Our Little Monkey

The other day I was in the kitchen doing dishes and I heard Alexis say, "Are me at Mommy?" That is what she says when she is hiding and wants us to find her. I walked to the doorway and didn't see her the first time and then she said it again and this is where I found her.......we are in so much trouble :) There will soon be no place high enough to get out of her reach.

My Goal

This is my goal for my weight loss. This was on my 18th birthday and I'm pretty sure this was my skinniest.

It's now official, Mom and Dad rented a house on the beach in Destin Florida for the first week of June next year and have invited all of us kids to come and stay with them, so that means I've got to get this body whipped into beach shape!

Friday Night

I just wanted to share with all of you that Isabel slept for 7 hours Friday night! I know it's not something to expect again, at least not for a few more weeks anyway, but I sure did feel better when I woke up. And shockingly I didn't wake up in a panic, she fussed and I looked at the clock and thought, wow, she must be hungry! I've been reading "On Becoming Baby Wise" and just watched a DVD last night called, "The Happiest Baby on the Block" and we are doing very well with our schedule. Isabel is eating well and sleeping better at night, she is getting her days and nights figured out now. She is more alert and awake in the day and that's nice. Alexis sure does like to talk to her a lot...and she gives her at least a dozen kisses a day!

My Beautiful Girls

Not Much

Today was kind of quiet. Ross didn't have to leave to go mow anywhere so it was nice to have him home this morning before he headed off to the full time job. I actually got a shower before noon and cooked lunch for us. We had taco salad and it was yummy!

After Ross left for work I got to lay down and sleep for about an hour before it was Isabel's next feeding time. Bill, Carol and Meredith stopped by this evening to visit for awhile. All in all it was a pretty quiet day and I like those nice, laid back days. I didn't even mind that it was gloomy and rainy all day, it fit with me wanting to kick back and relax.

Mom to the Rescue!

Thank goodness for Mom's! My Mom and Dad came down to our house for awhile today. Brent had wanted to see Dad, so he dropped Mom off here and went on up to Rolla to see Brent and then came back here for a bit.

Mom went to Babies-R-Us for me last night and picked up some pacifiers so we didn't have to wait any longer for the ones I ordered online. I could have used them in the wee hours this morning. Isabel went down last night a little before 1 and slept until 4:30. She decided she wanted to use me as a pacifier this morning, so from 4:30 to 7 she was pretty much on the breast that entire time. She slept until 7:30 and then was back on the breast until 8 o'clock.

Mom and Dad got here a little after 10 and Mom helped me do a little bit of housework. Around 11:30 I woke Isabel up since it had been 4 hours since she had eaten. She nursed really well. (I'm having trouble getting her to latch deeply, something we are working on.) But as soon as I thought she was done and I took her off she immediately started fussing and looking for something to suck on. So, in went the paci and she took to it like a fish in water! I think it is going to be my saving grace with Isabel. Alexis was not at all like Isabel when it comes to nursing, she was quite content with her 15 minutes on each side and didn't need much else.

I have done things a little bit different with Isabel though, I've allowed her to demand feed these last 2 weeks just so I know she is getting plenty and my supply is getting established, but from here on out, we are going to get a routine down. No more eating every hour for 3 hours and then sleeping for 5 hours, and no more Mommy's boob being a pacifier either. It's not been fair to me, I'm exhausted, and it's not fair to Ross and Alexis either, they still have needs from me as well.

Mom also bought me a copy of "Baby Wise" which is all about giving your infant the gift of nighttime sleep and parent directed feeding instead of demand feeding. (Chrissy, I believe this is the book your were telling me about?) Mom read quite a bit of it to me this morning while I was doing laundry and nursing Isabel. I already knew a lot of the info, but I've been a little unsure about which is the right and best way to go about breast feeding and sleeping and such. There are very different view points on the subject and I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to mess anything up by giving a pacifier too soon, or not letting her eat when she thought she needed to. I now know that the first 2 weeks are when she should be eating every 2 hours and then it should taper off to more like 2 1/2 to 3 during the day and no more than 5 hours between night feedings at this stage. I had Alexis on a schedule and it worked well, so I'm not sure why I thought I needed to do things differently with Isabel, but she does have her own personality already, that is for sure!

I also got to talk to an old friend (Shelley Owens) yesterday and she gave me some wonderful advice and encouragement as well. She has 2 children and the age gaps between her 2 are close to the difference between Isabel and Alexis. She was kind enough to order a DVD for me to watch, don't remember exactly what it's called, but something about a happy baby. I'm excited about getting it and learning more new things to make our life a little easier with our newborn! This is a wonderful time, but I've been too tired to enjoy some of it, so now, with new tools and ideas in hand, I'm hoping to bring a little peace to our crazy home! Thanks again Shelley!

I also wanted to thank you girls for leaving me some encouraging comments the other day when I needed some support. It's nice to know that someone else knows what you are going through and can sympathize with you.

So, while the girls are still sleeping, I'm off to shower and catch a quick nap!

Last Night...

......was rough. The afternoon started out just fine. I got a little nap and a shower while the girls were napping. Alexis woke up and I spent a little bit of time with her and then I got Isabel up to feed her because it had been almost 4 hours since she had eaten. I guess I should have left her sleeping longer because all she did for the next 6 hours was cry. I nursed and she was fine until I tried to lay her down and she would wake up and scream. At one point she didn't even want to nurse she just cried no matter what I did. The bouncy seat worked for about 5 minutes and that was all she wanted to do with that. I felt so bad for Alexis. I would put Isabel down for a bit and we'd just listen to her cry because I knew I needed to be spending time with Alexis too. I talked to Dad and of course Alexis had to talk too and she told him, "Isabel cry lots", "Hush up Isabel".

Through Isabel's cries I did manage to read some stories to Alexis and attempt to get her down for the night, but she was hollering at me from her room for a while, so I went to get her and was going to hold her for a bit and try to get her down. At one point she wanted to lay in my bed, so I told her to go ahead and get up there. She called for me to come lay down with her, so I did, and brought Isabel with me. Alexis told me, "Lay Isabel down out there". So, when Ross got home after midnight, I was spending a few minutes with Alexis in our bed and Isabel was screaming at the top of her lungs in the living room. Finally, we were all 4 in our bed, Alexis in the middle and I was doing the side lying position nursing Isabel, she crashed first and Ross got her into the bassinet and she stayed asleep this time, then Alexis conked out and got moved to her crib and finally sleep for Mommy and Daddy too. Isabel slept until 5, so I got 4 good hours of sleep and then another hour and a half or so after that feeding. Hopefully this evening will be much less uneventful. I'd just as soon be up with her all night than to have a repeat of last night for Alexis' sake.

I ordered pacifiers online last night. The kind we used with Alexis are the same kind we will use with Isabel and the only place I know of to get them is Babies-R-Us, and we don't exactly have one of those around the corner. So, they will be here in a few days, plus Mom called and she is coming down tomorrow so she is going to go pick some up for us too. Let's just pray that they will comfort Isabel, but not give her nipple confusion. It is very important to me that we are able to breastfeed until at least 1 year old. Back to the pacifier, the reason we don't have some already is because I thought we needed to wait at least 6 weeks for breastfeeding to get established well, but I'm hearing from other mom's that they gave their babies the plug from birth on and did just fine with breastfeeding. Let's pray that will be the case for Isabel, because I cannot be a pacifier for her and much as I'd love to spend that kind of time with her it is not fair to the rest of my family, and honestly my nipples are a little sore :-).

Test

Today is my big test....Ross goes back to work today. And that means I will have the 2 girls all by myself for the first time. Isabel is sleeping better at night which should help out a lot because I'm not as tired now that I'm getting 5-6 hours of sleep at night. The other night, Ross went gigging for a few hours and I had the girls by myself. I thought I could give Alexis a bath and Isabel would be content in the bouncy seat during that time. Well I thought wrong.....Alexis got upset and screamed and cried the whole bath time and Isabel screamed the entire time too. Hoping to not have any repeats like that. Wish me luck!



Here are some pictures of the fish that Ross and his dad and friend Ronnie caught the other night. These were the biggest fish Ross has ever seen/gigged. They were pretty excited, so it was hard for me to be mad at him for coming home an hour late. :)
The one on the left is obviously the big one, and the other two are the size they normally catch.

Ronnie and Ross

Ronnie and Bill

Help from my fellow breastfeeding moms

Good Morning Ladies.

This is my second time around to breastfeed so I'm not new to it, but I could use a little encouragement today. Isabel is a different kind of eater than Alexis was, I feel like I'm her pacifier right now. I got about 2 hours of sleep and then another hour a little bit later last night. All Isabel wanted to do was suckle and I'm so tired. She finally is sleeping, Ross had to go out and mow this morning so he took Alexis to Becky's for awhile. I'm going to sleep until Isabel wakes up, hoping for at least 3 hours.

You can guess.......more pictures!

Aunt Jaimee with Isabel & Alexis Me after I had showered and felt human again on Thursday
Ross and the girls right after we got home from the hospital on Friday afternoon.


Me & Isabel - First day home

Me & my beautiful girls!

Isabel getting some fresh air.



Big Sis Alexis & Little Isabel

Alexis loves to hold and kiss on Isabel - this was the other night before bed time and we were all snuggling!

Isabel after a long nursing session...doesn't she look quite comfy?!

My big girl looking so grown up!

Napping this afternoon, love the hand on the cheek!

More Hospital Pictures

Isabel getting her footprints put on Daddy's heart. Isabel

Papa Bill, Isabel, Alexis & Grandma Carol

Great Grandma Louise and Isabel

The Grandma's and Great Grandma: Carol, Cindy, Louise and Isabel. Great Grandpa Charlie and Papa Bill in the background.

Great Grandpa Bill and Great Grandma Dormalie with Isabel.

Isabel's Birth Story

Around 4:30 Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 9th) I started noticing that I was having some regular contractions. They were about 10 - 15 minutes apart and getting a little stronger than the ones I'd had up until that point. I did not work Tuesday because I was tired from being in Rolla at our doctors appointment and doing some shopping. I was dilated to 3 and 50% effaced on Tuesday. On Wednesday I was going to try to make myself go to work, but the humidity was really high and I was still tired and just couldn't force myself to go. I'm really glad now that I didn't, it was nice to be at home for the beginning stages of labor.

Now, back to the story, I had told Ross I would cook his supper and bring it to him at 7:30. Around 6 o'clock I called him and told him that I didn't want to come to his work, but I would fix him something and he could come home to eat. I told him I was starting to have more regular contractions as well. I also called Mom and Dad and Bill and Carol and Jaimee to let them all know that I thought the baby was going to be here sooner than later. I wasn't ready to go to the hospital or anything like that, but I was feeling that I was in the beginning stages of labor.

Around 6:20 I called Ross back and told him that he just needed to stay home when he came for supper. He called me back about 10 minutes later and asked if he just needed to come home now? He wanted to take a shower before we left for the hospital so I told him to come on home. The contractions were about 6 minutes apart at this point. I had already showered for the day, so I was just picking up the house and doing the dishes and feeding Alexis her supper. The contractions were getting stronger, but I just worked through them. They weren't at the point that they made me catch my breath or anything.

Ross got home and cleaned up and I did my makeup and hair and we got the rest of our stuff packed and the house all picked up and put clean sheets on the bed. I was so determined that everything would be ready for this baby, and it was! I wanted to make sure we got to the hospital before 9 when they close the main entrance. I didn't want to go in through the ER. Before we actually decided that we would be going to the hospital soon, Mom called and said they were going to go ahead and come on down. I told Bill he should call Carol and tell her to come on home from St. Louis as well. So, around 8 we left the house and took Alexis down to Bill's and said our good nights and good byes to her. We stopped in Cuba on the way up to Rolla and Ross got some food at Jack in the Box because he still hadn't had anything to eat yet. We got to the hospital just before 9.

This is me at the registration desk getting checked in. Mom was making fun of me for doing my hair and makeup like I was going to a party. I told her I was going to a party, a birthday party! Ross and I waiting for the hospital to decide if I was in true labor or not. I knew I was and they were not going to send me home without a baby!

Mom and I, she was an awesome birthing coach. When they checked me the first time I was dilated to 4 and 80% effaced at 9:30. The nurse said she would be back to check me at 11:30.

Dad and Mom. Dad said that the baby would be born at 11:54pm on the 9th, I had some progress to make if that was going to happen. Ross said he thought it would be more like 2 or 3 am. Scott said 1:30 am. He ended up being right!

I was checked again at 11:30 and I was dilated to 5 and 95% effaced. I was disappointed that I wasn't dilated anymore than that, but at least they decided to admit me and get me moved to a different room at this point. So, far my pains hadn't been to horrible yet. I did have back labor again, but it didn't seem as bad this time as it was with Alexis. I was feeling the contractions in the front as well. With Alexis I can only remember feeling everything in my back. Because most of the pain was in my back, the straps they had on me for the monitor for the baby and for contractions was bothering my back a lot. Once we got moved to our different room I spent the next little while on the birthing ball and when I would have a contraction I would stand up and bend over the side of the bed and swing my pelvis back and forth to try to get the baby to drop off my spine. During all these contractions Ross, Mom and Jaimee did all they could to keep me comfortable. They were an awesome team!!!

I've kind of forgotten the timeline at this point, but I know the next time she checked me I was a 7. My contractions were getting more intense and I kind of felt like I was losing control a little bit, but they all told me I was great. The nurses said that they wished I could be on video for all the other moms to see what a labor patient in control looked like. That made me feel pretty good about myself. I was starting to get pretty tired so I got into the bed for a little while to try to lay down and rest between contractions. They kind of needed to monitor the baby a little bit more and me being up and down on the birthing ball was making that hard. So, I stayed in the bed on my side for a little bit and had several contractions like that.

The next time she checked me I was a 9 or 9 1/2 she said, so they paged the doctor. I didn't get lucky enough to deliver when Dr. Cunningham was on call, but Dr. Debbie McCaul was and she did just fine delivering Isabel. When she arrived I wasn't quite to 10 yet, so we had to wait a bit. They asked me if I wanted my water broken a little bit earlier and I said I didn't really care, but they decided to wait since it makes your contractions stronger. I was starting to feel the urge to push, but it wasn't quite time yet. I was getting very uncomfortable and could feel my control slipping away with each pain. Mom's prayers and Ross and Jaimee hands comforted me and got me through those last few minutes of pain.

They broke my water and then after a few more pains it was time to push. I will say I was in more control this time around than the first. I started pushing and it helped to be able to, but the pain was also pretty intense. I didn't give my strongest pushes the first time or two, but I knew the end was near and got a little bit more focused then. I'm not sure how long time wise I pushed, but it couldn't have been more that 10 - 15 minutes. After about 3-4 pushes the head was out and then one more big one and the shoulders were out and then my I felt my little girl just come sliding out the rest of the way at 1:23 am (Scott was right!) on September 10th. Ross was the one to look and announce the sex to the room and he got to cut the cord this time too! We were both so proud and happy to have another beautiful, healthy baby girl!

Here is proud Daddy:

Isabel Ann weighed in at 8 lbs. 1.3 ounces and she is 20 1/2 inches long.

Aunt Jaimee got to assist with Isabel's first bath.

Our pretty little dark haired baby girl after her bath.

Grandma Cindy with Isabel

Aunt Jaimee with Isabel.

Daddy and Alexis that morning right before Alexis came back to meet her new baby sister!

Our first family of four photo.

Alexis meeting Isabel for the first time. When Alexis first came into the room, Isabel was in the bassinet. Mom and Dad and Bill and Carol all got there together with Alexis and shortly after they arrived, Grandpa Charlie and Grandma Louise also came in. So there were a lot of people fussing about Isabel and Alexis too, but at one point Alexis kept pointing at the bassinet saying, "Baby back in there". But other than that, she didn't seem to be jealous at all. She was very loving and tender with Isabel and still is at home too.

First kisses.

Papa Alan, Alexis and Isabel. Dad was there for the whole delivery and everything but he kind of stayed back in the shadows. Somehow with all the commotion we didn't get a picture of just him and Isabel after she was first born.

Our sweet Isabel

Trying

Well, I've been trying to post pictures, but it's not letting me. I'll try again tomorrow. I still can't believe I had another baby less than a week ago. I feel so much better this time around than I did with Alexis. I tore a little with Isabel and have a few stitches, but nothing like I had with Alexis.

I'm going to work on writing the birth story and get it posted as well.

We are doing okay here at our house. Isabel wanted to eat and eat and eat for the first few days and now she is starting to sleep a little bit more, which is great for me. Those first 2 nights home, I think I may have gotten about 3 hours sleep and that was it. Naps have been a lot harder to get with having a toddler in the house!

So, on top of the challenges of a newborn, we are pretty sure Alexis has a UTI or something along those lines. We had Isabel's newborn check up with the pediatrican yesterday and we had her look at Alexis too and we tried to get a urine sample, but she wouldn't pee with that little bag thing they put in her diaper. She started complaining Sunday morning about her bottom hurting and she squirmed a lot and cried and fussed and seemed to be in pain trying to pee, but seemed relieved after she finally peed. And then she was just fine the rest of the day. Same thing Monday morning, but then seemed fine later on. This morning it was pretty bad. She cried and hollered for more than an hour before she finally peed and then she was still saying "hurting" after she peed. So we spent the morning on the phone trying to decide what to do with her. We finally got to talk to Dr. Rao's office and we are going to get a urine sample from her and take it to them and see what is going on.

Back to Isabel's check up: Dr. Rao said she looked great, her color is good, so her jaundice is not getting any worse, YAY! She weighed 7 lbs 15 oz, so she is only 2 ounces short of birth weight, which is excellent!

I'll try to get some pictures up soon, if this thing ever cooperates with me.

Hilarious Video

Here is a very funny video I saw on another mom's blog!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u5Mh9AoaGs

Isabel Ann

Isabel Ann Lea was born on September 10th @ 1:23 am. She weighed 8lbs 1oz and is 20 1/2 inches long. We came home this afternoon. I will post more soon.

Waiting.....

I didn't sleep well last night. Alexis woke up around 1:30 and wasn't going to go back to her own bed. She got bit up by mosquitoes the other night and the bites were bothering her a lot and only Mommy would do. I must have kissed them a dozen times trying to make her feel better. Finally after holding a cold rag over them to soothe the itching she finally fell asleep. But she was very restless all night long and so was I. I was having contractions on and off through out the night. I finally got a few good hours of sleep between 6 and 10.

I'm very undecided what to do about working right now. My baby bump is even bigger this time around than it was when I was pregnant with Alexis, so it is very uncomfortable to drive the fork lift all night long. And with it being a little warmer this week than it was last week, I just haven't been able to make myself go. So, I'm staying home again today, going to do some laundry and house work and rest up for labor. My other concern with working up until the event is that I will go into labor after working all night and be completely exhausted and not be very good at handling labor.

I have found that I have totally blocked out all the pain associated with child birth from having Alexis, so I'm a little nervous about it this time around. With Alexis, labor came on very quickly and was over before I knew it. With this one, I've been slowly dilating over the weeks and am now having contractions irregularly. I was telling Mom about some of my feeling this morning and telling her that I don't even remember ever feeling a contraction in the front, all my pain was in my lower back. So, I'm just wondering if I'll be able to handle the pain if I don't have another back labor, because it will be so different from what I've already experienced. Mom assured me that I was having contractions in the front, but the pain was so intense in my back that I just didn't notice it. So what it is boiling down to is that I want to have the energy to be strong and make it through whatever kind of labor I'm going to have this time around without getting irrational, or being mean to Ross, Mom or Jaimee and not getting all loud and screaming like I know can happen. I'm looking to have a good birth experience and I'm just worried that if I'm exhausted from work, it might not happen that way for me. If I don't go back to work at all, I have enough leave time to be off until November 17th or a few days after that. Not as long of a leave as I had hoped for, but I'm hoping to get some lay off time after the first of the year and take another 2 or 3 months off then.

Trying to Induce Naturally

I took a walk at the park today and then Alexis and I went for a ride on some bumpier roads too! I really want to meet my new little one and I don't want to have to try to drive my fork lift for one more night. I'm just afraid that if I go into labor while I'm working I won't have enough energy to make it through labor.

Ross and I are going to try a few more natural things later! ;)

I have been having a few contractions here and there, but nothing serious yet.

3

Went to see Dr. C this morning! Dilated to a good 3 and 50% effaced! I'm going to the park this afternoon to take a nice long walk, so maybe tonight!

Fall

Fall is by far my most favorite season! I have enjoyed the weather so much this past week because it feels like the beginning of fall. Too bad it's going to get a little warmer this week :(. Oh well, the real fall will be here soon enough. Here are some of my favorite things about fall:

I absolutely love wearing hoodies and jeans!

There is nothing better than taking a walk and hearing all the leaves crunching beneath your feet!

When I was a kid, I loved nothing better than to jump into the huge pile of raked up leaves in the middle of the yard. Can't wait to make some big piles for Alexis this year!

There is something so refreshing about the smell of the air in the fall. I think it has to do with being able to breathe easier after the normal humidity of Missouri summers.

There is nothing better than sitting around a camp fire roasting hot dogs and making smores on a chilly fall night, after a splendid hair ride in the moonlight!

Speaking of chilli....cooler weather means warmer foods in the belly..yum!!

I could go on and on, but I'll stop with those. I'm so thankful that I live in a part of the country with changing seasons!

They say the funniest things...

We have gotten into a very bad habit of letting Alexis come to bed with us early in the morning if she wakes up, instead of getting her back to sleep in her own bed. So, at some early hour this morning she woke up crying and I had Ross get her and bring her to our bed.

Around 9 am when she finally started to stir and begin waking up (I couldn't sleep this morning, and have been up since about 7:15, but I periodically laid down with the 2 of them for a few minutes a couple times.) Well, like most mornings the first words out of her mouth were, "grapes". I didn't respond to her yet. Then Ross got up to use the restroom and she said, "Daddy, lay down right here" and patted his pillow and then said, "longer" which means she wanted him to lay by her longer. Then she reached her little hand over to me and patted me on the cheek and said, "Mommy, grapes". We died laughing at her! She says the cutest things sometimes, and I know you are probably thinking this really isn't that funny. It's just one of those you probably had to have been there moments, but I thought I would share anyway!

So, being the good Mommy that I try to be, I got up and got her some grapes. While I was in the kitchen doing that I heard her yell from the bedroom, "cup too". She is quite spoiled I suppose! Oh well, I've been letting her do a few special things lately that we normally don't do since her little world is about to change when the new baby gets here!

Wasting Time

So, I've heard and read a lot of things lately about wasting time, so I've done a quick overview of my time and how much of it is wasted.

1. Facebook - definitely a time waster, but something I enjoy doing very much. I like to keep in contact with family and friends and I think it's an awesome way to do so. So, how am I going to not let it waste anymore of my time that necessary? Well, it's called self-control and will power. I just have to tell myself that I can't neglect all the other things in my life (ie: husband, children, housework) and see how that works for me, because I really don't want to just give it up completely. My sister and I were having a discussion about this last night, and she was telling me about someone who just went on and deactivated her Facebook and has been amazed at all the things she's accomplished since then. I'm going to try a different approach and see if I can learn some self control, or I might just do the same.
2. TV - something that used to be a big issue for me, but now instead of sitting in front of the TV, I've transferred it to the computer. I still enjoy TV, but I try to keep it in moderation. I've gotten a lot better at just turning it off. Ross likes to have it on for background noise even if he is not watching anything, but I'm not a fan of just letting garbage into the house, just for the sake of background noise, so I've convinced him to do the same. For the most part, we only watch shows that we have on our TiVo list. Occasionally we'll have a veg out day in front of the TV, but those are so rare considering our busy schedule, they don't bother me all that much, because at least we are all together for the most part. I still find that there are a few times that I have to ask Ross to turn off the TV and actually communicate with me or play with Alexis though. But, for the most part I'm pretty satisfied with how we have limited our TV time. We will see if this holds true when summer is over, because Ross is definitely a seasonal guy when it comes to TV. He can go all summer without it, but once it's cold and he isn't working outside mowing or such, he can become a HUGE couch potato!
3. Computer in general - other than Facebook, the only computer activity that I spend a lot of time on is Blogger! I'm enjoying reading other folks blogs and learning about blogging myself. I used to have some writing skills when I was younger in school and I've found out that when you don't practice something you get a little rusty, so I'm hoping that blogging is going to refresh my memory and some of the writing skills I had will return. Also, I'm hoping that blogging will help me to express some more feeling that I may keep bottled up inside and allow me to see some new perspectives on things from other peoples blogs. I've already learned a few things about myself since I started blogging and I haven't been pleased with all of them, but it's a learning experience for me. So, even if I don't have many followers or people don't find my blog interesting, I'm doing it for ME!

Quick overview: I do waste time, but what am I going to do about it??

I'm going to committ to not waste anymore unnecessary time on Facebook (ie: no longer will I be playing all the silly games available, or taking anymore silly surveys just because, I'm going to communicate with people!), I'm going to continue being dilligent about managing my TV time, and I'm going to continue with blogging for now as well!

On another somewhat related note: For about 2-3 weeks now, I've really stepped up and stayed on top of my housework, hoping for the arrival of new baby any day! I've found I'm a lot less stressed and my home is so much more pleasant and easier to take care of if it isn't allowed to become disaster central! So, I'm committed to keeping my house straightened and cleaned much better than I've ever done before. I used to go to bed with a messy house, but no more! It only takes a few minutes to throw those dishes in the dishwasher, put away that folded laundry and pick up some toys here and there! And I find that I wake up in morning and feel so much better than I used to when I'd roll out of bed to a messy house!

Update

Hey all! Don't want to jinx anything, but I'm thinking and feeling that labor is going to start soon! I lost my plug today, so all the other fun stuff shouldn't be far behind. Keep us in your prayers, especially Alexis, I think she is coming down with the sniffles :(. Love this weather, but it makes a lot of people sick. If I have time, I'll post when we know for sure and are heading to the hospital. It could be another week or so even, but I'm really hoping it's not!