Goodbye Preschool ~ Hello Kindergarten

Wednesday, KFC spent her last day at Preschool. It was hardest on me for her to leave since she has been going there for a little over 2 years. The teacher 'knew' KFC and all her quirks and I felt both her and KFC had developed a relationship over these past couple years. I don't do well with last days or even first days, so I knew this day was not going to be a good one. I had planned to drop KFC off at the door so I wouldn't have to go inside and get too emotional. I was so happy to see a sister pulling in behind me to drop off her load of kids too. I was just going to let KFC follow them inside and I slip away. That's exactly how it happened. KFC went right in with her friends and I got in the car and cried all the way down the road. Since I knew the pick-up would be even more traumatic for me, I had already told Hubby that he would have to come and pick her up. Too many hugs, goodbyes, and cleaning out KFC's cubby was not what I was looking forward to. 

I had decided as a thank-you gift for KFC's teacher, I would make her a stepping stone with the school name on it, KFC's hand print and her name, along with the year. That way it was something the teacher could look back on years later and remember KFC. It turned out really cool and KFC had fun adding her hand print and the little green stones.

Hubby called me that morning saying a power pole had been knocked down in front of his work and that the power wouldn't be restored for the remainder of the day. This worked out perfectly since KFC wouldn't have to sit at his work for the next 3 hours and I didn't feel so guilty making Hubby take off work to get her. 

JT was so nice and made a little going away party for KFC at the preschool. I'm so thankful cause there would have been no way that I could have pulled it off. And she graciously took pictures for me.

Her last "Circle Time"

Hugging her teacher

Final walk out the door :*/

Since Hubby had the rest of the afternoon off, he took KFC to 2 different parks! He has so much  more energy than I do!! They arrived back home around 3:30pm. We all quickly got baths and got ready to meet KFC Kindergarten teacher. That's right, saying Goodbye to preschool and meeting her new Kindergarten teacher in the same day!!!

Our time slot to meet the teacher was scheduled for 5:30pm. We found the room and went in to find her seat with her name on it. She looked so cute sitting at her tiny desk. She walked around the room checking out everything, and went up to a few of her classmates and introduced herself. The teacher gave her little power point presentation, explained a few things and our time was up. I don't know how I am going to make it through her first day of school but I only have 3 more days to figure it out. 

28 Weeks

Baby Stats:

Baby should be a little over 2 lbs now. I feel like she is an octopus because she moves around so much. I will feel a kick over here, then over there, then somewhere else! From the 3D ultrasound we just had, she is a contortionist... she was completely bent in half. Some days she seems to sleep a lot while others she is moving constantly all day. 

Mommy Stats:

This past OB visit I didn't gain any weight since the last visit! Yay! The past couple weeks I haven't been able to eat very much at each meal. I guess since she is pushing up on my stomach, I get full very fast! I have been more tired the past couple weeks. Maybe her growth spurt has made my body work harder. I have now started the stage of uncomfortable-ness when I sleep.  I am completely fine during the day, but when I try to sleep, my lower back is in pain, if I lay on my back I feel like I can't breath, and to turn over feels like I am lifting 100 lbs on my belly. 

This week at my OB visit, it was very uneventful. Dr. measured my belly - measuring on time, we listened to the heartbeat - sounded good, my blood pressure is staying really low, and I didn't gain any weight. My body this pregnancy is doing so much better than with KFC. So far I haven't had any new stretchmarks. My old ones from KFC are really visible now that my belly is stretched but at least they are silvery and not bright red looking claw marks. I also, had my glucose test this week to check for gestational diabetes. I haven't gotten the results back, so hopefully if I hear nothing back that means I passed! I have now entered into the next phase of the OB schedule where I go back every 2 weeks instead of 4. Just means this pregnancy is getting closer to the end! :(  

We also went to have a 3D ultrasound done. With KFC I did her 3D at 28 weeks. So now that I'm at 28 weeks, I called to make an appointment for next week and the lady told me that they were running a special that day and the next for half off any package! That meant I could get the package that I wanted for $40 cheaper than I would have spent on a lower package!!! When I called we had just gotten home, and was about 3:30pm and she said the only appointment time she had was 5:45pm. So I quickly called Hubby to let him know and I packed up me and KFC and headed out to pick up a friend on the way to meet Hubby. The ultrasound place was near the airport. I thought we were making great time until we were dead stopped on the highway! Ugh, I didn't want to be late and it take away from my quick 20 minute appointment! After many side roads to avoid traffic we just ended up in more traffic and we were 10 minutes late! The lady was so super nice and there wasn't anyone scheduled till 6:30pm so she took us on back. Started the ultrasound and oh look, the baby is facing my back!! Couldn't get a single shot of her face!!! Lady told us to go eat and come back to see if she had moved. I ate, had some on Hubby spicy wing sauce, and jiggled her the entire time. Went back in, and she had turned 'a little'! Still no way we were going to see her face. :( The lady is allowing us to come back in 3 weeks to try again for free. 

Besides her facing my back, she was 100% breach! Lady said that being breach is one reason for us not being able to see her face. Not seeing her face is sad for me, but being breach just scares me! By this time KFC was head down and stayed that way the remainder of the time. The baby's head was about where my rib cage is and her butt was bellow my belly button. She was completely folded in half with her feet up at her head the whole time! Now how is that comfortable!? But I guess she liked it because she had one hand on her head and the other hand holding her foot. I'm glad I get to go back in 3 weeks so I can make sure exactly what position she is in! While the lady was in 2D, we were able to see her yawning / drinking. While I want to see what her face looks like, my other favorite part is to just see what she is doing in there. Its so neat to see what she's up to and her personality. 

Here is her hand up at the side of her head.

Here, she is holding her foot

Here is both of her feet and that one hand holding her foot.

Again confirming her Girl parts! 

Playtime With A Sleepover

Hubby has been wanting to get KFC a friend over to spend the night for some time now. Last Friday, I asked if we could pick up her friend MM, let her spend the night, then have the family over for dinner Saturday night. Who wouldn't refuse??? :) I didn't tell KFC what the plans were. I can never keep a surprise from her and this time I was not saying a word. We met Hubby for lunch that morning, then after running to the bank and gas station, KFC was getting fussy. I told her I had a surprise but she needed to be good. She drilled me for what this surprise was for minutes! We had planned on picking up the friend at Chick-Fil-A. KFC needed to pee super bad and not wanting her to go in the dirty gas station I caved and told her we were heading to Chick-Fil-A and she could go there. She was so excited. She thought her surprise was some play time in their play area! Sad what will amuse a kid and how simple it could be. Next time I know how to make her happy! When we got there, we headed straight back to the bathroom and passed friend and her mom. KFC didn't even notice they were there. Once she saw them, she was happy to see someone there to play with. Still had no clue. Off we went to the bathroom. Afterward KFC asked if she could go play now, I told her we were just going to go home. Which now that I think about it was really mean to tell her! Ooops. I asked her if she would like her friend to come back and play with her... Her face lit up. Then I asked if she wanted her friend to spend the night... Her face was all confused and looked at me like 'can we really have her over!?' She was SUPER excited. From the moment we got home till the time she left of Saturday they played as hard as they could possibly play!!! KFC has been in much need of kid playtime for a while and I was happy to get a break from having to entertain her! 

We started putting them to bed around 8:30pm. We made a pallet on the floor for them to sleep beside each other. They each picked out a book, which Hubby read to them. We said our goodnights and left. KFC kept coming out for all kinds of different reasons. After telling her she needed to stay in there, she did. And they talked and talked and talked! Talked right up until almost 11pm!!! We still use KFC's baby monitor so we able to hear them jabbering away. Around 11pm we noticed the talking ceased. Hubby went in to check on them and reported back that they were definitely out! I snuck back in to get a picture! 

Saturday, we did about an hour of service and then went to Wendy's for lunch. Back home, they went back to playing hard for the rest of the day. They played outside till it got too hot, came in to play and cool off, then back outside again. They put on bathing suits and ran through the sprinkler. Played on the swing set and took turns driving KFC's powerwheels. When they went to play on the trampoline, they realized how hot that black tarp was. So we set the sprinkler to hit the trampoline, and they jumped for probably an hour!

Once the girls came inside, they were watching a movie in KFC's room. KFC decided she would read to her friend some of her Bob Books. You can see how interested her friend was! Haha. I was cooking and could hear KFC reading and this is what I found when I snuck in to take the picture.

Both of them were WORN OUT by the end of Saturday night!!! They had went to bed at 11pm and woke up Saturday morning right at 7:30am! I knew tears were going to be shed by KFC before the night was over. Way over stimulated. Right when her friend was about to leave, they gave each other a hug which made KFC trip backwards and it was all over from there. So dramatic in the eyes of a 5 year old. Quickly put her to bed and she was out instantly!

Sleepover was successful!

Baby Room

In the past 6 months, we have managed to clear out most of the junk in the spare bedroom to make way for Baby. But with so much going on here the last couple months there has been no progress to getting this baby room finished. And there was A LOT of work ahead of us. I don't think Hubby understood that yes, there was about 3 months left to go, but we have a lot of already scheduled things going on on the weekends in the next 2 months and there Really wasn't much time left. After a mini breakdown from me last week, he sucked it up and helped with the room. Because we live in a double-wide, there was that annoying job of taking those ugly strips off the walls, puttying them, sanding, more putty, more sanding, and then painting. It did take me forever and 3 samples of paint to figure out what color I wanted, but these strips were definitely the most time consuming part! And because this is a double-wide, we also needed trim around the door, closet and window, as well as baseboards on the floor. All time consuming and costly. I really wanted the walls to be gray. But didn't know if it would look ok with the green and yellow bedding we had used with KFC. Then it was hard to find a true gray. It was either too purple or too blue looking. Hubby liked a darker gray but I was thinking more of a lighter gray. In the end, we went with the lighter. I knew I wanted to add pops of color to the room in other areas, and I didn't want it to come from the wall color. A semi-neutral lighter gray it was. I plan to add lots of yellow accents in there. Also hoping I find a cute gray and yellow fabric to make for the curtains.

Last weekend, we got all the trim work complete along with 2 coats of paint of the walls. The ceiling was the next to painted. Since its popcorn ceiling, there have been some of the popcorn that have fallen off. So that also needs to be fixed. The closet is a weird long rectangle shape and we didn't like how the one shelf in there was placed, so out the shelf went. Patched a few holes and it too got painted the same as the wall color. Hubby is going to build all of the shelving in there to better fit the space and give us more hanging room. So all of that needs to be completed at some point. I have already gotten some of the baby clothes and bibs, blankets, and burp clothes down from my dads attic, but until the closet gets completed, I can't do anything with them. {sigh}

We have also pulled down the crib. After getting the painting and trim completed, Hubby started putting the crib together. We realized we didn't have the hardware for it. We found a ziploc bag in a drawer in our bedroom that had some of the parts. Right now we are missing very important pieces - its the long metal rods that connect the drop side railing. We have NO CLUE as to where to look for those. So right now the baby has a day bed of a crib. Really hope we find it, or new crib it is. :-(

KFC had lots of fun pulling out all of the baby things. She really loved the crib and found it perfect that she still fits in there!

Here are the pictures that my MIL cross-stitched for me when I was born. Growing up, I never knew who the lady was the made these pictures. My mom always had them in my room probably until I was a teenager.  I never liked the pictures because the bunny had a blue rattle and the mouse had a blue bow on its tail. 'Didn't this lady know I was a girl'??? Haha. The frames looked different back then, had blue gingham ribbon around a round frame. After I met the family and found out who had made these pictures, I felt bad for hating them for so long. Weird how life comes back around. When we got pregnant with KFC, we had her 'update' the pictures for us. I was too scared to rip the ribbon and circular frame off myself. They were in KFC's room and now they have moved to this little girls room. So far, these pictures have been around for 27 years!

We had a cheap bookshelf that I didn't really like, but also didn't know what to do with it. We NEEDED a bookshelf in the baby's room, but I really wanted Hubby to build me a unit. Hubby got to looking at the bookshelf and suggested we cut it in half and paint the unfinished parts. Thinking of our little time and little money, I was perfectly fine with re-using the bookshelf. And it did fit perfectly in the random open space beside the crib! Now need a baby monitor and a small lamp on top and that ugly bookshelf will be cute! I also plan to put the same fabric from the curtains on the backing of the bookshelf, which should make it look more 'custom'. 

This is the same dresser/changing table we used with KFC. But from the move to the new house, one of the drawers is broken and the dresser needs a little bit of white paint touch up. Oh, the list gets longer. When we pulled out the changing pad, we realized after 5 years, it was dry rotted and had lots of holes in it. At least I attempted to preserve and keep all the baby stuff. So far, that is the only thing that hasn't made it from KFC.

So most of the room is done. My anxiety level has decreased a little. I see progress. But there is still a lot of little stuff that needs to be completed. I try to help as much as I can but so much of it only Hubby can do. With his work working him like crazy and everyday life, this will be a slow process, but I feel it will get done.

25 Weeks

Baby Stats:

She should be averaging about 1 1/2  lbs now. She is moving and kicking constantly. Can't tell if she is head up or head down but the kicks seem to be hard ones down low as well as up high. Maybe she is just swimming around in there doing her acrobatic skills! Everything is basically fully formed and proportional now and fat is being deposited more each day. She hates to be squished or constricted in ANY way. If I'm sitting too far forward or laying too much on my side, she will let me know with all of her kicks!

Mommy Stats:

I gained 2 lbs in the past 4 weeks. I am hoping I will continue the trend and only gain 2 lbs a month from here on out. Pregnancy = I have been feeling Great! Rarely any pains/backaches, no swelling, and actually have energy and the want to get things done. Kidney stone at 23 weeks = Not so well. Lots of pain and exhausted. I have started to get heartburn but not too terribly bad. The hardest part right now is keeping up with KFC.

I had my OB appointment today and it was just a routine measure and listen to heart beat. The doctor let KFC hold the Doppler thing so she could find the baby's heart beat. She thought this was pretty cool! The doctor did check my urine for blood and he said it was minimal, which is good news since the stone has been causing me so much trouble. My next appointment is in 3 weeks to check my glucose levels. Hoping for a good result!

Summer Beach Trip 2012

This post is without pictures... Pregnancy brain has been in full swing and I FORGOT my camera! We spent a little over a week at the beach. Hubby never has vacation time and this year he was bumped up to the max number of vacation days you can earn there, so this year we have been enjoying them up. I just told him to make sure he saved one week for when the baby gets here. When we had KFC, hubby had no days. By the time we got home from the hospital, I was on my own. I had planned on KFC and I staying at the beach from June 28 - July 8. Hubby decided he wanted to spend that week with us too, so he took off work.

The Wednesday before we left, I felt what I assumed were just regular ole braxton hicks accompanied with back pain. Suffered through the meeting that night and they eventually went away by the time I went to bed. Thursday came and the same pain started up around lunch time. KFC and I rode to the beach with Papa. I tried to deal with the pain the whole car ride. About 20 miles from the Island, the pain started getting worse. By the time we arrived at the house I was in SERVER pain. Knew that this can't be normal, I left Papa to put KFC to bed and got my mom to drive me to the ER. That was the longest ride ever! Didn't just feel like, it really was a long way away. The lady checking my in at the ER had me put into a wheelchair and wheeled directly to the Labor and Delivery triage rooms. They hooked me up to the machine to monitor my contractions. Baby wouldn't stay still long enough for them to get a complete heart rate, so they wheeled in an ultrasound machine and the baby's heart rate was 150. They did a full pelvic exam, urine sample, and blood work. All while I was begging for them to give me something for all the pain. After about 3 hours, the Dr came back in and said that my urine had lots of blood in it with no white blood cells, which meant no infection (UTI) but a Kidney Stone! I haven't had one in over 3 years and I hoped that I was in the clear once I got pregnant. I barely was able to manage them not pregnant and I didn't know what I would do if I got them while pregnant. Dr sent me home with muscle relaxers and Vicodin. That is equivalent to taking Tylenol for a migraine! I was SOOOO thankful that Hubby was with me that whole week. Most of my attacks happened in the middle of the night. I would have to wake him up, get him to put counter-pressure on my back while I rubbed my contractions down and rocked back and forth. I had bruises on my back the next day. Most of these episodes have lasted between 6-8 hours at a time with the most excruciating pain lasting from 1-2 hours. My body was exhausted!!! Yesterday was my first day without him and I was super nervous. I had had a bad episode Sunday evening and I think I scared the mess out of KFC when I was basically screaming. I didn't know how I was going to handle 1. the pain by myself and 2. having to take care of KFC. Luckily, yesterday, the pain started right about the time Hubby was leaving the hospital . I made myself a hot bath, took my drugs, made sure KFC had some dinner, and into the bath I went. KFC was such a great helper!!! She told me she could push on my back like daddy did. She got the heating pad out and plugged in, ready for when I got out of the bath. She was feeding me Doritos and water! My own personal assistant! I stayed in pretty bad pain the rest of the night and about 9:30pm the excruciating pain kicked in. Hubby was putting KFC to bed so I was on my own. By 10:30 I thought I was going to loose my mind. Hubby eventually came to assist me and helped me till it went away, and then I fell asleep. So far the stone has not moved in over a week. Don't know how many more days I can take of this. 

Back to our beach trip. The first weekend we were there K&L and family and Chessy were down there. We spent the days with them on the beach. KFC and cousin P hardly ever left the water! KFC was so exhausted at night. The rest of the week, we spent the day either on the beach or swimming in the canals. By the end of the week, I think we were all done with being in the sun. No one got burnt so that was a plus. 

While we were down there, we got a call that Hubby's Grandma was in the hospital. We kept up with updates when they were available. Then we got a call Friday from the friend that was looking after our dogs, saying that one of them had dug under the fence and was no where around. I decided to go ahead and pack up and head home that night. Too much going on that it was just time to come home. Our dog had escaped a few times in the past few weeks and always stayed around the house till we let her back in the fence. I had no doubt that she would be there when we showed up at the house that night. We got home around 10pm and she wasn't there. Our other dog was so lonely that she was all over us. The next morning we went out looking for her. Searched all the nearby neighborhoods and nothing. We went to get breakfast and paint, and on the way home Hubby say what he was sure was her on the side of the road. I didn't see her since I was looking out my window. We got home and Hubby asked for rubber gloves and said he was sure he found her. KFC and I stayed home while he went back down the street to go get her. It was definitely her, so he brought her back home to bury in the woods behind our house. I noticed a bottle rocket in our back yard when got home Friday. She was terrified of thunder and especially of fireworks. I assume the neighbors lit off fireworks Wednesday night, scared her so bad that she dug herself out and ran for it. Hubby said she was about a mile from our house. She must have been in the middle of the road when a car hit her. 

This trip was the first time in years that we have had a whole week off for vacation. I will re-think it next time we decided to take a long vacation again. From the moment vacation started I was in pain to end the vacation in pain physically and emotionally! After all that, we still kept receiving bad news after another. Got a letter in the mail that KFC's insurance will end at the end of the month because we barely make too much now. And another letter with some legal mumbo jumbo that I had to deal with. The good times at the beach were really good and KFC had a ton of fun! Just too much sadness and frustration to go along with all the good. 

I realized Sunday night that we only have 8 more weeks till KFC starts Kindergarten!!! That has had me freaked out. So I am trying to make the most of these last 8 weeks with her! I took her to Walmart to let her pick out her school supplies. She is Super excited to start school!

21 Weeks

This morning I had my regular OB appointment with another ultrasound. This ultrasound was just a follow up from the last one where the tech couldn't see everything she needed to. Hubby decided not to go to this appointment. Made me kinda sad, but know its hard to make up the work hours he would have missed and he did just go to the last ultrasound. I took a friend along with me so she could get to see what an ultrasound was like. I was super excited to get to see the baby again. We didn't get the fun bubbly tech that we got last time. Boo! This lady was nice, but definitely not interested in giving us views of anything other than what she 'needed' to look at. I did ask if their machine did 3D, she reluctantly said yes. At the end she did quickly try to give us a face shot in 3D. Of course Baby was not sitting in good position and her face was blocked by the placenta. But she did give us this picture, which satisfied me somewhat.

Its a side view with her hand up at her face. Both ultrasounds, she kept her hands by her face, so cute! At one point Baby had her pointer finger pointing out! The tech did look for her girl parts again. But Baby decided to have her legs curled up underneath her. But tech said she could basically see everything and there was definitely no boy parts showing. At the last ultrasound, it showed that I had a low-lying placenta, which means possible c-section! But they checked it again today and it had moved up so we are good there! The cyst that was on my left ovary is now gone, so more good news! 

Baby Stats:

Tech said she is right under 1 lb. Her heart rate was 132. Internet says she should be around 7 in. head to butt. As soon as I hit 20 weeks, she has become Super active! Right now her head has been staying around my belly button area and her feet are straight down. When I'm laying down I can see the shape of her head poking out! She gets excited when I eat and kicks all around. She is also very active at night when I first lay down, so hopefully she will get out of that pattern by the time she gets here. 

Mommy Stats:

I have gained 4 lbs just is the past 2 weeks! Ah! 10 lbs so far since beginning. Up until the past couple days I have been ridiculously tired!!! But lately I have had a burst of energy. Hopefully this will continue so I can get things done! Definitely feeling really good lately. This is just about my favorite stage of the pregnancy. I can feel her moving like crazy, so I know she is doing good, but I'm not too gigantic yet to where I'm miserable. Wish I could stay in the 20's weeks forever! KFC is loving that she can see the head bulging out and I think it makes it even more real to her to see an actual figure in my belly.