Some Amazon Deals!

Here are some great Amazon deals I've found:

Sumersault Polka Dots Sheet - $0.69

This product is NOT polka dots and is a blue stripe. However, at that price, it could have an elephant on it and I don't care. What a great price!

Aloe Vesta Protective Ointment- 8 oz tube - Single Tube - $1.99

Original price of $21.99 and has a 5-star rating out of 11 reviews. It is hypoallergenic too!

Sumersault Claudia Crib Sheet - $3.99

Original price of $19.99. This is a very good price for a crib sheet.

Munchkin Dora Rolling Wheel Teether - $0.97

Have a baby that is teething? Sick of paying for overpriced teethers? Buy this for a buck and you won't look back!!

Phew! Those were just a few of the deals I've found looking around quickly. If I find anything else, I'll be sure and post it.

New Year Resolutions

So, we have been perfecting the art of living frugally over the last year, and there are a LOT of other ways that we could continue to pinch pennies even further.

With the two kids, we have found a wonderful balance to provide for OUR needs, and THEIR needs. Our biggest expense our diapers.

My youngest B is just ready to start potty training soon, and so, he will have been in diapers for two years next month. Brennan has worn every diaper brand out there.

Pampers were the first brand that Brennan wore and he loved them. He wore them until the summer when we switched to the Target up&up brand.

These diapers are amazing! Sure, they don't have the cute designs that Pampers and Huggies diapers have, but they are a cute green polka dot. They are just as absorbent as a branded diapers. I have been using them for over a year, and most of the time, throughout my son's diarrhea bouts... they have lasted!

Now, when I am shopping at Rite Aid and there is a good diaper deal, I will hold off on using up&up diapers and will instead use Huggies.

For example, my favorite diaper deal is when the jumbo packs go on sale for $8.99 at Rite Aid and you get a $2 +UP reward. The deal works VERY well like this-

3x Huggie's Jumbo Packs ($8.99 each)
Total: $26.97

Use - $5/$25 coupon
Subtotal: $21.97
3- $2.00 Little Snuggler coupons, or 3- $3.00 Pure & Natural coupons
(Can sweeten this deal if there is a Rite Aid video value coupon available)

Pay Out of Pocket: $15.97 for Little Snugglers, or $12.97 for Pure & Natural diapers.
You then get 3- $2+UP rewards, which means...

$6.97 for Pure & Natural, or $9.97 for Little Snuggler's! This deal makes me so excited, but alas, I have not seen it for nearly a month at Rite Aid, so I am eagerly awaiting my chance to buy more cheap diapers!

Even without the UP rewards, you are paying $15.97 for 108 diapers. At Target, 84 diapers is $19.99, so you can see that this deal saves you quite a bit of money!!

Holiday Cheer

Wow! Time sure is flying. I keep meaning to update this site, but I keep forgetting. Addie is growing like a weed- the NB diapers are finally starting to get a bit snug. But, I must say, she is the most calm baby. She is not needy, and she doesn't cry barely at all. She is an absolutely wonderful baby & it makes me SO happy to be her Momma! Already I am wondering where my "little" baby girl has gone!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!! :)

Planning for Next Week

Well, Matt is officially working third shift starting tonight, so that means some big changes for the month of December. It works out well with the holidays because third shift is usually slower than 1st or 2nd shift,and he can work from home on the holidays (Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Years Eve!)

And then in January he switches to 13.5 hour shifts & goes back to get his masters so he has class two days a week. AYIEE. I am so tired of everything changing.

I need to sit down and plan my shopping trips, but honestly, I am crunched for time and everything just gets MESSY! I am at a loss at how to keep everything organized & stay on top of everything. I follow the Hip2Save blog (www.hip2save.com) and they update so often, it is hard to keep track of all their updates.

Right now Colin (from Hip2Save) and 11 other bloggers are doing a big giveaway event. I started my entries today into the EIGHTEEN giveaways... but I only got 1 and a half done.I have 16 1/2 more to do in two days! UGH.

I really need a cheap, efficient way to keep track of coupons. I tried a binder, but I can't afford the dividers. OY.

Every Sunday, I end up clipping coupons, sorting coupons and throwing out the expired ones. Then I dig through the circulars and figure out what the best deals are. Then I go to Afullcup.com and see what other people have posted.

I'd like to get into coupon buying but I would have to have my coupons ordered a head of time for this weeks sales, and I am struggling with THIS week.... not even able to think about NEXT week yet.

Oh well, had an awesome impromptu trip to Rite Aid today. I was planning a Revlon scenario and needed to check out some prices (will share scenario later!!) . DF grabbed a couple clearance picture frames, and we paid $12.71 (in error) for three. when we went back to get it fixed, we got a refund of $12.70. Yeah, we got three frames for $0.01. Not sure how that works, but hey- now I can afford to go back and buy more! :)

There is not too much I need to get at RA- I just need to make sure none of my +UP Rewards expire soon. I did see that some Revlon items were 75% off at my Rite Aid.

Easy scenario might be:

Buy
2 foundation/blush originally at 13.99 at 75% off= $6.99/2
2 Revlon Lip care at b1g1 50% off (price is between $4.99-$8.99) = 13.46/2
Revlon nail enamel (price guess @ $4.99) = $4.99
Subtotal: $25.44

Use
1- $5/$25 purchase
2- $5 off Revlon lip care (RA)
1- $3/1 Revlon nail enamel (RA)
= $18 off!

OOP: $7.44 (If you have/use +UP rewards, this could be lower!)

Not bad considering you get five products for less than the price of 1 foundation. Not as good as it could be, but not bad considering it's 1:30am. I don't even know if there are any manfacturers q's for Revlon. Hmmm... Night internets

$0.07 OOP - My Trip At Target

I had a great trip to Target today! I got a bunch of little things that I needed!

I purchased:

1- 2-pack GE Reveal light bulbs on sale for $3.27
1- Travel sized Eucerin lotion at $0.97
1- NYC Nail polish at $0.94
1- REACH floss at $0.97
1- Ajax dish soap at $0.97 (I think-- lost my damn receipt)

Total: $7.12

I used:
1- $2.00 off GE Reveal Catalina (Manufacturers coupon--the cashier had it!)
1- $1.50 off GE Reveal Target coupon
1- $1.00 off any sized Eucerin
1- $1.00 off any NYC Nail Polish
1- $1.00 off any REACH floss
1- $0.55 off any Ajax (hangtag!)

Total coupons used: $7.05

OOP: $0.07!! :) What a great trip!

I've a New Hobby!

I started couponing about a month ago, and it's been taking up all my free time, so I will share with you some highlights!

• Addison is now 11 weeks old (she will be 3months on 12/6). Breastfeeding is going great. At 8 weeks, she weighed 8lbs and was 21.75 inches long! Her next appointment is in January.
• Brennan is now 22 months old (will be 23 months on 12/19). I can't believe this is going to be his 2nd Christmas!! :)
  
• We got our Christmas photos done & ordered our Christmas card (see card in post below!) I got 62 cards for 20% off for cyber week sale, with free shipping on orders over $25, and then my friend Lisa gave me a code for an extra 20% off. For posting the card below, I got a $25 gift card! So... that's like paying less than $2 for 62 Christmas cards SHIPPED! :) I'm super excited.
  
• I attended the baptism class for Addison & Brennan and we are planning their baptism for Spring.
  
• Matt and I are going to be starting the pre-marriage counseling. We had an appointment with Father Gotwalt, but we had to cancel it when I got sick a couple weeks ago. We are just waiting to reschedule.
  
• Matt has decided he's going back to MSM for his Master's, and we are both very excited for him to finish this degree. He has 2 semesters left of coursework, and then he can take some time to work on his oral and thesis. :)
  
• I am going to be taking some more courses at HACC in the Spring & Summer to finish up some basic math, science, and English requirements. Then I will be speaking with an online school about enrollment to see if I can go for my Bachelor's in Environmental Science. Hopefully, with an online program, I can finish my *bachelors* in the same time it'd take me to finish my *associates* at HACC. :)
  
• I have begun looking for a job & day care provider for my two children. Oh boo. :(
  

That's about everything that is going on here now. Now, onto the coupon talk....

It's pretty basic to start out with, depending on how much time you can devote to price shopping & coupon cutting. When I first started out, I did this:

1. Buy the Sunday paper
2. Look at the circular
3. Save money by buying sale items!
   

Then, I added a fourth step- cut coupons. When I started, I went for an item I needed & used a coupon. This saved a little bit of money, but not too much.

When you really save money is when you combine the store sale AND a coupon. As you start to shop with coupons more you become a LOT more aware of how much different items cost. For example, buying an item NOT on sale at CVS/RiteAid will cost $2-3 *MORE* than buying it at Wal-Mart or Target. However, buying an item on *SALE* at these stores is typically MUCH cheaper than either of those stores.

Also, make sure you price shop your local grocery store. When I compared cleaner prices (Pledge multi-surface) between wal-mart and Giant, I found that Giant had the lower price. When Giant had a sale, I used a coupon, and saved $2 on Pledge! :)

Now, what I am doing is "making money" by shopping at Rite-Aid- and I LOVE it. It is so easy to do.

1- Watch Rite Aid video values every month (watch EVERY video you can- but do not print it until you need item)
2- Watch store sales
3- Combine RA coupons w/ Manufacturers coupons
4- Apply all of these with +UP rewards && MAKE MONEY!

One simple scenario that I did this week was:

Buy:
2 Foamies Crafts at $2.29 each. On sale Buy 1 Get 1 50% off.
2 Clorox Wipes 35-ct. On sale 2 for $4. (Get 1$ +UP reward wyb 2)

Total: $7.43

Use:
1 RA Video Value December coupon - $5 off Foamies
1 RA Video Value November coupon - $0.50 off Clorox
2 Manufacturer coupons - $0.75 off Clorox wipes
Total coupons: $7.00

Paid OOP: $0.43
Get back 1$ +UP Reward from Clorox....so I made $0.57 on this purchase! :)

I will post my RA shopping trip list soon! :)

card uno

Picture Joy Christmas

Shop Shutterfly for elegant custom Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Another Hiatus

Shortly after my last post, my mom came down to meet her granddaughter. She spent the weekend here in PA, and then we all (except for Matt, who had to work) went back to CT. I spent some time in CT with my family. It was nice being able to sleep in with Addie and let my dad watch Brennan in the AM! I certainly enjoyed it, and except for this whole "life" thing and Dr's appointments... I didn't really want to hurry back to PA.

But, here I am... and what have I been doing? LOTS!

Matt and I got registered at our local church a couple weeks ago (St. Josephs Parish) and I've signed up for the November Baptism class. Right now, we're planning on a May/June '11 Baptism, but location has not yet been set.

Matt decided he's going back to finish his master's degree in philosophy. It looks like he has three semesters left worth of classes, and then he has a dissertation and oral exam. Oh, fun! It's been quite an interesting road, and I am sure that everything will work out for the best. He's been offered a 3-day 12 hour shift position (doing basically the same thing at his current job), which would give him four days off a week. We are hoping that everything comes through with this... because with him going to school and everything that's going on at home... It would definitely work out better for us!

We are also trying to move out of this cramped 2-bedroom 3rd floor apartment. It is such a hassle dragging two kids down three flights of stairs... And then there is three blocks to get to the car! I hate buying groceries because we have to lug them up the stairs! We signed up for a Wait-List at a family apartment complex literally about half a mile away. It is all income-based and at our income, we qualify for a 3bedroom at $515/MO. That is less than we are paying now for this 2-bedroom. It also includes W/S/T and has on-site laundry. The downside is that it does not have a yard, so the kiddos can't play outside, but it is right across the street from a park.

The problem right now with moving is that with what we currently pay, it's unlikely we'll find any more than we currently get in this apartment (W/S/T). We need an apartment with dedicated parking, and preferably a yard. The apartment also HAS to come with a washer/dryer hookup (or the washer/dryer), and come with all of the appliances. You'd be surprised how many apartments around here are "you supply the fridge..."

But the biggest problem we have is space. Our apartment has a very unusual layout that is perfect for us. We have a long-entry way with a table and coat rack, which opens into a good size living room. Our kitchen is a very long room and doubles as our office so we have our desk in the office as well. Whenever we look at a 2bedroom, we can never find the space for the desk.... the kitchens or bedrooms are always too small! This desk is perfect for what we need (it is 7' long and has a beautiful hutch to hold all of our papers and office supplies)

When I figure the math out, if we find a place that we don't have to pay for laundry, or our storage unit, and comes with more efficient electric... We could spend up to $645 a month at our current income and basically break even. If we find anything cheaper than that that fits all of those items, then we are saving money by moving... It's a tough decision.

I've also started couponing... and I'm turning into the crazy coupon lady! This week, I've made FOUR different trips to rite aid.

Rite-Aid

TRIP 1:
- 2 XTRA Laundry Detergent (Originally $3.49/each, on sale 2 for $4- 1$ coupon = $3.00 (+1.00 UP Reward)
- 1 Garnier Herbashine hair dye (Originally $7.99, on sale $5.99 - $5 in coupons (1 rite aid, 1 internet coupon) = 0.99
- 4 cans of Progressive soup (Originally $3.19/ea, on sale $1.25 - 2.00 in coupons (1 rite aid, 1 coupon) = $3.00
- 2 cans Hormel chili (On sale $1.25/each - $1.50 in coupons = $1.00

Total:
FS- 7.50
OOP- 0.63
I received: $3 in UP Rewards

Trip 2:
- 1 Garnier Fructis Dandruff shampoo (Originally $5.99, on sale $3.99 - $3.00 in coupons (1 RA + 1 MFR) = 0.99

OOP: 0.99

Trip 3:
**EXCHANGE EXTRA**
- 1 NYC Lipstick 1.99
- 1 NYC Nail Polish .99 - FREE
Total: 1.99 - 1 UP REWARD = 0.99 OOP

I received: $2 in UP Rewards

Trip 4: (HUGGIES)
- 2 Huggies Newborn Little Snuggler Jumbo Packs (Originally $12.49, on sale $8.99) (-2 coupons for 4.50) = 13.48
- 1 Huggies Newborn Pure and Natural Jumbo Pack (Originally $12.49, on sale $8.99) (-1 coupon for 3.00) = 5.99
Subtotal: 19.47
I used: 4 UP Rewards and a 4/20 coupon

Total: 11.47
I received: $6 in UP Rewards


Not bad for my first REAL week, right?? :)

Fake out!

So, after all that talk of plans for yesterday, I ended up just lounging on the sofa and enjoying my kiddos. Even now, Brennan is standing on the chair next to me, sharing my sandwich. He is such a mommy's boy & I love it! Matt is looking forward to having a "Daddy's girl" because Brennan won't give Matt cuddles and kisses... Well- sometimes he gets more kisses than I do!! :P yes, we keep track of this sort of thing... We're parents, isn't that our job?? :)

We are going to try and get some family photos taken soon, we found a lady who is willing to do them for free and give us a CD with all the pictures on it! What a great deal. We intended to get photos done in the Spring, but we never did, because we decided we would just wait until Addison is born. Anyway, Matt and I still need engagement photos, and I'd like to get some pictures with Brenn & Addie as well as the entire family. If I am clever enough, we can change outfits and it may not even look like all the photos were taken on the same day.

Matt and I have only one photograph taken of us together, which is kind of lame... We used to joke about going to the Gettysburg battlefields and pretending to be tourists to get someone to take a photo of us. :P

Yesterday, Matt said something really sweet, and it just warms my heart! He said to me, "thank you for my amazing daughter." I get a little sad when he says things like that, even though he means well... I get sad because my body was trying to kill her. It's very hard to deal with and it was something completely beyond my control... but we did the best we could, and we have a beautiful, healthy baby girl. :)

Addie's cord fell off yesterday, and Matt and I were super excited. Matt kept telling me yesterday, "It's going to fall off! It's going to fall off!" We're looking forward to giving Addie her first real bath tonight after Brenn is in bed. We "ritualistically" threw the cord out, and Matt gave a little "Ohmmmm..." as he tossed it in the trash can. What was I going to do with a dry shriveled piece of cord? I would have kept it-- her lifeline-- but it would have reminded me too much of how much we nearly lost-- and how hard we fought. I'd much rather kiss her belly button. It's a lot cuter.

Speaking of belly buttons, it looks like Addie has an outie! Matt was telling me, "I wonder if that will change..?" and I shrugged, then berated him to not critique our daughter. I worked hard on her! :)

Thank you, God, for giving me a wonderful man-- whose soon to be my husband-- and two darling children. I feel like this journey has lasted forever, and I still have so far to go to watch my children grow over the years... And it's so worth it...I Hope I can enjoy every single day. :)

Some Fresh Air

Yesterday, after Matthew and I returned home from a quick errand, we were surprised to find a package waiting at our door! My Aunt and Uncle had sent a package for Addison! What a great surprise. Matt and I are looking forward to calling and thanking them for their thoughtfullness- they even included a gift for the new big brother! A stuffed Tigger, a book, and the perfect fall outfit. It was a very nice token.

Matthew and I are spending today cleaning up the apartment and getting rid of some of the unnecessary clutter. He's making the last trip to storage to get stuff out of the apartment today, and doing laundry... I'm tidying Brennan's and our room... Later, we'll be switching dressers to give Matthew some extra dresser space. We still have lots of little things to do in our bedroom... Our bookcase needs to be reorganized, and we need to pack up some books and bring them back to storage... We have to reorganize the back of our utility closet. Now that the shelves are accessible, thanks to my dad's ingenious wall-organization, we need to actually USE them. (Who would have thought it??)

So, lots of little things... and lots of baby snuggles in-between. Maybe next week we'll tackle Brennan's dresser finally. It STILL needs to be sanded and repainted.

Off to give my big baby some extra lovings while his sister is napping. :) Have a great Saturday everyone!

Two Left Feet

Brennan seems to have two left feet now... he is constantly tripping over himself and falling flat on his face. He's also stopped responding to "No!" unless I say it 2-3 times and make myself hoarse. Whenever Addie is sleeping now (and I'm not cleaning, etc), I sit down with Brenn to play with him... I really enjoy spending as much time as I can alone with him, but I still wonder if he resents the change? With how he dotes on Addie, I'd think not.

I'm really starting to look forward to fall. There's an apple festival that Matt and I will be taking the kids too, especially for Brennan to enjoy the petting zoo and hay rides... It will be fun! I'm also going to take up the Walk to Rivendell challenge again. Walk to Rivendell. According to my log, the last time I tracked how far I walked was exactly one year ago! Whoops.

I need to start investigating sewing machines, too... Always another thing to do!!

Feeding Woes

Breastfeeding with Brennan was a huge hassle, with him being in the NICU, from Day 1 I was pumping, breastfeeding (while I was visiting him) and supplementing after ever feed. So, right now, feeding Addison is eerily reminscent of that fight... and after Brennan got home, I didn't have a pump (I was using a loaner from the NICU while B was in the hospital), and Brennan was still having latch issues... so I was still having to supplement... and so my supply died before I could get a pump from my insurance.

This time around, I have a pump, so I am already better off... but Addison, like Brennan, is having latch problems. We are using a shield, but she is still not getting a lot of milk from me. I know it takes time, and from what I've read and from what people have told me, it should get better... I fought with Brennan for close to a month to get breastfeeding "started" and I already feel better off than last time, but I am already getting worn down too.

My initial plan with breastfeeding Addie was to elusively pump, and supplement with formula only when necessary and only a few breastfeeding sessions per day. On average, Addison has 1-2 "good" sessions a day, and the rest she is just lazy and doesn't really get anything... I understand it is good practice, and good for yada yada yada... but I have her attached to me 1+ hours and she isn't eating... so then I have a ravenous baby. :/

It makes me feel really inadaquate, even though I've had several people (nurses, etc, etc) tell me I am doing everything right, and I just need to give Addie time to adjust and get a bit stronger and things will work out great... but it is really discouraging.

Since Addison was born, I have been pumping, breastfeeding, and supplementing with formula or expressed breast milk. It is a tiring cycle, and takes up a LOT of time... especially chasing a toddler around an apartment.

Maybe my initial plan would be a better idea...

First Days Home

After Matthew, Addison, and I returned home from the hospital on Wednesday, Matt's mom stayed to help us out around the house until Saturday. We had to make a trip Thursday back to York Hospital to the lab to get a bilirubin test done for Addison's jaundice. It was fine- 10.6, so the nurse at York Pediatrics told us we didn't need to get tested again.

Addison had her first pediatrician's appointment on Friday, she was 5lbs even. So, as of Friday, she had lost 6oz from her birth weight. The pediatrician we saw that day we did not like at all. He was... pathetically misinformed and I have no idea where he got his medical degree. Needless to say, Matthew and I decided we'll never see this pediatrician again, and if these problems with the office continue, we'll switch pediatricians.

Later that same day, we also had an appointment back at York Hospital with a Lactation Consultant. I was looking forward to this appointment, especially because I am sincerely dedicated to making breastfeeding work this time-- and I know with the right attitude, I can do it!

WELL, the Lactation Consultant wasn't very helpful. Addison, like any other four day old baby, was sleeping when we arrived. The LC didn't want to take Addison out of the car seat to even ATTEMPT a feeding. Doesn't everyone know that babies wake up when you move/undress them? It was pathetic, and I wanted to scream at her. Why else would I drive 45 minutes with a NEWBORN unless I thought it was going to do me some good??!

We "rescheduled" for Sunday morning, and I was seriously considering not even bothering to reschedule... It just seemed like it was not worth the hassle of the drive. While we were at Lacation, I had her check Addison's bilirubin with a trans-dermal monitor-- it read high- very high. So, I called the pediatrician's office, and we went back to the hospital (locally) for another bilirubin test. This one came back at 14.7. When the Dr. called back, he said they'd like to schedule another test for Saturday morning.

Sure thing, so Saturday morning we went back to the lab... went through the entire horrible heel prick ordeal, and then get a call on Saturday afternoon from the on-call Dr. Her level went up to 15.1, and they are not thinking it is gonna go any higher... so they will follow up with her in the office on Friday. IN A WEEK.

Say... WHAT?! I disagreed waiting a week for a weight check, and now I doubly disagree waiting a week for you to eyeball her jaundice to make sure it goes down! However, the Dr. interuptted my afternoon nap, so I thanked him and got off the phone... to fume and rant at Matt later. :D

Needless to say, I recieved a phone call from a nurse at the Hospital I delivered at doing a routine follow up call... And even though she was probably reading off a sheet with blanks filled in about Addison, the call WAS personalized enough and she honestly acted like she cared about Addison and myself. She agreed with my initial thought that it was careless to wait a week for a weight check given Addison's age and size, so after we got off the phone, I rescheduled the weight check for Wednesday.

I feel a lot better now.

Other than THAT drama, life has been good. Matthew is just amazing to watch with Addison, and it's just everything I thought it would be. Even if I lived in a cardboard box, I'd still feel euphoric with my family around me. I feel so blessed.

Brennan is just a doll. He loves to go up to her and try to pick her up and give her kisses. I'll let him "hold" her on his lap (with me doing the holding), and he will make sure her hat is on right, and pass me her blanket or bottle when I am feeding her. He is so sweet with her, it makes me want to cry.

Not once has he been rough with her so far, and we just will tell him to be gentle, and he will start rubbing his sister's back so softly. He even recognizes who Addie is now! We can tell him, "That is Addie's, can you give it to her?" and he will go put it (usually a blanket) on her. He is such a great big brother, and it warms my heart.

Now, it's time for some cleaning before I have to wake Addie up for her next feeding! :)

A Day to Remember

On September 5th, I had a follow up appointment with MFM at 12:30 pm at L&D due to low amniotic fluid that was diagnosed on Friday. On Friday, the AFI was 7.7 cm. My cervix was 2cm and 60% effaced, unchanged from a week before. That day, Matt's sister, Abbe, had finally come down to get her furniture out of our storage unit and so the Great Storage Catastrophe was behind us. She was able to watch the Brenn-monster, while Matt and I went to the hospital for the testing.

My NST looked great, Addison was reactive. Matt and I had a nagging feeling, but we chalked it up to being in the hospital. When we went to the ultrasound (conviently located in a maternity room- LOL), Dr. J and S were really friendly- like always. After a couple minutes, I saw the numbers S was getting for the AFI were not high at all... so I asked, "What's it look like today?" She frowned. It had dropped to 3.9 cm. I knew then that Addison was going to be come out today, even before Dr. J said anything.

Due to the risks with IUGR and oligio, Dr. J decided it was time to get this baby out.... and I was officially full-term at 37 weeks. Dr. J called the NICU to see if there was going to be a bed for Addison if she needed it, and her case was accepted. (YAY! One less thing to worry about).

Dr. J walked Matt and I back down to L&D, and we started chit-chatting. Matt and I got hugs from Dr. J and S. It was such a great experience working with everyone at MFM... even if all I did was lay in a chair and be monitored or poked the entire time. :)

When I walked back to the nurses' station, I announced, "I'm baaack! And here to stay!" We went through the admit process, and walked back to our room. When I walked in, completely not in labor, I had the surreal feeling of... "This is where my baby is going to be born..."or rather, "Damnit, I'm stuck in this room UNTIL the baby is born" =P

Since I was on Heparin, they had to draw blood and wait for the results before they could start the induction and I was officially NPO. Matt and I got settled in L&D, and waited. I was contracting on my own every 2-4 minutes.

Eventually, Dr. G walked in and said that the levels were good, and they could go ahead and start the induction. I was 2cm and 60% effaced, so Dr. G decided to go with cytotec to begin the induction. After much discussion regarding cytotec, we eventually decided to agree with the Dr's decision. Matt had gone back to the apartment to help his mom out, and the Dr. wanted to wait to insert the cytotec until Matt had returned. Finally, around 5pm, the cytotec was inserted. The cytotec starting giving me intense contractions (pain scale 6) for the first couple hours, but then it was starting to wane...

At 10pm, I was 2-3cm and 80%, and Dr. G went ahead and started me on pitocin. Within a half hour of starting the pitocin, my contractions had completely stopped. It was super exciting... NOT. Matt and I decided to get some sleep since nothing was happening. While Matt slept, I woke up a couple times throughout the night with some contractions, and was always able to fall back. Throughout the night, the nurses came in and upped my pitocin ever 45 minutes.

At 6am, my pitocin dose was the second highest, and the nurse came in and gave me a choice. They could stop the pitocin, and I could eat breakfast... Or.... I interupted her. Breakfast, please!! I had ice chips all night for dinner, and I was starving....

So I had a light breakfast, showered, and waited around for them to re-start the cytotec. Dr. G's shift had ended, so now CNM B was on for the day.

At around 10am, they started the next cytotec. This time, the cramps did not even match the level that the other cytotec did the previous night. However, the MW stretched me as much as she could, and said that the next step would be to rupture my membranes. At 11am, the contractions were 4-6 minutes apart and very mild... And by noon, they had completely spaced out to 10+ minutes apart.

So, around 2pm, they inserted the third one. Matt had left the hospital again to go tend to his mother back at the apartment. I immediately fell asleep, and slept off the "worst" of the super mild contractions from the cytotec. When I looked at the monitor, I was actually contracting ever 2-4 minutes...Progress? Or not?

At 6pm, CNM B came back in and checked me, and I was completely unchanged. At this point, I was very discouraged.. this whole "labor" process... was LABORIOUSLY long and boring! She did stretch me another 1-2 cm (so now I am 3-4cm dilated) and separated baby's head from the cervix. She also started me on pitocin, and was only going to up the dose every hour. She said she was going to do this slowly. Shortly after that exam, the contractions began to pick up. After four hours, she would break my water.

Instead at 8pm, CNM B came in and decided it was time to break my water. After my water was broken, I actually felt like I was in labor for the first time ALL DAY, and things picked up rather quickly. I stayed in bed for a good 45 minutes after my water broke, and then finally crawled out of bed to use the restroom and walk around a bit.

Matt wanted to take me out in the hallway to walk a bit, and I was content to walk back and forth in the room. I was in terrible pain sitting in the bed, laying in the bed, or sitting in the rocking chair... So I resorted to standing up basically swaying from foot to foot.

Around 10:15, I was getting inconsolable. I climbed up on the bed on all fours, and finally found a strange position I was mostly comfortable in. At 10:30pm, I called the nurse in. She nearly dismissed me because the contraction monitor wasn't reading intense contractions, but I was feeling a lot of pressure (but not the "I need to push" pressure). I told her honestly, I've never BEEN through this part of labor before, so I don't KNOW... The nurse was a bitch. She went to get CNM B, and finally checked me... At 10:35, I was 7cm.

I was honestly convinced they were going to tell me I was unchanged, and I was going to be miserable for the rest of the night. I knew I was losing my focus in the pain, so I asked the MW what my options were for pain management. She recommended Stadol, and after I got that I was basically falling asleep in between each contraction, but I still felt all the pressure-- which was exactly what I wanted. Looking back, I probably could have made it the rest of the labor without the pain medication... which only took about 50-60% of the pain away, but it did give me enough of an edge that I could focus again.

At 11pm (or so) I was 8.5cm dilated, and the CNM stayed in the room from that point on and the nurse was busy getting everything ready for the baby. When the nurse turned on warmer lamp for the bassinet, I knew it was real. At 11:15pm (or so) I started feeling like I had to push. It was a completely different experience from what I remember giving birth to Brennan. After 15 minutes of pushing, Addison was born at 11:26pm. After a quick, albeit uncomfortable inspection from the MW-- I hadn't torn at all and didn't require any stitches.

After she was born, she was put on my stomach for a good couple minutes. She was crying, and alert, and it was amazing. I only got to see Brennan for a flash before he was taken off my stomach, so I really enjoyed being able to spend these first moments with Addie. Matt watched the entire labor from my side, and cut Addie's cord. After they took her over to the warmer to get her first check up, and after a couple minutes, Matt came back over to me with Addie and kissed me. "She doesn't need to go to the NICU."

Those were the most amazing words that I've ever heard, after everythinig-- Brennan's pregnancy, delivery, Addison's pregnancy, and this 30+ hour induction + delivery... I felt complete. My baby girl was fine.

They left Addison in our room for 45 minutes or so, and then took her to the well-baby nursery. Matt stayed with me at L&D because the room had to be packed up, and there was no way I could do that! Once we got over to maternity, I told Matt he could go to the nursery with Addison if he wanted to...

The nurse came in and told us Addison was having trouble keeping her temperature up, so she was back under the warming lights. After she was given a bath, she would be kept in the nursery for an hour to make sure her temperature didn't drop, and then she would be brought into our room. It was around 1:30am, and Matt and I decided to catch some Z's while we waited for Addison. At 3:15am, I woke up and freaked out. Had the Nurse come in with Addison and we were sleeping, so they left? Is everything okay?

I paged the Nurse and she said Addison was going to be coming down in a couple minutes, so I woke Matt up. Finally, at 3:30 am, Addison was brought into our room. I started to breastfeed Addison at that time, and finally, around 5:30 am, Matt and I brought Addie back to the nursery so we could catch a quick nap before her next feeding at 6:30am.

From that moment on, she only left our room a couple times... for her checks up (twice a day), and twice when Matt and I needed some privacy (I got a backrub, and when we finally packed up the room to leave on Wednesday)....

It was amazing being able to spend all that time with Addison and Matthew, just the three of us... but I missed my little boy, and I couldn't wait to go home...

It's over, it's finally over... and now, my life as a mother of two can begin.

Hoping for Progress

Tomorrow, I go in for my 36w OB/GYN check up. I am hoping to get my GBS test, and see if I have had any progress over the last week. I am excited to hit 37w on Sunday... I can't believe I made it this far.

Today I woke up and found out my cell phone had been disconnected so I had to go through and convince B's biodad to make a payment-- which thankfully he did. This is not really the time of my life to be without a cell phone, considering I will be delivering a baby within the next three weeks!

I also met with a lady who is going to let me use her washer/dryer a couple days a week while her children are in school. In exchange, I will help her organize her house, or do light cleaning for her while my laundry is running. She is really nice, and I am hopeful the situation will work out! At the very least, it will save me $60+ dollars a month in laundry cost, and its no additional hassle since Matt would need to drag the laundry down three flights of stairs ANYWAY if we were going to the laundromat.

She also gave me a tub of Oxyclean, which I am sooo happy with! I am hoping to use it with each load and help clean my laundry a bit better!! If this works out really well, on top of the money savings, Matt and I can look into cloth diapering Addison.

Of course, that is a whole other headache.... seeing as my dad called me and said that the sewing machine that my mom was going to give to me can't be fixed... which means that I'm SOL for getting a sewing machine... No curtains, pillows, and diapers for us. Oh, phooey. So, I'm going to have to look up machines over the next couple months and pick one that I want for Christmas. Decisions, decisions...

I painted the first coat of the blue shelf this evening. I was going for a yellow, and it came out a very nice faded spring green with yellow highlights. Now, in an hour, I am going to try and paint another coat and see if it comes out any, erm, more yellow!! I am not quite sure I want a green shelf (however pretty it may be) next to my daughter's pink bassinet!

Tomorrow we are heading back to storage to finish our wonderful adventures in storage... We have until Sept 7th to get out of the 10x10 unit, and I am hoping that we can get the rest of the unit finished tomorrow night after the weather cools down considerably.

The only things we have left to do in storage are:

1. Move boxes from apartment to storage (9-2)
   
2. Reorganize boxes of books (Find books to possibly freecycle, sell on Amazon, and bring back to the house)
   
3. Have Matt go through his paperwork in storage (Bring back the paperwork to the apartment that is garbage to be burned)
4. Repack/Organize miscellaneous boxes
5. Repack holiday/fragile items
6. Look into bike storage

Hopefully Matt's sister will be here this weekend to get her furniture, as I am beyond distressed with this entire situation and I am hoping that this nightmare will be behind us soon.

Well, I am off. Matt and I have to go get my car from the mall because I got a terrible dizzy spell earlier and he had to come pick me up while I was at the mall running errands. Stupid random blood pressure.

Another Day, Another Destiny

I had my 36 week growth ultrasound today, and it went great. Addison is continuing to do very well. She jumped from the 5th percentile at 34w to the 8th percentile. Just to give you an idea, the last time she was that high was at 22w and that was in the 7th percentile....

Now for our guest speaker:

Hi, my name is Brennan. I decided that I'm going to tell you a little bit about what I do every day in a new section called "The Daily Adventures of Lord Brennicus." Yep, that's me. Mom calls me that when I do something silly.

I don't have a story from today to tell you, but I will take something from last week!

~ * ~

So, I found a box of cereal I liked. It was a box of Kix. Kid-tested, mother approved. I am definitely a kid-tester. Mom didn't see me with the box of Kix, so I went to go hide and eat my Kix in peace. I tried to put the box of Kix underneath the table, and it got stuck on the legs! It was hanging midair, and I couldn't get it to go through. So I crawled underneath the box of kix underneath the table, and I pulled, and pulled it with all my might.

Until I fell backwards.

Mom saw me, and laughed.

But I was determined, so I crawled out to try again. On my way out, I hit the box of Kix with my big head and it knocked down to the ground. As I was trying to climb out, I got stuck because the box of Kix was in my way! Ooo, it was so frustrating! Finally, I fell over the box of Kix and landed on the floor.

Then, without skipping a beat, I hit the box of Kix. That will show him!!

When I hit the box of Kix, a couple Kix fell out. Yum! Just what I wanted! Then we were all friends again, and everything was good.

The End.

~*~

Did you like my story? It even has a happy ending! I got to go now, it's bed-time!

Thanks, Brenn for sharing that delightful story!! :)

Now where was I? OH yes. Addison is looking so good now the Dr. says that I can go until 39w. I am pretty happy about that, but also kind of bummed! I guess I will just deal with it, and hope I go before the induction.

The cleaning/nesting/organizing/craft extravaganza has continued into this week. Tonight I have been organizing the bedroom, and then I need to work on the bathroom. I have NO idea where I'm going to keep all my nursing supplies. I better ask advice from mommas who BF'd to figure this out!

I can't honestly figure out where all this CRAP comes form--- I mean, how much of the crap sitting around in my house do I honestly USE/NEED? Very little of it, actually, which is why I am trying to purge so much recently. Also, because it will be easier to keep the apartment clean when there is less clutter. My next "big" project is going to be in the living room-- we're getting rid of the record player (it needs a piece to work, and it doesn't right now so it's just taking up space) and we're gonna put it in the closet until we get the piece, but we're taking the DVDs out of there and going to put them in a big CD binder. That way, we won't have so many cases laying around. (We can get rid of the nightstand next to the TV, and put a speaker there to get some sort of normal sound) and then clear the DVDs off our brick and board shelf to make room for other living room necessities. I'd like to add a lamp or two to the room.

Tomorrow I am meeting with a lady who is going to let me use her washer/dryer in exchange for some help around her house. I am hoping this will work out well, and if it works out REALLY well then I could even start using cloth diapers on Addison! (Since I would need to do laundry every 2-3 days, going to a laundromat with diapers is WAY TOO expensive at $3.00 per load) My mom is getting her sewing machine fixed so I can use that for my sewing projects. I can't wait! Just thinking about it gets me excited...

Until tomorrow,

The Final Countdown

Things are moving along quickly in preparation for the final days. Yesterday, Matt and I made three separate trips to storage and I am so happy with the progress we made. We went through our boxes of clothes (God, I didn't realize we had that many clothes!) and sorted them officially by season. The good news is that means we will be able to go over to the storage unit, grab our Winter clothes boxes in a month or so, and return the short-sleeves that are in there our dresser now.

We're going to have a major space crunch when we try and fit these three boxes of clothes in the house. Of course, I have an entire box in storage filled with shoes and purses, and a bag in the back of the closet filled with purses. It'd be nice to actually be able to use some of these things occasionally!

The other depressing thing about going through the storage unit is seeing how much weight I've gained. I've kept a bag of jeans from when I was smaller in hopes that when I lose weight I will fit into them again. Jeans are expensive, and I don't really want to have to rebuy jeans. Of course, I am getting tired of looking at a bag of jeans I may never fit into again... losing weight is a goal, but something that realistically, is not going to happen for some time.

I digress, we finished that... and then we brought a pile of shyt back to the house to be organized. I'm no longer going to stress that Matt cant bring stuff back to the house... I'm going to stress that while it's here, it must be useful and in a proper place.

Hopefully as we bring more of the miscellaneous stuff back into the house, he will realize that it's junk... But, you know, in good time.

Oh, and the other big victory yesterday was we went through all of the misc. crap and organized it... It went from several small boxes and a couple large boxes to three medium sized boxes. Very good consolidation if you ask me... Now, my goal is to get through those boxes again in the future and pack them properly. (And not have a box of random crap... Seriously, what do people do with all the crap they accumulate??!) We have done very well consolidating, so I am very very pleased. :D

It looks like most of my life is now going to be consumed with price shopping... It is hard being broke, and having to make every penny count... But, until Addison is born and I can work again, we'll do what we gotta do. :)

Adventures In Storage

So, in an effort to get a head start on our long list of things to do tomorrow, Matt and I headed over to the storage unit this morning to make some headway.

The miscellaneous clothes were boxed and sorted by season, and we grabbed a bunch of stuff to take home. There are still 3 more boxes to come back home, and we didn't bring any stuff over to storage today, so we will do that tomorrow.

So, further items to do:

1. Move boxes at home to storage
2. Move boxes at storage to home
3. At storage unit - dump all small, half-filled miscellaneous boxes into larger boxes to be sorted.
   
4. At storage unit - reorganize
   
5. Move loveseat to storage, measure dimensions of sofa in new unit and determine size of shelf to be built, poss move to CT for long-term storage.
   
6. Bike-hanging or move to shelf

Well, one step forward... ten more to go...

Addison's Journey to Mommy

I am posting a new page at the top of the blog regarding my pregnancy with Addison, with all of it's twists and turns. It is not finished yet, but I wanted to post it before she was born.

I will eventually finish Brennan's story as well, and add pictures. But our computer has been down since the end of July, so all my pictures are trapped on that hunk of plastic! :-(

Nesting, Nesting, Nesting

Sorry, I dived off the face of the earth for awhile. I just haven't had much of a heart to sit down and write anything recently. I will do better, I promise. Writing is a positive release, and I can spare 20 minutes a day to fill the Internet in. =)

Updates on Our Projects

1.) Cabinet Liner (Cost $0.97)

My kitchen project with the wallpaper as cabinet/drawer liners hasn't been finished. It's a big hassle to cut without an Xacto knife, and so doing it with scissors was a real labor of love... and I just don't love these cabinets! When Matt and I have some free time, I think it will be a good project for us to tackle together... So I don't have to keep climbing up and down the ladder, cutting, measuring, and pasting. A little too much for me to do at 9 months pregnant.

2.) Repainting Changing Table/Dresser (Cost $6.97 so far, more supplies needed)

We purchased the paint for the changing table/dresser combination in the nursery. It is a nice, pale sunshine yellow. We also are going to be moving the dresser got for Addison on freecyle to our bedroom, and switching out that dresser with Matt's dresser. We will probably repaint that dresser too. The changing table/dresser is a big project and since it needs to be completed in one day, we need to have one day to devote to it before we can begin. Next week Matt has three days off, so it is looking like one of those days will be Dresser #1 day!

4.) Repainting Nursery Hamper (Cost so far, $0.00)

I have yet to find a suitable color for the hamper, so I am thinking I will just buy regular paint and paint it. It was SUCH a big hassle to do before, and it will have to be painted white first I think but I can NOT find the color of spray paint I want.

5.) Bathroom Wall Organizer (Cost $19.99, plus $5.94 for paint so far)

A couple months ago, I purchased a bathroom wall organizer at wal-mart to match our bathroom theme... and of course, it was the wrong color (even though it was the right color on the box)...so Matt, like a dutiful handiman can... spray painted it a rubbed bronze color to match the other items in our bathroom... Except, well, it keeps rubbing off. It needs to be stripped, and redone, and then some sort of clear needs to be put over it. Oh well, it's completely doable.

6.) Shadow Boxes (2 @ $0.97)

I purchased two shadow boxes from Good Will, and then repainted them with acrylic paint I got off of Freecycle. They turned out beautifully, I will post pictures in another post.

7.) Picture Frame ($0.97)

I purchased a picture frame from Good Will, and repainted them with acrylic paint I got off of Freecycle. Picture will be posted in another post.

8.) Baby Mobile (Cost so far $13.68)

I found a DIY- Baby Mobile project that works perfectly for while Addison is sleeping in our bedroom in her bassinet. The only thing I need for it to start is the embroidery hoops that I am hoping to pick up tomorrow and start on.

9.) The Storage Unit Mess

I don't even know where to begin. Months ago, Matt and I tried to go over there at night (because it was cooler) to go through everything. It's a terrible mess. Empty boxes piled high, crap everywhere, clothes scattered across the floor... We got through about half of the boxes and got rid of a bunch of garbage, and we freecycled a TON of stuff. But there is still more, there always is. And going at night (past a little one's bedtime) meant we could only stay there for about an hour... in a hot steel box. No fun! Our goal is for this Sunday to get over there bright and early and go through the boxes and break them down or throw out the ones we don't need. Then, we need to pack the clothes on the floor into boxes, and label them by season. We also need to find our fall/winter clothes and move those to the front of the storage unit so we can grab them quickly. We also need to grab the remaining baby items (Infant rocker, baby tub, etc) before Addison gets here. Where the heck has all the time gone?

Also, on Sunday (like we weren't doing enough all ready??) Matt's sister, Abbe, is coming down from Philly to grab some furniture we've been holding onto her since MAY. So, we're going to make her work for us for a bit... LOL. We're moving a loveseat out of our living room, plus a desk, and some boxes out of the apartment to clear up some room for baby stuff. The guy we used to pay for those things currently owes us $60, and we offered to forgive that if he helped us move the loveseat, and his wife babysat for us twice. Sure, we usually paid him a lot more than that to help us move, but hey, we loaned HIM money a month ago... so there's interest involved. WELL, he didn't respond to that email (and then I found out when I did need his wife to babysit, she LIED to me and told me she wasnt available when she was) so needless to say... we are collecting our money and saying PISS OFF. Last week, this same guy wanted to borrow an additional $120, and I was like "HELL NO!" We have a daughter due any time now, we need every cent we can. Sorry, that was way off-topic... Anyway, storage unit...

It should be exciting. I'll post pictures of our progress after it is completed.

10.) The Great Desk Organization

We purchased a $50 desk a couple months ago, and it is about 7' long and 7' high, with shelving and cubbies built in. It is very awesome craigslist find. Well, we never really officially organized it, and it's been "half-assed" a couple times. So, I finally tore through everything and I have the filing system almost 100% complete, along with our billing, and budget organization... I need to find a system to organize my coupons, but that is another job... for now they are at home in a big plastic bag and I have them paperclipped in categories (Food, HBA, Cleaning, etc) it seems to be the easiest way for now.

Right now it's about 85-90% complete, after I did an additional THREE hours of work this evening, and I still have another hour or two.

Well, those are all of my projects... I hope I can get most of them done before Addison decides to make her arrival. Wish me luck!!

Projects... Go!

My first small DIY project will begin today. :) Pictures will be posted after project is completed.

I purchased a roll of wallpaper at Goodwill for $.97. My plan is to clean, re-organize, and de-clutter the kitchen cabinets as much as possible and then I will cut the wallpaper to fit into the bottom of the cabinet shelves and paste it. Hopefully when we are done, the pantry will look a lot cleaner.

Any remaining paper will be used to line the dresser drawers in our bedroom at a later date.

Last night, Matt and I also started discussing colors for our nursery projects! We picked a pale yellow for the bassinet color. :)

I want to paint the laundry hamper a spring green. The closest they had was a pistachio or jade. I am tempted to see if we can paint it a darker color and spray from a distance to achieve a lighter green... Problem is we would have to paint it white first to achieve that effect. The only other piece we are painting in that room is the old white dresser/changing table combination. It's painted white and has marker on it...so it will need to be sanded before it can be repainted. We're not sure what color we're going to paint it yet since that will be the largest painted piece in the room.

I've decided to go with a green farm animals theme for the kids room, so maybe we could paint the dresser/changing table a bright red and white scheme-- like a barn? If we were going to go with something that bold, however, we would have to change the color of the hamper. We still aren't ready to start painting the nursery yet... so it's frustrating because I want to make some progress.

Of course, I don't want to start too many things at once. We did reorganize our utility closet and it looks a lot better-- now we actually have room to get in and out of that closet. We also organized our master bedroom closet last weekend, and it's great now! It clears up so much space in the bedroom and makes a huge difference. No word yet if we're going to be attempting a bedroom swap, but I think it'll be a good idea.

Alright, well, I'm off to start cleaning the kitchen. :)

My Journey to Motherhood

Brennan's birth story was posted last night, as yet it is still not finished, but I will edit it and add pictures (as many as I have)... It could more accurately be described as summary of my pregnancy including labor and delivery.

You can see the birth story as a link at the top of the main page, or by clicking on this link here.

Silly Little Details

I am in love with the picture on the top of the page, but I cannot decide on a theme for this blog. I know it is a silly detail, but back when I used to have a livejournal I loved having customized themes and fancy-pants type customizations on my journal.. but I haven't quite figured out Blogger yet.

In other news-- I have followers! I'm totally psyched! Thank yooou!

The last couple days I've been extremely out of sorts emotionally-- it feels like someone hit me in a frying pan and I woke up back in the first trimester!! HEY-LEMME OUT OF HERE! I went through this already!!

Thankfully, Matt has been a great help! Yesterday, Matt texted me before he got out of work and said he would be home on time. I did a happy dance, and then went to lay down in bed to wait for him...Forty five minutes later, I'm starting at the ceiling and getting hysterical. After an hour, I'm convinced his dead and I'm going to be a single mom to two children.... After Matt came home, it took him forever to calm me down. I have no idea where that sort of paranoid-feeling came from... but I DID NOT want to be alone!

When I calmed down enough to stop sobbing, I crept into Brennan's room and picked him up. I snuggled him on the couch until he woke up, and then he lounged in my arms for a while. He started playing, and I just-- I don't know-- really needed to see him happy and playing. He completes me-- there's no question about that!

One of Matt's frequent "jokes" is how I've only ended up with one kid so far (Gee- thanks hon!) and I just tell him: "Brennan was waiting for me." I couldn't have had any other kids but Brennan, because he knew he had to come first. Brennan came into my life at a time when I struggling... and Brennan made me who I am today-- I found strength to fight on, and live, and give up on my hopes, dreams, and pursue new paths because of him.

The last poem I tried to write was when I was pregnant with Brennan was called "A Little Beating Heart" but I could never find the words to finish it, and so, it will likely never be finished. I can't even find a draft of it on my old journal, or on the computer. Even a half-finished version would be a nice addition to Brennan's baby book.

Brennan is an amazing little boy, he has such a great capacity to love, and sometimes I feel like I am experiencing life vicariously through him as he experiences things for the first time. That unhindered joy, and his big smile when you turn your head to see what he's doing and you catch his eye.

I'm sure all mothers say silly things about their babies. It's what we do best.

A Nursery Makeover

The last couple days, Matt and I have been discussing changes to the Nursery that we would like to do... and then the other night, I came up with a radically different idea.

Our small two bedroom apartment doesn't give us a lot of space, or many options... So, Matt and I have agreed that we are going to switch bedrooms. This will give the kids about 15-20 more square feet in their room to use for play, and since Matt and I only use our bedroom for sleeping (And other adult activities)... the square footage won't be missed!

Matt's current project is in the kitchen, where the window A/C unit has leaked water underneath the flooring and Matt has to fix the A/C and repair the damage to the floor.

The problem: We're on the third floor- we can't access the outside of the window.
The second problem: There is water underneath the floor (that's causing the flooring to peel up)

Matt's in the design stage of building a box to hold the A/C unit in which will have a hole in the back to drain the water out the rear of the window instead of on our floor... I anticipate a lot of problems with Matt's proposed design, but I am going to let him draw it out before we discuss the next step.

Our next project involves building a bottom for the bassinet, which has been lost and then repainting the bassinet.

Other various projects we're going to be starting:

• Building a toddler bed for Brennan
• Making matching pillows, throw blankets, and curtains for the living room
• Making terrycloth dish towels
• Replacing the brick & board shelves in the living room
  

We are also banishing all store-bought cleaners from our house, so once we finish what cleaners we have in the house, we will be making non-toxic cleaners and keeping those in air-tight jars, or spray bottles.

It's a lot to take on at one time, but we are doing everything in little baby steps to spread the work out as much as possible. We have not discussed a date for the "Move" yet, but it will likely be before Addison is born.

In other great news, Addison is growing wonderfully.... Well, I guess you can say that. She is still considered IUGR. She is in the ">3%" for her growth, but she gained seven ounces between 26w and 28w and that is a HUGE improvement. The Dr's admitted to me yesterday that he suspected we had "days" left until delivery... and now we have "weeks"!! WEEKS, yes WEEKS!

My nesting instincts are really going crazy, and at least Matt is on board with all of these projects and I think by the end of the craze, I will have a beautiful apartment, a wonderful fiancee, and two amazing kids!! What more can a Momma ask for?

A Nursery for Two!

We live in a fairly spacious 2 bedroom, third floor apartment. The limitations on the current layout and location are fairly obvious. We do not have a washer/dryer hook-up, we do not have off-street parking, and we are on the third floor... so, everything we purchase (clothing, food, etc) must be lugged up three flights of stairs to make it home... and every load of laundry we need to do must be dragged up and down said stairs as well. It's also only two bedrooms, so again, fairly obvious, but Brennan and Addison will be sharing a room.

We have discussed many options for this new room, layouts, furniture placement, and themes and decorations.

Currently, my son's room looks like this. The set-up works out fairly well for one kid, except we noticed two major problems.
1. He can grab and pull the plug for the window fan and his CD player.
2. He can grab the window curtains. Our windows are 2'x7' so they are quite large, and we had to get window-darkening curtains so that way Brennan could nap in there.

We need to add:

• A second crib for Addison or toddler bed for Brennan
• A second dresser

We moved a small blue shelf that was next to his changing table/dresser and put it in the closet, along with a cloth organizer. Then, we got a toy organizer (for free) and put all of Brennan's small toys in that, rather than in diaper boxes on the floor. The area marked "toys" was one diaper box, and by the time we re-organized his room about two weeks ago... there were THREE diaper boxes of toys on the floor. We also got rid of the play mat (it was broken) and the floor rug.

We finally got a second dresser (free) and now we are officially "ready" to start organizing our nursery for two kids! So far, the only thing we have paid for that is in his room is the curtains that we got at Target. Woo!



We eliminated problem #2 by moving the crib vertically to it's original position. This also will let us open both curtains during the day to let more natural light into the room.



The current solution for problem #1 is the new dresser for Addison has been placed in the corner in such a way that it blocks Brennan's access to the plug that has the CD player and window fan plugged into. The only problem with that is that it also blocks most of the window fan, which means that less air is going to circulate in his room due to that. The large brown bookcase on top of the dresser is going to be wall-mounted... once we get the second crib in the room. Oh, and the large box is the "holding area" for all of Addison's clothes at the moment...so they are finally going to be washed and put away!



This corner is going to stay mostly "as-is" with the only addition being a second shelf or corner shelf and some more pegs for Addison. (I got some very cute ladybugs that we are going to use)

So, it's a start. I am not very happy with the placement yet, but once we get the second crib or toddler bed, we'll be moving things around again.

My Life as a Mommy

I became a mother the moment I saw the word "pregnant" on the pregnancy test in July of 2008, and I realized that my life as one was over, but my life as two had only just begun. And... then I began to worry "like a mother" and think about each and every little thing my son could possibly get into. (And the worrying never goes away)

Now, nearly two years after seeing that word "pregnant" in July of 2008, I have a happy and healthy eighteen month old son, Brennan, who gets into more things than I possibly ever could have imagined... and I don't care. My house is a wreck, my life is unhinged, and I am the happiest I have ever been.

On January 26, 2010 my life became a little bit more crazy when my fiancee, Matthew, and I found out we were expecting our first child together. We are full-steam ahead of our life of parents of "two under two" and we are excited to welcome our daughter into our lives soon.