Update Round Up

Time for some all around updates...

The Sock-It-To-Me-Exchange is closing out. Last day to send out those cutie socks was on Saturday. I sent mine and can't wait for a picture to be posted on my recipient's blog! She's a reader of mine, so I hope you like them! I haven't received mine yet, but we haven't checked the mail since...er...Thursday I think.

ICLW has started. Actually it started on Saturday, so I have a lot of catching up to do. I just love ICLW. It brings new visitors to my neck of the woods and lets me read new blogs as well...Since I don't really have an "About Me" post to refer you new peeps to, I will steal the same idea that Nancy stole from Kym.... It's the ABC's of Me:

• April is the month my baby is due.
• Boy is what I think the gender is.
• Chocolate is my favorite!
• Dean is my husband's name. He's 23 years older than me, has a daughter 6 months younger than me, a son 4 years younger than me, and a 10 year old granddaugther!
• Eggs make me puke - any way you cook them...except for deviled.
• Foster kids are what I wanted if we hadn't gotten pregnant the last time.
• Grammy and Grampy can't wait to hold their first grandkid!
• Home is where I love. Since working from home the past 3 weeks, I have realized how much I really love our home and how little time I spent here before.
• Ice cream and orange cream slushes from Sonic are what I have been craving.
• January is the month that has the most birthdays in my family.
• KimboSue is a nickname my friend gave me when we were freshmen and it has stuck with me ever since.
• Love - overwhelming love is what I feel already for this baby.
• Mashed potatoes with BROWN gravy - MMM, MMM!
• None of my close friends (except for 1) have babies or kids.
• OctoMom pisses me the f*ck off.
• Peanut is what we have been calling our growing bun in the oven since we haven't found out the gender.
• Quinn is the name of an old friend's new baby girl.
• Rodeo is something I volunteer for. I'm on the sign shop committee. We make all the signs for the rodeo - exit here, buy beer tickets here, no minors, etc.
• Soon, in just 4 -1/2 short weeks (maybe more, maybe less) we will have ourselves a real live baby in this house!
• Trumpet is the horn that Deano plays. He used to play professionally. He has "retired" several times, but his friends keep asking him back!
• Uterus is Dean's new favorite word to say.
• Vagina is a word that I wish I could pretend didn't exist. It is so WEIRD.
• WalMart is awesome for a baby registry - no receipt to return something? No problem - here's some store credit. SWEET!
• Xrays of my teeth will be needed after I have this baby.
• Yogurty-caramel dip with apples is my new morning snack!
• Zebra is the Little People animal my friend Steph always calls "Giraffe" when playing with it and Andrew! He will forever get them confused! :0)

Friday afternoon Grandma had a small stroke. The term they used was TIA stroke. I have been scared to Go.ogle it, so maybe Martha RN can fill me in? The doctors said that she would come out of it within 24 hours. 24 hours was over Saturday morning, 11 AM. So far there has been no progress. They have her on oxygen with a continuous care nurse by her side 24x7 in the event she comes to. Other than that, its pretty much like she is just sleeping all the time. She does move a little and rubs her face or scratches her arm sometimes. She has opened her eyes a couple of times, but not really focusing on anyone in the room (she's been at an Alzheimer's/Dementia facility since 10/06) and the nurse said if she puts the flashlight in her eyes that her eyes are not dialating as they should be. So all we can do is visit and rub her arms or face and talk to her. However, it does appear that she can hear what we are saying. Yesterday morning the nurse told her she was going to suction her mouth and throat out for her and she promptly snapped her mouth shut. Apparently she doesn't like this. I wouldn't either - I saw it done on Grandpa - and no thank you. Please everyone keep Grandma in your prayers and pray that she wakes up out of this state so we can start having our funny little conversations again...

My sleep was better last night - finally. I think the bed was the culprit. We have one of those mattresses that looks like a regular mattress, but actually is a waterbed inside. I told Dean we needed more water in it - to make it firmer. Apparently my fat pregnant ass was so heavy, it was sinking during the night and since I have to sleep on my sides, that is what was causing my hips to hurt so much. So last night was MUCH better and I only had to pee 3 times. A little relief anyway!

There's a banner at the top of this page for ExpectNet - it's the Baby Artall Guessing Game. Time is quickly running out fellas. I'm closing the game on April 1st, so get your guesses in now. There will be an actual prize (I should probably get working on said prize now, you know, before Peanut shows up and takes up all my time!) for the winner. Right now, girl votes outnumber the boy votes!

Thanks for taking the time to read all of this, especially if you're here from ICLW!

ICLW status check

ok, so I was not online when ICLW started so today was my first day at it. But let me tell you...I just caught up! Mel had said if you miss a day, just do 6 more to catch up. Holy Moly - I just left 18 comments! WHEW!

ICLW, 31 wks, Familia & a Baby Shower!

MAN! The past 5 days have been a blur! Here's a recap on the familia visit, the doctor visit, the baby shower and ICLW!

• Family came and went. It was a good visit.
• Wednesday we went to JCP for some family photographs. That was a hoot. The photographer was a young (newly pregnant) girl who was funny and being that D and Josh were acting their usual selves, we all got along quite nicely. We took some family shots, some D and grandkid, some D and kids and a couple of funny ones. I haven't checked my hotmail lately, but supposedly they email all of the poses to you, even the ones you don't purchase.
• Thursday morning was my OB appt...more on that at another bullet....After I got home, we took them to NASA for a tour and for C (Grandkid) to play with all the kid stuff...what am I saying...for D to play too. Then we drove to Kemah to visit the Kemah Boardwalk and for dinner. Most of the rides are still closed to Ike, as were most of the restaurants. They are slowly coming back though. We had dinner at Joe's.Crab.Shack and eventually made it back home. I was B.E.A.T. Too much walking!
• Friday we all slept late, had breakfast and decided to see a movie. C picked Hotel for Dogs. It was really cute. I cried! At a Nick.olodeon movie! Must have been the hormones....that plus the fact that I'm a sucker for animal movies. Hell I BAWL at Old Yeller! Then we went to the Children's Museum. It was lots of fun. C had a blast. We finally got home around 5:30...just in time to make dinner for 13 people at 7:00. I was expecting we would be really busy on Friday and not have time to prepare dinner so last Tuesday I spent 3.5 hours preparing everything and froze it for Friday. Since the familia was flying out Saturday morning, the rest of the family (including my parents who have never met the daughter, husband or C) wouldn't have a chance to see them at the shower on Saturday. So we arranged this dinner instead. We had chicken broccoli casserole (?? the website I found this posted on didn't have a name for it, so I made one up), seussgirl's homemade mac n' cheese, salad, and chocolate elegance for dessert. Everything was a hit! I made a double batch of the chicken and the mac so we would have enough. There was still some leftover that I hope to partake in tonight!
• Saturday morning, we got up EARLY and got ready for the day. We had to have the fam at the airport around 9AM. Then we waited in the "cell phone lot" (isn't that a good idea to wait for arriving passengers?) for my friend L to arrive from CO. They had to de-ice the plane before taking off from CO, so it was a little late. We finally left the airport with L around 11. Had lunch at Gringo's. Made a couple of stops and then it was finally time for us to "arrive" at the shower around 2:15 (started at 3) so we could get ready. The girls had been there since 11'ish setting things up and we were prohibited from being at the house.
• Before starting in on the shower, let me give the OB update first. The baby's hb was 144....boy or girl? I still can't tell from just the hb. My BP was high - 140/80 so she had me
  lie down for "10 minutes" to recheck again. Well they were running behind as usual, so I had me a good little 35 minute nap. After Thursday, I damn well needed it. When she came back, it was 114/80. She said there is a little concern since it seems to be high, but after resting comes back down. Wants to watch me carefully for possible pre-eclampsia. Belly measuring 33 weeks...
• The shower was A.W.E.S.O.M.E. We wanted it to be coed/mixed/family friendly so that D could participate too. We think there were over 40 people there at one time! We have such awesome friends and family. We got so much stuff that we needed. We are so grateful for everything! Especially all the washcloths and towels - WINK, WINK! (Apparently since the gender is unknown and people don't want to buy neutral clothes, the next best thing is bathing essentials. I seriously think we have at least 40 washcloths and 12 towels!! But we love them all!) We got the car seat, walker, bouncer, bouncy seat, pack-n-play, clothes, toys, diapers, wipes, pacifiers, bottles....I think we might have enough "baby gear" to get this party started!!! Special shout out to the BS Team - S, S, L, M - for throwing the best shower ever - the decorations, food, and the baby love were awesome! Much love to T for helping last minute and Mom for making a super yummy cake too!
• Pics on all of the above TBD
• And finally - after a long winded post as it is....ICLW for February 2009 started last Saturday. I am already behind and will definitely not be an Iron Commenter this month, but I will do my best to catch up...Even if you didn't "sign up" for ICLW, click on over to Mel's blog and click on some bloggys who are participating. You'll be glad you did. There are some great writers/bloggers out there!

Chinese Cabbage & Baby Showers **UPDATED**

In case you're wondering what that is a picture of.... It's apparently the approximate size of Peanut @ 28 weeks. That's right. Our baby is the size of a Chinese cabbage!

According to baby.center.com:
By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can blink her eyes, which now sport lashes. With her eyesight developing, she may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb. She's also developing billions of neurons in her brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

So does this mean if I shine a flashlight on my belly, she'll turn her head and "see the light?" This seems quite funny to me. But I guess since you can shine a light "through" your fingers and "see" through them, so I would guess you can "see" through the belly too?

Apparently a symptom starting this trimester is RLS. I don't have this. As a matter of fact, since the Giraffe has moved into my bed, I have been sleeping like a rock and not moving at all. I have also not been drinking as much right before bed and for the past 2 nights, haven't even got up to pee once. Not even ONCE!!! YEAH! So back to RLS...is it possible that my husband has sympathy RLS? Because he sure is a movin' and a shakin' while he's sleepin'. UGH - gets on my nerves!

So my first baby shower is in 9 days! It is being hosted by 3 of my neighbors. The invitees are my "neighborhood" friends i.e. that live near me and/or in my Bunco groups. I am so very excited to start hoarding collecting receiving lots of fun baby stuff. Not that I am expecting tons of gifts, but well...you know...that is the POINT of baby showers, right? :0) Like I said yesterday, I am very nervous that we don't have A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G. ready...well we have furniture but that's about it! It freaks me out to think that if this baby comes early we would be so screwed! No car seat to take him home in, no clothes to wear, no diapers...EEK!

The 2nd baby shower will be on 2/21 and hosted by my sister and 3 friends. It is actually going to be held at my house. We wanted to do a co-ed shower so Deano and his buds could participate as well so we needed lots of space. And being the gracious guest of honor that I am (and not wanting my hostesses to have to pay a rental fee for a place) offered up our house. Plus..hello...BONUS - we don't have to pack our loot up in a truck, take it home, unload it again. It can just be taken upstairs! I am so looking forward to all the baby "showering!"

**I am also having an online-virtual baby shower hosted by Martha. Please see the shower blog here. It has all the info like when the shower is and how to particpate. I hope all my bloggy friends sign up! It would be awesome to hear you on the phone and enjoy this special day with us.

OH - and I almost forgot - the bedding and nursery decor have arrived...well to my Mom's house at least. Grammy and Grampy bought all the bedding and coordinating other items we had selected (even though they know this was too much for them to get!) Love you Grammy and Grampy!

We didn't order these because I am feeling crafty and wanted to add at least one homemade item in the room. (Dean - still thinking of what I can come up with for you to use your new router for!) I am going to purchase 3 square canvases and have me, my mom, and my sister each paint one. This way they can each add a special something to Peanut's room as well.

I also want to decorate wooden letters that spell out P.E.A.N.U.T. ok, not Peanut, but the baby's real name. Kind of can't do that until said baby arrives though...bein's (HA I used your word Dean) that I wouldn't know which letters to buy! Then again...I am not sure if I will have the time to be crafty so soon after the baby is born....we shall see.

Also - man I feel like this is a long winded post - I have signed up for IComLeavWe (see pink button on top left of page). It stands for International Comment Leaving Week. Sign up here at Mel's blog. She has all the info and rules and what not. Basically it's a way to get traffic on your bloggy blogs. You comment on 5 blogs, plus return a comment from someone who posted to you. I haven't done it in a few months, but long ago, this is how some of my "regulars" found me!

And last but not least...my dear friend LaRay has finally succumbed to the Land Of Blogs. I guess she had heard enough from me, AJsDad, and AJsMom talking about bloggy stuff and bloggy friends that she has joined the ranks! Please go visit her and give her some new blogger support!