Babies & Bobcats

I'm almost 34 weeks now and at my regular OB appointment yesterday, my doc decided to send me over to L&D to get checked out and have some labs drawn.  I had been feeling super crappy the past few days and when I described my symptoms, he wanted to make sure we weren't heading down the Pre-E or HELLP road again.  After a few hours of lying in the hospital bed getting poked and prodded, I was released.  Thankfully, all is well with both me and baby.  I'll be seeing him weekly now (a few weeks early) just to make sure we don't miss something since, as he put it, "things can go downhill in the blink of an eye".

Just trying to power through these next few weeks and take it easy.  Easier said than done with 2 active kiddos running around!

We haven't done much to get ready for Baby's arrival -- I might want to get on that?  I did order a couple of gender-neutral newborn size onesies and pants and this super cute little outfit:

While I was hooked up to the fetal monitor I couldn't help but notice the heart rate.  It was in the 120s-130s, which made me think this baby could be another boy!  All along I've felt like it might be a girl, but lately I've changed my thinking.  And still....no names.  Another thing we might want to lock down.

In other news, we have a contract on our condo and close in a few weeks.  YAY!  This is, of course, provided it doesn't fall through.  I'm not so confident given the history of the negotiation process.  I just want this to be behind us by the time the baby arrives so we don't have to think about it/deal with it/pay for it any longer.

Lastly, this happened in our neighborhood and has been all over FB:

 There was a video along with the photos of this fella lunching, during the daytime.  Evidently he's been spotted on our road, but this little meal occurred on Rt. 8.

We've been told to keep our small animals inside at night and the past few nights, there HAS been a lot of commotion outside (wildlife noises).  I'm a little freaked out to even let Morgan & Joey out during the day alone now, eek!  I've said it before, I don't know if I'm cut out for this country living!

32 Weeks & Fall is here

This week, we got a little taste of our new fall schedule.  I should just title all my posts "My kids are sick again" because...well...truth hurts.  I think our new routine will be great, if not exhausting.

So Morgan had to miss her first day of classes.  This was AFTER her school already had two teachers & a director quit.  And AFTER they delayed the start date yet again because they didn't have the necessary permits approved through the state.  Oh, and AFTER I sat with her in Children's Hospital ER Sunday night for 3 hours without being seen.  They were concerned enough to continue monitoring her pulse ox (oxygen saturation levels) and since those were fine, I packed her up and took her home, telling the staff I'd just follow up with her dr. the next day.

At least the hospital is close to a Dunkin' Donuts that's open 24 hours.  I really needed some pumpkin munchkins at midnight after the night we'd had ;-)

Anyway, that little respiratory enterovirus going around is wreaking havoc and I just wanted to make sure she didn't have it because all her symptoms matched up.  Thankfully, just a pesky infection.  Not so fortunately, antibiotic-related diarrhea that kept us housebound later in the week.

But we had good things this week too:

The first day of school:

She wants to be a princess when she grows up.  Her favorite colors are pink & purple.  And her favorite food is "healthy food", ha!

The first night of dance classes, which will be Daddy/Daughter night:

I can't get enough of this little hamburger.

 We hit up the park and the Dairy Bar for one last time this season before they close:

Had to include my favorite little guy...he's been such a love this week.  He's had some 1:1 Mama time and I think that is just what we both needed.  Although it confirms our suspicions that he REALLY wishes he was an only child.

 We got to have a dinner out downtown to celebrate my sister-in-law's wedding:

I tried a bold lip color for Fall and I am just not sure I can pull it off:

We took in one more Reds game on the most beautiful of days:

I chopped my hair into a long bob and went a little darker.  It's what I do, come every fall:

In pregnancy news, nothing new to report other than a big growth spurt confirmed at my OB's office when he measured me this week.  Chugging right along.  I'm definitely starting to retain water and my feet are puffy today.  Guess I won't be wearing my new boots anytime soon :(

Indulged in a mani (Essie Smokin' Hot) and Candy Corn, which is my crack:

And today it's in the 60's (amen!) so I'm sipping on my Teavana Pumpkin Spice Brulee tea while the kids nap.  We had a play date this morning with a sweet friend and it rejuvenated my soul.  I even skipped my nap today!  No, really.  That's huge.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a very low-key weekend this past holiday.  It was nice because we knocked out some big "To-Do" list items.  Nothing too exciting, more just clean-up type stuff.

The Hubs and I had a day date on Labor Day and it was nice to just enjoy a long lunch & talk.  We looked at furniture for the new baby and drove ourselves crazy with the decision-making.  Any way you look at it, we will need to buy an entire room of furniture, whether it's new "baby" furniture (aka, a crib) or new furniture for one of the big kids and pass down their set to the baby.  My stubborn husband ALMOST cracked and said he was tempted to find out the gender now (after all this waiting!) in order to make this decision easier.  Say what?!

31 weeks and I'm pretty sure the baby is going to bust right out the front door.

Luckily we did no such crazy thing.  We decided to wait until after baby is born to purchase anything since it will stay in the bassinet in our bedroom for the first 6 weeks of life anyhow.

Moving on...

I got familiar with my new immersion blender and whipped up some asparagus soup:

 It turned out amazing!  All fresh, roasted veggies.  The kids wouldn't touch it, of course.

Speaking of MoJo, they spent a lot of time in their new sand box.  I needed something for them to do outside that was safe and not too expensive since we packed the pool away.  This has been a BIG hit!  If only it weren't for the allllll that sand in unmentionable places....seriously.  How do they even do that?

And we ate popsicles in the back yard almost every evening.  Please disregard our unsightly yard.  The whole project is on hold til next year.  I'm supposed to receive the plans in the mail tomorrow from our landscape design architect and can't wait to see what we're working with.

My baby girl starts dance classes next week and we are all SO excited!  Guess I'm gonna be a dance mom, lol.  I was never exposed to dance growing up, and I SO wish I had been!!  I think I would've loved it.

Had to make sure her dance wear fit her!

 And in more late-breaking toddler news, Joey is now eating fruit.  It's a start.

Did everyone else take advantage of all the great Labor Day weekend sales?  I know I sure did.  Wowza.  And those retailers KNOW what they're doing, because sure enough, even today I'm getting emails that say "Tammy, you still have a few items left in your cart....here's 40% off to finish the job".  Thanks.

Dora, Boots & Dogs

Random post title, I know.

But, did you know Dora is all growed up and has a new show?  Thank you Nick Jr., because I couldn't take one more episode of that old format (or her bad bowl cut or her whiny voice).  The kids are into it and it buys me 30 minutes of quiet time.  Usually.

Totally. Mesmerized.  Gracias Dora.

This week has included too much tv-watching as I'm not feeling great pregnancy-wise.  Lots of contractions and abdominal pain.  I keep teetering on calling my OB and forcing myself to rest, which helps.   This is the week, afterall, that Morgan arrived early.  I'm just trying to get past it.  We stay home for now because I can't wrangle two toddlers and one of them always ends up getting carried, kicking & screaming, to the car.  Nope.  Can't do it.

As for Boots, I'm not referencing her trusty amigo, Boots the Monkey.  No I'm talking boots for Mama!  For a couple years I've been adoring the Frye Melissa Button boots from afar, telling myself I'd never be able to spend that much on a pair of boots.  That fact, along with the price, hasn't changed.  Boo.

Frye Melissa Button boots @ Nordstrom

But! A while back, I found these Sam Edelman Penny boots for about half the price.  What sold me is the soles...they look like they'll be super comfy and not loud/clickety.  And they had a gazillion great reviews on Zappos.  I went to try them on last weekend and they didn't have my size at my local Nordy's, so I went ahead & ordered them figuring I have nothing to lose with free shipping & free returns.  I also reminded myself that my last brown leather boots lasted me 4 good years, so I know I'd get my money's worth.

Sam Edelman Penny boots @ Nordstrom

As for the "Dogs" of this post, this was a weird week.  Over the weekend, we saw a golden retriever wandering down our country road.  She eventually made her way up to our house and would.not.leave.  Then it stormed & rained buckets.  After 24 hours, I felt really really bad for her.  We gave her water (because it was so incredibly hot out when it wasn't raining).  The hubs kept reminding me not to feed her or she'd never leave.  But I'm such a softie...I knew she'd been out on her own at least 2-3 days by this point.  I had no dog food so I made her plain oatmeal (????) and cooked chicken breast.  Who does that?

I finally reached someone at the county animal shelter and they came & got her.  It was clear she wanted to come in the house and she kept barking at our back patio door.  The kids wanted so badly to play with her.  She seemed friendly and well cared-for.  Almost as if someone had dumped her :(  The two ladies from the shelter who came and took her away, assured me she'd have no problem getting adopted.  Had she stayed any longer, I might've just taken her in.  Because that's all I need right now... #thankupregnancyhormones.

Not even 6 hours later, a guy shows up at my door.  Now, nobody ever comes over except for my Fed Ex, UPS, & USPS peeps because we live out in the sticks.  The dude seemed really agitated and I was a little scared opening up my door.  He explained his dog had escaped that morning and he was out looking for her.  It wasn't the golden retriever -- his was a totally different breed.

Lost little Lucas

He had tears as he told me how the dog broke out through their garage & cut himself, so he was probably bleeding.  I used good old Facebook and quickly found out my neighbors had him safely in their yard.  I connected the owner with my neighbor and it was a happy ending.  He was crying when they were finally reunited.  So happy that had a good outcome!