My Glorious Diaper Bag

Behold my glorious new diaper bag. It's the Be All in Lotus Lullaby from Ju Ju Be. It comes with hoards of awesome features. I especially like the hardware and attached pocket made of glasses lens cleaning fabric for my shades and the light colored antimicrobial interior fabric so I can see what's inside. I love it, love it, LOVE it. I think it will definitely be large enough to hold new baby stuff as well as Reese's toddler sized diapers and snacks and drink. But it's not overwhelmingly huge---which is great since I'm short it doesn't go all the way to my knees. AND if I hang it on the stroller it doesn't scrap the dirty wheels. This is (one of) my special treats since baby $2 is another boy and we have everything already and my hubby is firmly reiterating his desire to be done having babies (almost daily I might add). This si supposed to make up for not having a girl. It doesn't of course except for a few fleeting seconds while I'm looking at it because did I mention I LOVE it.
See what other people are talking about at Talk About Tuesday.

Big Boy at the Table

The first meal at the table since removing the high chair style tray.

What's the hold up?

I want to touch the camera with my sticky hands!

hmm, Dad my meat is better without my fork.
Finger lickin' good.

Hard at Work

We specifically chose the Babylon Toddler High Chair from Argington because it's adjustable height would work for our high pub style kitchen table and the normal height dining room table. Originally I didn't buy the tray part because I intended Reese to sit at the table with us. But in the very beginning of sitting in the high chair days he wasn't very stable. Candy Gram was a bit traumatized when she came over and saw him tied to the chair with my bath robe belt, so she ordered the tray. We decided it was time for him to sit at the real table so off the tray must come which required some screw driver action. I was happy to do it myself but Reese would have none of it.

Notice the super concentration indicator, i.e. the tongue.
Adobe photoshop automatically fixes the red eye and sometimes it gets confused. It interpretted Reese's nostril as red eye and covered it with a big black fuzzy dot.
He was really getting into the screw drivering.
bummer, it's not working.Dad came in and informed us it's actually an allen wrench not a phillips head we need---I could have figured that out myself but I didn't really look at the screw to notice.

Menu Plan Monday

Wow we have a lot of leftovers because I was sort of lazy early in the week and pushed the biggie leftover meal to Sunday. So we have lots of roast/carrots/potatoes left. This was soooo yummy! I used my Pampered Chef stoneware bowl (no longer on PC's website). Onions, carrots and potatoes all cut into bite sized pieces went in first, followed by the roast seasoned with Mrs. Dash Table Blend and Nature's Own Seasoning. I covered with my PC Stoneware deep dish baker (mine is the old fashioned stone not the cool ceramic coated kind) and baked at 350 until the meat thermometer read 175 (because when it was 160 I got busy and didn't check again until it was at 175.) We also have leftover teriyaki chicken. SO...big surprise:

MONDAY: leftovers!!!
TUESDAY: veggie fried rice and any more leftover teriyaki chicken
WEDNESDAY: Chicken Tetrazini
THURSDAY: leftovers/playdate
FRIDAY: red beans and quinoa chili
SATURDAY: 15 bean soup (I follow the recipe on the bag of beans with some extra spices thrown in)
SUNDAY: sloppy joes

For more menu idea check out orgjunkie!

Reese's New Joy

Last September I wanted to get ball pit balls for Reese's swimming pool. But then I thought it would be lame. At Holly Ridge (his therapy place) Reese played in the ball pit/swimming pool and loved it so off I went to buy the balls--they were nowhere to be found. Then when I finally found them they were double the price I recollected them being last fall so I didn't buy them. This week they were on clearance at WalMart so I nabbed them.Reese absolutely LOVES playing in them. They would have been well worth full price. I wish I bought them last September. His baby pool is almost too small now. This summer we'll need a bigger pool for him so next fall I'll probably need a second set of pit balls.

Reese is spending the night with Mimi and Poppop so we could go on a "date." We went to the Galaxy Uptown in Gig Harbor -- the engineer of that parking lot had better not have received a bonus. The spaces are only big enough for those dinky smart cars (even a prius was parked over the line) so practically every normal vehicle (in WA everyone has a BIG truck or suv or van) takes 2 spots. Anyway--annoying even when it's not freezing, rain. We saw I Love You, Man and it was hilarious. 2 thumbs up from both of us. Basically it's a chic flick for guys. And really how can you go wrong with the always adorable Paul Rudd? Totally worth the ridiculous night prices for 2 tickets ($19.50) plus the giant soda and popcorn ($11).

Pregnancy Update 25 Weeks

Today I am 25 weeks pregnant--according to What to Expect When You're Expecting this is midway through the 6th month. So far I've gained between 8 and 9 pounds--it fluctuates depending on how much ice cream I had the night before I weigh. When you saw my "bump" aka massive boulder you thought I'd already gained 25 pounds, didn't you? Today I had a quickie OB visit with just the nurse to check my blood pressure and pee in a cup. My BP was 126/72 and no problems with my urine. YIPPEE! When the baby stopped moving long enough to listen his heart rate was 156--I don't know what's the acceptable range but the nurse was happy with that result. My next appointment is April 7, but they said to stop in earlier to be checked if I start experiencing any preeclamsia symptoms. Of course with Reese I had no symptoms except swollen hands from 15 weeks on that they didn't consider a symptom since my BP was always good, so it seems like the symptom that matters is BP and mine is currently staying within acceptable range. The heartburn has begun. I'm thinking of calling UW to ask for them to prescribe the same thing they gave me when I was an inpatient because it worked good even while I was mostly laying down 24/7. The pain lower than my lower back, but higher than my butt totally went away after the kidney stone, but now it's back only milder and only sporadically. I'd prefer it never but I'm happy with the change. We've discovered those Crystal Light On the Go things which makes it way easier to drink a lot more water. I like the Raspberry Lemonade best. The peach tea tastes like Snapple only cheaper--I like that too. I still need a nap everyday and have ligament pains. My back aches occasionally, but my blood hound smell sensors have completely gone away---I'm okay with the trade off. So overall I'd say so far so good.

major error

UGH! I tried to change to a SUPER cute blog background from a different free background place and it totally messed everything up!!! It deleted all my monthly photos of Reese and all kind of weird stuff. So I'm back to the cutest blog on the block but I'm sick of trying to fix stuff......so I have to be done without even adding a new post really. So be warned to be careful when changing your blog design to figure out how to save the old one just in case.

Menu Plan Monday

Yippee Daddy is home so now we can go back to eating regular meals.

MONDAY: jambalaya with Zatarain's rice, jennie-o turkey keilbasa and shrimp
TUESDAY: spaghetti and meatballs
WEDNESDAY: roast with carrots, potatoes, onions in my Pampered Chef stone bowl/baker
THURSDAY: teriyaki chicken, brown rice, veggie
FRIDAY: leftovers
SATURDAY: date night--dinner and movie out
SUNDAY: fried rice heavy on the veggies

Daddy's Home

Reese is SOOOOO happy daddy is home to stay. The Everett job is finally over and we can get back to normal living. Reese and I have been mostly on the go in an effort to distract him from his Daddy's absence and thwart his retched behavior. One of Reese's new favorite past times is to slam dunk. Mommy made him try to throw but Daddy introduced him the the concept of being lifted up to make the shot. Kyle tires of it more readily than Reese does, so the modified play is for Reese to stand on the ottoman for slam dunks while Kyle lays on the couch and retrieves the balls after the shot.
Also back to normal is having a new meal every night. Really Reese and I can make one thing last all week and then I throw some out since we weren't eating at home every night. This weekend we had Beer Fajitas in the crockpot---some of the reviews say they found it flavorless, I think those people use crap beer or water and skimp on the fajita seasoning because we really like this recipe and find them quite flavorful. Here's Reese trying to squeeze out another drop of Red Stripe. (It was empty before I gave it to him.)

Mommy's Helper

Reese REALLY likes his brooms and vacuums. Here he is using the dust bin collector thing as if it was a vacuum vrooming it all over the carpet and toting the broom behind him. Must get every morsel he can find. He is not convinced that this works better on a non-carpeted surface like the kitchen floor.

Sometimes he just likes to tote them back and forth without attempting to clean anything.

And here is my blown vein from one of the IV attempts LAST SUNDAY--my arm still looks horrible!!!

Parents Magazine

I'm renewing and if I do it RIGHT NOW I can get a free gift subscription. Does anyone want it?

Anniversary

At this moment 3 years ago Kyle and I were showering and packing to leave at 3am for the airport for a 6 am flight. We had to leave so early since we drove ourselves and parked in an airport lot and shuttled in so we could keep our secret. We were headed to Vegas for a St. Patrick's Day wedding. We checked into the Mirage, changed into our wedding outfits and headed to a non-Elvis chapel--we let the cab driver pick. We waited in line for our license---honestly it's pretty involved I suspect it's not all that easy to get drunk and accidentally married in Vegas. Anyway by 4pm we were married at the Heavenly Bliss Wedding Chapel. About 5 months later we got pregnant and 6 months later Reese was born. Except for the first 11 months I've pretty much blogged our lives first on Reese's carepage at the hospital and then here, so you already know the rest of the story so far.

Weekend in Everett

It was my intention to post photos of us at the Mukilteo Lighthouse on Sunday. Once we opened the door to discover softball sized snowflakes I probably would've posted a photo of that too. As it turns out we neither saw the lighthouse, played in the snow, or got any photos on Sunday--Kyle's one day off. Instead I woke up with a horrible pain in my right mid-lower back. I tossed and turned and bemoaned the fact that while Reese was still sleeping I was wasting those precious sleep minutes with this stupid pain. I thought it was a muscle ache from a crappy hotel mattress. It's hard enough to be comfortable on our tempurpedic mattress at home with my tubby tummy, but on a yucky mattress it's impossible. It got progressively worse, I threw up a few times, I got in the shower to see if the hot water would help--it didn't--It started to spread around the front and got quite a bit of tightening.
I decided we had to go to the hospital. So everyone got up and ready with me maoning and groaning and demanding they move faster. Only to open the door to see the softball sized snowflakes. We battled the icy road and about 12 exits of road construction to get to UWMC. I went to the ER first figuring you can't just pop in to the ward you want and say Hi I want help. But she took one look at me and said "are you pregnant? they'll want you upstairs." So she wheeled me to the magic ER elevators that travel at warp speed without producing a tummy drop sensation to labor and delivery.
My c-section nurse was working and recognized me (and here I thought I was bloated beyond recognition back then--does that mean I look that bad now?) After what felt like 12 hundred years I answered all the question, managed to pee just barely enough for the lab to test and finally on the 3rd try got a successful IV in so I could have some fluid and some glorious drugs. IV narcotics are the most fabulous invention of modern times. I am so happy not to be a pioneer woman giving birth in a buggy on the Oregon Trail. Anyway--it was decided I have a kidney stone, which I've had twice before and both times it felt identical, this time it felt totally different so it never occurred to me it could be a kidney stone. While it was horrifically painful I was happy to discovery it was not a pregnancy related issue. I guess you just assume every pain is related to being pregnant when you are pregnant.
I had not planned to go to Everett since Kyle was supposed to work Sat and Sun but Friday AM Reese was so retched I decided I couldn't take it anymore and any bit of help would be welcome so we headed over to Everett Friday night. Wouldn't you know the turd was a PERFECT angel the entire weekend. I was so annoyed that now Kyle was available to help there was not a single meltdown, tantrum or bad behavior episode. Even the 45 minute ride to the hospital with me dying and moaning without having any breakfast or even a drink he was perfectly behaved. He spent 6 hours being good in the hospital except when Kyle tried to force him to lay down for a nap (he never did). So Now that we're home alone again we'll see if it continues. I was so glad I ended up deciding to go to Everett so we could go to UW. If I was at home I'd have been so more more stressed since I'd have been home alone with Reese and would have to go to the ER at my local hospital which is not equipped to deal with a 23 week pregnancy. I would have have been soooooooo much more stressed about that and them having to ship me elsewhere if it was a pregnancy problem. So as horrible as it was it actaully worked out quite well.

Here is a photo of his most recent antics: "I don't see what's the problem?"

He likes to move the kitchen stools all over so I didn't really think much of the ruckus, but when I came into the kitchen this is what I found. He positioned the stool how he wante dand climbed up (i think for the first time) to root around for what he wanted.

Two Wednesdays ago we went to stroytime at the library with John Paul. To celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday they made Cat in the Hat hats. Reese no longer enjoys hat wearing so I was only able to capture this fleeting in motion photo.

Oh yeah since the hospital episode overshadowed the whole weekend I forgot to mentioned my husband declared that my tubby tummy had grown in the week since we saw him last. He said "wow, you're massive." Good thing I don't have some kind of complex, huh?

This week's round of doctors

I am frustrated with the scanner so no photo, though really this ultrasound looks essentially the same. This week I went to the OB Tuesday and was advised that everything looked appropriate on the previous week's ultrasound, i.e. size and shape of all the expected organs and nothing unexpected like a second head sprouting due to the litter box duty I've had since Kyle's been working in Everett. I probably shouldn't announce Kyle's away, so for any psycho blog lurkers don't bother trying to ax murder us: I have a security system, the police station is about 1/3 mile away and even when I'm not a hormonal pregnant woman I really have no qualms about shooting you if you come in uninvited.
Back to baby stuff: Thursday I had my appointment with the UW Hypertension Clinic following another ultrasound. At this point it's still too early to get a weight estimate (which apparently is not all that accurate anyway), but they do measure length of everything. Today I was 22 weeks and 6 days, but the baby's average measurements are 23 weeks and 2 days. Yippee---maybe we will get a bigger than 2 pound baby this time. My cardiac output and blood pressure are staying between mid and high normal, so I don't have to start taking any BP meds yet. Very exciting. I go back for a BP check in 2 weeks, cardiac output and BP and glucose testing in 4 weeks, which will put us at the point I was admited to UW with Reese's pregnancy.

More "BBB2" aka Benza Baby Boy 2

So just in case you were confused yesterday that was butt cheeks, 2 legs spread-eagle AND drum roll, please................boy parts in the middle.
Probably mostly everyone knows but I decided I am ready to post about it for everyone who may be still wondering. Even though I still very much want girl I'm done being terribly disgruntled about another boy. So here is another shot of the new boy.
I had my ultrasound Tuesday and get the "results" from my OB next Tuesday. They are looking for all the normal things: appropriate growth of fetus and placenta, appropriate blood flow to the fetus from the placenta, all the appropriate parts and bones and formations etc, etc. With Reese we had our ultrasound I think at about 18 weeks and that was it until I was already hospitalized and by then they were looking for inappropriate lack of growth. I was 21 1/2 weeks for this one and I have another at UW on Thursday, one day less than 23 weeks. So hopefully they will be able to spot any deterioration of the blood vessels in the placenta before this little guy is adversely affected. It's quite bizarre that at this point in Reese's pregnancy I was 7 weeks away from delivery.
I really want to stock my freezer with meals for after delivery but I don't want to put them in too early, but I don't want to miss my window of opportunity either.
Got any good freezer meal suggestions? I want to do nothing more than thaw and bake and maybe throw on a handful of cheese when it's time to eat these meals, so any good tips will be appreciated.

Wordless Wednesday

For more "Wordless Wednesday" fun check out 5 minutes for mom.