Well, the Mall Crawl's almost at a close - two more days until it's all done, then the REAL fun (yes, that's sarcasm) begins. It'll be as if I've crawled under a rock and no one will ever find me again. The truth will be that I'm copying and pasting my poor fingers to the bone. I hate the two weeks immediately following EVERY Mall Crawl, so it's not like this will be at all unusual.
We had a great Thanksgiving with our friends. It was nice to have a big Thanksgiving dinner, without suffering through two weeks of leftovers. We had a wonderful visit, with lots of time for games and chatting and just hanging out. They left the day after Thanksgiving, and are sorely missed!
Last night, I took Adam and Kayla out to see Zathura. They both pronounced it "a little bit scary", but both also enjoyed it. Adam complained later in the day of a sore tummy, probably brought on by too much popcorn and gumdrops, but I think he'll recover. After the movie, we went to good ol' Applebee's for dinner, then a quick Michael's stop, then back home.
Pregnancy has turned me into the world's biggest klutz. I have broken three dishes this pregnancy, spilled two plates of food, dropped innumerable utensils, articles of clothing, and tons of other items. I trip over things that are not moving, and am generally unsteady on my feet. Ahhhhhhhh third trimester bliss! I'm also having the other usual pregnancy symptoms - achiness, fatigue, sore joints, incontinence, indigestion, and constipation. This pregnancy stuff is very glamorous, I tell you what. But Lindsey is as healthy as a horse (and kicks just as hard), even if she chooses to rarely sleep. I'm happy to say that I'm really not at all worried about her. I was a little taken aback when I realized yesterday that she'll be here in less than three months, though. Considering this is almost certainly my last pregnancy, that realization was a little bittersweet.
I still haven't gotten the results from my glucose test I took 10 days ago. I take that to be a good sign. My doctor was on vacation all last week, but I assume that even so, if the results had been bad, someone at the clinic would have called me. Even so, I just left a message with the clinic, asking them to let me know what was up. I've never had a problem with that test before, so I don't really anticipate one now. Besides, why borrow trouble?
I'm planning to start our holiday shopping today, after I finish typing up the pattern for the Crawl. I'm going to be updating the kids' wish list, as well, as I go along. Mine stays pretty up-to-date, and Mike's was recently updated as well. You know, if that kind of thing interests you. ;)
Update: The nurse called back from the clinic - the tests were fine. The doc will probably call tomorrow just to answer any questions I might have.
This was the result of a challenge to scraplift this layout.
It's a girl! Well, it's 90% girl, 10% doctor-leaving-room-to-cover-his-ass. I still think I saw lips, and so did the doctor. In fact, at one point the doctor flat-out said, "That's a baby girl." So Lindsey Nicole it is! She's still estimated to be due February 15th, though she's measuring about a week and a half older. That's completely normal for my babies, who tend to be a pound or two larger than normal, anyway. My own vitals (weight, blood pressure, urine stick) are fine, and they did the glucose test today. He should have the results early next week.
This time, we had a couple of extra spectators for the ultrasound. Adam wasn't interested in watching, but both David and Mary were, so Terry stayed in the waiting room with Adam and the rest of us trooped back. Dr. Parsons was wonderful about the extra people, of course. I mean, after all, he IS the coolest doctor, EVER. Next appointment, four more weeks.
Other than that, my days have just been busy working and enjoying our houseguests. Today we all did the grocery shopping together, and wasn't THAT a production!? We managed ok, and no one had any real behavior problems, but we sure got some dirty looks from a few old biddies in there. Oh, well; it's their problem, not mine.
We've had some friends visiting with us for the last few days - Terry and her children, David and Mary. We've had lots of fun, playing lots of card games, and Boggle, and Candyland, and computer games. Adam, Kayla, and Thomas have really enjoyed having all of the extra adults and near-adults around to get attention from. I don't really remember the last time I saw Mike laugh so much (or cook so much!). I took the teenagers out last night to visit the mall and a couple of other places. The "mommy" in me sort of choked when I sent them off to the mall on their own, with plans to meet up later, but it's rather refreshing to be around kids and not having to constantly be asking them if they need to "go potty."
And Mary has gotten into scrapbooking! She finished putting together a whole pre-cut album kit, and is now working on pages of her own design in a new 12x12 book. It's really a lot of fun to see her sense of style and creativity come out on her layouts. I do have to keep reminding myself that she's 14, not 3, so I don't have to limit her to safety scissors and glue sticks, nor do I have to tell her every single little step of the directions, complete with multiple demonstrations and VeryCloseSupervision. :)
Tummybug is doing great - wiggling and squirming and generally making him/herself more and more apparent. I'm still holding pretty steady on weight gain (up a pound from last week), despite eating like the proverbial pig. I've begun having Braxton-Hicks contractions the last few days, as well. Nothing major, and it's not making me think the baby will come any earlier than expected: I've had "practice" contractions start earlier and earlier and earlier with each successive pregnancy. Just something to mention to the doctor. Our next OB appointment is Friday morning, and will include the glucose tolerance test and an ultrasound. I have high hopes for both.
That's really about all there is to report. I haven't scrapbooked much lately, but I hope to get back to it either today or tomorrow. Tonight, though, my big butt will be firmly implanted in front of the television to watch the CMA awards!
It is SO VERY TEMPTING to steal this wholesale, but I won't.
President Bush has authorized the Joint Chiefs to begin drawing up a battle plan to pull France's chestnuts out of the fire again. Facing an apparent overwhelming force of up to 400 angry teenagers, Mr. Bush apparently doubts France's ability to hold off them off. "If the last two world wars are any indication, I would expect France to surrender to the little pissants any day now," said Bush.
That's not the best part, so go read the whole thing.
I didn't bother to watch the video, but... it just seems to me that this particular story falls into the category of "news that isn't."
I just spent a couple of hours sorting, throwing out, and putting away toys in the living room, including moving some things that are Kayla's into her room. I was just about done, taking the last load of things into Kayla's room and sorting them into their appropriate spots, when I saw it. She has already drawn on her wall, in pen. A face, and two hands. About a foot high, about three feet wide, right above the heater. Not even the scrapbooker in me wants to grab for the camera, so please don't ask me for a picture. I am heartsick.
This appears to be the pregnancy where I can eat anything without gaining any weight. I started the pregnancy out at about 252 (I'm 6'1"). My goal weight when not pregnant is 220. Between the first trimester nausea, and the problems with my teeth making it hard to find things to eat, I dropped to about 240. I hovered around there for MONTHS. Then I had my wisdom teeth pulled, and at my next weekly weigh-in I was at 241. The week after that (last week), it was 246. I thought, "Finally! I'm gaining weight!" At six months, not gaining any weight was starting to concern me a little.
At this week's weigh-in, I was right back to 241. What the hell? I've eaten a lot more in the last two weeks than I have during the rest of this pregnancy; why is the needle not moving? Now, don't get me wrong, 241 is no lightweight, but I'm in the third trimester! I should be gaining weight at a rate of about a pound or two *per week*, and I'm still 11 pounds BELOW where I started!
I know I've been doing some extra physical work - housecleaning, carpet- and trim-installation, painting, etc. - but not so much that I shouldn't be gaining. I'm eating when I'm hungry, and stopping when I'm full. I'm eating regular-sized portions, so what gives?
My doctor is completely unconcerned. When I mentioned it to him a couple of weeks ago, he tactfully worded it thusly, "If you had started out your pregnancy at 120, I would be more concerned by weight loss." So, since I was fat to start with, it's not a worry. The baby is clearly healthy, and I am clearly healthy - just not gaining!
Mind you, I'm not complaining. Just... starting to be a little concerned. My weight has always fluctuated 5 pounds or more from day to day, but that damn needle just won't get off of 241, no matter HOW much baby is in there!
I am almost orgasmically pleased to report that, with the exception of the curtains, Care-a-Lot is FINISHED! Kayla has slept in their two nights in a row now, with no incident. She and the boys love playing in there, and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Here are some pictures of what it looked like with no furniture in it. I'll probably take and post more once the curtains are up. The carpet is a deep wine color, that Kayla picked out herself. She wanted pink, but they didn't have that, so instead she chose this. She calls it "red."
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| The closet, with the doors removed | Corner #1 | Corner #2 |
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| Corner #3 | The wall between corner #3 and the closet | Close-up of Grumpy Bear |
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| Close-up of Funshine Bear | Close-up of Wish Bear | Close-up of Tenderheart Bear, tucking in Bedtime Bear |
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| Close-up of Cheer Bear | Close-up of Friend Bear - he's (?) flying a kite | Close-up of Love-a-lot Bear |
This project, along with the current Mall Crawl and other stuff, has kept me busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. My teeth are feeling a lot better, and I'm able to eat almost anything I want (though I still avoid my beloved pretzels). Thomas has a runny nose and has been generally fussy and clingy. I hope it passes soon.
Tummybug is still happy and wiggly and healthy, so far as I know, and his/her gender is still a mystery. But we have another doctor's appointment, including glucose test and ultrasound, a week from Friday. Maybe this time we'll get lucky?
The next major project on the docket is to finish quilting my niece's enormous double wedding ring quilt. This is now possible, since the huge pieces of furniture and toy-ery has been moved out of my living room, and into Kayla's room, where they belong. At least I can now REACH the quilt frame!