Getting things done

I am finally feeling back to my old self, except that I am VERY TIRED. My sickness went away, but my energy level is still pretty low. I feel like I am accomplishing more and more every day, instead of less and less. :) Let me just say, it feels good to feel good!

I have ordered our homeschool curriculum for next year. My baby girl is in 10th grade!! There was much debate this year on what we wanted to use. Kinda tired of the boring old textbooks that give the same boring information in the same old BORING way. So this year we went with Sonlight, which we have never used before, but it encompasses english, bible and history. We chose teaching textbooks for math, Abeka for Biology, and rosetta stone for language (spanish).(thanks Linda for all your suggestions!)

That might be boring for ya if you don't homeschool, but I am stoked. It was VERY Expensive this year. That is the most I have ever spent. I know it will be worth it though, especially with the new baby coming. I needed curriculum that I can lead, but she can do mostly independently. I think Sonlight is going to meet our needs. By the time the baby comes in January, we will have done school for 18 weeks and Lysh will be in the swing of things. I will be able to be more hands on the first half of the year, before Junior arrives. :)

Coming up in my world: I am letting my girls go to my parents to spend 5 days without me next week. I am excited, but mostly apprehensive. I will enjoy the peace and quiet of JULIE time, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE my girls. I will miss them intensely and the thought of being apart from them makes me a little nervous and sad. :) I think that makes me normal.

Also coming up is our week at the beach!! My cousin gets a free condo every year and invites us. We leave on the 10th (minus Jon) and get to spend 7 glorious days at St Pete Beach relaxing. Shayla is older this year and will be SO INTO the sand and water. Last year she was prissy and did not like the way the sand felt. She is much different now. Her sand box is her favorite toy!!

Finally, Jon is taking Alysha to her first Nascar Race. Jon is a HUGE Nascar fan, so he has been many times. She is a little unsure whether she will like it. I have been trying to convince her that either way, she can say she has been to a race and had the experience. who knows? she might LOVE it. It will be me and the monkey all day and night, cause it is an all day experience. They got FUNZONE passes, so they are leaving early. I am looking forward to chillin with my monkeylove. I do love my family life. :)


Here are two pictures of Shayla from the Beach Last year -

God Gave Me You

One goal of this blog is to remember the important stuff. I have been wanting to post this for a long time. . . .

On Mothers Day this year, Jon was at work the whole weekend. He gave me a present when he got home Monday, it was a gift certificate for a pedicure. (which I loved!)

BUT, on Mothers Day, he sends me this email. It was awesome and heartfelt, telling me how wonderful a mother and wife I am and how blessed he is to have me. In the email he sends me a link to this song. He said it describes how he feels about me and how he feels about his family. I had never heard it before, but it was beautiful. The words are pretty powerful...and could apply to anyone in your life.

GOD GAVE ME YOU FOR THE UPS AND DOWNS
GOD GAVE ME YOU FOR THE DAYS OF DOUBT
WHEN I THINK I HAVE LOST MY WAY
THERE ARE NO WORDS HERE LEFT TO SAY IT'S TRUE
GOD GAVE ME YOU

This is my favorite part of the song.... These words really touched me, they describe how I feel about my marriage perfectly.

on my own
i am only half of what I could be
I cannot do without you
we are stitched together
and what love has tethered
I pray we never undo

Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7M7cJ4DydQ

So, this was my sappy post, which I don't normally do. This mothers day was really special. This Mothers day was the one where I woke up deathly ill and spent all the next week thinking I was dying of some bacterial infection. Turned out to be a baby instead. :) I was actually too sick to look at the email til late that night, I never got out of bed all that day. This will be a great memory to smile about later. :) I love that man.

doctors visit today

Today I went to G-ville for my doctors appointment. It was the first time in two pregnancies I have gone alone. Jon was off, but It was an exam, so he could not go back anyway. Since Shayla had been in the car alot lately, I told him to stay home with the girls. He never missed one of my appointments with Shayla.

It turned out to be awesome!! She did another ultrasound - JUST FOR FUN! I happened to be in a room that has a machine (many of their rooms do), so she said we would take a look. My first ultrasound was at five weeks. It did not look like a baby, it was tiny. This time, I could make it out. It's little legs and arms - so cute! I watched it's little heart beat and watched it move around. The baby had its legs crossed! It really made it more real for me and it actually made me excited about the baby for the first time. I mean, like I cannot wait to meet him/her excited. That is something I have not felt as of yet, although I knew it would come.... eventually.

I have gained back all the weight I had lost from being so sick, but I have not gained any weight yet... so that is good. Now it begins. Hopefully It will go like my other two and I will not gain much. I only gained 20 to 25 with the other two. we shall see........

It was a great visit and a good day!! I am feeling pretty good this week. Still sick sometimes, but feeling good more often than not. Whew!!!!

TWELVE WEEKS - Pregnancy Update

I would like to say that it has been flying by........ but it has not. The good news is that I am not AS sick as I was before. I am still sick, it just seems to be getting more bearable. My moods are not getting more bearable. I seem to be more irritable. I think Jon and Lysh are ready to kill me. In my defense, they are really annoying people..... lol.

In two weeks I will be in my second trimester. According to my old blog posts, it is right about this week that the sickness goes away completely. I have my fingers crossed. (I was disappointed to learn 2nd trimester does not start til week 14, I was thinking thirteen.)

I am getting thick in the middle. All my shorts fit, but they are tight in the waist. I have noticed a pooch for a while now, and I know it is too soon to be a baby pooch. I was reading one of those pregnancy books in B&N the other day and it said that if you have recently had a baby, and get pregnant again, that your stomach muscles are all stretched out and you will see a pooch sooner. Basically, it is a pooch of fat. Nice......

I am unable to multi task. This was normal for my last one also. What is it about being pregnant that suddenly makes you unable to handle more than one thing at a time.... seriously?

I have been sucking down sweet tea like a mad woman. I cannot seem to get enough! Sugar is soooo good!! I think I am trying to make up for all these years of doing without it. :) Whatever it is, I am in sweet tea heaven!

I go to the doctor this week for a physical exam. :( Joy. Gone are the once a years. Now they have free reign to put you in the stirrups - at will. Let's don't and say we did.

On a positive note, I found lots of maternity clothes at goodwills and thrift stores in GA while I was visiting my favorite Aunt Sara. I got some cute little maternity dresses. This pregnancy I wanna look like those cute preggo girls that wear those cute dresses. I do not care how fat my arms are, I am gonna wear dresses!! I got 4! I also got some very nice jean shorts and tops. For 50$ I got a wardrobe for the next nine months. (Well, assuming I do not get HUGE.)

My Girls......... My Girls.............

My babies........ 2 and 14.....

Going with the flow

My last pregnancy was very exciting. I read the books constantly, learning what was happening to my body and what baby was developing that week. It was all very exciting.

The good thing about all that is I kept a very detailed blog about my pregnancy experience. I have really used that this time, looking back to see what to expect. This pregnancy seems to be following the same pattern, and for that I am grateful. I really did blog everything about being pregnant last time, and I have enjoyed reading it. The last pregnancy pretty much devoured my whole life - it was all about being preggo.

This time, ehh, not so much. I want this pregnancy to flow with the rest of my life, not consume me. Plus, it is not "new" and "exciting". It is old hat. So, I will enjoy my time with the baby while he/she is in my tummy, cause this will be my last time experiencing this miracle.
(Now, remind me of that in my last month....)

Taking it one saltine at at time......

I count it a good day when I have managed to make it through the day without running to the bathroom to hurl.

BEFORE:

The five weeks before I found out I was preggo, I had started a rigorous workout routine. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical, usually right after I woke up the teenager. When I put Shayla down I would go outside and WORK in my yard. It needed some serious work. I have three beds that were neglected, and the whole yard cause my hubby is still hurt. I also worked out with weights during this time every other day. In the afternoons I would get 30-40 minutes in on the treadmill. I was determined to lose five pounds and get in better shape. So, I stayed as busy as possible.

AFTER:

Now, I just try to make it from the bed to the couch. Then I sit long enough to let it all settle (while eating saltines) and I go make shayla's breakfast.Then I sit again. Shayla is up and waiting for me, I can hear her the whole time talking and hollering and simply waiting. After I have eaten more crackers and feel like I can move again, I go get the monkey up and thus begins my day. It takes me about thirty minutes to make it through this routine every morning. How different from a few weeks ago. Isn't life funny?

The rest of the day I simply endure, until bed time. I do what I have to do to take of Shayla and keep myself from feeling so bad. I do walk on the treadmill everyday, it makes me feel better for about 30 minutes afterward. It did with my last pregnancy. Of course, I cannot go over the speed "3". No running for me. I move very slow.

I eat my saltine and my toastachee peanut butter crackers all the live long day. It is not going by too slowly now, like it was before. Like the little engine that could, I must remember, "I think I can, I think I can........."