No rest for the weary...

So last night I fixed dinner, ate and went to a friends party. After dinner I felt really gassy, but went to the party anyway (and kept the gas to myself!). Well, I still wasn't feeling better by the time I got home. I soaked in the tub and felt somewhat better.... I told the H that I was going to sleep on the couch from the start (instead of moving there during the night), because I didn't feel good and was super tired. Well, that lasted about an hour or so am I had to run to the bathroom to puke. I puked a total of 4 times in 8 hours and wasn't even keeping water down. I was puking so hard I peed myself. :o( Baby was moving and kicking the entire time, like he/she thought I was playing a fun game. (Did I mention I am puke-phobic?)

Well, I got up this morning and am not feeling better.... I have kept a slice of toast and an apple down as well as 1.5 glasses of water and almost a full cup of coffee (I needed it!). I am tired and worn out after being up all night while everyone else was sleeping. The husband thought about calling in... however he took off a year ago last week because of my miscarriage and needs to save his FMLA for when the baby comes... so.... I just have to pray the girls are good today. Oh, and there won't be a walk for me today. When I weighed this morning - I weigh less than I did at my OB appt 3 weeks ago.

50 days and counting....

So today marks 50 days until my due date. It has me wondering WHEN I will deliver this baby. I have an ultrasound at 36 weeks, 5 days (4/22) to gauge size and go from there. The last few days I have felt more braxton hicks and last night was crampy for about 2 hours. I felt better after taking a bath ~ which I may mention was while I was home alone with the girls. SO, not a relaxing soak ONE bit! My husband put in his request that I wait until the day after my due date to be induced (so he is off work for a concert that will be in town). Being as my last child was shy of 38 weeks, and weighed in over 8 pounds, I am just not sure the doctor will agree to this. Really, do I want to deliver a 10 pound baby?! I just do not want a ceasarian and to return home to a 2 year old and a 4 year old. Of course, I will have stitches in another place, so which is worse?! I am not done with my To-do's before the baby comes, I am just wondering....

Exercise in pregnancy

So, with each of my pregnancies, I have exercised before I got pregnant and then stopped while I was pregnant. A big part of it has been the fatigue you feel during those first 3 months. With Taylor, I did walk about 3 miles a day until I was in the 3rd trimester, but that was when we moved from KS to ND and it just was not warm enough to walk outside anymore. This time, I didn't do anything until about 20 weeks and was good about walking on the treadmill for a week or two. Now, I have walked at least a mile, if not 3 everyday this week. I am planning to continue for the duration of my pregnancy.... until the naps outweigh the workouts. :o)

More snow ~ Seriously?

Okay, so I woke up this morning in a foul mood. Maybe because baby red woke me before I was ready. Maybe because I woke at 4 am and had a hard time getting back to sleep until well after 5:30.

Maybe because I had two very crazy dreams. One I was taking a road trip with the H's family - his sister, BIL, niece, nephew, MIL and their Grandma. It was snowy and we had to drive 35 miles per hour.... Wade and Grandma switched driving on the road - Grandma scooted over and Wade took over. Somehow he was able to move in from the window side of the drivers seat. Okay, I just realized that I had one kid with me, but we had the niece & nephew because it was odd to me that we had 3 kids and 2 child restraints - oddly enough none of the kids were in them.

The other dream, someone was picking on me, like a junior high/high school kid. It was embarrassing and appalled me that it was in real adult (person had her child with her).

So, I think what sealed the deal on my foul mood was looking out the window to see snow. Really?! It was in the 50's yesterday. We walked 2-3 miles and played outside with the girls! Now, today we have snow?? I want to cry!

I haven't even been awake for an hour and I am already having a bad Mom day too. I asked both my girls not to sit on me. A Mom is supposed to want to cuddle her kids, right? Well, I will say that both of them lay on my belly or kick it, or in another way hurt me. So - I can't be blamed too much, can I???

Hopefully today will get better.

Enchalada Casserole

So, tonight for dinner I made Enchalada Casserole.

As I expected, my kids refused to eat it (as they do with anything spicy).

Enchalada Casserole

1 pound ground beef, cooked.

1 small can tomoto sauce

1 packet enchalada mix

1 can enchalada sauce

1 can of corn (or 1 cup frozen)

Flour tortillas

shredded cheese

Mix ground beef, tomato sauce, enchalada packet, corn and 1/2 the can of enchalada sauce.

Line pan with tortillas, add mix, cover with tortillas. Add remaining enchalada sauce to the top and cover with shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

*MY variation* I prefer to make it in a small pan and layer the tortillas and mix like lasagna. Put tortilla, mix, cheese, tortilla, mix, cheese, tortilla, sauce, cheese.

Of course, I guess this is for an over 4 year old crowd since my girls refused to eat it (okay, Taylor did pick the corn out of it).

Is it spring?

Well, it appears to be the start of spring here in North Dakota. Don't mind the SNOW in the picture, what is more important is the standing water that my girls are splashing in!

It was sunny today, but the wind was cold, so we walked 2 blocks and back. When we returned the girls had to go into the tub to warm up and clean off. So, winter coats and rain boots, good combo - right? I am just excited to see the sun again and to see the snow melting, slowly. Taylor says when the snow melts, baby comes out. :o) 8 more weeks or less.

~New Home Decor~

Monday was a big day for us.

Yes, we did cooking night here, but we also got the baby's dresser!!! I have yet to put the clock or lamp on top of it, but here is baby's dresser. Complete with newborn and 0-3 month onsies, pants and pajamas in there! I need to dig out the socks/booties too... So, here is the baby's room.... not most people's style it has ABC's randomly placed in 3 shades of green.
Also on Monday, we got our new kitchen appliances installed.

We got the stove last summer, but the fridge, range hood and dishwasher are all new.

I really love having a fridge with a light!!!

Of course not having to pre-wash all the dishes is a plus too...

I will have a hard time not rinsing them at least!

Stocking the freezer!!!

So, last night we did a Moms Club cooking night. We started at 6 pm, instead of our typical 7 so us PG ladies could get to bed (there was another one!). I was amazed that we made 3 meals, 1 main dish and 1 side dish and the girls were only at my house for 2 hours total - including doing the dishes!!!
If you want the recipes for what we made, I will direct you to Kristin's cooking blog, since she already posted them. http://crazymamainthekitchen.blogspot.com/

So, I started cooking meals for my freezer a week ago, and here is my list so far:

Yum Yum Pork Chops
Broccoli/Rice Casserole
Pasta Fagoli Soup
Zuppa Tuscana Soup
Zuppa Tuscana Soup
Lazy Cabbage Hotdish
Chicken/Rice/Broccoli & Mushroom Casserole
Pizza Calzones
Veggie Cheese Soup
Kneophla Soup
Kneophla Soup
White Chicken Lasagna
Mini Cheddar Meatloaves
Mini Cheddar Meatloaves
White Chicken Chili
Chicken Taco Bake
Baked Corn Casserole

I know that some items are repeated. They are soups and the meatloaves that will make more than 1 meal for our family. Honestly, others may too, but these ones are the ones that will be or are already packages into seperate containers.

I am pretty happy that I have 8+ weeks to go to my due date and I already have 16 meals in the freezer. I plan to use these meals 2-3 days a week on my husbands 4 day work week so I do not have to battle 3 kids to prepare a meal. I can especially see where these will come in handy when he is working nights and I hate to cook anyway (to have a meal done by 3 pm). One thing that sticks out to me, that I always forget is that I need to make several batches of freezer garlic bread. The husband loves garlic bread with a lot of italian meals, but I usually foget to buy it!

9 weeks left!

Okay, there is 9 weeks until my due date.

If I make it that far, I will be certainly surprised.

Here is what I look like in all my pride and joy this morning.

I am 31 weeks pregnant with baby #3!!

Excuse my shirt... most look like this anymore, I just do my best to cover it in public.

Going out of business sale!

For the past 2 years I have been a Zag Bag Independant Design Consultant. With 2 kids, I bearly have time for parties, so I know with 3, I won't do anymore! So, I am selling out. Here are the stock bags that I would like to sell off. Please email me at arnegard@bis.midco.net if you are interested in any. I will sell them at my cost!!

























Some of these pics don't do the bags justice, so if you are interested in more pics, please let me know. Just tell me which bag it is you are interested in. Thanks!

Life of a SAHM....

Do you ever wonder when the work will end? I joke and say that in my next life I want to be a man so I don't have to do as much. I know, I know it is my choice to stay home with my kids. I mostly enjoy it - between arguements over toys, tantrums, sassiness and the attitude. Without amazing friends who help me and my kids get out of the house, this would never work.

I did not know when I signed up for this job 3 years ago that part of my job description also involved handling all night time wakings. I understand if it is a nursing infant, I don't have an issue with that. However, the pee trips by our 4 year old are my job and last night the little one woke too, which is odd for her. I know that I am not the one to wake at 4 am to go to work, so I guess I should be thankful for that.

I think I am just so tired lately.... I am also dreading planning/making meals. I just want it to happen magically. :o) Do not get me started on laundry or picking up all the other stuff in the house....

And the meals start!!

Monday I met up with another expectant Mama and made a few meals. We made:
Zuppa Toscana Soup
Pasta E Fagoli Soup
Lazy Cabbage Hotdish
Chicken and Rice Casserole (with mushrooms and broccoli)
Cheesy Broccoli and Rice bake
Yum Yum Pork Chops

Today I am making pizza for dinner. I went ahead and made up 8 mini pizza calzones and will bake and freeze them as well. I think that pre-baking makes the dough less soggy and allows that they can be grabbed and microwaved too. So, that is 6 meals and counting with 4 being made next week. I am also making kneophlia soup this weekend to freeze a batch for those post partum days.

Pregnancy brain and other fun!

Okay, so I have a lot of PG brain moments lately. Last night, I had my cup of water and put propel packets into it.... I could not remember if I took it to the counter and already did it. It wasn't until I put the empty packets in the trash that I saw I did. Wow! That was strong propel. Okay, so I also lost that bottle I put the propel into that I took to gymnastics....

I cannot even sit for an hour long gymnastics class without having to pee. It is going to be a long 2 more months. If I feel I need to pee sitting, I will pee myself when I stand up. I grabbed Taylor and carried her to the restroom - which is torture for a PG lady. Up AND Down TWO flights of stairs to get to the viewing area from the lobby.

A few other recent, notable PG brain moments are 1) taking the wrong exit to go from my house to Target when I knew I was leaving to go to ONE STORE and one store only. And 2) I grabbed a fork and put it in my cereal to eat my before bed snack.

Of course, don't get me started on the joys of coughing or sneezing (or should I say Snissing!) while PG!!! I need depends for those lovely moments. I am also leaking from upstairs and my weight fluctuates 5-8 pounds during the course of a day!!!! No wonder I am up every hour or two every single night to pee.

4 year olds and strollers do not mix!

So, today was our Moms Club Fit Moms outing. We attempt to walk the mall and talk to each other. Well, I have a 4 year old who is not in preschool (she is school age 3 though). I have no complaints about the behavior of my 2 year old. She is happy to sit in the stroller and behave. Her sister on the other hand is a handful. I know what other Moms are talking about when they tell me that they cannot do Fit Moms because their older children will not sit in a stroller. I do not know if it was her being especially naughty or me being especially grouchy, but we did not work well today. She was picking on her sister, causing Taylor to be grouchy. She would get in the stroller (Sit & Stand), but then drag her feet so I was kicking them or trying not to step on them, or put her feet on the tires... getting out and running and not listen. Oh, how I need a calgone moment right now. I told her when we got home that she cannot act that way that it is embarrassing. So, right now, I pretty much feel like a terrible Mom with an out of control child.

She asked me several times if they could have candy (there are quarter candy machines in the mall), ride the rides (again, another quarter milking trap), or get a pretzel and I said no to all because she was not listening and was not being good. She told her Daddy on the phone that I made her sit in the front which was embarrassing. All I want to know is, seriously how will I handle another one when I can barely handle her on most days? I am not afraid of my two year old and the baby. I am afraid of my 4 year old running away (because she listens so well), picking up the baby and hurting it, climbing onto something injuring herself, her sister or the baby. Terrible 2's my caboose. Fabulous fours is more like it!

Holy weight gain!

So here is my 30 week belly pic for y'all.

Excuse the boxer shorts, I had just woke up and didn't want to forget.

So, yesterday I had my 30 week doc appt. The doc said that I am holding onto water like it is going out of style. This is something I have noticed the last week ~AND~ I noticed that my weight had jumped 8 pounds in about a week. (uhhh!!) So, in a month's time, I gained 13 pounds!!! That brings my total for this pregnancy to a whopping 43 pounds already! With 10 weeks left to go, I know that I will surpass the 48 pounds I gained with Alex. At least it is coming on as water weight now, so it will come off easily after birth. :o) (I hope!)

So, I am also measuring 5 weeks big (this is typical for me). I go back in 4 weeks, then 2 (At 36 weeks) and we will have another ultrasound to gauge baby's size. Then we will plan a course of action....

On the bright side, here is a picture of my girls.

They posed before we went to church Sunday. So pretty and cute!

29 weeks and baby shirts!

Okay, so we were out of town for the 29 week belly picture... so here is today.

I am what 29 weeks, 3 days.

What a round ol' belly!

This is an interesting art project that I did with my 4 year old.

I have decided that you cannot plan or predict what these things will look like with a 4 year old.

Since we do not know the baby's gender, we took 2 onsies (that we already had) and I wrote the "Baby Bro" and "Baby Sis" on them in fabric paint. Then I let Alex have at it.

She is terrible at writing with those pens and does paint globs.... so it turned into a finger paint to avoid having huge globs. Of course the newspaper that I put between the layers of shirt stuck to the inside of the shirts.... also the painted part of the shirts are so hard now! I will wash them with the next load (and maybe everyone there after until the baby arrives!).

So, not pretty, but made by baby's big sister....

Busy weekend!

So, our weekend started on Friday when we decided that we were taking a trip to visit FIL for the weekend. Friday night I came upstairs to get the girls PJ's and switch laundry. The girls were at the top of the stairs when I got done. Taylor was being stubborn and didn't want to walk down the stairs in front of me, or with my help. So.... in an attempt to gracefully get out of her way, I fell about 4-5 steps. I did not hit my belly, but it scared me and her, I think.

Saturday we took a 3 hour drive, stopping after just over an hour for breakfast. It was a long drive with two little ones, in the frosty fog. Luckily we have a DVD player and the roads were good. We visited with Father-in-law in his smoky apartment when we got there. He had just been released from hospital #3. He had been out of his place for the past 6 weeks, so he was ready to be home.

The first time he lit up, Alex said, "Dad that stinks."
Wade - "Yeah, that does."
The only person our girls know that smokes is My Husband's Step-Dad and he does not smoke in the house and not around the kids at all.

So, we stayed at a hotel so we could take the girls swimming. Alex attempted to jump into the pool from the edge and kicked me at the top of my stomach (just below my ribs). OUCH! IT was a complete accident, but it hurt. Baby was still moving, nothing was happening to write home about...

Also happening within that 30-45 minute pool trip was that we discovered that Taylor's gag reflex is still VERY much active. After swallowing pool water, she started gagging and ended up puking her entire dinner all over the pool deck (luckily not in the pool!). The poor house keepers that threw those towels into the laundry and got what she did not expect!

Two days later (today), I felt that the pain from this kick warranted a call to the doc's office. Well, just as I expected. Rest, plenty of fluids and call if I want to be seen. They would have seen me if I wanted it, but I didn't.... Pretty much as I expected. I have a visible bruise on my belly, so as husband says it makes sense to be sore since I have constant internal pressure on my belly.

Another huge highlight is that we ordered our new dishwasher and fridge today!!! Too bad we couldn't upgrade our fridge to a larger size.... oh well. I will have an additional fridge freezer to fill with freezer meals!!