Too Darn Hot

It is too darn hot. Ryan and I went to "do the roses" this morning at the Fairgrounds. There are 7 big rose bushes and 13 minature roses. Every two weeks I have to go and dehead them, weed, and spray fungicide. We went at 9 am. Ryan sat in the stroller in the shade and was fine, but I was sweating like a pig. They had the fountain going in Pioneer Plaza, and I was tempted to run through it. By the way, the car is fixed! Hallelujah! It was the crank shaft sensor. Who knew? So, Ryan and I steamed down I-235 this morning with confidence.

Then we went to WalMart. We were out of everything. Seriously. It took 2 hours and 300 bucks and stuff was falling out of the cart in the parking lot, but we are set. We were both hot and cranky by the time we got home. Later Ryan "swam" in his pool for about 30 minutes. He also spit up in it, which was pretty gross. Then we went to Eric's birthday party. We spent the whole time inside with Rachel and the boys. I think Anthony was more excited to see Ryan than Ryan was to see Anthony. Of course, Ryan only slept an hour today, so that could have been why he wasn't as playful as Anthony. He did enjoy doing his army crawl up and down Rachel's hallway though. Then we went to Babies R Us to buy a baby gate for the dining room. Ryan has really taken off in the past 24 hours, so I knew if I didn't buy it tonight, I would go crazy tomorrow chasing him. The baby gate was expensive since the opening is 6.5 feet, but he has already almost gone headfirst over the step, so I'm sure it will be worth it. Now I just have to put it together. Ugh.

Oh, he has also turned into a naughty boy. He keeps trying to play with the cord on the lamp, and when we tell him no, smack his hand, and move him, he just laughs at us!

Hi Everyone!

Buddies

I Can Stand!

Monsoon

What a monsoon this afternoon! It was pretty scary looking for a while. It was so dark and raining so hard that I couldn't see across the street. Ryan was quite curious about it all. I think he could tell that things looked different out there.

Keep Your Fingers Crossed

My problem with my car has been getting worse. Yesterday it stalled 4 times between work and daycare, and wouldn't restart for at least 5 minutes each time. The mechanic said there is nothing else he could do until it completely dies and won't restart. So, Todd and I switched vehicles because it isn't safe to haul Ryan around in my car. This afternoon, Todd called me at work. He didn't even make it to the stop sign at the end of our block before it died. It wouldn't restart! Hooray! So, he pushed it home (in this heat!), and we had it towed. I had to leave work early (again) and go pick up Ryan, then bring Todd's car home for him to go to work. So, I got a few extra hours with Mr. Ryan. My boss is being very understanding about my car problems. Hopefully this is it, and they can finally figure out what is wrong with it. Diane is being a dear and hauling me and Ryan to and fro tomorrow.

Jumping in a Pile O' Poop

Todd was home Sun-Mon-Tues so that was nice. Tuesday night I actually cooked. I grilled porkchops. I put Ryan in the exersaucer, and then Todd and I went to the kitchen to fix our plates. I got my plate and headed into the living room to watch Big Brother. I was gone 2 minutes tops. I looked over at Ryan, and there was a pile of poop in the bottom of the exersaucer. Then I looked at his bare foot. It was entirely covered in poop. The other foot had a sock on it, and he was grinding the poop into the bottom of the exersaucer. The back of one leg was covered from hip to toe and the exersaucer seat was nasty. Ugh. It took both of us to get him cleaned up. Of course Ryan thought it was funny!

Sick Little Boys

Yesterday just when I was about to call Rachel and tell her that Ryan was too sick for us to go to Anthony's birthday party today, Rachel beat me to the punch and called me. She wanted to tell us not to come to the party because Anthony is really sick with a virus. It sounds like Anthony and his mother are both miserable. We commiserated about the joys of sick children and then hung up and went back to our babies.

Ryan is off to the doctor tomorrow - again. The tylenol wore off and his fever was 104 degrees this afternoon. The peds nurse assured me that if I kept him dosed up with tylenol, it would be fine to wait until morning instead of going to the ER this time. He is now back down to 100 and playing on the floor.

Spashing Around

Weekend/4th Recap

How weird it is to have the 4th on a Tuesday! It was confusing at work on Wednesday. I kept thinking it was Monday. Ryan and I had a good trip on Saturday/Sunday to the farm, and then Todd (yes! Todd), Ryan, and I went to Oskaloosa for the 4th. It was all a very good time, but Ryan got off his schedule and was soooo tired, but wouldn't go to sleep. I was very excited Wednesday night because after we did our gardening and bath, he went to sleep at 8:15, good as gold. The return to schedule was short-lived though... last night he slept for 3 hours on my lap after we got home from daycare. He wouldn't let me put him down. Very strange. When I finally couldn't hold him anymore, I woke up and I took his temp. 102.8! What is it with this kid and fevers? So, I am home from work again. He is sleeping now.

Our trip to the farm was uneventful but fun. I got to see my family both days and we went out for Mexican food in Oelwein. It was the best Mexican I have ever had. In Oelwein! Who knew? Ryan spent the whole time in a high chair with his head cranked around looking at the other customers. Never heard a peep out of him. I also got some perennials from my great-aunt Betty's flower bed, and my dad barbecued for everyone on Sunday including Aunt Merry and my grandpa. Tuesday we were in Osky from 12:30 - 7:00. We just hung out and ate great food. Todd's parents bought Ryan a pool, so we filled it up and then went to WalMart for swim diapers. Sandy ended up getting him the swim diapers, swimming trunks, a set of foam letters for the pool, and his first pair of shoes. Then he fell asleep, so we sat around and waited for him to wake up. Once we got him in the pool, he went absolutely nuts. First we sat him up and he splashed a lot. Then I put him on his stomach. That's when he got really crazy. He spent at least 30 minutes going around in circles, kicking his arms and legs. He was trying to swim! It was hilarious. We brought the pool home with us, so we will have to try it again when he is feeling better.

Not much else new. I am still putzing around in the garden afterwork and my car is still acting up. It spent a week at the dealership in Adel, and they couldn't find anything wrong with it. It then proceeded to die the next day, but started right up. It has been to Newton and back, and Osky and back with no problems. It did die once while Todd was driving it, so at least I know its not just me!

Bathing Beauty

Grandma bought me my first shoes!

What a Bummer

Well, I cancelled the trip to Aurora because my car is sick. And now I cancelled my evening at Tami's because Ryan is sick. I kept him home yesterday because of his fever and he slept on my chest almost all day. I finally got him an appointment for 9:10 this morning. Thank goodness because his fever was 103.8 when he woke up this morning. Once again, the doctor couldn't find anything wrong. So we are taking tylenol and cuddling. I won't get to do anything else this weekend, but Ryan comes first and it was nice to get an extra day with him, eventhough he is sick, so I can't complain.

Unsuccessful

The other night I took at least 20 pictures of Ryan outside, and never got a single one where he was looking at the camera! However, Ryan pulled on his first flower and tried to eat his first mulch, so maybe it wasn't a waste after all :)

PS. Check out my repainted bird bath.

Pure Joy

Ooh...something good happened tonight. Since I had robo-cleaned the bathtub for my Mary Kay party, I gave Ryan his bath tonight in the big bathtub instead of the sink. Ryan was in a state of bliss. He absolutely loved it, altho it was a bit frustrating when his toys floated out of reach. When the water started to get chilly, I laid him on his back to wash his hair, and he started kicking hard just like he was an Olympic swimmer. Water was flying everywhere! We don't have a video camera, but we were able to take a few short videos with my digital camera. Then he turned over on his stomach and started crawling backwards. Sure, he'll crawl in the bathtub, but nowhere else!

Reasons I Am Frustrated

1. Ryan has a low-grade fever, but ever since 105.5 I am scared of fevers! He has two more teeth poking out (for a total of 6) so maybe that's why he has the fever.
2. My #$%^&*! car. It keeps stalling (while driving!!!) for no reason and no one can figure out why. I can't get it in again until Monday, so I had to cancel my weekend trip to Aurora.
3. I was digging in Ryan's closet, and when I stood up my toe stubbed the carpet and ripped off half of my big toe nail. Ow!
4. I got distracted last night and forgot to watch Big Brother.
5. I broke the wheel off Ryan's stroller and the replacement part is $30 after shipping.
6. I am having a series of bad hair days.

Ok, now I am doing whining. It helps to have someone to talk to! Things have been pretty good other than the above. I had a nice weekend last weekend. Friday night I had my Mary Kay party with the poker girls and afterward we played Apples to Apples. Diane kicked butt. Saturday I ran errands with H and then I went out! Tami and Preston babysat so I could go to the High Life Lounge and the Royal Mile with H, Rikki, Amy, and Brian. The High Life Lounge rocks. It looks just like my basement, and all the food comes with Tater Tots. There were Tots everywhere. We had regular tots, bacon-wrapped tots, tachos (like nachos but with tots instead of chips)and more cool stuff. Then we went to the Royal Mile where Brian entertained us. I learned too much information. Sunday Todd and I went to Travis's to pick up the champagne for the wedding, then out to lunch, then to the wedding. The wedding was very sweet and nice(eventhough they wouldn't let us have the champagne!) Brian and I carved up the cake as best we could. My family came over afterwards, so that was nice too. The rest of the week has been work, Ryan, and watering the garden.

Countdown

5 hours, 53 minutes until Big Brother All Stars starts!

Heart Update

Today we took Ryan to see Dr. Chandramouli for his heart checkup. He had a chest x-ray and an EKG, but did not have to have the echocardiogram. The Dr. says the hole is still there, but it is smaller. He can tell this just by listening. He must have expert ears. He believes the hole may close in the next six months. He told us that nothing bad is going to happen to Ryan and not to worry. His next checkup is Dec 11. Ryan, of course, laid perfectly still during the EKG. How did I get so lucky? I think he was waiting for them to poke him with something and was saving his energy to scream!

Third Time's the Charm

Tonight was our third attempt at having Brian and Diane over for supper. The first time, the bar was broken into and Todd had to rush to Newton. The second time was when Ryan and I had colds and started getting pink eye. The third time was tonight, and it was a success. I made baked sweet potatoes, cheese bread, shrimp skewers, and Rachel Ray's Chop Chop Salad with Spicy Dressing. Brian and Diane brought over thick, juicy steaks and margaritas. Brian brought four different spice blends for us to choose from, and then he grilled the steaks. It was delicious. I inhaled mine. Yum. Diane helped clean up, and we visited until Todd and Ryan both fell asleep. It was nice to socialize, and it was the first time in probably a year that Todd and I were together and were laughing and joking and not talking about the bar or Ryan (he was entertaining himself in the exersuaucer). A great night!

Marnie actually left the house on a Friday night!

Well, I actually had a social engagement on Friday. I'm not sure if it counts since we took Ryan with us, but he is so good that you hardly notice he's there. My big night out was that Diane and I went to Merle Hay Mall. We got a lot of shopping done and then we went to La Hacienda for supper. I even had a margarita! and had something besides fajitas. I had the carne asada, which is basically fajitas without the peppers and onions. It was very good. We didn't get back to my house until 8:30. Ryan was good as gold shopping and at the restaurant, which is typical (I'm very lucky), but I was a little surprised because he missed his 4:30 bottle and 6:00 jars (2) of baby food, and his 8:00 bottle. I tried to feed him at the mall, but he was too busy looking around.

Yesterday I sort of relaxed and Ryan and I went to WalMart. We only got stopped by three admirers, and he slept the entire time. I got two $5 floribunda roses, so I was very happy. I had the carseat and four big rubbermaids in the cart, so by the time I got to the checkout, I was pushing with one hand and carrying three boxes of cereal in the other! I always get the weirdest and slowest clerks. This time my clerk was deaf and couldn't speak, so you had to write down any questions. That didn't bother me at all, but apparently he wasn't familiar with fruits and vegetables. He handed everyone in his line the cheat sheet the clerks have with the pictures, and we had to point out which fruits and vegetables we had. I didn't know tomatoes where so confusing!

Today I was going to take Ryan to church, but I woke up with one eye glued shut. I now have pink eye in the other eye! Whoo-hoo! I spent the rest of the day cleaning and doing laundry.

Tomorrow is a big day. It is Ryan's checkup at the cardiologist's. I am not too worried about the cardiologist, but Todd is wondering if Ryan will be able to play sports with his heart murmur. We shall see how it goes. I bet he doesn't lie as still during the echocardiogram as he did the last time (he was six weeks old then)! He will have to have another chest x-ray too, which bothers me because he just had one when he had pneumonia.

Bizarro

Last night when I was feeding Ryan at 12:30 am, I saw one of the weirdest, scariest things ever. It was a clean-cut David Lee Roth performing the bluegrass version of Jump! I am still traumatized.

Rock/Scissors/Paper

Todd is doing something really cool at the bar. He is having a Rock/Paper/Scissors tournament on Friday, June 23. It only costs $2 to enter! That actually sounds like fun.

Finally Healthy (Almost)

Things are looking brighter at the Stein house. It has been a rocky few days. Last week I overdid it and just exhausted by self with the gardening. It was too much. Friday I stayed home from work and slept in the recliner from 8:30 am - 3:45 pm without moving so much as an inch. Saturday Ryan and I woke up with colds. We were both all stuffed up. By Sunday we were both coughing and Ryan's eyes were all nasty. So, Monday we both went to see our respective doctors. He had just a cold (Thank God - I was worried that the pneumonia was coming back) and PINK EYE! I have some type of bronchial virus. Yee haw. Tuesday I awoke with PINK EYE! Whoo-hoo! We both stayed home again. I was a bad mother and put Ryan in his exersaucer in front of his Baby Genius dvd and actually got 1.5 hours of sleep. Wednesday we were back at work and daycare, and today we are both feeling great.

Not much going on this weekend. Tomorrow night after work we are going shopping with Diane. Baby Boo and I just need Father's Day and Birthday gifts for Todd, but Diane is shopping for her Mexican vacation. Can you tell I'm green with envy?

PS

Does anybody want my Pampered Chef apple peeler/corer/slicer? Or a fondue pot? Or a Holly Hobby cake pan?

Forgot to Tell You

On Memorial Day Todd and I actually spent some time together with no Ryan (he was in bed)! We ordered pizza and watched two movies. #1 was The Forty Year Old Virgin - I was nervous about ordering it because most "hilarious" movies end up sucking, but it was so funny that I almost peed my pants several times. #2 was A History of Violence, which I wish I hadn't seen. Very violent. Even the love scenes were exteremly violent.

I Can Stay Sitting Up Now

Garden Baby

Ryan Update

Since I last blogged:

- He can sit up unattended.

-We have tried apple & mango, apple & cranberry, and organic green beans & mashed potatoes. We are currently doing organic carrots & brown rice and pears & pineapple.

- Ryan is drinking less formula, but is eating 5 jars of Stage 2 baby food a day!

- He can crawl backwards and is soooooo close to crawling forwards. He just rolls/army crawls his way to wherever he wants to go.

What's New?

I am trying to think of what is new around here since I last blogged two weeks ago.
Not much. Time is flying but nothing exciting seems to be happening. It has been work, take care of Ryan, run zillions of errands, and garden during every spare minute I have. Ryan and I have been outside every day for 1-2 hours for about 10 days and I have been outside during naps and after he goes to sleep.

I put in a new flower bed on the south side of the house, took out and replaced all the flowers on the east side of the house, got rid of all the ornamental grass and replaced it with lillies, got rid of all the snow-in-the-mountains on the north side of the house, planted my big vegetable garden with all flowers and no vegetables, planted my containers, and repainted several pots and my birdbath. Whew! I know I do too much, but it is enjoyable to me. I only have 5 things (out of about 60) things left to do on my gardening list, and Todd said he would take care of 3 of them for me. The cool part is that I didn't have to buy that many new plants. I just divided and moved around what I already had.

The good news is that from here on out it is just weeding and watering. Now I can start scrapbooking after Ryan goes to bed.

Another reason that I was able to get all that done was because my parents were down last weekend. Mom watched Ryan, and I worked my Dad hard. He helped move all the sod from my new flower bed, went with me to Lowe's to load/unload all of my soil and mulch, changed the blade on the lawnmower, changed the burner on the grill, and installed a window air conditioner. I made Thai food for them, but it was really hot! I need to adjust the recipe. Ryan was entertaining as always, and my parents took Ryan and me to Red Lobster. Yum.

The only other things I have done was 1 graduation reception, 1 birthday party, and 1 photo session for Ryan, all husband-less, of course. He is still working tons of hours and his health is really deteriorating because of it. Such is the bar life.

Baby Food of the Week

currently: organic wildblueberry and pear
next up: organic creamed spinach

We have completed all stage 1's and are moving on to stage 2. I found a ton of new flavors at Dahl's so I went crazy. Daycare and I now have enough baby food to last for 60 days! I didn't buy and dinners with meat. They have too much added stuff and the doctor says Ryan is getting enough iron, so doesn't need meat. Ryan eats fruits and veggies (that we already know he isn't allergic to) at daycare, and we are still trying new ones at home for supper.

Just Plain Miserable

I am taking a quick break from Mr. Fussy. I shouldn't call him Mr. Fussy - it's not his fault that he has pneumonia. That's right - PNEUMONIA! I was just bragging last week that Ryan had never had so much as an ear infection, when we both came down with colds. He just had a little runny nose, but I have had the head/chest cold from hell for about a week. Anyway, we took him to his six-month appointment on Monday for his check up and shots. He weighed 19 lbs, 11 oz (75%)and was 26.5 inches long (50%). His noggin is still 90%. Wednesday morning Teri Ann called and said he had a fever of 103, so I picked him up and took him to the doctor. They said his ears and lungs were clear, so it must be virus and to give him Motrin to keep his fever down. That worked for a while, but Thurs afternoon, his fever was back, despite the medicine. By 9;30 that night it was 104.9 and he was breathing fast, so I took him to Mercy. We got right in, but by that time his fever had risen to 105.5! They gave him a mega dose of tylenol, then began the tests. First they used a catheter to get a urine sample, then attempted to get blood out of both arms (neither arm worked and I was about ready to take the needle out myself because they were digging around in his vein, finally took blood out of his heel, then did a chest xray. Turns out he has pneumonia, but has no cough or wheezing so he presented no signs of infection other than the fever! We got home at 12:30 am and slept until 10 am. Yesterday I had to take him back to the doctor to be checked (third time this week!) and then he was fussy all day. This morning he is more lively and jumped around in his exersuacer some and took a good nap. As long as I can get him to swallow his medicine, he should be good as new soon. I hope.

I am finally starting to feel better, but still have a cough. Between this and the funeral Ryan and I have missed 5 days of work/"school". I will be gald to get back to our routine.

I Miss You Grandma

Tomorrow (May 3) would have been my Grandma Arnold's 90th birthday. I miss her a lot and so does everybody else. She has been gone since 1987. She was the perfect grandma, and is one of the many reasons my childhood was absolutely wonderful. I have a lot of her traits too, of which the most apparent is our shared ability to worry and obsess about the smallest thing. That is why my mom calls me Marian sometimes. (My other grandma was also a Marian, and I twitch my foot like her.) I know my mom will be thinking about her mom tomorrow too. I wish she could have met Todd and Ryan, but Ryan's dramatic delivery and my postpartum depression hospitalization probably would have done her in from worry.

Tulip Time is not to be...

Mom and I were going to take Ryan to Tulip Time on Friday, but the trip is off since my dad's sister Doris died on Sunday. We were going to go last year too, but my dad's Aunt Marian died. I don't think I will make plans to go next year! It is jinxed for Schweitzers.

I think I have only seen Aunt Doris twice since I got married, but it is sad to hear she has passed. I am sad that she died alone, and mostly sad that now her kids don't have any parents. Her husband died when I was one year old. That means she has been a widow for 30 years! That is a really long time. I feel bad too for my dad and his other sister, and really bad for Grandpa Schweitzer. He is in a nursing home and doesn't have much quality of life.

It also makes me nervous because she is one of many Schweitzer/Nielsen relatives (oddly all female) that was diabetic.

I am picking Ryan up at 12:00 tomorrow and heading home. I am going to stay until at least Saturday morning since I don't get up there too often.

Mr. Ryan is 6 Months Old

Mr. Ryan turned 6 months old on Thursday. He is getting really big. I can't wait till his doctor appointment on May 10 to see how long he is. We started him in the exersaucer on March 6 with a phone book because he couldn't reach the bottom, and now he has moved to the second height setting.

He can almost sit up unsupported and rolls everywhere. It shouldn't be too much longer till he crawls. He also is a robo-pooper. He is the first baby in the 10-yr history of Shepherd's Heart Day Care to have such big poops that it ended up once in his armpits and once on his shirt collar!

We are working our way through the stage 1 baby foods. We do each food for five days in a row to make sure he is not allergic. So far we have done green beans, peas, peaches, squash, pears, and carrots. His favorites so far are peas and peaches (not together). All we have left is sweet potatoes, applesauce, and bananas. I am not going to try prunes since we already know he is a robo-pooper!

Such a Good Boy

Yesterday I baby-sat Caleb Daniels so Tami and Preston could go to a wedding. It was easy. Caleb was a very good boy. He has impeccable manners - saying please and thank you and even excuse me after he burped. He even ate his supper and went to bed for me! However, I have now seen the first hour of Madagascar twice, but not the end. I am going to have to rent it to see how it ends!

Recovering

Ryan and I spent are recovering this weekend from the big trial last week. I testified for the State as an expert witness on Wed/Thurs in a lawsuit. Now we just have to wait until August for a ruling :(

This meant I spent Monday thru Thursday in court, and worked at the office on the previous Saturday for 5.5 hours, Monday night for 4 hours, Tuesday night for 4 hours, and Thursday night for 2 hours for trial prep. 13 hour days are not good when you are getting up at 4:30 am with a baby! Ryan was a trooper and went to work with me on Saturday and Tuesday night. Todd watched him Monday night, and Diane was a dear and picked him up at daycare and watched him on Thursday night. Maybe Ryan will want to grow up to be a lawyer.

I was so physically and mentally tired last week that I ended up accidentally sleeping three nights in the recliner in my clothes. I kept conking out everynight after Ryan was in bed. I got the biggest compliment of my life though, when the Asst. Attorney General told me that he thinks me going to law school would be a great idea:)

Heather and Kurt were in town on Tuesday night so we went out to eat. Unfortunately I was tired and it took 50 of the 60 minutes I had to eat just to get my darn sweet and sour chicken.

Mr. Spit Up (Look at his shirt!)

Ready for Church on Easter

Ryan and His HUGE Easter Basket from Gma & Gpa Stein

Big Plans Tonight

Tonight my mom, my sister, and I are going to see The Lion King. We bought our tickets through Central, so there is an alumni cocktail party before the show. Tami and Preston are going to baby-sit Ryan since I baby-sat Caleb when they went to the Lion King. Tomorrow we are going to go out to eat as a family. I am looking forward to it. I am hoping for Joe's Crabshack or Red Lobster. I am excited for them to see how talented my Baby-Boo is and how much he has grown!

Sleepy Baby

What is up with Mr. Ryan? Yesterday he slept from 8:30 am - 2 pm at daycare, fell asleep on the car ride home, slept 5:00 - 6:00 in his crib, slept from 6:30 - 6:50 when I wheeled him around the block in his stoller, then slept from 9:15 last night until 4:45 am this morning. This child has never slept that much in 24 hours since the day he was born!

The cool part is that the baby monitor reaches to the garden, so I did some raking in my perennial bed while he slept. He is probably having a growth spurt. Saturday only his toes touched the bottom of the exersaucer, but last night I noticed that he can stand flat-footed in it. We started him on green beans on Monday, 2 weeks earlier than Dr. L suggested, but he has been very hungry. He took his first bite, looked confused, then grinned. He eats them right up. He has spit up a lot of them though, but always on Dad :)

This morning Terri Ann asked me if I wanted her to wake him up if he zonked out, but I said no. I am a firm believer in never waking a sleeping baby (except to go to daycare - it breaks my heart)!

I love the exersaucer!

Aah..some time away from the kid. We got Ryan an excersaucer on March 6, but he couldn't use it because his feet wouldn't touch the bottom, even with a phone book. Well, he had a growth spurt and now can use it. It is wonderful. He enjoys it, and I can put him in it and walk away for a while. He is a good baby, but I have been husband-less since Thursday, so it gets a little old.

Ryan and I had a good trip to Humboldt yesterday. Todd's parents picked us up at 7:30 am, and we got home at 9:00 pm. We visited Todd's Aunt Kathy, Uncle Denny, and Grandpa Fortner. Ryan hammed it up and showed off all his skills. He was properly admired all day. He keeps trying to crawl, but hasn't figured out he has to lift his stomach off the floor yet. It was good for Grandpa Fortner to see him. He can't get out much, so Ryan brought him some sunshine.

Joy - the radar shows a big storm heading this way. Great. The tornado siren is 500 ft from our front door! It makes things in the house vibrate, but at least I know it would wake me up if there was a tornado in the middle of the night.

A long week ahead at work. Ugh. I hope I don't have to run errands every damn day at lunch. I am going to the Lion King with my mom and sister on Friday though, so I am looking forward to the end of the week.

I turned 5 months old on Monday!

Ready to Roll!

Scrapbooking with a Baby

This is how you scrapbook with a baby:

At 11:00 am - Put baby in swing.
Spend 20 minutes picking out paper to go with your pictures.
Glue down one picture.
Change diaper. Feed baby while watching Food Network.
Put baby down for nap.
Glue down second picture and worry about paper choice.
Veg in recliner a few minutes.
Baby wakes up.
Put baby in excersaucer.
Glue down third picture.
Baby frustrated. Move to play on floor.
Cut out 3 letters for title.
Rescue baby from activity gym that he has flipped over on him.
Go upstairs for more supplies.
Feed baby while watching Food Network. Try to put baby down for nap. Unsuccessful.
Put baby in car seat on kitchen counter. Cut out the rest of letters.
Again attempt nap, but batteries in swing and crib aqaurium are both dead.
Change poopy diaper.
Play on floor.
Glue down a few letters. Look for batteries. Rats! Only have 3 and need 4.
Hug, kiss, and cuddle. Get sad because he has to go back to daycare tomorrow.
Realize it is 2 pm and you have not had breakfast or lunch. Eat frozen pizza.
Repeat previous steps in random order for 3 more hours.
Nearly finish 2 pages, then baby is so tired he bawls.
Give up and only replace 3 of 4 batteries in swing.
Swing works great, baby falls asleep.
Kick yourself for not trying to get by with 3 batteries sooner.
Finally finish 2nd page and actually do a 3rd.
Baby wakes up. Wake up Dad and give him baby.
Time to cook supper!

Rolling Machine

Ryan has suddenly turned into a rolling machine and now will actually stay on his tummy. Last night he rolled all the way from one end of the living room to the other (the long way), and then spit up on the rug. He has started rolling to get toys and is really, really trying to crawl. He has the crawling basics down, but doesn't get up on his knees, so he scooches on his stomach. He has made it about 6 inches so far.

Today it was 65 degrees so after work I took Ryan for his first stroll outside. I pushed his stroller down to Franklin, over to 50th, up to Merle Hay, and then back home. It is not that far, but I am ashamed to say I was winded. I have been hoping to walk on my lunch hour since my work is on the Clive Greenbelt, but I always seem to have errands to run. It is so much easier to run them at lunch instead of hauling Ryan around with me. Monday I took 6 boxes of stuff to Goodwill and picked up pictures at Walgreens, yesterday I paid bills at lunch and afterwork went to Hallmark to buy birthday cards, and today at lunch I went to have my sleeping machine repaired and to Kmart to buy sunglasses for Ryan.

I also have three projects going on at home. I am cleaning up the basement (since Todd doesn't have time), trying to get the second floor cleaned (I started before Ryan but never finished - mostly involves sorting Todd's crap), and I am scapbooking on the dining room table. I do a little each night after Ryan is in bed or on the weekends when he is asleep or in his swing.

Mom's Day Out

On Saturday, March 18, I got a partial day off and thanks to two more gift cards, it cost me almost nothing. Gma and Gpa Stein babysat from 9 - 5:30. I got a whole carload of groceries and got them all put away in the morning, and then Diane and I went to Red Lobster for lunch. Then we went shopping to Kohl's, Bed Bath & Beyond, and of course, a greenhouse. Red Lobster was great except the waiter said we could substitute a cup of lobster bisque for our salads, then charged us $3 each extra. Damn good soup though. We burned through the giftcard my aunt sent me pretty quickly. I am happy to report that I apparently do not have a seafood allergy as I am alive to tell about it and did not get hives.

Grandma and Grandpa wore Ryan out. He zonked out during his 6 pm bottle and I put him to bed immediately. He was still in his clothes! He slept a full 10 hours, but since he went to bed so early, he was awake and ready to play at 4 am! He and I both were all messed up the next day. I never even made it out of my pj's. I did get 1.5 scrapbook pages done though.

Ryan continued to zonk for the whole next week. He was in a growth spurt because he was sleeping 12-13 hours a night and eating 6.5 bottles and 2 servings of cereal a day. We bought him an exersaucer on the 6th, and he was too short to touch the bottom. I put him in it on Sunday the 26th, and now he is tall enough to use it. It really tires him out though.

Thank God for Honest People & Gift Cards

I dropped my debit card at the gas station this morning. I figured it out by the time I got to work, but figured it was a goner. I called the station and someone turned it in! There are still good people left in this world.

Yesterday on my lunch hour I used the gift card that my parents got me to Grounds for Celebration. It was a little piece of heaven. I got a yummy lunch and cheesecake, and I got to eat and look at gardening catalogs UNINTERRUPTED for 45 minutes. I still have enough left on the card to get a icy mocha some morning.

Dazed and Confused

Sunday night Todd fell asleep on the couch and I went to bed. I was sleeping and heard Ryan crying. Todd and I got to him at the same time. I told Todd I would change Ryan if Todd made his bottle. So, I changed Ryan and got him dressed in a cute orange henley and jeans. Then I gave Ryan to Todd for him to be fed. Todd gave me the strangest look and told me to go back to bed. I was like, whatever - I can go back to bed for only 20 minutes - I have to go to work! Then I looked at the clock. It was 1:55 am! I thought it was 5:55 am. I went back to bed and woke up at 6 am. Todd was asleep on the couch, and Ryan was asleep in his crib - in his orange shirt and jeans :)

Ryan Gets H by the Hair

Well, I Went

I went to the farm for the weekend after all. I still didn't feel the greatest, but Ryan and I set off after daycare and arrived at the farm about 8:15 pm (after a diaper-change pit stop at Heather's). Everyone was surprised to see how big and bright my Baby-Boo has become. He even slept in the crib upstairs and didn't wake up until 7:30 am! Saturday was mostly all Ryan and Marnie time with my parents, and I started eating real food. Yum.

Saturday afternoon, I even got to take a little trip while Grandma babysat. I met H and Christy at the scrapbooking store in Oelwein and then we took Christy for ice cream. She is a sweetie and is fun to watch because she buys her scrapbooking supplies based on what she thinks is cool, not because she has specific pictures to go with it. She bought some paper with chocolate bunnies on it and some Las Vegas stickers.

Saturday night was my grandpa's 91st birthday party. It was a huge success. Mom cooked a delicious meal. We had roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, broccoli casserole, cauliflower/bacon salad, and Wacky cake. Nicky even baked some banana bread for us. Heather and I were confused because mom put dishes of jam on the tables for the rolls, and we both thought it was cranberry sauce. We couldnt' figure out why the hell you would put cranberry sauce on roast beef! Ryan entertained the adults after supper and the Hansen kids watched Harry Potter. The funniest part of the night was when Ryan discovered the barrette in H's hair. He grabbed it and would not let go. Instead of helping her, I took pictures. Ryan was up until almost 10 pm, but he crashed 15 minutes after everyone left.

Ryan screamed with nightmares for part of the night, and my stomach woke me up early (not good) but Ryan slept until 7 am. We just hung out the rest of the morning, and we left for Des Moines at 1:30. It rained all the way back to Des Moines, but it was a good trip.

When I got back, Todd was home :) so we had family bonding and then we watched the Sopranos. I made waffle fries and chicken breasts with cream of chicken soup for supper, and Todd loved it. He proclaimed it was the best meal he had ever had since - last week. (He is only home for supper one night a week). He is easy to please. The more boring the meal, the more he likes it. I went to bed early and Todd crashed on the couch.

It was a good but tiring weekend. Now I hear H and Kurt have my stomach ick.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Forgot to mention that during Ryan's shots, Dad sat down so he wouldn't faint, and Mom held down poor little Ryan. Why do I always have to be the bad guy?

I am supposed to head straight to the farm after I pick up Ryan from daycare today, but I am still feeling ickish. I took yesterday off, but am at work today. I am not puking or pooping, no fever, but my stomach just plain hurts. I have only had crackers, toast, and applesauce for 4 days. Ugh. I don't feel horrible, but don't feel good. Should I stay or should I go? The car is all packed (you would not believe the amount of stuff needed for 2 nights. I gave up on diaper bags and used a giant rubbermaid.) and Ryan is healthy, but I don't particularly want to get my 91-yr-old grandpa sick. Hmmm. Should I stay or should I go?

Bragging

I am bragging about my Baby-Boo Ryan. He had an excellent 4-month appointment at the doctor's on Monday. The doctor said they don't get much healthier than Ryan, and he has the motor skills of a 6-month old! Brag, brag. He can roll over both ways, grab objects and move them from hand to hand, track things with both eyes moving together, and he has his first two teeth. He only cried for about 2 mintues when he got his shots, then fell asleep. He has been on rice cereal for a week and can start the green veggies after April 15th. And the pediatrician says he can't hear Ryan's heart murmurs, but he never can. We will have to wait until June 5th to see what the cardiologist (and his super-human ears) hears.

Ryan measured in at 15 lbs, 10 oz and was 24 3/4 inches long. This puts him in the 50th percentile for height and weight. However, he has a large noggin'. His head is in the 90th percentile! As Elaine on Seinfield would say, he's a walking candy apple!

Misc.

Well, the aforementioned coffee cake has been trashed. I threw it out as a precaution since it was the last thing I ate before I started praying to the porcelian god yesterday morning from 5 am - 10 am, then spent until 2 am this morning with a 102 fever. Then the fever broke, and I was good as new. I even went to work today. Ryan and Todd aren't sick, so I don't know what happened. I feel fine, but...

...the hives are back. Scratch, scratch.

Tales from the Kitchen

I have been having an intersting time in the kitchen lately. A few weeks ago, I tried to make Paula Dean's ooey-gooey butter cake from the Food Network. It was supposed to bake for 30-40 minutes. After 75 minutes, the top was still raw and liquid and the bottom was burnt. Disaster.

Then, last week I made homemade crab ragoons for poker. They were a success, but they may be what has led to my hive outbreak. After 7 days of scratching and itching I went to the doctor on Saturday. He said they will probably never know what happened, but since I ate seafood the day I got them, I may have developed a sudden seafood allergy! This is horrible, as seafood is my absolute favorite and is actually something I eat that is healthy. The ironic thing is that I was given a gift card to Red Lobster, and Diane and I were going to go spend it this weekend, but now I have to lay of seafood for a few weeks, so I had to call her and cancel.

Thursday night I made 3 pounds of macaroni salad for Stein's Free Food Friday. I preplanned and bought all my ingredients except sugar. I always have sugar, right? Apparently not. At 7:30 pm I had two pots of pasta boiling away on the stove. Ryan and I were both in our pj's and he was swinging while I chopped carrots, and I was covered head to toe in big blotchy hives. I needed at least 4 cups of sugar. I open the canister, and viola! I have 1/4 cup. Needless to say, I couldn't exactly rush out to the store. So, I "womped" it. I found a canister of sugar packets, and used about 50 sugar packets. It takes a long time to open that many packets! Then I found 1/4 can of Splenda, so I dumped that in. Then I finished it off with about 20 Equal packets. Suprisingly, it turned out well and was a success. Apparently, I am now famous in the Newton bar scene for macaroni salad. Whatever that's worth.

Yesterday I made a coffee cake. I always make it in a 9 x 13, but this time I decided to make it in a Bundt pan like the recipe says. I got the first layer of batter in the ban, then sprinkled it with the cinnamon/brown sugar/butter crumbles, then started to put the rest of the batter in. At this point, I realized that I forgot to put the 4 eggs in. I had noticed that the batter was awfully thick. So I scraped off the crumbles, dumped the batter back into the bowl and beat in the eggs, then put it back in the pan. So much for having a distinct brown sugar layer! Then, I baked it the correct amount of time, and it was nice and brown on the top. The recipe said to flip it over immediately, so I did. Well it turns out that the bottom was still raw, so when I flipped it over, the batter started gushing. So, I quick slammed the bundt pan on it, flipped it back over, and threw it in the oven and baked it some more. It turned out pretty well, but was kind of crusty on the outside.

I am a good cook. Really. I think I have two problems - my oven isn't heating exactly right and I lost two many brain cells during pregnancy!

Well, got to run, it is now 6:40 am, and time to wake Ryan back up. He woke up early - 5 am, so he and I have been ready for work since 6 am, but daycare doesn't open until 7 am. Luckily, he fell asleep in his swing so I could blog.

King Cake

One of my co-workers (now my boss) is from Louisiana, so 8 years ago he brought the tradition of having King Cake on Fat Tuesday of Mardi Gras to work. The King Cake is a traditional Mardi Gras treat, baked and covered with a poured sugar topping in Mardi Gras colors; Purple, representing Justice, Green representing Faith and Gold representing Power. Each cake has a plastic baby hidden in it, and if you find the baby you have to bring the cake next year. It is also supposed to bring you fertility. Well, last year I found a baby just before I found out I was pregnant!
I was too cheap to buy a cake this year, so I spent last Sunday making one. It is a yeast cake and has to rise twice for a total of over 2 hours, so it took a while. It turned out well, except it was a little denser than I expected, and a little lopsided. After I got to work, I found out that Hy-Vee was selling King cakes for only $5. I should have done that!

Poker Night: The Day After

Last night I hosted a very successful Ladies' Poker Night. Roni and Steph joined our group, so there were 8 of us duking it out. I was the first to go out, very early, and finally at 1 am Stephanie finally beat Alisa to claim the $40 pot. It was a great time with great food and it was nice to have Roni and Steph there. A great night.

The day after has not been so good. After the girls all left, I loaded the dishwasher and went to bed at 1:30. At 1:35 Ryan was up, hungry and wide awake. Finally I went to bed at 3 am. Then Todd came in at 6 am, and we talked until 7:30, and then Ryan got up. He has been alternating between extremely playful and cranky all day because he has only had 2 - 30 minute naps today. Hopefully he is falling asleep while I am upstairs typing this. But, Todd has been home all day so we have had some good family together time, and I made him his traditional box of Saturday Kraft dinner before he left for work.

The other lovely news today is that I woke up covered head to toe in hives. Very itchy. I have no idea why, and I don't think I ate anything unusual last night. I took some benydryl and it seems to be helping, sort of.

Ugh..Back to Work

Well, it was too cold to scrap upstairs at my cropping table, so I sorted and hauled stuff downstairs to the dining room. Despite Ryan taking a 4 hour nap yesterday, I only got 4 pages done! But, I also got his calendar up-to-date and divided all my pictures into scrapbooking or the photo album. I get doubles of ones I have scrapbooking ideas for, and then everything else goes in chronological order into the album. I have space for 6 more pictures in the album. I also made belated valentines to send out with his professional pictures ... so I guess I achieved more than I thought. Plus baby duty! I was trapped at home since Todd was at work and it was too cold to take a baby out.

Ugh..back to work. Having an ugly morning. We all have colds and I spent the night in the recliner so I could breathe. Ryan spent from 10 - 3 sleeping with me in the recliner too. I hate to do that, but I couldn't help it. I fell asleep!

You know it's cold when....

You know it's cold when...the chain on your garage door opener snaps in half!

Mr. Baldy

Tummy time is a flop at the Stein house. It never lasts more than 2 minutes because as soon as you put him on his stomach, Ryan rolls over to his back. This has been going on since he was 16 days old, so as a result he has a huge patch of hair missing on the back of his head (see picture).

This weekend I am going to try to scrapbook. It is going to be too cold to take Smiley anywhere, the house is clean, and the laundry is done, so we are just going to hang out and I will attempt to scrap while he bounces, swings, or naps.

The mirror in the picture is on loan from the Arndt twins. My friend Jeremy from work had twin boys, Collin and Nicholas, in June, and they lend us their toys when they get bored with them. It spices things up for Ryan. Thanks to them and the fast-growing Anthony, I haven't had to buy much for Ryan :)

Mom's Night Out

It was hard, but I let Todd's parents keep Ryan overnight Saturday night. After 3 weeks of being back to work, I am exhausted. It is hard to get everything done every night and take care of Ryan. Plus, I want to hold him and play with him all the time, since I only see him in the morning, and then from 4:30 - 8:30 each weeknight. Todd has been helping about 3 of 5 mornings and on his 2 evenings off, so that is nice. My back is killing me though, from bending and rotating to squeeze Ryan and his car seat into the Cavalier four times a day, and I am in the process of moving my cubicle at work from one side of the building to the other. Whine. Whine.

Friday night after Ryan went to bed I started cleaning the house, and then I finished on Saturday. I got everything done except the dusting. Todd's parents came and got Ryan and left about 4:30. Then, Gilk and Diane picked me up at 6:30. I went with them and some other AZX people to Stein's in Newton. I hadn't been there since September. I had a good time, and all of the employees were took extra good care of me :) I got home at 12:45 and then ate leftover Mongolian Beef and Belgian chocolate ice cream. Talk about your weirdo dreams! I got up at 8:30 and felt like a new woman. I was supposed to meet Mike and Sandy in Monroe at 12:00 to pick up Ryan, but I am enjoying my "break" and getting a lot done, so I called them and they are bringing him here at 3:30. I feel like a horrible mother, but if I get a lot done today, that will be more time to spend with him this week. I might even plan out some scrapbooking pages as if I will ever get time to scrapbook!

3 Months Old

Ryan turned 3 months old on Friday! He "talks" a lot, likes to stand up, and this week he started holding his bottle. This afternoon I am taking him to the mall to get his picture taken. I am very nervous about it. I'm trying to figure out the best time to feed him so he doesn't upchuck on his new outfit or cry because he is hungry.

We both survived our first week of daycare, but I think it was easier on him. He seems to be getting lots of love and attention, but we are both having problems getting up in the morning, and I miss him all day.

Yesterday we went to the "I'll Make Me a World In Iowa" celebration downtown with the Daniels'. It was fun and interesting, but not the best place to be moving around with strollers. The soul food smelled yummy, but it was time for Caleb's nap and he was very, very, crabby, so we left without lunch. Ryan and I came home and ate and then we both napped in the recliner.

Dreading Monday

I am going back to work on Monday. I am dreading it. It is going to be horrible. Ryan seems to sense that I am stressed about Monday, because he wanted to cuddle most of the afternoon and evening, so that is what I have been doing.

The good news is that Ryan has been sleeping in his crib for 11 hours a night about 2 weeks now. It is wonderful.

Here is Ryan in his Pooh outfit that Heather bought him. It is almost too small for him now.

A Small Victory

Ryan has been sleeping through the night for about a week. It is wonderful. Unfortunately, it is usually in his swing. However, last night he slept from 8:30 pm to 3:30 am in his crib! Hallelujah! I am victorious! Then I fed and changed him, and he slept in his swing next to me from 4:30 - 8:30 am. I told him that I needed some more sleep, put him in the swing, turned the lights out, and put my back to him, and he went to sleep like that. I was very appreciative. I think he was tired out from going out for Thai food with Diane. He was very smiley when he woke up, and he watched his aquarium for an hour while I folded and put away laundry.

I have been enjoying my last few weeks with him before I go back to work. We are now totally ga-ga over each other, which is wonderful considering my postpartum problems. I am dreading going to work on the 23rd. It will be the first time I have cried at work ever in almost 8 years. I survived the mean Snap-on man and my buddy Eugene in Keokuk without crying, but I don't think I will make it through Ryan's first day of daycare.

We are going shopping tomorrow with Heather. It will be the first time I have used the stroller. Then we are going to the farm for the weekend while Daddy works. I cannot believe the amount of stuff you have to haul home for a baby for 3 nights. Ugh.

Buddies

Last week I went over to Rachel's for lunch. It was fun. Chase was very sweet with Ryan, and Ryan and Anthony got to meet for the first time. There is about 4 months difference in age between the two of them. It will be nice for Ryan to have a playmate his age!

Update

Yesterday was Ryan's 2 month appointment. He weighed 12 lbs, 12 oz. and was 23 inches long. He cried for about 5 minutes when he got his shots. Then we came home and he slept for about 5 hours. Then I fed him and put him in his swing at 9:30 pm last night. He didn't wake up until 7:30 this morning. Must have been the tylenol!

AAAH!

Ryan has now been awake for 13 hours with no nap! Hopefully he will fall asleep soon. We are going to Humboldt tomorrow with Mike and Sandy, and I don't want to be a zombie.

Ryan's Morning Out

Yesterday was only Ryan's third trip out of our house. He had an appointment with Dr. Chandramouli, the cardiologist at 9:30 am. Ryan woke me up at 6:30, and it took until 8:45 am to get him fed, changed, bathed, dressed, and packed up. (You can tell this is only the third time I have done this.). It got Todd up, we threw on some clothes, and were off. We even arrived in time. Interestingly, Dr. Chandramouli's office is right next to the perinatoligist's and I had walked by it every time I had a NST or ultrasound and had never noticed it.

Ryan took the appoinment like a champ and charmed everyone. First he had an EKG and a chest x-ray, and he never made a peep! He has grown to 21 3/4 inches and 9 lbs 13 oz. Then we went to an exam room to wait for the doctor. We gave him a bottle while we were waiting. Them the doctor came and listened to his heart while Ryan kept guzzling his formula. The doctor could still hear the murmur, so he ordered an ultrasound. The technician put him on a pillow on my lap and he basically laid totally still and dozed a little through the ultrasound. The techinician was thrilled! She said it would be the easiest one all she did all day. The results came back and the doctor said that the first hole has closed enough that we don't need to worry about it at all, and the second hole is still there, but not to worry. We should take him home and enjoy him, and come back in 6 months. Then he gave him a little kiss :) Our reaction: This is great news, but yikes! we didn't know he had two holes in his heart, we thought he only had one.

Then we put him in the car and he slept while we returned the breast pump, ran to the courthouse to renew the license on the Vitara, ate lunch, and got gas. Then he slept some more. Not good. He was fussy all afternoon and night. Ugh. And Todd got stuck in Newton because of the weather. Oh well.

Sleeping Issues

Things were better, but now they have regressed again. I only manage to get Ryan to sleep in his crib about every 3 days. He either sleeps in his car seat, the swing, or if I hold him. Ugh. I have tried every tip given to me, with no luck. I did get his constipation issue worked out (sorry for the pun). I followed the instructions in the binder from the pedatrician (who says baby's don't come with users manuals?) and gave him several ounces of water. It worked.

Thanksgiving was ok. I spent all day cooking and cleaning up for Todd to eat less than one plate of food. He did eat a lot of cake though, and I made turkey and noodles at 11 pm, which he gobbled up. I guess if I wanted him to eat I should have served the meal at 4 am since he is on bar time. I did enjoy cooking though.

My mom is coming tomorrow. I am excited. It will be nice to have someone to talk to.

I'm Back

Hi everyone! I am finally back. Ryan sleeps best from 8 am - noon, and I should be sleeping, but unfortunately that is when I am most awake. To catch you all up...

I won't bore you with the all the details of my birth story, but it can only be described nothing went how I planned or dreamed it would. Who knew an epidural could feel so good yet nearly do you in? Or that Ryan would be one of the 2 of 100 babies that gets Group B Strep from his mother? Or that his heart rate could go so low? It was very, very scary for both Ryan and me, and very terrifying for Todd. And the four days that he was still at the hospital while I was home were horrible. Unfortunately very few people have acutally seen him since he was so sick, but we are starting to have visitors now. It is frustrating too that Todd has to take me to appointments because I can lift the baby, and I can lift the car seat, but I can't lift the baby and the car seat together. Can't vacuum either.

BUT.... THE GOOD NEWS IS I am feeling good (except for back spasms) and Ryan is doing fantastic. We are very thankful that everything turned out well, and we are very greatful for the Mercy NICU, and extremely grateful that my mom took such good care of us during this whole mess. Ryan is growing, growing, growing, and you can't even tell he was sick. All of his bruising and scabs from were the IV's were (belly button, foot, hand, forhead) are finally gone. He smiles and he rolled over from his stomach to his back last Saturday. We have an appointment with the cardiologist on Nov 30 to check on the hole in his heart, but the dr. is expecting it to close on its own without treatment.

Todd has been working a lot because one of his employee's baby has been in the hospital, so he feels like he is missing a lot, but he is a good daddy. We are looking forward to spending Thanksgiving at home, just the 3 of us. Of course, that means I am cooking, but what the heck!

Leaving for Hospital in 58 minutes.

We are leaving for the hospital in 58 minutes. I have two bills to pay, and I am going to vacuum and then it will be time to go. Hopefully when I get there I will stop worrying about the damn walk-in cooler at Stein's (which died again and is costing a freakin' fortune) and all the bills to pay on Tuesday. Other than that, I am ready to go. They said I could eat tonight, but I am having a hard time doing it. Must be anxiety. Hopefully 2.0 has a small noggin'. I (or Todd) will be calling most of you tomorrow night.

This Thursday

Had my NST and OB appointment on Friday. They made me an appointment to be admitted Wednesday night at 9 pm at Mercy. Apparently 2.0 is too big and needs to come out. They are going to try and dilate me Wednesday night and induce me at 6 am on Thursday. I also tested positive for Group B strep, so I am up to 3 bags on my IV stand so far - antibiotic, insulin, and pitocin. I wish I could say that this news made me happy and excited, but it caught me a little off guard and involved several hours of hysteria. I had calmed down by Friday night though, and my parents came down for the weekend and helped me do some last minute things around the house and go grocery shopping. I am going to work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday because there is nothing else for me to do at home. I cleaned again today (can you say ODD?), and I am packed so I will just drive myself crazy at home. I still have to go in Tuesday for my ultrasound and NST though.

Update

He measured at 7 lbs 15 oz. Not sure what that means for a timeline - will have to find out what doctor says on Friday.

The lady next to me in the non-stress room just couldn't believe that I have 1 ultrasound and 2 non-stress tests a week. Then they came in and read her test and said now she has to have 2 ultrasounds and 2 non-stress tests a week. HA!!!

Ok, it's 5 am and I'm wide awake.

Still awake. I changed my blog template to make it more generic and removed my picture and profile. I have watched too many Dateline episodes about pregnant women getting hacked open and their babies stolen. Maybe my paranoia is from lack of sleep. Must be getting delierious. Now, I will try to sleep again.

It's 4 am and I am wide awake.

It's 4 am, and I am wide awake. I had a nap in the recliner (where else?) from 11 pm - 2:30 am, but am up now.

I ended up taking Todd supper in Newton. I always feel uncomfortable being pregnant and in a bar, but it was slow and not very smoky, so I ended up staying and playing trivia and eating pizza with Todd. After I left he was doing inventory, payroll, and the books, then coming home. He looks soooo tired, and super skinny. I estimate he has now dropped at least 30 pounds since Stein's opened.

I would have gone earlier to watch the Browns game, but it started at noon and I knew Todd would be sleeping until 6 pm (shift change). Oh well, they lost anyway. Didn't even make a touchdown. While I was there, one of his customers that is an electrician wired up his sign and we had a little lighting ceremony. It looks awesome! I also think it's cool that the electrician was a woman.

Todd is taking Monday and Tuesday off :) I stocked the snack drawer for him so he won't be able to complain that there is nothing to eat.

Think I will go try to sleep now. I don't have to work tomorrow, and I am glad to get away from the rumor/drama mill for a day.

Have a good week everyone.

PS. I think this Saturday would be an interesting night to be at Stein's. He has booked Monster Arm Wrestling! I think it would be cool to people watch that night.

Am I Nesting?

Am I nesting, or am I just bored? Todd's manager quit last week, so he has been working lots and lots of hours this week and sleeping very little. Thus, I am home alone with nada to do and not much $$ to spend. So, I have been occupying myself cleaning. Yesterday I did 3 loads of laundry, reorganized the drawers in the baby's room, put the sheets on the crib, took everything out from beneath the kitchen sink - then scrubbed it out - then put in shelf paper - then put everything back, then I pulled out the stove - scrubbed the sides - mopped under it - pushed it back, then mopped the kitchen floor twice, then decluttered the living room, then washed all the kitchen rugs, sorted through some old magazines, filled out my birth plan, went and bought my lottery tickets, got all the copies of Melissa's scrapbook ready to mail, and had a nap. I can't believe how much I did and how good I felt considering how bad I felt all week. Maybe this is nesting, maybe not. I do not know. I have this vision that 2.0 is in there having fun messing with me, making me think that I am nesting and the time is near, only to stay in there another 3 weeks.

Today I am going to vacuum the area rug upstairs, scrub the bathroom, vacuum, and make meatlof and ham salad for Todd 1.0 since he is coming home tonight at about 4 am and will be hungry. Hopefully then I will get myself to relax this afternoon and I can do some scrapbooking tomorrow while Todd is sleeping. I also need to schedule the pedicure mom got me for my birthday ASAP before 2.0 arrives.

Another Friday, 2 More Dr. Appointments

Whew! I have been back and forth to work and the doctor all day. Went to work at 8 am, left for OB at 9:30. Got back to work at 11:00, left for non-stress test at 2:30. Got back to work at 4:00, worked il 5:30.

OB says my cervix is ripening (I sound like a piece of fruit) and all depends on how big 2.0 measures on Tuesday. 2.0 was very cooperative at his non-stress test this afternoon. I think the secret is to eat right before the test so that he is perky.

I have Monday off, so I have 3 long days at home. I am sure I will find some more cleaning to do. I just may get those spices organized yet before 2.0 arrives. It's so important that it gets done. Not!

Good luck to H this weekend. They are moving. Uck.

No news to report

No news to report. Todd took Monday night and all day Tuesday off so we spent some time together. I had another ultrasound and non-stress test, called in numbers to dietician, etc., but no new developments. Everyone I see keeps asking me if the doctor has scheduled me yet to have the baby early. I must look miserable, or huge, or both. They are starting to annoy me.

The Week in Review / Still Extremely Uncomfortable

Well, another week is almost over, and we are still here. Todd came home Monday at 5 am and was home until 11 am Wednesday. Monday he got to sleep in his own bed while I was at work, then we went to Red Lobster (thanks Mom and Dad) for our anniversary. I didn't have to work Tuesday, so we both slept in and then we went for my weekly ultrasound and my Tuesday non-stress test. The baby was very cooperative so it didn't take long. Then Todd mowed the lawn, cleaned the gutters, and did my laundry. I told him I would make him a home-cooked meal for supper, and he chose to have mac-n-cheese from a box with pork and beans. He was absolutely thrilled!! Only my husband.... The next big excitement was that the sewer backed up into our shower in the basement, so we spent the rest of the night having our sewer line snaked out. Joy.

Todd came home Thursday night too, so that was nice. Yesterday 2.0 was very uncooperative at his non-stress test. He was totally chilled out, so there was no increase in his heartbeat for the first 40 minutes. They finally got out the buzzer and buzzed him til he perked up. It ended up taking the full 60 minutes for the test. Stubborn, stubborn. Did I mention that he is at a weird angle, so I had to push down on the monitor with 2 fingers (as usual) for 60 minutes? The lady next to me had to hold hers too, and she was whining about her fingers hurting after 5 minutes. Get used to it lady.

I am going to try to do my dusting and vacuuming today and take care of a few odds and ends. That's about all I am capable of. I just can not get comfortable at all in bed, so I am catching as many catnaps in the recliner as I can. I am still carrying 2.0 really, really high. Whoever said you carry boys low is full of it. 2.0 must be really long, because his head is fairly low, but the rest of him is still up under my ribs. Maybe he will be like my dad, who is really tall, but has short legs and a long torso. I already think he looks like my sister, so maybe 2.0 will be Ronnie Jr. #2. Heather will always be the original Ronnie Jr. (which means curly hair and bright blue eyes).

That's it for now. 28 days to go!

Not Much New

I guess I can't complain about anyone not updating their blogs, when I haven't updated my own blog... however, there isn't much new. Work, try to sleep, wake up in severe hip pain, repeat.

Saturday I spent the day in Newton doing the books for Todd. Things are improving all the time, but for those of you who dream of owning your own business, beat yourself over the head with a hammer, and move on :)

Anyway, today I actually went to church. I'm pretty sure it is the first time in almost two years. It did rain, but I was not struck down by lightening. Ha! I actually was happy to be back although at a different church. It felt like home. Of course, it is World Communion Sunday so I got to take communion, and Mary Farlow was in the choir loft and spotted me in the communion line, so after the service she got me a vistor's gift bag and introduced me to all the pastors. It was nice to see a friendly face. I also did some cleaning today and of course napped. That's about it. I am looking forward to Todd's days off this week and I guess tomorrow is our 7th anniversary so that will be nice too. Have a good week everyone.

Todd Finally Gets a Day Off

It has finally happened. Todd got to take a day off. It was his first day off since Aug 2. He was home from 6 am Tuesday morning until 11 am today (Wednesday morning). We will have to see how bad things are screwed up when he gets back to STEIN's.

Of course his day off involved spending 90 minutes at the doctor with me (they are always behind) and his extremely stubborn son who would not move at all for the ultrasound technician, and he has to move a certain number of times or he fails the wellness test. The more she poked and pushed the more he became like a statue. Stubborn. Stubborn. He finally did it, but just enough to pass.

It also involved a trip to Sam's, bill paying, and dealing with a car accident in front of our house (all while I was at work). Mrs. Larew (from behind us) hit an oncoming car on the curve. It was bound to happen sometime. Luckily no one was hurt, but the cops didn't come very fast, so after an hour Todd called Rhett, the cop next door, and he came by and took care of it.

Well, I am finally off to work. I think 2.0 dropped a little last night (shooting crotch pain - book says sign of baby dropping) and suddenly I was starving for the first time in a month, and oddly the more I ate, the lower my blood sugar got. It was low this morning too, so I stayed home til it straightened out.

Glad to have the rain, but I hope it rains on the weekend, all weekend. Bad weather = increased bar sales.

Good Baby

Today I learned that when your child actually behaves the nonstress test only takes 20 minutes versus the 45 minutes for a crabby, stubborn baby. My main agenda for this weekend is nap, nap, and nap some more.

Tuesday Apptmnt

Today's appointment went well. Todd came home after close last night so he slept at home, went to the doctor with me, and took me out for lunch.

2.0 is still perfectly healthy. They didn't measure him since he was just measured Friday. Got another 12 pictures! He was being stubborn on the non-stress test and kept moving around but they were able to get what they needed. Next appt is Friday.

Not much else new, I am prepping at home and Todd is prepping at work for the employees to run the place without him. I am spending a lot of time in the recliner.

Ok, that was scary!

Friday was a long scary day. I went in for my OB appointment and my first non-stress test. The test monitors his heartbeat and whether I am having any contractions. The test is 30 minutes long. Of course, 2.0 is stubborn and kept moving, so it was difficult. I noticed that several times the heartbeat dropped from 140 down to 65 or 72. The nurse didn't act like it was a big deal. However, the dr was concerned - she said she couldn't tell if the 65 was 2.0's heartbeat or mine, so I could either go to the Perinatal Center or the hospital to repeat the test and do a BPP ultrasound. I chose the Perinatal Center (that's where I do all my ultrasounds) and was shocked to find out that they could get me in for the test in an hour. (Side note - I later found out that they didn't get me in so fast because it was an emergency - they just happened to have an opening then.)

Of course this freaked me out, so I started calling Newton. It further freaked me out when the manger at Subway (I had to eat) came over to my table and asked if I was ok. Well, it took about 30 phone calls before Todd finally woke up. He threw on clothes and rushed to Des Moines. By the time he got there they were just finishing the ultrasound, but they had a student doing it over just for practice, so he got to see 2.0. It was a relief to have him there with me. Then they hooked me up to the non-stress machine again for 30 minutes.

The results: the baby can get up to 8 points on the BPP ultrasound, which measures how healthy the baby is. There are 2 points each for fluid, movement, tone, and breathing. Our baby got a perfect 8. 2.0 must have figured out I was worried, because during the second non-stress test he did not move around too much and his heartbeat didn't show any problems. Apparently, the first test was just a fluke or the first machine wasn't working properly. From now on, all my tests will be at the Perinatal Center and I will be having weekly ultrasounds and non-stress tests twice a week. It was a relief to find out that nothing was wrong. I was terrified that I would be having a c-section Friday afternoon.

Oh, one more thing. 2.0 is not going to be small. With 7-8 weeks to go, he is already 5 pounds, 2 ounces!

Dead Brain Cells

In addition to not sleeping, heartburn, etc., I have discovered that 2.0 is killing my brain cells.
I lost my ATM card and had to cancel it, and I keep redoing the same !@#$ numbers at work.

So Much for a "Real Meal"

Well, my home-cooked meal didn't work out. I rushed home last night and discovered the only thing I could make for Todd was a box of mac n' cheese or scrambled eggs. So, he took me to Red Lobster instead! We had a great time, and his steak was cooked perfectly. That is so weird that the only place in Des Moines that can cook a steak is a seafood place. I also showed him all my shower gifts and he was shocked at how many there were! It was great to see him. Things in Newton are going well (knock on wood) so he will be home more now.

My shower on Saturday went really well. A lot of people came, and Kathy and Heather did a good job of planning it. Sandy's cupcakes and mints were a hit as well. It was very enjoyable. When we got home with my gifts, it was an unpleasant surprise to find I was locked out of my house. 45 hot, sweaty minutes later, the locksmith finally came and unlocked my car so I could use the garage opener to get in the house. I was very proud of myself because I did not get upset. Apparently our house and even my 11-yr-old car are more secure than Fort Knox.

After that, Mom took Heather and me to Joe's Crab Shack for supper, which was very nice. It is always fun when the Schweitzer women hang out. 2.0 moved off my stomach for a few hours, so I cleaned my plate and was the first one done, which never ever happens. I am always poking along.

Sunday Mom and I went to see The Constant Gardener, and later she planted my Goatsbeard and geraniums (they had been on back-order and just came in the mail) and moved my strawberries because they were getting too big. I hate requiring help, but I can't really bend over.

I am now 33 weeks, and I have gained only 14 pounds. I have been lucky to have a very pleasant, uneventful pregnancy. I have just now started to feel miserable when I walk and when I try to sleep. Supposedly you carry boys low, but this one is right under my rib cage which makes it hard to sleep and breathe. I think he must be really long because he can kick me in the ribs and in the crotch simultaneously. I can't believe that I only have 7 weeks to go. I figured it up, and that means 1,302 shots down and only 294 shots left to go! Whoo-hoo!

Today I bought some Dreft and a package of diapers, so it is time to start washing things and packing for the hospital. I want everything ready to go by October 1. Then what will I do?

Todd's Coming Home!

Todd's coming home! Todd's coming home! He just called and is on his way home for the first time since August 14!!! I'm heading home to cook him a "real meal". I'm so excited!

Photo Hogs at Walmart

I had a frustrating trip to WalMart last night. I wanted to print out about 20 pictures. So I get there, and this lady with a cute hair cut was ordering pictures on the machine. For each picture, she would adjusting the lighting, cropping, order different sizes, etc, which is reasonable. BUT After adjusting each picture she would run her hand (with big long nails) through her hair and fluff it, and then touch the screen again. Ick. So I went and did my shopping. 30 minutes later, I come back and she is still cropping and fluffing her hair every 10 seconds. It took everything I had to not tell her she was a disgusting germ spreader and if she would stop fluffing her hair, maybe others could use the machine. I waited another 15 minutes and asked her how many she had left. She said tons. They were from her honeymoon and she was only on picture #169, but they had another machine. So, I go to the other machine, and the lady ahead of me was printing pictures from 10 different XD cards!! So, I ended up printing my 20 pictures on the Kodak machine, which costs double what the other machine costs. Sigh... I finally got home at 7:15 pm and I got there at 6:00 pm. !@#$ Wal-Mart!

Update

Things at Stein's seem to be going well. There are new challenges every day though. Todd is gearing up for his big grand opening on Saturday. Hopefully he can start spending more time at home.

Saturday is also my shower, which I am looking forward to.

I spent last weekend at the farm. My mom came and got me so I didn't have to drive. I mostly slept and ate, which I hadn't been doing much of at home (I lost 5 lbs during weeks 30 - 32; not so good for 2.0), and she did some alterations to my maternity clothes for me.

Only one dr. apptment this week, then I start doing non-stress tests two times a week until the end. Luckily my job is very understanding!

Not Much New

Not much new. Todd is working hard trying to get things running smoothly at Stein's. I have been trying to catch up at home and have been dozing a lot in the recliner. This weekend I am helping at Caleb's Adoption Party, but other than that, I don't have any plans.

I have pictures of Stein's to post, but no computer at home, and I am too scared to upload them on my computer at work. Guess we'll just have to wait.

Stein's is Open!

Stein's is open! It opened at 3 pm yesterday and looks awesome. I even had a hot dog out of the new cooker, and it was awesome too. I haven't heard from Mr. Stein, so not sure how the evening went. I was comatose in the recliner.

I am thinking about sleeping in the recliner all the time. I can lie on my side and on my back for a little while in bed, but changing positions is painful, and every time I roll over it sounds like a bone in my pelvis pops. Maybe he'll move and I can get comfortable again.

I'm Done

I am done with my volunteer hours! This morning I worked in the garden at the State Fair and finished up my 40 hours. I am now officially a Master Gardener.

This may be my last post for a while. Todd is taking the computer to Newton. I am running around the house collecting the list of 50,000 things he wants in Newton, then going to Walmart for him, then delivering to Newton. Then I am going upstairs and lying down. The bar is opening tomorrow at 3 pm. I am going up to take some pictures, then I am coming home and going to bed! It will be a relief to go back to work. It's much easier there!

I had a good time at Alisa's BBQ yesterday. The kids were all really cute. Saturday is Caleb's adoption party, so we should see everyone again then.

Munchkin Update

It has been a busy week. I took Monday off to hang out with Mom, and took 1/2 Wednesday and Thursday off to help Todd at Stein's. I also had a dr. appt yesterday and ultrasound #3 today. I am going to Stein's to help tomorrow and then to Alisa's BBQ in the afternoon. I have to work at the State Fair on Sunday. Whew!

Our munchkin has really grown. In the past 3 weeks, he has more than tripled in size. Last month he was 18 oz., and today he measured at 3 lbs. 4 oz! He is 28 weeks 5 days old, but is measuring at 30 weeks 6 days. I also learned that he is very stubborn and limber. He has his feet on either side of his head up by his ears. The technician tried everything to get him to move his feet so we could see his face. No such luck. I was on my back, I was on my left side, I was on my right side; she poked, she massaged, and she used a buzzer, but he would not move! She would move the wand away, and he would move, then up the feet went when she tried again. The exam table and I were both covered in lubricant from all the flopping around. I accidently stuck my arm in it, then touched my face, so I was slippery all over. Uck. She did get a good 4D shot of 1/2 of his face and his foot. Maybe next time... yep, I am scheduled for ultrasound #4 on Sept 20. God bless Wellmark health insurance.

Well, off to bed, finally. I have to go to Rieman's for some speaker adapter for Todd in the morning before I go to Newton. Joy.

This and That

Congraultations to Jen on her big scrapbooking win at the State Fair! She deserved it. I didn't even place, but I did overhear two ladies admiring my page, so that was nice.


Saturday I ran errands. I love living in Des Moines. I went to the bank, Hobby Lobby, and the grocery store and was home in less than 1 hour. If I was in Aurora, that would be a 3 hr trip minimum.

Sunday I was to meet my mom at the Fair at 2:45 in front of the ag building. At 11:45 am I decided that I needed to see my husband with my own eyes and make sure he was doing ok. He hadn't slept at home since Wednesday. So, I jumped in Old Blue and headed to Newton. I got there, checked the place out (it looks great!), decided Todd was doing fine, ran to the hardware store for him, bought him some lunch, then jumped back in Old Blue and hit IA 80 again. Since I was running behind, I decided to stop at SE Polk and take the bus to the Fair. Well, the first lot was full, but luckily I found a place in the second lot, jumped on the bus, and arrived at the Fair at 2:45. The problem was, I was supposed to meet my mom at the Ag Building, and the bus dropped me off behind the 4-H building! So, I started walking and when I turned the corner by the cattle barn, I saw this wall of people coming at me! I thought "Why do I come to this???? This is nuts!"

Mom and I finally met up at 3:00. She went to SE Polk too, and they wouldn't let her park because it was full, so she had to come to the fairgrounds and park. It was soooo crowded in the afternoon, but we had a good time. We checked out the scrapbooking, the big animals, the 4-H building, and the Varied Industries building. We also took a lot of breaks. Between her hip and me being pregnant we could only make it so far before sitting down. I finally got home at 8:30. Mom stayed behind for the Garrison Keillor/Prairie Home Companion show. When I got home, Todd was there, which was nice.

I ended up not going to work today. I had taken today off because we were supposed to be in Ohio, so I decided to still take the time since mom was here. We had a nice day. We both slept in and didn't even get dressed until noon. Then we ran some errands and went and ate at Joe's Crab Shack and tried some cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory, which was a special treat for me. That's about it. She left about 4 pm and has to stop in Wloo to pick up H's dog, so it will be a late evening for her.

Hmm.... my 1/2 piece of choeesecake has 2.0 all jazzed up. He is jumping around like crazy!

Attempt at Serenity

I am trying to be a serene pregnant woman. This is tough when you are seven months pregnant, trying to plan for a 3 month maternity leave, and your husband is trying to open a bar in eight days. One benefit is that my house is extremely clean, because cleaning makes me feel better when I am freaked out. I tried to relieve some anxiety by baking Tuesday night, but ended up giving all the baked goods away because eating them did not produce good results for 2.0. Oh well, this was all expected and pre-planned, so as Peyton says, you just have to go with the flow.

On a sad note, my Great-Aunt Neva Mae broke her hip Sunday and is having surgery today. This is upsetting of course, but also because Todd's Great-Aunt Annabelle broke her hip and passed away last week. Not a good month for hips. Hopefully I will be hearing good news about Neva Mae from the Arnold hot-line tonight.

Going to the State Fair for a few hours on Sunday afternoon with my mom. Then I can find out if any of us won in the scrapbooking competition. Who knows, we might run into the Hansens there. It's not like there will be many people or anything! Ha.

Kick, Kick, Kick

Todd 2.0 is kicking, kicking, kicking. Then Todd puts his hand on my stomach, and 2.0 stops. Todd pulls his hand away, and 2.0 kicks, kicks, kicks. Todd puts his hand back, and 2.0 stops. Repeat. Poor Todd, he thinks his son doesn't like him.

Tonight the kicking has been exceptionally low. This freaks me out because I can't stop thinking about this diagram in one of the books that showed a woman with a foot hanging out of her. It said to go to the hospital. Duh! One of the other books said one of the symptoms of pre-term labor is "you feel like your baby is going to fall out". As a result, I have quit reading the books.

I am pathetic.

I am pathetic. All summer I have wanted Todd out of the house (and so did he), and now he's gone most of the time and I miss him. It is too darn quiet around here. He is also freaking me out. He was up at 6:30 am this morning and out the door by 7:45. Bizarre. That's usually when he is going to bed.

I am going to try finish cleaning the upstairs today. Hopefully it will keep me busy enough to keep from eating everthing in sight. As my great-aunt Donna says, "I'm so hungry, I could eat the ass-end out of a skunk!" Todd 2.0 must be in a growth spurt, because I am starving 24/7.

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Todd called. He's actually going to be home about 8:30 pm tonight instead of working all night at the bar! I've kind of missed him this week. Anyway, off to make him some supper. The first meal I've cooked for him since last Sunday.

Saturday

I dropped off our entries at the State Fair, then headed to Newton. Todd has been there since yesterday. He slept on a mattress on the floor of the bar last night. When I got there, Todd, his parents, and Shawn were all painting the wainscoting red. They had to prime it first with Kilz and put on multiple coats, so it was slow going. It looks good though. I left to pick up lunch and when I came back, three more guys had shown up to paint. They were doing the entryway, hallway, and bathrooms. Todd seems much calmer today. Yesterday was a nightmare. He spent over 3 hours at Lowe's because they screwed up mixing his paint. I guess the clerk kept paging a manager, but no one came. After 30 minutes, Todd called the store on his cell phone and asked them to send someone to the paint department! Then after that, the clerk rang up the carpet remnant as $40 a foot instead of $40 for the whole piece. He ended up missing an appointment with a vendor because he was stuck at Lowe's.

While I was in Newton today, I went upstairs and looked around. There are 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms, and a gianormous living room above the bar. If I weren't having a baby and would have to commute to work, I would seriously consider selling the house and moving there since we are paying rent on it anyway. But, I love my house and yard too much. And raising a baby above a bar seems a little weird.

I came back early and have been vegging ever since. I should go run around the house a few times since I just ate half a can of pringles and a Hostess cupcake. It's the baby's fault. I was planning to have a BLT for supper later, but I can't find the bread. I know there was some left last night, so what did I do with it? I looked in the bread drawer and the fridge, and it's not there. Hmmm. Another mystery.

Random Stein News/Schweitzer Girls Rule

Todd has been working 18-hr days to open Stein's. He usually works there until 5 am, then drives home, gets some sleep, and leaves again at 10 am. I am feeling quite useless. I can't even help paint or clean tomorrow with the rest of the crew because 1) we don't want to expose the baby to any paint or cleaning fumes 2) my ankles will swell up to the size of watermelons. He is way stressed out, frantically trying to get everything done before the grand opening. I guess the phone has been ringing off the hook with former customers wanting to either work there or know what is going on. A stressful time, but a good stress, he says.

I survived my trip to KC. I must say, Schweitzer girls rule! H and I were both born with keen senses of direction. We are both very good navigators. This is the 4th time I have been to the Westin Crown Center KC with Sean and Matthew for a CENRAP meeting. The previous 3 times I sat in the back and we got lost on the way there, lost on the way back, and lost in the parking garage. This time, the I-35 bridge over the river was closed, so I sat in the front seat and navigated. I must pat myself of the back. We drove straight to the hotel and got a spot right next to the entrance to the lobby. On the way back we even had to take a different route, and I got us directly to I-35. The men were appreciative, but sheepish. Catharine, Pete, and Chad all drove separately and ended up in Kansas. Good for me! Pat, pat.

The meeting was not as helpful as I expected, but I did schmooze with some big wigs and eat two fancy meals. Mom says anywhere that puts squiqqles (fancy sauce drizzles) on your plate is fancy. The first place put a fresh orchid blossom on my steak! I went over my food allowance, but I consider it an investment in my future. You never know who you might meet. The first night we ate with Pete, who is a my former bureau chief and a big mucky-muck at MidAmerican Energy (cost $48 just for me) and the second night I sat next to the chairwoman of the North Carolina Environmental Protection Commission (cost $38 just for me). A little over budget, since we only get $40 a day for all three meals!

I am cropping tonight, and I cropped last night too. My new setup upstairs works pretty well. I am trying to finish up several pages to enter at the State Fair. I have about 6 possibilities and can't decide. Tomorrow morning I am taking Heather's, Jen's, and my entries out to the fairgrounds. Might as well dehead the roses while I am out there... only 7 hours left to go for Master Gardening. Last night I was picking cucumbers at home, and I screamed! I thought I saw a rat in the cucumbers, but it was a baby bunny. He was so cute that I forgave his parents for chewing the blossoms off my daisies.

I am still feeling good, just tired. He is really growing, and that darn baby keeps sending me messages to give him junk food. I try to resist but ... don't worry, my blood sugar is good.

I need to call my mom and catch up on the news. I hope my dad had a good week at work. He works third shift and rides with another man from Aurora. Last Thursday night they had a flat tire on the truck, Saturday the brakes went out of the truck, and sometime this week they hit a deer with Harlan's car. Heather had to drive them home from work one morning at 6 am. Poor H.

That's the news for now. I should get a lot done around the house since Todd will be in Newton all weekend.