kitchen graduate

Last night Tyler competed his final cooking class for this winter. He is already talking about singing up next time it comes around! Last night they made "Creep Crawly Bugs" which we basically just hot dogs rolled in crescents decorated with potato stix and ketchup or mustard. He had NO interested in eating them, and I couldn't just let them go to waste, so yes Mommy at them all! He got to take home a cookbook with all the recipes, pictures he drew and even pics of classmate and with Mommy.

Even though the things they were making were more fun and silly I do feel like it has made his love to be in the grow. I made some egg salad the other night, and he has NEVER had any desire to even try an egg, but he thought my egg slicer was the coolest thing since sliced bread. He was right there and wanted to put in the mayo, sour cream and stir it all up. Watched me peels the eggs and just curious as George the monkey. I hope he continues to want to learn in the kitchen as he would make some lucky lady VERY happy (she has to get through me first of course!)

Well I am now twenty-seven weeks (woo-hoo!) why that seems so much closer to me I don't know, but 90 days sounds even closer to meeting our sweet ballerina girl!

Over the weekend I dealt with quite a deal of pelvic and pubic bone pain, and let me just say you have NO idea exactly how painful it is unless you've dealt with it before. On Sunday I had it, and was so miserable I literally felt ill. I decide to give the join belt another try, and even thought I have not been up to doing my exercises I have had a TREMENDOUS amount of relief. I guess if this is what I have to do to get through the next three months, it's worth it to remain out of pain and wear something that is only slightly uncomfortable.

As racing has now resumed on our TV and he continues to work on the car, I can tell that Allen is really getting pumped for the upcoming season. People always ask me how I deal with it or how I CAN deal with it and it's like this: He has so much love and passion he puts into this sport, anyone who knows him knows he wants to go fast and when you see his face light up like a kid on Christmas - how can you ever take that away?

My world once again is about to turn upside down, this I am realizing. We have a lot to do, in order to prepare for it all, and hopefully with a helping hand from God we will make it!

i can't complain

This past Friday I had a check-up for Baby D. Mom is measuring right on target still and Dr Conner is very happy with my weight gain (as am I!) and sorry but no, I am not going to disclose that piece of information :) Heartbeat continues to stay around low 140's and she loves to show off just how strong she is by kicking the Doppler no matter where it goes. I am feeling MORE and MORE movement from her every week it seems. As a former dancer as a child for 7 years I have decided to dub her my "Ballerina Girl" as the movement is constant, strong and if you could see inside I bet you would see her practicing pirouettes and leaps abound in there! I am always thinking of how neat it would be to have a camera that could view inside and capture those precious first movements.......

I am still having quite a but of pelvic/pubic bone pain. Physical Therapy has helped some, but if you've ever been you know how costly and time consuming it is, so I am putting that on hold for now. They have had me purchase an SI Joint Lock Belt to help hold those joints together and allow for some support as my body does not seem able to support itself. However I can not complain as I have been blessed with this opportunity to have another child (and a girl at that!) and I know the end result will be SOOOOOO worth it!

Tyler has been getting over quite the virus that seems to be going around. Three days of a fever that I did EVERYTHING I know to do and could not break it! So lovely couple days off work and 5 day at home snuggling with my Monkey, he is more attached to me now than ever. Oh well! He is UBER excited about his baby sister and constantly hugging my belly, so maybe when she graces us with her presence he continue to hug "her" and not by belly - lol!

Meanwhile, Allen is getting to work on his car for racing season - he's got a pretty good head start and looking forward to see the new paint job he has in mind this year! Tyler has been so excited and just literally longing to pop rivet that body on for Daddy! In addition to prep for racing season he will be a big help in prepping for Baby D as he FINALLY finishes off the basement - woot woot! I am so thankful for him and all he has done to at least try and understand what I'm going thru (and supportive even if he doesn't!) and have full confidence that he will work splickity fast to get basement done in time. Three things I look forward to: Double sinks in the bathroom, bigger room, and doing laundry on one level!

don't knock it til you try it

Is what I should have told myself when my doc told me all she could do for my pelvic pain was refer me to physical therapy. Having been through PT several times for knee issues and wrist pain, I was skeptical thinking there's got to be something else. But after a phone call and visit to the office it was my only option. With the pain not improving, what the heck? It was worth a shot!

My first impression was not great as I waited almost 20 minutes just to be evaluated. However upon meeting my physical therapist and during evaluation my mind changed almost immediately. She was VERY kind and asked a lot of detailed questions really trying to figure out what the problem might be. Come to find out my pubic bone, tail bone AND my hip bone were ALL off! No wonder I was in pain and my belly was lopsided. Being more than halfway with my pregnancy, I obviously could not just be flipped and wrenched on until things were back in place. She did several different safe and gentle moves to help realign things and although not perfectly back where things belong it was much better. We also went over some exercises I could do at home to help strengthen and continue to correct things on my own.

I did NOT feel any relief right away (or within the next few hours) but after doing my at home exercises and a warm bath to help the muscles relax I noted my 'bump' had dropped! As I moved around more I noticed I was able to walk more normally then I had in the last 6 weeks. I was sore from the exercises but other than that I felt a bit better.

Now our baby girl (and my belly, consequently) will only continue to grow, so I don't expect 100% improvement. I do however hope that as I continue therapy and at home exercises for the next few weeks to make it tolerable.

chef tyler

Tyler has had a love for being in the kitchen for some time now. Whether I'm making dinner or baking up some banana bread he's almost always sure to be there practically begging to help. I've been waiting for an opportunity somewhere to get him in a kid oriented cooking class and finally found one through our local city parks and recreation. The class is called Tiny Chefs and geared for smaller children up to six, and includes parent involvement. In addition for Tyler's love of the kitchen I thought it might be a great opportunity to spend some quality Mommy/Tyler time before baby sister comes along.

At the beginning of class they went around and were asked why they signed up for cooking class and of course I'm partial but Tyler had the BEST answer: 'I joined cooking class because I love helping my mommy make dinner!' Isn't he sweet? So tonite they made 'ladybugs'. Crackers with cream cheese (that they got to spread on themselves) cherry tomatoes cut in half for the wings, black olives cut in quarters for the head, chives for the antenna, and black colored cream cheese for the dots on ladybug's back. So cute and even though he had NO desire to try them he enjoyed making them!

As for Baby D, we had a good check up this week. Mommy is measuring right I target. Baby girl's heart rate is around 150 and enjoys kicking the Doppler when placed on Mommy's belly! She also has made herself cozy in my hips causing some very unnecessary pain. I'm told its not going to get better so I was prescribed some pain medication (don't worry - safe for mom and baby) and a referral to physical therapy to help deal with it for the next 18 weeks. As for now Tylenol and warm baths will have to do (darn!). Everyone keeps saying time will fly but I am counting the weeks until we get to meet our precious baby girl!

19 weeks and counting......

This week I am officially 21 weeks along, so let the countdown begin! Ha ha it's going to be a long countdown, even though everyone tells me the second half will just fly by...... we shall see won't we?

Except for some pelvic pain (apparently my babies like to rest in my hips) I am feeling pretty good. Definitely looking preggo these days and not mention feeling it as well. Baby D is VERY active, usually when it's about mealtime or at night while Mommy is trying to rest (didn't waste any time training me on that did she?) I can see my belly "pop" with her little kicks and turns and Allen even felt her for the first time as well (or at least he says he did). I for one think it's AMAZING and quite frankly the best feeling in the world!

Even though Tyler would not drop getting a baby brother, he is SUPER excited and anxious to meet his baby sister! He says the cutest things like: "We have to be careful with your tummy because the baby is in there, and we don't want to hurt my baby sister" and "the baby can't understand what we are saying but she can hear our voices". I'd like to think he truly understands more than you think he would, and maybe he does.

After what seemed like the longest Christmas break EVER, Tyler is back to school and the rest of us back to routine. Tyler is truly a child of habit and requires that structure, so we are all MUCH happier people when he is occupied.

Another check up for this Mama on Monday, I just can't wait to hear Peanut's heartbeat again (best sound in the world!) until then.....

Hope you all had wonderful holidays!