I can't tie my shoes!

It's spring, and my feet and ankles are already crazy swollen. I've been in flip-flops since the day the snow melted. But it's been chilly here the last couple of days and my feet were freezing yesterday at work, so I thought I'd wear my tennis shoes today. Haven't put them on for a while. Well, as Matt looked on and chuckled, I struggled to get my shoes on this morning and it left me totally out of breath. He helped me balance myself, didn't quite have to put them on my actual feet, but I don't think I could have gotten them on without him. I was the leaning tower of prego. Hopefully it warms up and I can be done with the tennies, or I'm going to have to invest in some slip ons. Now, as I look down, I realize that one of the laces is about to come loose.

I'm totally screwed.....

29 1/2 week ultrasound

What is this? Who knows

the ultrasound lady showed us his face, and we got to see the baby blinking, and it has hair! So crazy

Everything looks good and healthy- the baby is 3 lbs 12 ounces (8oth percentile- yikes!) S/he is head down and probably will be for the rest of the pregnancy, which bodes well for my praying my little heart out every night that I don't have to have a c-section. I'm on to having checkups every 2 weeks, so we are in the home stretch. I've never been so excited and terrified at the same time.

More issues

I guess to explain, I'll have to start at the beginning. Back in my 22nd (?) week, somewhere around there, I had a bladder infection. My doctor went ahead and prescibed antibiotics without my having to come in and have culture done. I was in there a couple of days later and they did a culture which came back negative. She said, this can happen, and to finish out my antibiotics. The next week, while still on the antibiotics, I got really sick. That Tuesday, I came into work in tears, I was a prego mess. I thought it was just the nausea that I always got from the ride in, and just waited for it to pass. I wasn't feeling better later that day and eventually got so sick that Matt's mom had to come pick me up from work and get me to urgent care. I couldn't even drive. Once there, they performed another culture on me and...no bladder infection. It just wasn't possible. The doctor told me that even though the test came back negative, my numbers were all over the place and that I for sure had one. Whatever, I was dizzy with a high fever, I just wanted to go home and go to bed. I was out from work for a day and a half. It was the sickest I had been in years.

SO....I've had extreme pain around my bladder again this week, I called my doctor to get a prescription and she's out of town. The nurse didn't feel comfortable without doing a test and made me come in. I'm so annoyed at this point because I obviously have a bladder infection and can hardly stand up straight at this point. I go in, there were 4 different people that came in and poked and prodded at me. I'm so uncomfortable on that table, I'm hugely pregnant, not a good place to have to sit for an extended period of time. Come to find out that I still don't have a bladder infection, that it's PELVIC PAIN. Whatever that is. Basically because I'm so short and so huge, the cartiledge is stretching and causing sharp pains. The baby is going through a growth spurt and I'm having a spike in hormones. I supposed to 'take it easy' and wear this awesomly fashionable maternity belt. It helps a lot, but makes my tummy sore if I wear it too long. I don't know how much more easy I can take it. Taking a shower is about the extent of my physical exertion. I can cook, but I have to sit down every couple of minutes. I can clean, but only 1 foot x 1 foot areas at a time. I can do a load of laundry, but I have to sit down after from walking up the stairs. If this is exerting yourself, my poor husband it screwed. The house is a mess, there is a film of dust on everything. I spilled 7-up on the kitchen floor and so half-ass cleaned it up, the floor is still a little sticky. I'm just giving up. I can't keep up with it all. Matt is trying to finish the basement which we are way behind on, plus with the advent of spring, there is mucho un-delayable yard work, I just can't ask him to do clean the house too.

Ugh.....I had to rant a bit. Anyone want to give me a winning lottery ticket so I can hire someone to clean my house?

Spring is here, baby is on the move

Lilacs!

It's already turning pink, which means it's all going to go away too quickly, you can see the deeper pink it was the first day below....

Oh and this is Lady, she's old and stubborn, but pretty much the sweetest dog ever

After such a rough winter, spring was a very welcome occasion down here. We have a ton of lilacs that line the back corner of our house, they are in full bloom. If you turn on the attic fan, our whole house fills with the smell of lilacs. It's heavenly. The giant crab-apple in the back corner is pure pink and is gorgeous. For whatever the house lacks, the back yard makes up for. I love our back yard.

Milestone on the baby front- two days ago I saw the baby move through my stomach. I think I could have seen it before, but could never catch it in time. I actually teared up a little. It was so amazing. For all the crap that your body goes through while pregnant, I can never be in a bad mood when he's swimming around in there, even when he kicks a too hard. It's just the most awesome and totally bizarre feeling. I even poked at him and he kicked back at me!

Had my 2nd round of blood work yesterday. The lab place was packed and the tech was all flustered. I'm not so good with the needles, so let me tell you how excited I was that the lady about to stab me with a needle seemed out of sorts. It wasn't bad though, it never is as bad as I think it's going to be. I thought I'd be giving a lot more blood than I have, so being 6 months and only giving blood twice, I'm ahead of the game.

I have another ultrasound next Friday, then the appointments go to every two weeks. I've been in slight denial, but that statement from the doctor was a little reality check that this baby is coming. I'm trying to enjoy my down time, my couch time, my sleep, well, really, my freedom, while it lasts. Wow, that was a lot of commas, cousin Kate probably just had a grammar heart attack.

The extent of my craftiness- pretty much

Easter

The pound cake that was a hit- anything you can smother with strawberries and whipped cream is a hit though

The beautiful Martha Stewart Easter Ricotta Cake that tasted like poooooooo

Delish Coconut almond macaroons and a massive failure

lemony almond macaroons

from real simple:

Ingredients

• 1 14-ounce package sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 large egg whites

Directions

1. Heat oven to 325° F. In a large bowl, combine the coconut, almonds, sugar, lemon zest, and salt. Mix in the egg whites.
2. Drop mounds of the mixture (each equal to 2 tablespoons) onto 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them 1½ inches apart.
3. Bake, switching the baking sheets halfway through, until the edges begin to brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly on baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
4. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Broken Saucer

On another note- made this cake for Easter. It was a Martha Stewart Easter cake. 4 hours and one melt down later, it was finally done and......not good. Not good at all. Look how delicious it looks in the picture! No one liked it, not even I and most of it ended up in the trash. What a tragedy.

Blue & Red nursery-boy

I would put a girl in this nursery, I just know I would hear about it from everyone. I'm already hearing it that I want to paint the nursery blue if it's a boy or a girl. Who made up all the rules anyway? I don't think my daughter will have an identity crisis because her room didn't look like it was hosed down with pepto-bismal. I think this is adorable for a boy or a girl. Source