I promise all my homemade gift instructions are coming up by the end of the weekend, but first I wanted to give a shout out to some of my dearest friends who are totally awesome.
Today I went to lunch with five of the most wonderful and inspiring women I know. I looked around the table and realized that these five women have all come to me at different times in my life, but at the right time, and all of them have stuck around. One of them since we were 12. One since college. A couple since my banking days. One more recently, via this blog. But every one of them means so much to me and has helped me through some rough times. And I can honestly say that each one of them has helped me down a spiritual path over the years that's brought me closer to God and given me a greater understanding of faith. Thank you ladies. You're awesome.
And for the record, the enormous pile of baby stuff I came home with was also seriously awesome. This is the only "shower" we've had, and it was literally the six of us sitting around a table at Biaggi's for lunch. Yet I came home with exactly the stuff we really kinda needed - crib sheets and blankets and diapers and clothes and bibs... These ladies knew what we needed and that's what they gave us. And three garbage bags of hand me down clothes, some of which I handed down from Lauren to Nicole before her now-two-year-old was born. It's awesome to see how we can keep the clothes train moving for each other! Some of these clothes (and some of the ones I got from Sharonda a few weeks ago) will be on their 4th owner. Call me crazy, but I think it's great to know we've helped each other out that much. And for the record, I can remember the days at the bank when Nic would bring me bags of clothes after her sister cleaned out her closet. I stayed in a nicer wardrobe for years thanks to her!
All of that to point out that I have awesome friends. And those are just the ones in close proximity. I'm still using gear and clothes (and a crib!) passed on from Lauren who is ten hours away. I'm totally beyond blessed to have such great women in my life! Now I have to go dig through the bags of clothes I pulled out of storage tonight to see what I can pass on to Melanie for her 1 year old...
Friday, December 9, 2011
Christmas Happy
I've been busy.
This is part of the stash of homemade Christmas Happy Gifts that I've made lately. We didn't really buy gifts for the adults in the family this year, but there were some people I wanted to do something nice for, so I came up with a few ideas.
I wanted to try out some different things to see what worked best and what I might want to repeat in future years. With that in mind, I took pictures of everything before I took a box to lunch with some of my dear friends today and will hopefully post instructions for how I made each item over the next few days. This way when I get ready to make stuff next year, I'll remember!
I'll start with the easiest one, the vanilla.
A couple of days ago I was ready to bottle up my vanilla. First I sterilized my bottles in the dishwasher on the sanitize setting. Then I strained the vanilla through a mesh strainer with a coffee filter, which sorta worked, and some cheese cloth, which sorta worked, and the very last bit I put through a paper towel, which also mostly worked. The idea is to get the biggest part of the bean scraps out, although there will be some specks left. All that was left was to pour up the liquid into the bottles (using a funnel, of course), add a bean or two to each bottle and seal up with the tops.
I'm giving away all the 4oz bottles, but kept the big 8oz bottle (and another partial 8oz bottle of what was left) for myself. I wanted to package them nicely, but had limited supplies. I bought the labels at Office Depot and was able to use them on all my projects with some sheets left over. I used ribbon I already had to pretty them up. And I had a set of measuring spoons in pretty colors that I'd picked up for $2 at Fred's, so I divided them up and tied one onto each bottle with the ribbon. I also printed out a little tag for each one. I saved all my tags on my computer, but in case I lose the file I'll post it here:
Homemade Vanilla Extract
Yes, there are beans in your vanilla! The beans keep the vanilla “brewing” to make it stronger as it sits in your cabinet. The dark specks in the vanilla come from the bean and are normal. Shake before use, unless you are using in a light colored dessert where the shaking will stir up the specks.
And that's all there was to it. I gave out four bottles at a lunch time baby shower some friends had for me today and I have more to give to some of the family for Christmas. I'm not torn on what to do with my leftover beans. I think I'll probably dry some and grind into powder, or make some vanilla sugar to use in the sugar scrubs I like. But sugar scrubs are a post for later...
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Doing the Math
So I had my doc appointment for MicroTot today. If you're friends with me on FB you already saw the result and my obvious fear.
I can't birth a 12lb baby.
Here's the math. Sonogram estimated MT at 6lbs 11oz at 34 weeks, 2 days. That's 97th percentile. He measured big on everything else as well, landing at 85th percentile or greater in ever category. The tech said if I had come in today with no prior prenatal care, they'd declare me 37 weeks along and set my due date at December 27.
She also said that at his current rate of growth we could expect half a pound or more each week, landing us at an additional 4-5 pounds if he goes full term.
On the low end, he's closer to 6lbs now and gains 4. I'm giving birth to a 10lb baby.
On the high end, he's over 7 already and gains another 5. I'm looking at 12+lbs. Either way, that spells C-section, which really wouldn't make me happy. I liked getting to hang with Kaycie for a while after she was born instead of spending an hour in post-op. I liked the relatively short (5-7 days) recovery, even with a pretty bad episiotomy. I liked not having to pay for a C-section. BUT, Kaycie was just shy of 8 1/2 pounds, and they had to vacuum her out. I'm not sure how much bigger I could go and still push one out.
All that said, we asked the doc how for she'd let me go. She kinda shrugged and said she really, really wanted to see me get to 39 weeks.
Seriously????
Yes. Apparently (and I learned this from BFF Sharonda when baby Mason was early) white male babies are slow to complete lung development. Her comfort zone with his lungs is 39 weeks. That puts me in a really bad place. How do I sit on the line between not wanting to have a 12lb baby and wanting to make sure he's totally fully cooked? Of course I'm going to fall on the side of fully cooked, but Mason had perfect lungs and he was like 5 weeks early. That would be like having MT in the next week. Surely by 37 weeks he'd be ok, right? I dunno. But I do trust my doc, and that's important. I'm going to do whatever she says, no matter how crappy I'm feeling already.
She did have the nerve to ask if I felt bigger or heavier. Um, yes. And incredibly uncomfortable. Thanks.
On the bright side, we get sonograms once a week from here on out so we should be able to keep an eye on his growth. Here's hoping this all turns out best for MicroTot and I survive until he arrives...
I can't birth a 12lb baby.
Here's the math. Sonogram estimated MT at 6lbs 11oz at 34 weeks, 2 days. That's 97th percentile. He measured big on everything else as well, landing at 85th percentile or greater in ever category. The tech said if I had come in today with no prior prenatal care, they'd declare me 37 weeks along and set my due date at December 27.
She also said that at his current rate of growth we could expect half a pound or more each week, landing us at an additional 4-5 pounds if he goes full term.
On the low end, he's closer to 6lbs now and gains 4. I'm giving birth to a 10lb baby.
On the high end, he's over 7 already and gains another 5. I'm looking at 12+lbs. Either way, that spells C-section, which really wouldn't make me happy. I liked getting to hang with Kaycie for a while after she was born instead of spending an hour in post-op. I liked the relatively short (5-7 days) recovery, even with a pretty bad episiotomy. I liked not having to pay for a C-section. BUT, Kaycie was just shy of 8 1/2 pounds, and they had to vacuum her out. I'm not sure how much bigger I could go and still push one out.
All that said, we asked the doc how for she'd let me go. She kinda shrugged and said she really, really wanted to see me get to 39 weeks.
Seriously????
Yes. Apparently (and I learned this from BFF Sharonda when baby Mason was early) white male babies are slow to complete lung development. Her comfort zone with his lungs is 39 weeks. That puts me in a really bad place. How do I sit on the line between not wanting to have a 12lb baby and wanting to make sure he's totally fully cooked? Of course I'm going to fall on the side of fully cooked, but Mason had perfect lungs and he was like 5 weeks early. That would be like having MT in the next week. Surely by 37 weeks he'd be ok, right? I dunno. But I do trust my doc, and that's important. I'm going to do whatever she says, no matter how crappy I'm feeling already.
She did have the nerve to ask if I felt bigger or heavier. Um, yes. And incredibly uncomfortable. Thanks.
On the bright side, we get sonograms once a week from here on out so we should be able to keep an eye on his growth. Here's hoping this all turns out best for MicroTot and I survive until he arrives...
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Progress
I pushed though last week and got some things done. Things like shoveling out most of the junk in the nursery. Not all of it, but most of it. I even got Kaycie's old clothes that were still in the closet packed up and taken to storage, so I was able to hang up and inventory what I have for the little guy and determine where we have gaps (i.e. we need pajama gowns/footies but have 5 coats and enough short sleeve onsies to wear three a day). I finally set up a baby registry at Babies R Us, online of course. Because I'm scared to even think about driving out to Dogwood in December, although I really really need to make a trip to Hobby Lobby/Michaels and BRU. I also set up a wish list on Amazon with some decor ideas that I may or may not actual use but wanted to keep in mind and possibly order if I can't find stuff I like locally. I decided to go easy with a jungle animal theme - monkeys and giraffes and elephants and lions. I should point out that neither of these lists are for soliciting gifts, as we aren't planning on showers and stuff this time, it's just so I remember what we need. And because BRU gives us a discount on unpurchased registry items after the little guy arrives. Useful. The truth is, we don't need a lot, but it'd be nice to have some things that aren't pink. Thankfully I picked out a whole lot of gender neutral stuff the first time around so I'm pretty well set on big stuff. Anything else I need can be picked up at Walmart on the way home from the hospital if it comes to that!
Still left to do - picking up the new chest of drawers on Wednesday so I can start putting things away. Ordering a couple of decor items tomorrow so I can get started and see where it goes. Still have to clean out a spot in our bedroom for the pack and play so he'll have a spot to sleep the first few weeks. And of course pulling the bassinet attachment for the pack and play out of storage, along with a pile of other baby gear currently living there, and putting it all together. Getting ready for Christmas. I'm pretty much done shopping but have to sort and wrap and finish up a little shopping that other people have asked me to take care of (and by "other people" I almost always mean my mom). Shipping a couple of gifts to Greg's sister and nephew. Then we decided this weekend that we'd have my family's official Christmas get together at my house this year for the first time ever, since I'm done with the traveling until after the new arrival and it'll just be easier to meet up here. Which means some cleaning and decorating needs to be in my future. Finally, a small group of awesome friends are throwing a little lunch for me on Friday and I had hoped to take a few little home made happies to share with them, but right now that may or may not happen. I just don't know how much I'll get done this week. I've got some of it started but only one thing actually finished. And I don't know if I can be trusted to make fudge and not eat it.
If you haven't noticed, I'm starting to get a little panicked about getting stuff together. For some reason I've got it in my head that he's coming a little early. Not a lot early, but I'm thinking right after Christmas, maybe the first week or so of January. Ironically, I said the same thing about Kaycie and we all know how that turned out. Greg says it's because a woman in Big Lots a couple of weeks ago took one look at me and informed me he'd be early because I'm huge and carrying so low. I think it's mostly wishful thinking because I've felt so bad during this entire pregnancy that I'm just ready to be done.
The good news is that I know I'll get done what needs to be done and he'll arrive when he's ready or when Dr. T makes him. Hoping we'll get a clue after our sonogram on Wednesday. In the meantime, I'm taking a lot of deep breaths...
Still left to do - picking up the new chest of drawers on Wednesday so I can start putting things away. Ordering a couple of decor items tomorrow so I can get started and see where it goes. Still have to clean out a spot in our bedroom for the pack and play so he'll have a spot to sleep the first few weeks. And of course pulling the bassinet attachment for the pack and play out of storage, along with a pile of other baby gear currently living there, and putting it all together. Getting ready for Christmas. I'm pretty much done shopping but have to sort and wrap and finish up a little shopping that other people have asked me to take care of (and by "other people" I almost always mean my mom). Shipping a couple of gifts to Greg's sister and nephew. Then we decided this weekend that we'd have my family's official Christmas get together at my house this year for the first time ever, since I'm done with the traveling until after the new arrival and it'll just be easier to meet up here. Which means some cleaning and decorating needs to be in my future. Finally, a small group of awesome friends are throwing a little lunch for me on Friday and I had hoped to take a few little home made happies to share with them, but right now that may or may not happen. I just don't know how much I'll get done this week. I've got some of it started but only one thing actually finished. And I don't know if I can be trusted to make fudge and not eat it.
If you haven't noticed, I'm starting to get a little panicked about getting stuff together. For some reason I've got it in my head that he's coming a little early. Not a lot early, but I'm thinking right after Christmas, maybe the first week or so of January. Ironically, I said the same thing about Kaycie and we all know how that turned out. Greg says it's because a woman in Big Lots a couple of weeks ago took one look at me and informed me he'd be early because I'm huge and carrying so low. I think it's mostly wishful thinking because I've felt so bad during this entire pregnancy that I'm just ready to be done.
The good news is that I know I'll get done what needs to be done and he'll arrive when he's ready or when Dr. T makes him. Hoping we'll get a clue after our sonogram on Wednesday. In the meantime, I'm taking a lot of deep breaths...
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Here I Go Again
What the heck. I've been tired and uncomfortable every day of this pregnancy, but starting this past weekend I've all of the sudden become incapacitated tired. There hasn't been a moment since Sunday that I didn't feel like I could lay down wherever I was and fall asleep. Yesterday I had a doc appointment and I fell asleep on the exam table waiting on the doc to show up. No, she wasn't really late. I was only waiting about 10 minutes. I fell asleep again after Greg got home last night. I couldn't hold up my head any longer.
Poor Kaycie is the one suffering from my sudden exhaustion. I had no problem with her going outside to play yesterday, but after about 8 minutes of trying to blow bubbles and play chase with her I was afraid I was going to fall down in the yard and pass out from exhaustion. How can I play with my kid when I can't stay awake? I fell asleep on the couch this morning while she was watching Mickey Mouse. When that went off I turned on another one and continued my nap. This went on from 6:30 until 8. Seriously. I'm going to turn my kid into a TV zombie just because I can't function. It's going to be a long six weeks from here out unless something changes.
On the bright side, my appointment yesterday went fine, except for the part where the scheduling/checkout lady was so irritating I nearly lost it. But other than that, we're all fine. Going back every week now, and I'll be getting sonograms starting next Wednesday. Granted, things will get more complex now because it's December and the clinic is swamped with people trying to work in annual exams before the end of the year and Kaycie will be out of school for two weeks which means we'll probably be hauling her to a couple of appointments this month. That's always a nightmare, it'll be worse when they're backed up. We usually go in the mornings and it's not so bad, but so far the next two appointments are in the afternoon. Thankfully I have awesome inlaws who have agreed to drive over an hour next week to pick Kaycie up at school at 2, since the only open time they had was at 1:40 and we'd have been picking her up in the middle of her nap! Heaven help us.
Poor Kaycie is the one suffering from my sudden exhaustion. I had no problem with her going outside to play yesterday, but after about 8 minutes of trying to blow bubbles and play chase with her I was afraid I was going to fall down in the yard and pass out from exhaustion. How can I play with my kid when I can't stay awake? I fell asleep on the couch this morning while she was watching Mickey Mouse. When that went off I turned on another one and continued my nap. This went on from 6:30 until 8. Seriously. I'm going to turn my kid into a TV zombie just because I can't function. It's going to be a long six weeks from here out unless something changes.
On the bright side, my appointment yesterday went fine, except for the part where the scheduling/checkout lady was so irritating I nearly lost it. But other than that, we're all fine. Going back every week now, and I'll be getting sonograms starting next Wednesday. Granted, things will get more complex now because it's December and the clinic is swamped with people trying to work in annual exams before the end of the year and Kaycie will be out of school for two weeks which means we'll probably be hauling her to a couple of appointments this month. That's always a nightmare, it'll be worse when they're backed up. We usually go in the mornings and it's not so bad, but so far the next two appointments are in the afternoon. Thankfully I have awesome inlaws who have agreed to drive over an hour next week to pick Kaycie up at school at 2, since the only open time they had was at 1:40 and we'd have been picking her up in the middle of her nap! Heaven help us.
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