Friday, July 20, 2012

5QF at Kate's

Yay it's Friday!  Happy about that, but sad today about the news out of Colorado.  I really need to try and blog this weekend, I have so many things I want to share, and haven't gotten to it yet.  A busy weekend planned though, so we will see.  I'm going to take a minute to do 5QF, it's being hosted by Kate this week while Mama M is hangin' by the lake.  If you want to link up head over to Kate's: 5QF 7-20


1} What do you call them- flip flops, sandals, thongs, or slippers?

Flip flops, I think we have had this question before at least once if not five times already.  Moving on...

2} Are you a "my kids can do no wrong" kind of mom or a "Johnny punched you? Well what did you do to him first?!" kind of mom?

It's hard to say since my kid is only 3.5.  I know I would like to be the later, but quite truthfully right now I'd almost say I'm more the first since our current circle of friends tend to be on the liberal parenting side and their kids are not especially disciplined. I often find that we keep Austin more under check and he tends to be swaded by the others who are allowed to run amuk.  So it's not like I think Austin is totally obidient, he is definitely not, but he is often inspired by the other kids. 


3} Would you confront a good friend that looked/looks down on your husband/significant other?

Again this is a hard one.  My husband is one of those really great people who people really like and look up to. He is respectful and considerate of everyone.  He's mostly sweet, very attractive, and is just the right amount of a little reserved and shy, but not an total introvert either.  It's hard to look down on him and I can't think of any time this has ever happened.  If anything he is hard on himself.  I guess it would depend on the situation and who it was looking down on him.  I would think in most situations I would just write that person off as I have little tolerance for people who act like that. 

4} Biggest pet peeve?

At the moment I have to go with people professing their every political belief.  I follow that old adage about not discussing politics, religion and love in mixed company.  I think it's unnecessary and it drives me crazy.  Even if I agree 100% with what(who)ever the person is saying or endorsing, I just don't want to know.  The less I know about your political convictions, the BETTER! 

There is so much politic-ing on FB and I have totally deleted people or turned down the amount of crap I see on their feed because of it.  I have stopped following blogs because they got too political and I have been close to giving up on a couple.  I know it's only going to get worse as we get closer to the election and I am totally dreading it.


5} What's your favorite take out meal?

Like Mama M I don't have a whole lot of local take out options available.  There is a McD's and Pizza Hut in the town 7 miles north of us, so those are probably what we do most often, of the two Pizza Hut is my preference.  There is a Chinese restaurant up there too and we tried that a couple of times, but the last time the food was kind of yuck and Dustin said the restaurant just seemed on the dirty, unkempt side, so we have decided to not do that any more. 

We haven't done it in a while, but we have a little restaurant in our own town that we try to go once and a while and technically you can call and order take out even though it's not really what they are set up for.  They have good sandwiches like burgers, philly cheese steak and French dips.  We did that a few times when Austin was a baby, so I'm sure we will probably utilize that again after Katy arrives.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

36 week appointment

I went for my 36 week doctor appointment today.  They did the GBS test and first progress check.  I was 50% and 1cm.  I think that is pretty standard for not much progress really.  Katy's heart rate was 160 BPM and she was measuring right on.  I actually lost a little over a pound from the last appointment, but I still think that I weigh less in the morning then I do in the afternoon.  My total weight gain so far is about 34lbs.  My BP was a little on the high side for me at 128/82.  The midwife didn't seem concern though because I had no other symptoms.  She also confirmed that Katy is positioned head down in the right position, which I pretty much already knew because she is constantly kicking me in the ribs. 

She went over all the reasons to head in to L&D.  It seems surreal that I am down to the last month.  Austin told me in the bath tonight that in four weeks Katy will come out of my belly.  He was right that she was a girl, so maybe her birthday will be more like August 15. 

Thursday, July 12, 2012

The Big Brother

I actually was flipping channels earlier and saw that tonight is the premier of the TV show Big Brother, so it's kind of ironic that happened to fall the day that I took Austin to his Big Sibling Class at the hospital where we will be having Katy delivered.  All in all it was a great experience and I'm happy that I took him over. 


The one tiny little thing that was disappointing was we showed up at L&D where the email I received said to meet.  The lady working the front desk didn't have a clue about where the class was being offered.  She called someone and sent us to a L&D room and no one was there.  15 minutes later with a stir crazy 3 year old I went back and asked her and she finally was able to figure out where the class was and took us there, so we missed the first 10-15 minutes.  I guess all they did was introduced the class and read a story book, so it's not such a big deal, but it aggravated me since I just drove so far and was there in time.

When we came in the kids were just starting to work with the dolls and they learned about putting a diaper on and then how to wrap the baby in a blanket.  They had a big pile of fleece blankets and let each kid pick a blanket to practice with and then take home.  Austin picked a blue blankie with pink butterflies.  He wasn't the least bit interested in putting the diaper on and refused to hold the doll after I wrapped it in the blanket, but he watched and watched everyone else in the class too.  There were about 15 kids in the class and most of them were in the 3-4 year old range.  The youngest was probably 18 months and the oldest was about 8 years old.  Of the 15 kids there were probably 8-9 unique families because some had multiple siblings.


Then we took a tour and went to a Mom and Baby recovery room first.  Those silly nurses were showing the kids about how the controls moved the bed around and then told them that when Mom was there she would let them check it out.  As we passed the nurses station the kids got a little gift box that had a box of crayons and candy in it. 

It was cute when we were moving from department to department you have to take the elevator and the nurses taught the kids to call the elevator after they pushed the button.  The kids would yell "elevator, elevator" in unison and then cheer when the door opened. 

Next we went to L&D and toured a room there.  The kids got to sit on the sofa and drink an apple juice.  We finished back up in the classroom where they gave each kid a coloring book to take home with the rest of their loot.  The whole thing took about 45 minutes. 





Next we went and got the paint at Lowe's and then went to Target where Austin picked out a blankie lovie that has a star on it for Katy.  I also let him pick out a toy and he found a little Batman figurine set.  We finished up our adventure with dinner at a Japanese Hibachi and that end up being a really BAD idea!   If you haven't been to one they put some kind of flammable liquid on the grill and light it to make a big showy flame before they start cooking the food in front of you.  Austin flipped out at the fire and he just wanted to get the heck out of there.  I felt so bad because he was obviously beyond terrified that they were going to make another flame.  It's too bad too because we were seated at a table with a family that had four girls and one of their friends and the girls were chatting with Austin and enjoying his company until he got freaked. 

When we left the restaurant it was crazy smokey and windy.  A monsoon storm had blown in and apparently sparked a fire nearby.  When we got on the highway it started to pour rain on us and was crazy stormy for about 20 miles or so of the way home.  I was sure we would have rain at home, but we really hadn't gotten much here in town, so I hope in the coming days we get some monsoon activity.

Thursday Random

  • Time is flying and I feel like it is in the process of blindsiding me at the moment.  Here I am a month away from my due date and still so much to do.  It's not that I'm not trying, I have been getting stuff done, it's just that everything has been dragging out and taking longer than expected, so I am not at all where I feel I should be at this point.
  • I am off in about an hour to take Austin to his big sibling class in the big city.  I hope it is worth the 75 mile drive over there!  We are also going to stop briefly at Lowe's to buy another can of paint to finish the walls in his new room, then to Target for him to pick out a gift for Katy, dinner and Costco if he isn't completely zapped by then to get food for the party we are hosting Saturday.  I am still debating taking him to Samarai 21, a Japanese restaurant since he has never been to a hibachi before and I think he would have fun.  I'm just not so sure the food will be that appealing to him, but he often likes unusual, untypical kid food.  I'm also bummed because Dustin wasn't able to take off work and come with us.
  • After today only 8 more work days for me.  The news of my resignation was broken yesterday at our monthly staff luncheon and most everyone was pretty shocked to hear that I am leaving for good.  I actually didn't really intend to share that part, I just said that provided I didn't have the baby by then, July 26 would be my last day, and of course someone had to ask "when are you coming back?"  So I had to explain the plan to be a stay at home Mom for a couple of years.  My boss even skipped the luncheon and was in tears when she came back to work, she has really taken the news hard as we have become close friends over my 7.5+ years here.
  • I've been trying to keep up with my blogging, but I must admit that I miss my original bloggy friends and at times feel unmotivated to keep writing.  By that I of course don't mean that I don't appreciate the people who have been visiting lately, I certainly do value all the kind words people share and I enjoy reading the blogs I follow.  It's just that within the last 4-5 months most of my original blogging circle have gone on hiatus for various reasons, and I miss them dearly. 
  • Another end of an era has come for me too, the message boards at WebMD have dried up to nearly nothing so I finally looked into the CafeMom site and have joined a few discussion boards there.  It's nice to see an active community again, I have really missed that with WebMD ever since they changed formats.
  • Dustin took Austin to his swim lesson last night while I stayed home to prepare dinner and when they got home told me that Austin jumped off the diving board.  I am so excited that he has gotten the opportunity to take the lessons and know he will be so much better off in the long run having had them.  I learned to swim at an early age and have always loved being in the water. 

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Swim Lesson Photos

I remembered my camera tonight for swimming lessons.  I didn't have my zoom lens with me though, and it was hard to get good photos from out in the park.


Starting out in the big pool
Working with the toys in the kiddy pool with his buddy Red to the right

Monday, July 9, 2012

Jumpin' In

Tonight when Austin and I got home from work/school Dustin met us on the porch and said there was a message that Austin was enrolled in the current session of swim lessons and that his first lesson was tonight at 6:00pm.  This was the first we had heard about the lessons and this occured at about 5:35pm.  I got in the house and called the pool to find out the details about the lessons and found out that this is the last session of the summer and it is every night for the next two weeks.  We talked about it and decided to go ahead and head over to the pool to take advantage. 

We didn't know anything about how it worked, so Dustin put on his trunks and I grabbed my suit in our towel bag in case we had to go in with him.  No such thing, in fact their rules said that parents weren't even allowed on the deck of the pool during lessons.   We headed out to the park to watch from outside the fence.  It was obvious who had been there before because a lot of the parents brought chairs and blankets to set up to watch the lessons. 

Austin did really well, not that I didn't think he would.  Their first task was to jump in the big pool to the instructor.  We have had a time getting Austin to do this for us, but he attempted it with the teacher.  Then all the class went over to the kiddy pool and did some little activities with the toys.  I think it helped him that his buddy Red was in the class with him.  Red is already a total fish in the water since he has an older brother to be inspired by. They finished up in about 15-20 minutes and then as the kids came through the locker room they each got a dum-dum sucker treat. 

I will take my camera the next time I go and snap some pictures.  We talked about alternating each night, so one night I would go and then the next night Dustin will go.  Thursday night he will have to miss the lesson because we are taking him to the big city for his big sibling class, shopping and dinner. 

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Parties, parties and more parties

We went to a going away party for one of Dustin's coworkers last night.  We are hosting a going away party for his Technician and her husband next weekend, and then at some point in the next two weeks there will be a third going away party for Dustin's Supervisor. 

The party last night was at Dustin's Supervisor's house.  He was married to an attorney, and they have a mansion of a house.  They actually divorced a couple of years ago and he ended up with the house that he is now trying to sell because he got a new job in California.  It was a huge and beautiful house, but stressful for all of us parents as our kids were all over the place and it was not at all childproof.  Here is the real estate listing if you are interested in seeing the house: http://www.adoberealtykanab.com/mlsdetails.cfm?mls_=1405029

In an attempt to spare the inside of the house we retreated to the back yard.  There was a big hill and Austin and two of his buddies loved climbing up it and playing in the dirt and rocks.  I was ok at first because his buddy Red, who is about four months younger than Austin, and he climbed up 3/4 of the way up the hill and couldn't make it any further because it got steep.  Then Row, who is 5, finally decided to join the party after throwing a tantrum in their car and he of course was able to motor up the whole hill and Austin had to follow.  Red still wasn't able to make it and he cried.  I was upset because I couldn't make it up the hill, nor see what was up there, and we definitely live in rattle snake country, so I was pretty grumpy and told the boys to get down. (Of course I'm also 8 months pregnant and it was hot which I'm sure added to my short fuse)  Austin got out of sight so I yelled for Row to tell him to come back down.  Dustin got on my case later for yelling at Row, but to me he is older and should know better, Austin is at an age where he doesn't really listen most of the time, and if it weren't for Row, Austin wouldn't have had the ambition to make it to the top.  After I started losing it the dad's ventured up the hill to retreive the boys.


I'm excited to host the party next weekend.  Our house is definitely way more kid friendly, so it should be more fun and relaxing. 

Double the Fun

Last weekend Dustin's best friend Craig came for a visit with his wife Tami and their twin girls Adalynn and Brynlee who will be three in November.  One of Tami's college friends was getting married at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, so since they were driving by literally 5 blocks from our house on their way they took extra time to stop and visit.  They were on their way to the wedding on Saturday morning and stopped for a potty and stretch break.  Then they came back on Sunday afternoon.  We took the kids to the park and they played for over 3 hours!  We went to dinner and they spent the night.  Monday morning I had to work, but the boys went out for a horse back ride where Dustin works.  We usually see them about once a year when we go to Iowa to visit my in-laws, but it was nice to see the kids really hit it off since they don't see each other very often. 





Thursday, July 5, 2012

5QF

This has been a busy and crazy week, and I need to catch my blog up.  We had company last weekend, an OB visit on Tuesday, our first house viewing this morning, and I finally told my boss that I am planning to resign when I leave for maternity.  Posts about all those topics to come!






1. Is love at 1st sight possible?

I don't think that you can truly love someone at first sight.  You don't really know someone at first sight, so I don't think you can really love someone if you you don't know them.  More often than not relationships don't last that claim to be love at first sight, and the ones that do make it are dumb luck in my opinion.

2. How did you choose your pet's name?

I currently have no pets, but my three year old would love a dog.  My last pet was a miniature rabbit and his name was Boaz from the book of Ruth in the Bible.

3. What are you considering giving up (cable, home phone)?

At this point nothing.  We live in the middle-of-nowhere, so if we didn't have satellite TV we would zip for channels.  We have very little cell phone reception at our house because we are in a dead spot, so our pay-as-you-go phone is mostly for travel or for Dustin's work.  When I am no longer working we may cut something, but at this point we are not considering anything.

4. How much do you pay your babysitter?

Well, we don't really have babysitter. We usually trade favors with other parent friends of ours so the kids getting together is more of a play date. 

The Learning Center that Austin goes to charges $24 per day or $15 for a half day and that includes all the food and drinks.

5. How "young" is old enough to babysit?

I think it depends on how old the child(ren) is/are that are being watched.  For Austin I might go with a 12-13 year old, but for a baby I would want the maturity of at least a 14 year old. 


Have a great weekend!