Week 32

Holy crap--I've reached the 8th month. As in, 8 weeks to go. 56 days. 2 months. (Reminder: pregnancy is 40 weeks, which actually translates into 10 months of 4, 7-day weeks. However, our calendar is wacky and therefore everyone thinks it's just 9 months.) I guess what's a little scary about this monumental occasion is that I have only about 35 days of work left. That's 35 days to do what feels like 60 days worth of work. (Another aside: it actually probably is 60 days, since special ed law gives us 60 days to complete an evaluation from the date consent is signed, and I just got a bunch of consents in the mail today.)

So, where have I been lately? Well, besides freaking out about what little time I have left at work, and the fact that--as What to Expect says--this baby could do pretty well if born now, I've been avoiding the computer. Truly, work has been rather hectic and the very last thing I want to do when I get home is get in front of the computer. I mean, my favorite MTV series, Made, is on at 3:30! Maybe I'm in some sort of third trimester hibernation mode. Like storing up energy for D-Day. As in, D for Delivery.

Peanut is apparently growing well, as long as I'm not trying to hype her/him up on elevated blood sugar. You see, I am one of the roughly 5% of pregnant women who is diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Not good odds, huh? It was a little bit of a shock when I got the call from my nurse saying I failed my 3-hour glucose tolerance test. See, I'm not overweight, I haven't had any sugars in my urine (just what you wanted to know), nor excessive thirst or fatigue, and Peanut isn't overly large. Even the dietitian I met with looked at me and said, "Hmm, well you certainly don't fit the profile!" Turns out, it is more common in Hispanic women. Proof I really am half Puerto Rican? I would have settled for a darker skin tone. Anyway, my days are now filled with checking my blood sugar (four times a day!) with a glucometer and eating. I am now required to eat 6 times each time (like it was optional before), and I've become an expert at counting carbs. But, the good news for me is that a) I'm not overweight and don't have high cholesterol, so I can still eat pretty much anything in moderation, and b) learning to follow a regimented diet will only improve my post-baby weight loss! I must say, though--God bless Splenda. It is my savior.

BJ and I have also finished the nursery--it is beautiful! I made a little jaunt to Ikea a while back to, I thought, order the arm chair I wanted. Two checks of the website told me it was "not" in stock. Which, apparently means that it is available for cash & carry. Go figure. So, there I am in the self-serve warehouse grabbing the matching ottoman and wondering if the chair will fit in my car. Subarus rock! The chair & ottoman box fit like a friggin' glove. And a huge thank you to the helpful curbside employee who got the chair into my car. Genius pregnant lady buying an armchair alone at Ikea. Where was BJ? Playing computer games. But, in his defense, I thought I was just ordering the thing. The big surprise in finishing the nursery was the crib & mattress. I'd decided to have J, K, and D over for a slumber party a while back that morphed into a mini baby shower. What I didn't know is that, in the background, they were consorting to buy us the crib/mattress! Those ladies and their gentlemen are seriously the dearest people and truest friends. Peanut will sleep soundly thanks to them! So, we will finally be posting pictures once the crib is made (a little hold-up with the delivery).

I will end this post here. There's much more to report from the past couple weeks, but it's 6:20 and nearing my required eating time. However, until I return, I leave you with a lesson. To anyone who takes care of the toilet cleansing in your houses: do not put bleach tablets in the toilet tank unless it is flushed every day. And, I mean every day. BJ's just replaced the flapper in the second upstairs toilet all because I had tried to keep those bowls clean. Live and learn!

Wigglin' Pigglies

Laugh out loud moment of the day:

While cooking up some sausage this morning, I had to bust out laughing. The little links were squirming around in the pan! Rolling back and forth on their own, quivering . . . it was hysterical! I think the rolling did me in; I've never had sausage roll around (quickly, I might add) before.

Crafty lady

This year, I've completely sworn off making any resolutions. Of course, you could argue that in itself is a resolution. Just don't make that argument. Anyway, I did feel a little resolution goblin nibbling at my behind the past couple of weeks when I remembered this post. I had sworn that I would start, and finish, a real quilt in 2005. Sad to say that it really did take me a year. I'm going to blame it on having to utilize my mother's old machine for 11 of those 12 months--a machine which "is not broken" but was aggravating me beyond belief. There simply was no joy in sitting down to work on the quilt.

But, with new machine in hand (have I mentioned how I love this machine?) I have accomplished my goal. You may or may not recall the initial pattern for the quilt:

And, now, I present to you my interpretation of "Linked Chevrons":

I think I did pretty damn well! At the moment, I don't really have a space to spread it all out, but you get the general idea. I think my favorite part is the backing. Since making my first t-shirt quilt, and per BJ's request, I've loved using flannel for the backing. It's cozy soft and warm. I couldn't quite find a color that coordinated with the rest of the quilt, but I did come across this cute flannel that was cream stars on a green background. Since there are already stars on the front, I figured "Why not?" It adds a little fun, I think. Damn, am I good!

As I mentioned previously, I also made a fleecey (you have to add the "y" in this house) blanket for Peanut. It turned out fabulous, as well:

#1--The microfleece they have at JoAnn is to-die-for soft. It's in the nursery/pajama section.

#2--The pattern is beyond easy. I got this essentially from Katie Brown, but Martha Stewart has a similar pattern--that's where I got the stitching idea. Katie's is a no-sew. But, I had this adorable multi-colored thread I wanted to use. It makes a perfect zig-zag border and I didn't have to hand knot all that fringe! Also, both patterns do an applique (or reverse applique, in this case) on one side only. I like to do two. The green froggy shows through on the blue side, and the blue elephant shows through on the green side. Ingenious!

#3--Would you just look at how cute this is!

You know, 10 years ago I don't think I would have dreamed I'd get this excited about sewing projects. I have been given one rule, though: no making my own clothes. Ha ha!

The Third Trimester

28 weeks. 7 months. The 3rd Trimester.

I've actually made it 2/3 of the way! I had to take a bare-belly shot this week while I was still feeling like it was good enough to photograph. I probably won't feel that way in a few weeks. Then again, I might. Who knows? You will, however, have to excuse my appearance--I had just gotten up after the phone rang at 4 am, then BJ made me hit the snooze from 5:15 until 5:30, and then he turned on a bright light to iron. I simply did not intend on getting up at 6:30 on my last day of vacation.

As I mentioned earlier, I've started to notice my phsycial limits more. In other words, I can only sit for so long without my ribs feeling squashed. I can only stand for so long without my back screaming. My favorite position now is lying curled up on my side sleeping. But, there can only be one pillow under my head, I need another between my knees, and one under my belly. Simple, huh? It certainly makes getting into bed an adventure.

But, who needs covers when you're an oven! I have seriously kicked the covers completely off every night for a week. And, this is from a girl who is (was) always cold. One night towards the end of last week, I woke up dying of thirst. I got some water and headed back to bed only to feel like my skin was on fire. I did not want a single sheet or blanket to touch me. Completely ridiculous.

They say the second trimester is a respite between the nausea and fatigue of the first and the all-out discomfort of the last. Up to this point, I've been blessed with a very smooth, uneventful pregnancy. I'm sure things could be much worse. And, I'm sure, I'm heading into some tough times before our little one's arrival. But, I'm glad to finally be here. To have both gotten this far this easily and to be that much closer to meeting Peanut. It's just thrilling! I suppose Peanut agrees, because s/he just socked me one. Ha ha!

Actually, the pregnancy part of the next 3 months isn't what scares/worries me. It's the mountain of things I have to do at work before I leave . . . . (back to work tomorrow!)

A Holiday Wrap-Up

You'd think that with two weeks off of work I'd be more up-to-date here. But no. So, what's been going on in the Lippoldt household?

BJ took off the past 2 weeks as well, which you think would mean that we got a lot done around the house. No. We did a lot of what some people told us to take advantage of right now: nothing. You know, with a new baby on the way, not having to do anything is becoming a rapidly dwindling comodity. He did spend a little time adding more paint to the nursery walls. It's so close to completion I can't stand it! I have given him a deadline, though. And I actually cleaned out my closet and the dresser we plan on using for the changing table. It'll be nice to get the painting supplies out and start to organize it. Time is ticking!

The other benefit to being home so much is being able to flex my domestic muscles. You know, tackle some of those projects that I don't seem to have the energy for after work. I baked like a fiend: about 7 dozen molasses cookies, 4 dozen thin mint cookies for a cookie exchange, caramel chocolate covered pretzels (BJ helped), 3 dozen doggie biscuits (Nala loves them!) . . . the house smelled great. I've nearly completed the quilt I started last winter--twould be done if it weren't for me not paying attention when the lady at Joann was cutting the flannel for the backing. I only got half of what I needed and got home before I realized it. Drat! I crafted picture frames and photo albums for the aunts-, great-grandparents-, and grandparents-to-be. I made new clothes for the kitchen witch I inherited from my mom. And today I started (and completed) a microfleece baby blanket for Peanut! By the way--I absolutely adore my new sewing machine.

Oh yeah! If you hadn't noticed, I also redesigned my blog template. Yeah, redesigned. On my own. Original graphics, concept, and I even typed in the code by myself. It's not quite looking right, yet, but I'll get there.

"But, how were the holidays?" you ask. Well, around Christmas we didn't have to prepare a meal for ourselves for three days. That was nice. We spent the evening Friday 12/23 at BJ's dad's house. He called with an offer for an impromptu holiday dinner: turkey & all the trimmings with BJ's sisters and Don's neighbors. First, the food--I can't say enough. I've learned: always brine a fresh turkey. It was fun to see his neighbor's little boys, Josh & Daniel, all excited for Christmas and Santa. They just tore into the presents. And, we got to spend some time catching up with BJ's sisters and their men before the insanity of Christmas the next day. It is too bad we don't get to see them more often.

Christmas Eve we started off with lunch at Don's for a more intimate family celebration. Mmm, fajitas! BJ and I really are spoiled when it comes to food. But, Don--why can't BJ cook like you? Toward the end of the afternoon, we "kids" took off for our house so Brianne & Brooke could see Nala and the nursery, and Ryan & Ben could get some quality arcade time in on BJ's machine.

Then, off to The Clubhouse for dinner with BJ's extended family. I tell ya'--the best gift Grandma Betty could give is really damn good steak! Unfortunately, BJ's order got a little . . . forgotten. And then undercooked before being served right. We stuffed ourselves appropriately and then jetted over to BJ's Uncle Troy's house for gift exchanging. The younger boys were jacked up on Christmas, as usual, and the pile of present was obscene. Everyone seemed to have a good time, but my discomfort started to get the best of me. I could have gone home about an hour before we did, but I stuck it out. Good thing, too, because Betty got my name and gave me the most beautiful, softest maternity sweater. And, a matching button-down! I just love them! BJ was equally pleased with the Seasons 1 & 2 DVDs of Family Guy, despite Troy's dismay at actually purchasing them.

After a long day, BJ and I laid ourselves all snug in our beds. I'm not sure if BJ had any visions of sugar plums, but I spent the whole weekend with a wicked pinched nerve in my neck. Pregnant sleep, I guess. Christmas Day was dedicated to my family. We got there in time for mimosas (made mine with ginger ale, oh well) and blueberry pancakes. Then we squeezed into the family room (made smaller due to the Christmas tree) for presents . . . and eventually football. The picture at right really shows about how Rob & I spent the day. The best moment of the day, besides the Bears beating the Packers, was when Haley the dog got frustrated. There was nowhere to sit on the floor and she was receiving "no" attention. So, she decided to climb onto Rob's lap. Now, Haley is a border collie--not exactly a lap dog. Even better, when she tired of Rob, she tried climbing onto my lap. Sorry, Haley, it's getting a little small for you! But, try she did and I enjoyed the sensation of Peanut's limbs jutting out while Haley's where jutting in. Delightful! Mom, of course, capped off the day with a delicious beef tenderloin roast. And carmelized apples--wink! OK, so they were acorn squash, but we had Rob & BJ fooled for a while!

By the time Christmas was over, I needed the second week off. Fortunately, the couch and TV were waiting for me. I also got a better idea of my new limitations and ended up cancelling our New Year's party. As I told Jeanne, if I had the money for a cleaning service and a caterer we would have done it. I just couldn't see myself getting prepped for a party and actually enjoying the party. So, BJ and I passed a mellow New Year's Eve at my parents' house with their neighbors. Having grown up in the same neighborhood my entire life with these very people, they are my family. Therefore, it was great fun to catch up and chat. Besides--this bunch tends to party as hard, if not harder, than my same-aged friends. BJ and I left early, about 12:30, to make sure the dog was OK. I wonder what they did after we left . . .

Here's to hoping you've all had a wonderful holiday season!