I actually have them today…woohoo!

Eric’s birthday present arrived yesterday.  I ordered in on Wednesday, I think.  The free shipping is 7-10 business days.   It came in two.  Works for me!

The Today Show (I watch while I eat breakfast) had a segment on the vaccines/autism in children debate.  I don’t know where you all stand on that concept, but it was kind of interesting to watch.  Their medical correspondent (Dr. Nancy Snyderman) got almost cranky at Matt Lauer over it (she sees no causal link).  If you care, you can check it out…

I got all my thank you notes written yesterday.  And in envelopes.  And all but 4 addressed.  But the best part of all is that they are finally using up my old stamps.  I bought a roll of stamps at 39¢ years ago, but haven’t been able to use them up (despite TWO rate increases) because we pay most of our bills online.  So today, I can finally go buy a roll of stamps which means I can go back to putting only ONE stamp on every letter I mail (instead of 3 – 39¢ + 2¢ + 1¢).  Yippee!!

Yesterday I had a doctor’s appointment.  I’m 32 weeks and 4 days.  She didn’t even bother measuring how big I am (fundal height).  I guess that means I really am ginormous!  They’re still both breach, so they scheduled a c-section.  For December 8.   That is 38 weeks, six full weeks away.  I was not really excited about how far away that is.  Of course, I doubt I’ll make it that long (ie, will need an emergency c-section after I go into labor), but still, the guaranteed end is not as “in sight” as I was hoping it might be.  Oh…and I have developed PUPPP which is a harmless but really annoying rash with intense itching.  It won’t go away until they’re born.  Oh goodie… 
I’m so ready to be done with this…

Eric’s brother came and took him out for dinner last night.  That worked for me because I had no idea what to have for dinner.  So I found something for myself and worked on thank yous, and they went and found a costume for Ryan to wear to work today (a monk’s outfit… he looked like something from Monty Python and the Holy Grail).  Then we just hung out for a bit.

I actually have an agenda today!  Here’s the plan so far (in no particular order):

• Make a meal plan for November (and maybe December, just to have one when the babies come)
• Mail thank-you notes
• Buy a roll of stamps (preferably the “forever” kind, so future rate increases won’t affect me)
• Cash a couple of checks
• Make a couple of returns (to Meijer and Target)
• Buy a few things so I can survive the weekend (I’m almost out of peanut butter ).  I hate to shop on Saturdays…that’s when the crazy soccer moms are out!
• Hand out candy for Trick or Treat-ing tonight.
• Buy coffee grounds so Eric can have coffee over the weekend.

I’m sure I have a few more errands to run (apparently they’ve been collecting all week), but we shall see what else pops up today. 

Anyway, I hope you all have a marvelous Friday and a relaxing weekend! 

Because I have no real theme for any of the random-ness floating around in my head this morning.  So, bullets it is!

• I was not very exciting yesterday.  In fact, I never left the house (not even to get the mail).  I don’t think I even put shoes on yesterday.  Oh well.
• We were both pretty tired from our late night on Tuesday, so we stayed up as late as we could (9:30), recorded the last half of MythBusters, and went to bed!  We both slept really well, too.  I guess sheer exhaustion will do that for you!
• I did sort some of the baby stuff to be washed yesterday (but did no laundry) and I loaded the dishwasher and ran it.  And I made dinner.  For me, a very productive day!
• This morning, so far, I’ve unloaded the dishwasher and printed a letter/envelope that must be mailed today.  I’m already ahead of my yesterday self…
• Today sort of feels like Friday to me.  But it also feels like a Thursday.  I wonder when I’ll ever get my days of the week right again…

Okay, this is boring even me.  So if something else, more exciting, comes up, I’ll post again later!  Happy Thursday!

You know, like Goldilocks…”and the porridge/chair/bed was just right.”

That’s how I felt about yesterday when I was climbing the stairs to bed.  Of course, not everything was perfect, but when I looked back at the day itself, it was with a very contented sigh.

• The amount of work I did yesterday was just right.  I didn’t get everything on my list done, but the house looked good and the lasagna turned out yummy. 
• I had enough time to sit for an hour or two in both the morning and afternoon which was good because there was much swelling yesterday in the feet, even before I did anything other than shower!
• The number of people was just perfect for what I could stay on top of yesterday.  Not that I’m glad the other couple couldn’t come, but the 6 adults/1 child combo was much better for me than 8 adults/2 children would have been.
• One of the couples had to leave pretty early to put said child to bed.  The other couple stayed until 11:30!  I’m a little tired today, but the conversation was fun and funny, and I enjoyed it immensely!

So it was a good day for sure.

In other news, the dietician did finally call me back yesterday.  She was at a conference last week (perhaps she could have put that on her voicemail ) and she has most Mondays off, I guess.  So at least she wasn’t ignoring me.  And I got a chance to get her recommendations about my food intake.  Of course, it all comes down to me needing to eat more (on top of the 6 meals a day I’m already eating)…I’m not sure how we’ll manage it, but I’ll keep trying.

I guess that’s a good start for today, anyway.  Happy Wednesday!

Tonight we’re hosting our supper club from small group.  Since our small group is so large, we decided to try dividing into smaller groups and meeting for 3-4 months in a row at people’s homes for dinner.  It’s a chance to talk to other couples more personally and maybe get to know each other better.  So we’re hosting ours tonight.  I’m making a lasagna, the other ladies are bringing sides, etc.  It should be a good evening…

Of course, I have a number of things I need to do to be ready for people to come over tonight.  And thus, I think I’ll be skipping bible study this morning.  I’d like to be able to do both, but I need to be realistic.  With all the breaks I need these days, it takes me a long time to do very simple chores.  And I know I won’t have the energy to get all my chores done between noon and six, when people will get here.  So I think I’m going to skip today. 

Sadly, I actually had all my homework done, too.  Oh well…

Other random pieces of information for you this morning:

• I’m 32 weeks pregnant today.  I’m ready to be done with this.  Seriously.
• I called my dietician yesterday to ask a question.  She apparently doesn’t think my questions are important because this is the second phone call that she hasn’t yet answered (last Thursday or yesterday).  I’m not impressed with the ‘help’ I’ve been getting from that department, I must say.
• I hung out with Karen for a bit yesterday.  We just chatted and played with Jason for a while.  He’s pretty cute!
• Eric got home a little after 9:00 from The Main Event.  He had fun playing with his camera (and his friend’s camera which was twice as expensive as his own).  He doesn’t care about sports, but he does like taking pictures. So I think he had a good time. 
• There is nothing really worth watching on Monday nights.  I flipped around a lot.  But I did get thank you notes written while I “watched” various shows…
• Eric’s birthday is exactly two weeks from today.  I really need to get his present taken care of, just in case babies come by then.  Actually, we jokingly said months ago that the only day, earlier than Thanksgiving, that the babies could come was on his birthday, which he shares which his grandfather.  But, we said, that would be WAY too early.  Of course, it’s still earlier than we’d want…but it’s not sounding that problematic anymore…

Okay, on to my day, I think.  Have a happy Tuesday!

Eric made me watch it on Friday night.  He had put it on our Netflix queue when I said a while back I’d never seen it.  There was a reason I had never seen it.  It’s stupid.  I knew it would be.  I was right.

Don’t ever watch 2001: A Space Odyssey.  It makes no sense for 2 1/2 hours,  is too artsy (even for my tastes), and while it was groundbreaking in 1967, it’s just plain painful now.  And I don’t care how good the soundtrack is… (This was Eric’s argument: I know it’s slow and bad, but the music is good… )

So that was Friday night.  I did make White Chicken Chili for dinner which was really yummy!  So at least one good thing happened that night!

Saturday was pretty low-key.  Eric worked in the basement.  He said he would be cleaning it, but an hour later, I heard saws and drills and things.    Turns out that after he moved a few boxes to the crawl space, he started building a new toy for himself.  So now the basement needs cleaned again!  But it kept him entertained for a couple of hours, and now he has a new toy.   Silly boy!

I actually worked around the house on Saturday.  I did all the laundry (even put it away!) and put away piles of stuff and cleaned the kitchen counters off completely.  Then I sat all evening, pretty much.  And my hips were really upset with me on Sunday morning!  But the house looked SO much better!  Now if I only cared that much about my bathrooms…

Sunday was church, relaxing, and then a small group party.  Unfortunately, I was also struggling not to be cranky with people and myself all day.  Not sure why, but I was pretty out of whack for much of the first half of the day.  After I cried for a while and after Eric let me vent some (these were not simultaneous), I felt a little better.  And the party in the evening was a lot of fun. 

Tonight, Eric is taking pictures at The Main Event.  I was thinking to go with him, but I’ve decided it’s probably  better for me not to go.  I don’t know where they’ll have him (or if he’ll be moving around a lot), and I can’t stand for that long.  And mostly, having been involved in enough productions of various sorts in my life, I don’t want to be in the way or cause those in charge any issues having to worry about what to do with the enormously pregnant lady who is serving no useful purpose.  They have better things to do!  So I’ll be spending most of the day at home alone.  I’ll have to figure out how to get some people time in a different way, I guess…

That’s it for this morning.  Happy Monday!

So the pregnancy swelling is getting a lot more obvious these days…but only on the left side.  We noticed this yesterday, and it’s been amusing me ever since.  My hands look about the same, but my left hand is more affected.  My left foot and ankle are visibly swollen, while my right foot is not as much.  It looks really bizarre to have one fat little puffy foot, but still be able to see the tendons and stuff in the other one!  I wonder if my limping (my right hip hurts worse) is causing the uneven-ness.  Either way, it really looks funny!  (and probably means I need to sit down more today…)

Yesterday, I wrote one thank you note.  At that rate, I’ll be done sometime in December.  Perhaps I should work a little harder at it…

I went to Meijer yesterday.  Staying stocked on the amounts of veggies and meat-type items I’m eating these days is getting expensive.  Good thing we don’t have too much longer to wait!  I also got some baby laundry detergent, so now I can wash the clothes and things we’ve gotten so far.

Speaking of clothes, a friend of Eric’s from his hometown had twin girls about 5 years ago and is donating a bunch of little girl clothes to us (another lady in the church got the matching outfits for her little girl).  So we will have LOTS of clothes for Little Miss.  Unfortunately, there has been no similar offer of boy clothes.  Poor Little Man…we’ll have to work on stocking up for him, too!

I don’t know about anyone else, but I think the first half of this week dragged by.  Thankfully, the second half went much faster.  And now it’s Friday!  So Happy Friday!  And have a marvelous weekend!!

I’m frustrated this morning.  I can’t seem to find a balance that I somehow have to find.  I debated about giving details, but I’ve decided rehearsing it will only make me dwell on it more.  And that would put me out of balance mentally/emotionally (which I’m already bordering on) as well as in the specific situation.  So if you would just pray that I could resolve the lack of balance and stay filled with the Spirit, I’d appreciate it.

On to other, happier, thoughts…

Thanks for all the suggestions about birth announcements yesterday.  I think we’ll be able to find something that will work without having to sell one of the babies to pay for them!

A lady that Eric works with gave me a twin-sized breatfeeding pillow that she never used (her milk never came in with her twins).  I’m still a bit daunted by the idea of breastfeeding twins, but I’ve heard these pillows can really help.  So I was very happy to get it!  One less thing to buy… 

I was actually quite productive yesterday (Eric worked late again, so I filled my time as I could).  I cleaned the kitchen.  I bought a few new shirts (most on sale) for myself, which very quickly wore me out!  I worked on a couple of little projects I’ve been meaning to start.  I roasted a chicken for dinner (and it was YUMMY!), and I ironed some clothes, too. 

After Eric got home, we pretty much just hung out on the couch and watched TV (after I’d finished ironing, that is).  Nothing too exciting, but it was nice to be together.

I think that’s all I’ve got this morning.  I guess I should go start my day.  Happy Thursday!

One of these little ones is kicking my bladder as I type this.  Apparently someone is a morning person.

Bible study was pretty good yesterday, but I didn’t do very much for the rest of the day.  I did go out to get the mail.  But that might have been about it.  Today, I actually have a couple of things I want to do.  We shall see how it goes.

Today is exactly two months from my official due date.  We won’t make it anywhere near that date, but it’s kind of cool to think of it like that.

Every time I walk into my newly-rearranged living room, I think, “I really like this setup.”  That is a good feeling!

Eric is looking into getting some new photography equipment.  He really enjoys that hobby.  And I enjoy the fact that I’ll have fantastic pictures of my babies that won’t require fighting with gimmicky studios (most of the time)!

I was looking into birth announcements yesterday, just to see what was out there.  They are expensive. Yikes!

That’s all I can think of right now…guess I’ll go get on with my day!  Happy Wednesday!

Today, I’m 31 weeks pregnant.  I’m hoping for at least 3 more weeks.  But I think the end is getting nearer…

I have bible study this morning.  I need to go dry my hair and put on some makeup before I go.

I ran up to the mall yesterday to see if I could find some clothes that fit and are appropriate for cooler weather.  I tried some on at JC Penney.  Then I discovered the maternity store is no longer there.  I left the mall empty handed.

My biggest clothes dilemma is that a medium is often not long enough to cover my belly, but a large is just too big everywhere but on my belly (and sometimes even there).  I’m not sure what to do about it.  I hate the thought that, for my last few weeks of pregnancy, I’ll have to look bad every day.  *sigh*

I’m really glad for the sunshine today, even if it’s pretty chilly out there.  I the sun!

I think that’s all I’ve got today.  Happy Tuesday!

Does anyone have a good method of healing REALLY chapped lips?  Mine need lots of help…

Today I’ll do a backwards recap for you, just to shake things up a bit…

This morning, we had an early start for our 8:00 a.m. ultrasound (sorry, no pics).  The babies look great and are HUGE.  They guesstimated their weight at 4.6 and 4.10 lbs, give or take 10 oz. (I’m not exaggerating…she said the margin of error is big at this stage).  They are also both breach now.  I’m in serious doubt now that they’ll be able to turn many more times, so it looks like I should start planning on the c-section. 

Sunday was a day of recovery.  We went to church and did some relaxing.  But we also did a good deal of organizing.  Eric rearranged the living room area (I watched from various chairs) so we could set up some of the baby stuff we got on Saturday (see below).  I like how it turned out!  And we spent the evening relaxing on the couch watching television. 

Saturday was a very busy day.  We got up and cleaned up our house a good bit because my MIL and both of Eric’s grandmothers were coming over later.  In the afternoon was my baby shower.  It was a great party (thanks Karen!), with lots of friends and family.  It was great to see everyone.  Also, people were very, very generous.  I have no idea how I’ll express my gratitude adequately in my thank-yous!  We got a number of our bigger items and really cute clothes and blankets, and we need to return only a couple of things.  Overall…it was just a great time.

Of course, I definitely overdid.  I was exhausted by the time it was done, so after getting everything home, and chatting with the in-laws for a while, I collapsed on the couch and didn’t move much for the rest of the night.

Friday night…I don’t even remember what we did, so it probably involved goofing off.  

I think that’s all the highlights.  The rest of the day is pretty open, but I might try to make it to the mall for a bit.  We shall see…

Happy Monday!