Eric didn’t get up until 7:05 today.  He usually finishing his shower at that time.  It was nice to sleep in, but it was a bit odd.  This morning when we prayed together, he specifically asked for things to do at work today.  I guess he’s really bored this week…never fun.  Poor guy!

I have a new favorite thing.  Yesterday I went to Babies R Us to do some looking around (specifically at cribs, gliders, car seats and stroller options).  Once the time comes to do some registering, I think I’ll pretty much know what I want.  But, before I left, I ran over to the maternity section and found a support belt.  It was $15.  It’s a wide elastic band with some velcro.  I figured, for 15 bucks, it was worth taking home and trying it out.  If it didn’t work, I could bring it back.  So I bought it.  And put it on.  And it is fan.tas.tic!  My belly has been really stretching recently and pulling in odd ways.  It’s gotten a lot more painful.  Just a 4-inch band of elastic makes a HUGE difference.  I could stand up and walk upstairs without pain.  I had a lot more energy last night. WOW!  Best $15 I’ve spent in a long time!

I loved the cooler temperatures and lower humidity yesterday.  I turned off the A/C and opened the windows.  It was just lovely!  The breeze kept the house comfortable.  I hope it stays this way for a day or two!

I realized yesterday that I must find something productive to fill my time.  I had very little to do yesterday (thus the trip to the baby store), and today isn’t looking much more pressured.  I’m sure I’ll miss this time in a few months, but I’m much more the type that thrives on activity.  At least SOME activity.  So we’ll have to see what I come up with for today…

And finally, something funny for all of my English-type friends out there.  Eric showed me this video yesterday.  I was amused.  Enjoy!

Happy Thursday!

I haven’t got much to share today, sadly.  Yesterady wasn’t an exciting day.  Of course, some of it was feeling really tired from poor sleeping the night before.  The rest of it was just a quiet day.

I did not end up getting the paint for the nursery yesterday.  The guy there was a bit frazzled for some reason, so he was having problems communicating well with customers.  The people in front of me were downright confused before they left to call someone to clarify exactly what they needed.  And he stressed me out by the manner in which he told me that he needed a dry paint sample, that he couldn’t use wet paint (and it couldn’t just dry for 15 minutes). So I took the paint stirrer and went home again.  I have two dry samples this morning, so the shade of yellow should be as close as it’s going to get.  And I guess I will try again today.

EDIT: Here’s the paint situation.  The room intended to be the nursery is yellow with the alphabet stenciled around the top of the wall.  Unfortunately, as it was a little girl’s room originally, the color choices for the alphabet are distinctly girly (lavender, coral, sage green).  I would never choose these colors (except maybe the green), and they are very difficut to match to gender-neutral baby stuff.  So the yellow will stay, and the alphabet will go.  They did leave us a small amount of the exact paint color (called ‘daffodil’ when it was originally used 7 or so years ago), but she didn’t leave any info about where they bought it or what brand of paint it was.  And it will not even begin to cover the stencils (every room we’ve repainted has required 3-4 coats to cover her color choices).  So we have to get more paint in a very close shade of yellow so that we can paint 2-3 layers to cover the stencils and a touch-up coat on the rest of the walls. END EDIT

Of course, coming home paint-less meant my afternoon, which was going to involve some work in the nursery, was now very, very open.  So I cleaned up the piles of stuff around the house and put lots of things away (like folded laundry).  I even made our bed.  Then I sat down and read for a while.

Eric grilled steak for dinner, so we enjoyed that.  He spent the evening “hacking” a friend’s computer (with permission), and they were quite entertaining to watch harass each other online.  I tried to find something to watch on television (no luck) and ended up reading some more until Karen called.  We chatted for about half an hour.

Today’s agenda is pretty open, too.   Not sure what the day will hold at this point, but I think the sun is just starting to peek out from the clouds.  It’s supposed to be a bit cooler today, so that should be nice!  Happy Wednesday!

Random Things

So I could whine all through my post about how I didn’t sleep well last night and was far too easily worried last night (seems to be the rule since my “nudge” last week…will need to work on/pray about that one more).  But instead, I think I will do a random, happy post about the good things I have to share…mostly to remind myself!

• I’m buying paint today for the babies’ room.  I’m very excited.  It will just be a coat of as-close-to-the-same-color-as-I-can-get, but still, it’s progress!
• The thunderstorm last night woke Eric up, too, so he let me snuggle with him until I felt less worried.  him!
• I don’t have to water plants today because of all the rain last night!
• I got to talk to my friend in Colorado yesterday for the first time in months.  She’s great!
• My friend sent me, by email, another of those ‘quizzes’ to fill in about yourself, so I thought I’d add it today for fun.

WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? IF SO WHO?  
    NO

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
    Last Friday

DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING
    Sometimes

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
    Smoked turkey

DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
     Almost

IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
    Depends on the day

DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
    Far too often

DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
    Yes

WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
    No

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
    Raisin Bran Crunch

DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?    Yes                            

DO YOU THINK YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?   Sometimes

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM ?
      Strawberry

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
     Their height

RED OR PINK?
     Red

WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
     My sharp tongue

WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
       neither (still in my jammies)

WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
      Dinner last night (tortellini, bread, salad) 

WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
       The whir of computers in our loft

IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
        Blue

FAVORITE SMELL?
       Vanilla

WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
      Ghena

FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
      The Olympics

DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
      Yes

FAVORITE FOOD?
      Fruit, chocolate, anything that someone else makes for me!

SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
     Happy endings

LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
       The Holiday

WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
       Pink nightgown

SUMMER OR WINTER?
       Summer

HUGS OR KISSES?
      Hugs, unless it's Eric

FAVORITE DESSERT?
      Cookies, fruit pies or crisps

WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
      From Dawn to Decadence

WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
      Blue fabric

WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT?
      The Girl with Eight Limbs (National Geographic)

FAVORITE SOUND?
      Not sure...

ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
      Beatles

WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
     Australia

DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
     None that I'd call 'special' 

WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
     Springfield, OH

The Recap

So the weekend was busy, but I did take time to relax, too.  Here’s the scoop…

Friday:  I did make it to my parents’ house, and I helped cut green beans.  (I’d guess my mom has canned all weekend.)  I was quite a bit tense from the rear-end “nudge” I got on the way down.  The quick version: I was first at the red light.  Light turned green.  I roll forward, see the ambulance coming into the intersection, stop.  The lady behind me doesn’t see ambulance, doesn’t stop.  She really wanted it to be my fault.  It wasn’t. 

Anyway, thankfully we weren’t going at all fast, but it still freaked me out a bit.  After all…I’ve never been pregnant before…I don’t have a clue what should concern me!  So I was just a bit on the emotional side all the rest of that day.  I drove home about 4:00, and Eric and I had dinner on the couch (ham sandwiches) and watched The Incredibles.   Also, sometime in the middle of the night (after my nightly jaunt to the bathroom), my rational side kicked back on, and between that and some real, faith-based prayer (choosing not to be afraid is much easier said than done), I stopped being so fretful. 

Saturday:  Okay I did fret a bit on and off throughout the weekend, mostly because I had more aches and pains than usual.  Of course, that could just be because I’m 18 weeks along with twins, but I would’ve preferred it didn’t happen the day after being rear-ended!  So on Saturday, I did some chores and stood too much.  I realized this when I was walking around the grocery store, so I sat on the couch and read a book for a couple of hours.  Then we went to a cookout for the evening which was lots of fun.  And I didn’t have to cook dinner!  Lovely!

Sunday: Only one unusually hard tightening sensation in my abdomen all day.  That made me feel better.  And of course, on Sundays, I do very little anyway, so that probably helped!  We went to church, headed home for a meatloaf dinner, then goofed off for the rest of the day.  Eric finished clearing out the babies’ room so we could vacuum and clean the carpets.  I did a lot of looking online for baby things.  We read some, watched some television, and made homemade pizza for supper.

Oh!  And about 7:00, our doorbell rang.  It was our next-door neighbor.  She wanted to know if I’d want her summer maternity clothes, which she will never wear again and doesn’t want to pack/store when they move in a couple of months.  Um….yes!  So she brought me over at least $100 worth of name-brand maternity clothes and wouldn’t take anything for them.  It was such a helpful gesture, and now I have clothes, but didn’t have to spend any money on them.  I must think of something nice to say thank you.

Today’s agenda is somewhat vague.  I have a load of laundry I should do.  Other than that…no idea.   Happy Monday!

Quick Prayer Request

So it was sort of a stressful morning for me, and it would make me feel better if my Xanga friends would say a quick prayer.

On my way to C-ville today, I was rear ended at a stop light.  We were both stopped.  I started forward, but then stopped again because an ambulance was entering the intersection.  The lady behind me didn’t see the ambulance, didn’t stop, and hit me.  There didn’t seem to be damage to either cars, and I’m pretty sure all is fine with the babies. My neck and shoulders are a bit tight tonight, but frankly I don’t care much about that.  I did call my doctor’s office and they didn’t seem concerned (though they gave me some things to watch out for). 

But would you just pray that all would be well.  Thanks!

Just a quick one…

Sorry for my absence yesterday.  I had a doctor’s appointment in the morning, and I spent much of the rest of the day with the nieces (and some friends) at the zoo.  Then, as I was super hot and super tired, I went home and sat on the couch.  For the rest of the day.

As for updates…I got no pictures from the ultrasounds (none at all), so I don’t have those to show you.  But I did gain good weight, the babies look fantastic, their heartbeats were 160-ish and 150-ish, and my cervix is closed and very long.  My doctor was very, very pleased.

The zoo was a lot of fun.  I was the hit of the day, it seemed.  Deb and the girls brought along some friends, Angie and her two girls (Alyssa and Sarah) who are Kelly and Holly’s ages. Everyone wanted to hold my hand (Sarah cried once because she couldn’t at the same time as the other girls), and Alyssa was even calling me Aunt Shannah for the day.  They were too cute! 

Today, I’m headed to C-ville to help my mom can green beans.  So I may be back one once or twice, but I won’t be around much today either.  So on that note, have a marvelous weekend!

Happy Friday!

Gail’s Receipt Game

I know that everyone keeps talking about how much gas costs these days, but that’s not really my big problem.  I drive a Toyota Corolla that (after 12 years) still gets 30+ mpg from its 10 gallon tank. And not driving to CU in the summer makes a huge difference as well. So gas is not killing my budget, thankfully.

On the other hand…my budget has been seriously affected by this whole pregnancy thing.  Of course, I’ve heard that big list of how much a kid will cost from birth to age 18.  But why didn’t someone mention before how freakin’ expensive having the kid is?   This is particularly true in my grocery/household shopping.  To illustrate, I will play Gail’s receipt game from my last trip to Meijer.

• $10 – fruits and vegetables
• $17.75 – dairy products (including milk, yogurt and cheese)
• $22.75 – other groceries (most of which go towards my snacks and not toward actual meals)
• $2.99 – a travel sized pillow to put between my knees so I can sleep
• $4.99 – a pack of dishcloths (okay, this isn’t a pregnancy thing, but mine keep falling down the drain and being eaten by the disposal)
• $16.00 – 2 big plastic tubs for basement storage of things that didn’t need to be on bookshelves.

Anyway…there it is.  Of course, we are not poor, we are highly blessed, and for crying out loud, we’ll get two babies for the price of one.  Oh wait…that’s what I’ve been forgetting to do.  I haven’t been dividing the costs by two, half for each twin!  Never mind then…babies aren’t really that expensive after all!

Happy Wednesday!

I wish I had something super exciting to share, but I don’t.  So here’s a quick update on life:

• I was called yesterday by our insurance company. They have a pregnancy program you can enroll in.  I did that a number of months ago.  Apparently, there is a second tier for multiples.  They’ll assign a specific person to call you every so often, check in, make sure you’re doing well, and answer any questions you have.  I figured…why not?  Of course, I know they’re less interested in me/us than in how much money they’ll need to spend on me/us, but that’s okay.

• The lady who called me yesterday reminded me to do three things: hold on to hand rails on stairs because my center of balance is changing, eat smaller meals more often and drink lots of water.  Um…duh…

• I spent most of the day sorting out drawers, filing cabinets and piles of things.  I’m not done yet.  From the looks of my recycling pile, we’ve wasted a lot of trees in the last few years.

• Eric got home before 3:00 yesterday.  He’s not enjoying work these days, so he brought some stuff home to read it.  He needed not to sit at his desk.  It’s hard to see him during this stage of his “I hate/love my job” cycle.

• I cleaned my kitchen yesterday evening, and it was lovely to come downstairs to empty countertops.  I also ironed the three shirts I’d washed for Eric the other day.  They only sat around for a couple of days instead of the week or more I’ve been letting the ironing go.  Yay for me!  Then we watched Bravo’s countdown of the top 25 funniest movies ever.  We didn’t agree with some of their choices, but it was a fun thing to watch.

• Today will probably involve a grocery errand and cleaning bathrooms, as well as continuing on my sorting.  Sounds like fun, huh?

Happy Tuesday!

Is it just me, or is Xanga a little slow today?  It could just be me…

The weekend was insanely busy, but quite good.

Friday night we headed to C-ville for a family gathering for my brother’s birthday.  The girls were in great moods, the food was good, and it was nice to sit and chat with everyone. 

Funny story about the girls:
The other night after the girls had been put to bed, they were giggling and making noise, so my brother opens the door (without turning on the light) and asks, “Who wants to be paddled first?”  From the dark, Holly’s voice comes back to him, “She does.”

We left about 8:30, thinking we would drive straight out to the farm.  But it didn’t happen.  We were just too tired. So we drove home, got up early on Saturday morning and drove out then.  Eric helped his brother put a roof on the new calf barn, and I chatted all day with his mom.  And I even dozed off for a short nap!  My in-laws had to leave in the late afternoon for a wedding reception, so we just headed home and relaxed all evening.  We watched a movie (Mama’s Boy) and headed for bed.

Sadly, my nap came back to haunt me on Saturday night.  After my nightly bathroom trip at about 2:30, I went back to bed.  And stared at the ceiling for an hour and a half.  Nothing worrying me.  Nothing on my mind.  Just not sleeping.  So I prayed for a bunch of people (you guys, too!) and tried not to wake my husband up.  And about 4:00 in the morning I fell back asleep.  This is why I never, never nap!

Sunday was a good day.  Church in the morning included a Parent/Baby dedication in which Karen & Erik participated (with J of course!).  We went to first service and then waited for all the family to arrive.  We stayed for that part of the second service (it’s always about first thing) and then headed home for a bit. Karen had invited us to join them for dinner, so we headed over there, ate, and had a nice time chatting and relaxing.  And when we got home, we started tearing our house apart in preparation for baby stuff.  Of course, this morning my house is quite disheveled, but I think we’ll figure out where to put everything eventually!

And that’s about it for now.  I have no major plans until later in the week, but I do have some cleaning to do in my house.  So I guess I’ll be working on that.  And don’t worry (for all you who were already concerned), Eric’s doing all the moving of furniture and things.  The most I carried yesterday was a couple of (small) stacks of books.  Most of my job involves sorting, throwing away, and figuring out where the furniture should be moved!

Happy Monday!

A Hot One

Even without humidity, the heat this week can be a bit overwhelming.  I must remember to water the plants this morning so they don’t droop horribly…  But I still summer! 

Yesterday’s “party” went really well, but I did too much.  Before the girls arrived, I went to the grocery and then made chicken salad.  Then I cleaned up the kitchen, swept the kitchen floor and quick-cleaned the bathroom.  At just after noon, Autumn and baby Luke (5 months) arrived.  At 12:30, Kate and Katie came with Katie’s daughter McKayla (9 months). A few minutes later, Bev and Landon (9 months) arrived as well. 

We played with the babies, had lunch, and generally enjoyed not being all by ourselves at home for one day.  We talked, regrouped, talked some more, regrouped, talked some more, and finally had to break up the fun. The first group left about 3:00 and the last two left about 3:45. 

After they left, I sat on the couch and watched television.  Too much work and too much standing made my hips and feet really hurt, so I just did nothing for the rest of the day.  Eric and I spent a lazy evening, and I was ready for bed at 9:00.  Fantastic!

Today I have only a couple of errands to run.  And this evening we’ll be heading to C-ville for a family gathering.  Then I think we’ll be driving to the farm for a short visit this weekend.  Eric’s going to help his brother do some roofing job, I think.  All I know is that I will NOT be helping with a roofing job! 

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got.  Have a lovely weekend!