a fairy garden

I wanted one more little project, just me and Britton, and I found it when we went shopping two weeks ago for roses.  The nursery we went to had a section of fairy gardens, which I've never even heard of.  I remember wondering if such a thing were real. But Britton loved the little chairs and tables and fairies and I started to understand what the intrigue was.  After a little internet searching later, I was just as into it as she was.  Not that I believe Tinkerbell is going to come live in our plants anytime soon, but it's a chance to make a little magical spot in your garden.  And since the deer have decided to eat every plant except for one rose bush, at least this was some gardening that would actually give me results!

We got the planter, the plants, the frog, and the glass "creek/river" beads at Wal-Mart this morning.  Then we went back to the nursery and Britton picked out an iron bed, a gazebo (the white thing below), a bird bath, some "log" flooring material, a toadstool, and a bird. We had to get less than we wanted, because I didn't want to crowd up the pot too much.  I pulled the moss straight out of the backyard!

Here's an aerial view of the whole thing.  I love how it turned out!  If the plants survive, I would definitely do another one or two of these because they are fun to plan out.  In my internet searches I saw that some of these gardens get big (and complicated - homemade fairy houses?!) but I think a couple planters here and there would be fine.  Britton loved pulling out her Tinkerbell fairies (and Fawn, and Iridessa, and Terrence) and acting out some fairy issues!

baby deuce: 38 weeks

I woke up last night with vomit rising in my throat.  I can't lie - the heartburn is getting worse.  And last night, even after chewing Tums like it was my job, I was forced to sit up to sleep.  From 4:00 am on, I didn't get much sleep.  Then today I stopped having Braxton Hicks contractions altogether (even though I normally have them all day long) and the baby wasn't moving much.  I called Jessica and did a kick count, and at the same time his movement came back so did the Braxton Hicks contractions!  I think I'm just less aware of it all when I'm not sitting at my desk all day.

Speaking of which, yes, I'm still at work.  I'm not wasting vacation days on sitting at home!   But it's getting harder every day.  I have this unbelievable weight on my cervix that makes it difficult to stand, let alone walk to the bathroom every other minute.  And I never got this far with Britton (I was 37 weeks, 5 days when I had her) so I'm moving into unchartered territory.  I'm 1 centimeter dilated still, 50% effaced, and at a negative 2 station.  I thought for sure the full moon last night would start up labor, but no.

Funny cravings this week - Pringles!  The hubs and I are in love with Pringles.  They really are an underrated chip, and every new flavor we try we love.  I've also been eating a lot of watermelon and chugging milk.  At this very moment, the hubs is out getting me some mozzarella cheese sticks!  I'm starting to get really tired of the gestational diabetes diet, but I stick with it since I have so little time left.

I have an ultrasound on Tuesday, along with my normal non-stress test and doctor's appointment.  The doctors have already said that they are inducing me at 39 weeks, and so I'm left just hoping that the baby hasn't gotten too big and will also decide on his own to be born.  Preferably sooner than later!

the one where I show my belly (and giant underwear)

I don't normally take my own picture in the mirror, probably because I find it so annoying to see the camera phone in the shot!  But my belly was feeling so big last night that I had to take a picture to send to my sister.  And, in the interest of full disclosure, I'm not wearing pants because lately the first thing I do when I get home from work is to get out of my pants.  Even maternity pants feel too confining.

So, I send the picture to Jessica, who promptly responds that I am huge.  And she's right.  I guess I'm not as big as I was with Britton, because I've gotten no new stretch marks (or maybe just as big, but not bigger), but I feel huge.  And I have been ignoring contractions all week, and a baby's head sitting on my cervix, and I know the end of what is my last pregnancy is coming soon.  I keep telling people that he's easier inside than he will be outside, and that's true - second-time-around moms are privy to that kind of rational thinking!  But I almost feel surprised that I'm due any minute now, like I just happened to look in the mirror in passing and said to myself, "Hmmm,  that's a big belly. I should do something about that."

I haven't packed a bag for the hospital. Yet.  I haven't had my cervix checked for dialation this week.  Yet.  I haven't had consistent contractions.  Yet.  I haven't gone into labor.  Yet.

But it's coming, man is it coming.  And we are so not ready!  Though, really, we are.  I mean, we have a crib, we have diapers, we have baby clothes.  But we also have long memories, and the hubs and I fully remember how hard those first couple of months are.  So we ignore our memories and try and borrow some of Britton's unbridled enthusiasm about becoming a big sister, because it's easier and feels better and makes us smile. 

If I don't make it to Saturday, consider this my 37 weeks, 5 days picture.

craving some suds

I've been having an extremely strong craving lately.  A craving that came out of nowhere.  I was watching an episode of "Fresh Beat Band," which is a daily occurrence in our house.  Not my choice, I assure you.  And in this episode the smoothie shop owner, Melody, is filling up a bucket with soap and sponges to clean up the street.  Ever since I glimpsed that, I have been craving a soapy sponge.  I don't know why, and it doesn't much matter since pregnancy cravings don't follow much rhyme and reason.  And after the hubs and I got home from a grocery store run, I torn into that 3-pack of sponges.

I washed dishes, I washed down the table and Britton's placemat, I soaped up the countertops until they shined, and if it wasn't 41 degrees out I would have scrubbed the cars.  A dirty dish hasn't stayed in the sink more than five minutes today.  

Then, washing everything with a soapy sponge wasn't enough.  The hubs and I washed all the laundry, cleaned the house, and mopped the entire first floor.  Nesting was at an all-time high in the house today!

portraits of an only child

 The other day I decided to put my camera on manual, even though I had no idea how to set anything.  If there's an area of my life where I am most technologically deficient, it is in knowing how to operate my expensive camera.  It's intimidating, and it makes total sense to me why people use their phones to take pictures - it's easy, editing is a breeze, the pictures look professional.  Actually, so much of my life is technologically deficient, you'd think I'd finally learn not only how to operate a camera, but also how to download from my video camera, use the new iMovie, back up a cell phone, stop all of Josh's songs from downloading onto my phone, turn on the Playstation, but no.  I only have so much room in my head and most days it gets pretty full.

So, instead of reading the manual or watching a You Tube tutorial, I just played with the settings and found my favorite subject, who didn't mind me taking 500 pictures to get 4 good ones.  Here is my only child, for the next couple of....days?  Weeks?

the charlotte quilt (and hat and burp cloths)

The hubs worked with a girl named Lindsey at a previous job years ago, and they have been friends ever since.  Lindsey is a guy's girl, who grew up with a farming and rancher dad, and works in the male-dominated world of oil and gas.  She curses like a sailor and is fantastically easy to get along with. So when the hubs told me that Lindsey was having a baby girl soon, I just knew I had to sprinkle some pink into her world!  I have no idea if Lindsey reads this blog, so Lindsey, if you do, stop reading now!

I pulled all my pink fabrics and cut them up into 5 inch squares.  Ahhh, patchwork, I never tire of you!

Close up of some fabrics - "Pearl Bracelet," "Posy," and some of my old favorites, including my pinwheels and birds.  I tried to keep the pinks varied by using fabrics ranging from mostly white with a little pink to full-on hot pink.

Lindsey is a graduate of OSU (Oklahoma State University) and to call her a proud graduate would not be accurate.  Lindsey is ridiculously in love with OSU and always will be!  The hubs suggested I use OSU fabric for the backing, and while he normally needs to be tortured into giving me an opinion about my quilts, he offered this gem right up.  And he was right.  I found this pink OSU fabric online and it just finished the quilt off nicely.  And you can see my stitching - 1/4 inch on either side of the blocks, in pale pink thread.

Pink seersucker striped binding.  Yes and yes.

And while hunting down pink OSU backing fabric, I also found some cute OSU fabrics in the school colors of orange and black.  I'd been wanting to try burp cloths and figured this was my shot.  And of course, when someone is expecting their first baby, you tend to want to go overboard.  So I commissioned Jessica (here's her shop) to make me a baby girl OSU hat too!  Perfect for football season!

I just have to buy a card and mailing envelope tomorrow, and then all her goodies will be on the way to Oklahoma!

baby deuce: 36 weeks

Don't I just look thrilled to be as big as a house?  Moving in general is getting pretty dang hard these days.  My lower back is constantly sore and achy, I can't climb stairs or lift my feet more than 2 inches off the ground, and every day, whether I'm at work or at home, I can't make it past 2:00 pm without falling asleep.  Even if only for 5 minutes.  I miss sleeping without being woken up with a full bladder, or having my ligaments stretched beyond pain, and even the days I never had heartburn.  Ever.  Now I get heartburn if I think about it.  Where are those Tums?

Anywho, my non-stress tests have been fine, and the ultrasound says that the baby is growing a 1/2 pound a week, which means that this week he will be 7.5 pounds.  At my ultrasound he was in the 74th percentile for growth, and the doctors seemed fine with that.  The head nurse told me that if I make it to 39 weeks they will induce me.  I asked about stripping my membranes since that worked with Britton, and she said if they do it'll be at 38 weeks (some doctors will and some won't and I don't know which is which).

Britton refused to pose with me, but was fine to have the camera all to herself

As evidenced below, cheesecake has finally made its way into this house!  It's all I've been craving lately, and as if that wasn't reason enough to get it, it doesn't mess with my blood sugar at all!  This was Britton's first time eating cheesecake and she loved it, so now I'm going to have to watch the leftovers like a hawk.  Or just eat the rest of it tonight.  

I'm still craving cheeseburgers and I want fruit badly (but can't because of the diabetes).  Sugar-free coffee creamers mess with my blood sugar, but regular creamer doesn't and I have no idea why.  But much to the dismay of my male co-workers who don't yet have kids, yes, I do drink coffee if only to stay awake!

miniature golfer

 On Sunday morning, the hubs went to pick up Britton from Memaw and PawPaw's house.  I chose not to sit in the car for four hours (round trip) with my already-swollen legs.  When they got home, Britton was already asking if we could go to the "new park."  The "new park" is this miniature golf/5-ride amusement park/batting cage/arcade/go-kart place we pass every day.  The hubs was trimming tree branches, and I could tell the last thing he wanted to do was get back into the car.  But I was feeling guilty for not going to pick her up and worried that it could be our last outing as a family of three, so I agreed we could.  Then I guilted the hubs into going with us!

Let me tell you, this place was sensory overload.  Even Britton covered her ears and said it was too loud.  There were four birthday parties going on and an endless sea of tired parents and sugar-hyped kids.  We went out to the amusement park section (ok, fine, "amusement park" is a bit of a stretch).  There were maybe four rides and a rock wall, and of course I can't do anything being 35 weeks pregnant.  Then we notice that a coupe of rides are roped off because they don't work.  Feeling like putting Britton on any of the rides is a personal injury suit waiting to happen, we herd her over to the miniature golf.

She spied a woman with a pink ball and said, "Maybe next time I can get a pink ball."  Because of course they didn't have one up front.  And the lady heard her and offered to trade balls!  Sometimes the kindness of strangers just amazes me.  The hubs attempted to show Britton correct form, but that derailed into "I can do it myself!" and we just let it go.  She did make a hole in one!  Though most of the time she just hit the ball until she got tired of it, then picked up the ball and put it into the hole.  It was a good game plan on her part, so that way she didn't get frustrated and I didn't get tired standing around.   And she was having a good time, which is really the point of the whole thing.

I think we're going to be regular visitors here over the summer!

nesting like it's going out of style

Memaw and PawPaw wanted Britton to visit for a couple of days. And I had Friday off of work.  Combine those two things, and I was primed to start nesting!  Clutching my "to-do" list in one hand and a ridiculous amount of crafting supplies in the other, I set to work after my doctor's appointment on Friday morning.

First up - Britton wants a canopy for her bed.  But she has a ceiling fan dead smack in the middle of her room, so no full-bed canopy would work.  As luck would have it, when we were at IKEA we ran into this netting canopy.  

Add in some tulle, artificial flowers, a garland of crystals, a purple bird, and some pink butterflies.  If I thought a princess would like it, I threw it into my cart at Michael's.  And I ended up with...

Britton saw it today and LOVED it!  "My princess canopy!" she exclaimed.  I had a canopy bed as a kid - I get it.  And tonight, when she snuggled into her blankets, she looked up at me and whispered, "I won't try and take down my canopy Mommy.  I won't try to get the bird."  The whole thing is pretty precarious, since we haven't put in the toggle hook yet, so I hope she keeps her word!

Then the hub and I moved on to the basement.  We had all these pictures that used to hang in the game room in Texas, and since moving here they've been piled up in the corner.  I wanted to do a red accent wall, but the hubs thought it would be too much.  So we went with Valspar's "Shark Fin," a grey with blue undertones.  The first piece to go up was the banjo, then I arranged the pictures around it.  

My signed VT 1999 Sports Illustrated, the hubs' signed Dita Von Teese and Dr. Ralph Stanley photos (really, those two names would never normally end up in the same sentence), and various sports pictures.  I also included Britton's fingerpainting and an article from Life Magazine about the Hunts of Dallas.

I also updated my quilt scrapbook, the baby/pregnancy scrapbook, the baby book (all preliminary info), and my videos.  Sadie threw up on our bed, so I then had a great excuse to wash all the bedding.  And the hubs and I treated ourselves to a new steam cleaner, so of course my obsession became steam cleaning upstairs and the staircase.  If this baby doesn't come within the month, I may just start renovating the master bathroom myself!

44 months old

                         

I am slowly getting used to Britton getting bigger in every way.  Every day she seems taller, more physically able, and just plain smarter.  Nothing gets by this one.  We are experiencing the last few days of winter (for my own sanity that statement must be true), and then we will finally get to put away the coats and sweaters and long-sleeve, all of which is getting too small for Britton.  I just can't justify buying new winter clothes when we are so close to summer.  For summer I bought all 6 and 6x clothes for her, and I'm hoping that she doesn't grow much so they will fit all summer!

Britton has transitioned into a new classroom at school.  I'm not as impressed with this class, mostly due to one teacher who resembles a bump on a log.  But her head teacher is very perky and sweet, and is hopefully helping Britton adjust well (Bump on a Log, as the other teacher will be known, is close to useless).  We got Britton a new bike since she outgrew her old one, and she loves riding it.  In fact, any outdoor activities rank pretty high for her.  We have about another month of dance lessons, then we move on to swimming lessons this summer.  Britton has really fallen in love with her princess dolls, and even took Sleeping Beauty out to dinner tonight.

Her development hasn't been all roses and sunshine.  This week Britton has given the hubs an especially hard time about dropping her off at daycare.  I think she's just pushing to see where her boundaries are, and we're staying firm on acceptable behavior.  Though, honestly, when she says she doesn't want to go to school on Monday morning, it's not like I'm cheering about going to work - I know where she's coming from.

"Mommy, take a picture of me sleeping!"

For about a month now, Britton has successfully stayed in bed every night with no get ups (except for last Saturday when Memaw and PawPaw were here, but I don't count that since them spending the night was out of her normal routine).  For staying in bed Britton gets a "special treat" the next day.  This treat can range anywhere from a Starburst to a fish.  Yes, a fish. Meet "Carrot" (no, I didn't name him.  Britton did. And she has no explanation for picking that name.)

The receptionist at work was told she could decorate the front office as she wanted, and she wanted fish.  Well, the security guys were cranking up the heat over the weekends, which made the water cloudy and some asshat complained that the fish weren't being properly cared for.  The receptionist was told to get rid of the fish, and I just happen to be one of a few people who has a small kid at home.  Thus, the fish became our new pet!

She was using my bump as a pillow, then flopped over for a photo op

Likes:  yogurt (It's back!  Every morning!), Sadie, asking about the baby, getting and giving high-fives, writing the alphabet, sounding out the first letter of each word and telling you what that letter is (she's remarkably accurate!), riding her bike, playing with her dolls

Dislikes:  being rushed, not checking out every dang Clifford book in the library