Warm and Fuzzy!

Oh, I feel just awful that I am just now sitting down to do this! Sweet Friend Julie tagged me last week to do a Top Ten Warm and Fuzzy list. My mind is going thirteen different directions at once right now, and my stupendously poor time management skills have kept me from blogging duties and delights.

But now, here we go . . .

TOP TEN THINGS THAT MAKE ME FEEL WARM AND FUZZY INSIDE

1) The twinkle in Dacey's eye when she knows she is being cute

2) Treating myself to a latte (Toffee Nut, please!)

3) Freshly painted toenails

4) Phone calls from The Coach during the day "just because"

5) Settling in on the couch for a night of movies or even TV with my Man. We are such homebodies, and we love it that way!

6) Singing along to favorite songs from high school and college when they come on the radio

7) Being in the congregation at church when someone is baptized. We uptight Southern Baptists don't have much in the way of tradition and ceremony - a true dirth of Pomp and Circumstance - but to me, the act of baptism by submersion is one of the most meaningful, beautiful ceremonies! I get tears in my eyes every time.

8) Fresh bed linens

9) Wildflowers in bloom

10) The way D wraps her arms around me and pats me on the back before I lay her down in her crib at night. *big sigh* Perfect ending to any day!

To say that I am totally into the blogging community right now would be the sort of understatement that can only be equaled by something along the lines of Texas in the summer can get a little hot and humid . . .

Everyday I come across fun and fascinating blogs; my bloglines feeds are fat and sassy and I am loving it!

Anyway, one bloggy mama I am crazy loving right now is Boo Mama. Don't let her humble subtitle fool ya - she has hundreds of readers! Today's post on the heartbreak of our children growing up is reflective and poignant (and funny), and there is a little something in most every one of her entries that at least gets me to giggling . . . more often than not, though, I am laughing out loud.

So anyway, just thought all six of my readers might like the heads-up on her. Good blog times!

Flushed under the freckles

Well, this is certainly humbling!

My funny, sweet, sassy, awesome, funny, gorgeous - did I mention funny? - friend Meghan has been so kind as to nominate the old Sorta for a couple of Blogger's Choice Awards!

It's hard for me to post this because I haven't really written anything that would land me in the "best" category for much of anything, but I dearly love Meghan and so I am posting this for her!

Blog Design Giveaway!

Wowza! And hooray!! One of the coolest, hip-est, neatest blogistas I so enjoy reading - Everyday Mommy - is honoring mamas with a Blog Design Giveaway!!

As you may remember from way back when, I have been wanting a new look for oh-so-long now. I have toyed and toyed with the idea of purchasing a design from one of the many talented blog design gurus out there, but in the end I have decided to hold off on that until I get for real serious about blogging. But if someone wanted to tinker around with the ol' blog for free . . . well, wouldn't that just be one of the most memborable Mother's Day gifts eva?

Menu Plan Monday

I gotta tell ya - D has been sick all weekend, and I am not feeling all that awesome today, either. Still, I have mapped out a menu for the week, and we shall see what happens.
As always, thanks so much to Laura at "I'm an Organizing Junkie" for hosting!

Monday - Banana Buttermilk Pancakes, eggs, bacon
Tuesday - Spinach and cheese ravioli - not sure what else
Wednesday - Spaghetti, veggies, cheese bread
Thursday - Popcorn chicken, fries, veggies
Friday - An Ordinary Mom's Chicken Chesnut Casserole
Saturday - Honey BBQ meatloaf, mashed potatoes, greens
Sunday - Mother's Day - we better be going out to eat! :)

Okay, BIG drum roll!

This morning we finally had our BIG ultrasound.

You know, there's a lot to be said for women's intuition. A lot to be said for a mother's intuition. Sometimes, you just know that you know something.

Yesterday in church, The Coach and I wrote down some great boy names that we were really happy with and very excited about. (important to note we weren't doing this during the sermon or anything juvenile like that . . . just during the pass the plate portion of the service . . .) I have been shopping little boys' clothes and found some darling sports-themed bedding. I've been watching my friends interact with their sweet little boys and observing that special bond between mother and son. You know, just really getting into this whole baby boy thing, because I really, really knew that in September we would be bringing home a baby boy of our own.

But then again, there's something to be said for being surprised. Really, genuinely, truly surprised.

It's a girl.

:)

Drum roll, please . . .

Well, not the BIG drum roll yet as we are still waiting for our BIG ultrasound where we will *hopefully* find out the gender of this little nugget. But we do need a drum roll nonetheless because at today's check-up, I got to choose baby's birthday! That was a really surreal thing to get to do, let me tell ya. I live life very much knowing that the best laid plans of mice, men, and pregnant women often go (astoundingly) awry, but if by some grand miracle everything does work according to our plans, then this next babe will be delivered on September 5th!

I was really excited and surprised to get to choose a date this early, but I sure did jump at the chance to pick a date today! Speaking of today, here's me this morning at just past twenty weeks:

(Yes, that would be Mommy's Little Shadow happily playing on the bathroom floor. Good thing I keep my house spic-and-span, huh? Ahem . . .)

And speaking of The D, here's a few pictures from our nature walk at the river center yesterday. It's actually a floating wetlands walk, and as you can see, D thought the wetlands look awfully inviting!

Not much else to report here. As always, I have some bloggy ideas rolling around in my head (and now being recorded on paper), it's just finding a few spare moments to getting them written up that remains the challenge. My friend Laura turned me on to Bloglines and that little helper does an amazing job of allowing me to stay caught up with all my favorite blogs. I may not always comment, but I really am reading! I have a number of friends who have just recently entered the blogosphere, and I have also just stumbled across many in the past few weeks that are really great reading! I may never open a bound book again.

Running behind!

Yes, I rolled over 20 weeks yesterday - the OFFICIAL halfway point. We are having a super busy week, but I promise to come back tomorrow after my doctor's appnt with a better update.

And no, the ultrasound is not tomorrow! Soon though! Very soon . . . ;)

Menu Plan Monday - first one!

I found Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie to be SO very helpful last week, I decided to contribute my own little plans this week.

Here's the plan:

Monday: Fish sticks, corn on the cob, other veggies
Tuesday: Baked potato soup and sandwhiches on foccacia bread
Wednesday: Kids' Choice Yummy Peanut Noodles and baked sweet potatoes
Thursday: Chicken nuggets, fries, cucumber salad
Friday: ??? not sure yet!
Saturday: Chicken pot pie
Sunday: Wonderful recipe from my sweet friend Keara (actually, Sweet Friend Keara's hubby Joe!)
Joe's Famous Breakfast Tacos
2 to 4 potatoes chopped
4 eggs with milk and cheese
Kilbasa- (they like the spicy kind. Bacon works, too, or you can make them meatless with just potatoes, eggs, and cheese!)
refried beans
tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a pan put olive oil and potatoes in to fry. Cut sausage into semi thin slices put in with potatoes. Add olive oil as needed. Fry until potatoes are soft.
Scramble eggs with a little milk and cheese.
Move potatoes and sausage to the side and add eggs. Fry to the way you like and as they are getting done mix with potatoes and sausage until done.
Remove from heat when done.
Heat another pan and warm up 6 to 8 tortillas. Get 6 to 8 sheets of aluminum foil. Spoon or spread refried beans inside tortillas. Add potato, sausage, and egg mixture into tortillas and fold and put into aluminum foil and wrap then put onto a pan and into the oven for 15 to 30 minutes or until warm then eat.

I made these last night and they were so, so, SO delicious!

Reduce, Reuse . . . you know the rest

Are you ready for Earth Day? I wasn't, until I read this from Sara at Walk Slowly, Live Wildly. This amazing post will surely inspire you to take a step beyond recycling and work towards really eliminating the amount of trash that comes into and goes out of your home. I am amazed at all she and her family are doing! I hope you will be inspired and motivated, too.

Halfway

So, here we are - 19 weeks! If all looks good, we will aim for a delivery around 38 or 39 weeks, so I like to think at 19 weeks that the nugget and I are halfway there. YES!

It occurs to me I need to change my description of what this blog is about, as I have sort of wandered from the natural family living discussions that inspired this blog to begin with. (Much of that wandering has taken place since January . . .)

Life with D becomes ever more interesting as her flair for drama reaches new heights daily. I was telling my dad the other night that her (frequent and puzzling) tantrums bring to mind phrases from the Bible where great tragedy and pain are spoken of . . . you know, things like "wailing and gnashing of teeth" and "sackcloths and ashes." I am fairly confident that given the chance, she would gladly don a sackcloth and smear ashes on her face to symbolize to all who meet her that verily, verily, she is to be pitied among all children, for her mother hath commanded that she shall not eat of the cat's food from the cat dish, and she shall not use the dry erase marker she foundeth on the refrigerator to color the kitchen floor. Woe to her! Woe to her!

Yep, it's a hard life. Pobricita!

Hard to say

So, here we are at 18 weeks. WOO HOO!



Miss D had a wonderful Easter holiday, as this picture will attest to:

I want to do something today I have been meaning to do for weeks. I want to share my reasoning for choosing a scheduled repeat c-section for our September baby.

As I shared in my entries back in January when we got our Big Fat Positive, I was extremely interested in exploring a VBAC delivery this time. I am thankful that at the time I had the chance to do a LOT of reading and a lot of research. I felt very strongly at the time that this was something I could do, that I wanted to do, and in many ways - that I needed to do.

Then I found out our (small-town) hospital doesn't allow VBAC deliveries. I was so crushed. So my husband and I began a series of discussions about what path to take with this birth.

Bear with me, because this is literally our pro and con list:

PROS for VBAC
* Statistically safest for me and the baby
* Greatly improves chances for future VBAC deliveries
* No limit on number of future births
* No significant help needed for extended post-partum recover time

CONS for VBAC
* Have to switch OB practices (DH is not open to a midwife delivery)
* Must find OB in Austin
* Must deliver in Austin hospital (30-45 minutes away, depending on traffic)
* DH (football coach) *could* be out of town when I go into labor
* Best chances for "sucessful" VBAC delivery seem to come with little or no pain management through medication. I asked for, and got, an epidural at 4 cm with D's delivery. I don't know if I could labor all the way to the end with no pain medication. Just being honest.

PROS for ERCS (elective repeat c-section)
* Scheduled delivery - DH will definitely be there for birth
* Can stay with my (beloved) OB practice
* Can deliver at hospital here in town
* Can plan MIL's visit for post-recovery time (SIL is having a baby around the same time we are due. My own mother is not able to help me, so MIL is my main resource)

CONS for ERCS
*Chance/risk of infections/complications for me or the baby
* Can't lift D for 6 weeks
* May be limited in number of children we can have (not that I can envision having more than three . . . still, I just don't like the idea of being told I really shouldn't have more than three).
* Vastly reduces chance of VBAC (VBA2C) delivery in the future
* Need significant help to recover

So there it is, all on the table. After lots of prayer and LOTS of discussion, we both feel at peace with choosing a ERCS. For now. We are also both open to the possibility that we may have a change of heart or a change of circumstance between now and September that takes us down another path. One thing that has been so helpful to me is to do some reading of women who have had scheduled c-sections who were able to create birth plans that were very personal and very respectful of this being a birth, not a surgery. I look forward to creating that kind of experience this time around, because at least I know what to expect.

Seriously.

GOODNESS! I am awful blogger!

Here's the thing . . . I have dozens of ideas rolling around in my head for things to post about, but then when I sit down to write, I find it has all evaporated somewhere. BUT I just ordered these darling little scribble pads from Becky's Paper Creations so hopefully I can jot down some notes when I am out and about and thoughts of sheer genius strike.

Additionally, I am really, really trying to limit my computer time to times when Dacey is asleep and/or engrossed in a movie . . . errrr, um, I mean diligently and quietly playing with her lacing beads all by herself which she does a LOT. Really though, the main gist of the speech therapy we are working on with her is to encourage her to be verbal through play. So I feel super guilty about jacking around on the computer when she is up because I know there are really are things we should be doing together.

But seriously, I want to be better about blogging. I am really going to try to post at least one entry a week, and I think Tuesdays are a good day because I start each new week of pregnancy on each Tuesday. Seventeen weeks today! Hooray!

13 weeks!

So you know how sometimes you have a friend and you kind of lose track of her and fall out of touch . . . and then before you know it, weeks (or months!) have gone by and you haven't talked and then you feel all awkward about calling her? That's how I have been about my little blog lately. *embarrassed*

The whirlwind of managing life with D and trying to get through the first trimester have just had me distracted! Not only have I neglected writing, I have MAJORLY neglected reading the wonderful thoughts of so many of my friends! Many apologies . . .

Anyway, today I roll over the big 13 weeks. I was reading on my MDC due date club that one might consider 13.5 weeks to technically mark the beginning of the 2nd trimester. WOO HOO! My energy level is steadily coming back . . . I don't crash into bed as soon as I lay D down for a nap or for bed. I am still pretty nauseated, but nothing like it has been.

Anyway, I hope to be on a little more now and again.

Thanks for your patience. :)

Top Three

Top Three reasons I can never fully sell-out to vegetarian living:

1) brisket
2) beef ribs
3) Sonic hamburgers

Yesterday morning as we left church, the aroma of barbeque warmed the air. I was enjoying a brief respite from the all-day, everyday nausea. I had to have some BEEF! Oh my, it was delicious. And I never feel so disconnected from my vegetarian tendencies as I do when gnawing on a big old beef rib.

And Sonic hamburgers - I don't know . . . Just good stuff!



I want to thank all of you for your kind words and encouragement on my post about D weaning. It hasn't been as tear-free as I had hoped. After going through several leaky, uncomfortable days as the last of my milk dried up, D started asking for milk again after naps. When I would tell her mommy's milk is all gone, her face would just crumple and she would start to cry. Break a mama's heart! But she is easily enough distracted, so I think we are going to be okay. :)


Baby news: We got our first peek at Baby #2 on Friday! One little bean with two arms, two legs, and a good strong heartbeat has taken up full residence in my womb. It was oh so thrilling to see this one in action. Pretty much makes the last seven weeks of feeling crappy all worth it!!