the closet.  How annoying.  But, I can’t work on that b/c the kids (one kid and a hubby) are sleeping.  We shan’t disturb.

There’s sweeping and mopping to be done, but I’m too lazy.

There’s work to be done but – seriously – I’ve already worked my share of hours in the past two days/nights. It’s just not fun anymore.

What I should be doing is planning… I should plan an awesome Friday for this week since my hubby is hitting the BIG THREE OH.  I’m disappointed in myself for not planning earlier so I could really make it awesome for him.  But, I suck and we stay busy and we’re poor. (Oh yeah, I didn’t even tell you about our minivan… we got a ‘new’ van – traded in the old Saturn Vue for it. I never ever never never ever EVER thought I’d drive a minivan – but here I am.  You can call me soccer mom.)  Anyway, his bday is friday then Sunday is (of course) Father’s Day and he’s the most bestest daddy in the world for our kids, and then a week from this Friday is our 6th anniversary. Six years.  But, instead of planning something special or cool or doing something worthwhile in preparation for the causes for celebration… I sit here typing about it all to you. I could also be planning for – well – like having another kid.  There’s websites and books to be read about VBACS and newborn siblings and what not.  But, really – do you think I have the energy for all that thinking time? Maybe tomorrow.  Or, I could be planning for our Relay for Life event since I’m the team captain and we have a team meeting this thursday night at my house.  It’s going to be neat – RFL is in July – if you don’t know about it, go look it up. I’m even too lazy to provide a link right here. Maybe I’ll write more about it tomorrow.  Or, I could be planning for VBS since we have a role as a station leader for VBS this year.  But, I’m quite sick of VBS talk since I’m one of the directors of it this year and I’m not really liking either of the two other directors…. so yeah – VBS is a no-go for something to do right now.  Oh, I could be doing a thousand other things.  But, instead, I just wait for the Benedryl to kick in so I can go to bed.

So here I sit – watching the clock from a desk instead of from in bed like I usually do.

And there you have it – my stream of consciousness rambling post about a bunch of nothingness.  You’re welcome.

She walked out on to the deck despite my constant reminding her to stay inside since she doesn’t have clothes on. But, as soon as she got out there, she noticed that our neighbor was enjoying a book on their back porch.  The neighbor smiled at Julia and let out a soft chuckle.

When we came back inside, Julia shed the jewelry, the shoes, the hat, and of course the sunglasses too.  I asked her why she took it all off and she said in her most innocent voice ever, “That lady smiled at me.”

I explained to Julia that it was because she’s cute and that Julia is just hard to NOT smile at.  I told Julia to put her hat and glasses back on because a friend was going to arrive soon to give me a paper I needed….  Julia grabbed her hat and put her glasses on.  She laughed at the prospect of having another lady smile at her – then she put on her hat and cupped her hands over her wide-opened mouth in an “OMG” pose…  then immediately took them off again and said, “Um, NO.”
It was to-die-for-cuteness.

She does a lot of this cute stuff… I just never get around to blogging about it.

Julia also insisted that she use all the rest of her stickers before going to bed.  But, she didn’t want to put them just anywhere- they had to go directly on the baby in my tummy.  They are fun, shiny stickers – and as fun as they are, Julia doesn’t realize that they are old Christmas stickers we no longer needed.  It was fun to have sticker after sticker placed gently on my belly, followed by a sincere “there you go..” and a smooch.

Dang, I really need to take the time to write stuff like this down more often.  She’s so cute.

OF COURSE NOT!  Who would!?!?  Yes – well, I’m learning that the amount of work I’m putting into my “part time” job with the church is the work of four different people put into one already-busy body.  As I consider our new family member arriving near the end of September, I am faced with the impossible task of finding myself a replacement so that I will take a healthy maternity leave.  Not only am I responsible for finding my own replacement during my absence, but I feel as though I’m getting very little support from the rest of the staff on it – it’s kind of a “fend for yourself” deal.

Luckily, I’ve grown tremendously in the last few weeks (I’ve held faithful and true to the promises to myself that I’ve mentioned in my last post)… and I have been more respectful to myself and my family than I have ever been.  So, this task of finding a replacement is not stressing me out as much as it probably should – because I am excited about the terrifiying prospects of taking my well-deserved, well-earned, much-needed maternity leave and possibly building a case for myself against those who see my complaints of being overworked and under-appreciated as frivilous or obscene.

Am I really working for the Lord, here? Or, am I working for a bunch of people who would have me think that I’m working for the Lord while I’m really working to meet their demands?  Clearly, I’m the one who gets to make that decision.  And so, I’m comfortable and confident knowing that a solution will present itself and that I will still be guaranteed a job after the 8-12 weeks of my absence following baby sister’s arrival.

But, oh – let me not be too misleading …  the old me is knocking very loudly on my brain going, “you can’t let this happen!! What if you don’t find and train someone immediately!! What will happen to the ministry!!!  Who will take care of all those kids!?!?!  They need you!!! You must’nt take a leave longer than 2-3 weeks!!!  Don’t be selfish!!!!”

Some of the people I surround myself with daily are seeing the changes in me.  A few of them are not liking it one bit.  One of them actually got into a 20 minute long verbal challenge with me…   For the first time since I can remember, I stood my ground firm. I stood up for myself and my actions.  I explained to her that I can no longer be a doormat… that I’m finding myself responsible for more self-related things – that it’s not all about YOU anymore, but now it’s going to be about ME too.   And, it’s about the new me – the healthier, happier me – not the old me that continues to want to give in, do more, seek approval, and fight for others ALL the time.

Know how I shut the “old me” up?  I see my daughter – growing from a toddler into a young lady. And I see my husband – I mean, I’ve actually SEEN him lately… I haven’t been buried in my computer, in my papers, in my studies of how I can constantly improve… I’ve seen him!  Oh, and I recognize myself in the mirror again – and it’s not embarrassing… because I’m taking care of myself!  This new plan of putting me back on the to-do list seems to be working out.

Unfortunately, one of the ways that I can assure myself a peaceful maternity leave is to take care of the ministry during THAT time frame right NOW.  So, I’m on the search. And I’ll find four (4) f.o.u.r. people who can work as a team to replace ME.  And the cool part… when I’m back at work with my two kids, it will be more fun – because I’ll have a team of four committed volunteers working alongside me, so it shouldn’t be as bad as it has recently become. Amen.