January – thus far

Well, it is already the start of a new year!  I can’t believe it, time sure does just continue to fly by!  This is my first year in a long time that I will not have a baby OR get/be pregnant.  I feel as if I am entering a new stage of life!  This year I will be entering my 30’s!  And for some of you that seems like no big deal but to me it is HUGE!

New Years Eve – We celebrated by going out to dinner at Oliver’s Pizza & Pub.  It has quickly become one of our go to places!  I love the burgers & Dusty loves the pizza & they always have a nice selection of drinks 🙂 Then we attempted to go shopping but turns out most places close early 😦  Then we went and saw the new (obviously) Star Wars movie.  Dusty enjoyed it a lot & I thought it was a fine movie, not knowing any of the past movies it was a little confusing at times 😉

New Years Day – I had wanted to get up and make these Diebles for breakfast b.c. I always had them as a kid the morning of New Years Day…but turns out I don’t have the discipline my mom has/had and I chose to sleep 😀 So we had them with our dinner.  They are a symbol of peace & a fun little tradition I would like to carry on.  They are supposed to be like Dove’s this year they were better than last & hopefully the trend continues b/c they kind of look like tusk-less walruses 😀

Jan. 2nd – we had a light dusting of snow & so I sent EVERYONE out to play in the snow.  This is the first year everyone, ahem…EVERYONE has snow gear 😀  New gloves for Christmas too!  And this gave me the opportunity to get some cleaning done 🙂

Lazy days – And now since Dusty is back at work (he was home for a little over 2wks) we are getting back into routines & we have started to play in the basement a lot.  Although one day I found Dez tired and lounging on Dom’s bean bag chair (hers is the hot pink one to the left) Each of the kids received one for Christmas this year so that has made tv & movie time more fun!

Like I said Dusty is back to work, Gia is back to PreK 3 days a week, Oli is back to Kindergarten 5 full days a week & I am back to working Monday & Wednesday (normally) at Great Harvest.  Dom is back to being Mommy’s buddy & every time I get dressed to leave he says “I Come Too!” It is precious and also heartbreaking, b.c. of course Mommy enjoys time away too 🙂

Anyways here is to a new year & hopefully updating more!!!

Much Love!

 

Living Well Spending Less

Living Well Spending Less….It’s a nice idea isn’t it? While we can all say we live “well” are we willing to cut back to save money, give money & budget money? A friend of mine said she was going to do this challenge for the month of October. Back in August we decided to be more aggressive with paying off our home & student loans. I got a job…YES a job! I can talk about that later though 🙂 While we still had our regular budget for hobbies, food, eating out, clothing, home improvements & etc. I/We would consistently not follow it. So with anything additional I started to pay for that with “my” money. If I had already exhausted the food budget for the week & we wanted to eat out I would pay cash with the money I had earned vs. charging it to the credit card. This helped me be WAY more aware of what we were spending & did I really want to eat out bad enough to spend “my own” money? Anyways this helped us a great deal! We were able to save a lot of money by not spending money on a whim & paying extra on loans.

So, initially I thought do I really need to do this challenge? I have already cut back SOO much! But in the end I was spending that money I was earning, I wasn’t really saving it. I was using it to “treat” the family. Which I LOVED being able to do!!! However with more expenses with Birthday’s, Holiday’s and a wedding I thought in order to keep paying aggressively on these loans I need to save more.

I went through my pantry, refrigerator & freezer and took inventory! I am planning my meals based on what I have. For example I have quite a bit of cereal on hand but I also have a lot of oatmeal on hand. So we are going to start having more oatmeal & eggs for breakfast instead of cereal. I am excited to see space cleared out in not only my pantry but freezer also!!

I have budgeted things for parties, showers, birthday gifts & etc. And I am excited to save money! I love the idea of a challenge – go figure 🙂 I have also set rules for things I cannot buy – Clothing, Decor & Eating Out are my big ones! Because all of that was adding up quickly!!!

So if you notice me being a little cheap or saying hmm better not that is why. I will keep you posted on how I am doing either throughout the month or at the end!

Eating with purpose

I waste SO MUCH FOOD! Do you? After throwing out produce and sour cream, ricotta cheese and etc. I realized I am not intentional about what we eat. I mean I TRIED to be but was failing. This summer I decided to be intentional with what we eat | breakfast, lunch & dinner.

I now go to the Farmers Mkt on Monday mornings and buy local, fresh, in season produce. This is helping me so much! The food seems more meaningful when buying from someone local even though they get the money whether I eat it or how it away, it would just seem shameful to let it waste. That being said I am working hard on being intentional with our menu planning and being flexible if there is food that will soon go bad that I may have forgotten about.

Menu this week:
Sunday | Mac n’ cheese (dusty was gone)
Monday | Steak kabobs + skewers of squash, zucchini & onion
Tuesday | BLT’s + fresh fruit
Wednesday | Zucchini Boats + fresh fruit & bread from the freezer
Thursday | Breakfast for dinner
Friday & Saturday | dusty and I will be in Chicago 😀

My “theme” was zucchini, squash & tomatoes based on what was available at the farmers mkt. I try to integrate different types of protein and different styles which keeps it interesting for me. I also try to keep it healthy for everyone! Planning my meals helps me stay disciplined because honestly I LOVE to eat out!

Anyways that’s what’s on my mind today. Stay tuned for my Zucchini Boats recipe + post.

We went to the ZOO yesterday with A. Mary and Nola so here’s a photo. We had a blast!!

Update on Life

Oliver started Pre-School this past week. He loved it!

However he did have a “run-in” with his teacher’s aide. They had playground time the first day and she took them to the small one instead of the bigger one (the small one is probably for like a 1-2 yr old) and so he told me he asked her if they could play on the big one & she said “you’re not big enough” (Oliver’s words) and so he asked me if I could talk to her the next time I saw her & I said I would ask but if she said no then that is that & he can’t complain about it again…He then said “Well I have an idea…” I asked him what that was & he said “We could throw her in THE LIONS DEN!!!” :0)

He also had a hard time understanding that we leave school supplies at school & not every day do you use everything. After his second day he said he really liked it and said “I want to go everyday!!!” So that made me feel good!

Another funny story yesterday while he was napping I heard him sleep talking/yelling (b/c it is so loud) saying “I Know, I know!” I thought hmm I wonder if that is what he did at school!

Gia is feeling very left out & cries when we drop him off & cries when we pick him up because she wants to go to school & play with the kitchen. However, it was so nice just having Gia home yesterday for a few hours!! I forgot how easy one kid is!!!

An update on me. Not much is different. Last week I took myself off bed rest being full-term and also went off of my medicine. I am still having contractions but nothing regular enough to give reason to have the baby. Yesterday during the day until now I have been having a lot of contractions, hard ones…So I am hoping it is leading to something and not just the way it is going to be until Tuesday!!

That is what is going on here, I hope all is well in your neighborhood!

Holding up his sign

Another shot

Gia had to have one too :0)

Oliver filling in his last spot on his behavior chart! We weren’t as into this time so this will probably be the last time…

Complete! This time he said he is getting a “Chocolate Ice Cream Cone!!!” from Cony’s of course

Of course she needed her picture taken as well

Pre-Term Labor – Oy Oy Oy (Part 2)

This should answer any questions on my current state or if you just want to know what’s going on or shall I say not going on :0)

Sunday night I started to have regular contractions again (every 2-3 min. lasting 1 min. each). After a little more than an hour I called the Doctor & they insisted I go in (to OSF) and be monitored. So after much reluctancy we went back in. I BEGGED for no IV & they kindly obliged. I was monitored for about 1 1/2 hrs at which contractions had slowed & so after 2 hrs I was sent home – YAY!!! This was still very frustrating though b/c I thought the meds were supposed to make so I didn’t contract regularly.

On Wednesday I had a doctors apt. When I got there they immediately set me up on the non-stress-test — This measures baby’s heart rate while also measuring contractions & I was on that for probably 30 min. The results showed that yes I was having contractions but nothing major (I could have told them that…)

After that I got “checked” (if you don’t know what it means then you probably shouldn’t…) I also got checked for my Group B blah blah blah at this point also (Glad that is done!!) Since Sun. (my last visit to the hospital) I had dilated a “finger tip” I am not sure what that means but I consider it a 1 or slightly smaller than a 1 – this shows that my contractions are changing my body.

Here are some questions I asked:
**How long am I on bed rest? Well since you made it to 35 wks you are no longer on strict bed rest..But you can’t: go out, go shopping, cook, clean, care for your kids & etc. Basically I have roaming permission I can go from bed to couch to chair & wander around my house.
**Can I go to my knitting night? Your what?!?! (with a laugh) my knitting night I get together with a group of ladies & sit and knit…He laughed and said yes that is fine :0)
**How long do I contract at home before calling and heading to the hospital? A few hrs! (YIKES! but at least I don’t have to keep going every other day!)
**Once I am off my medicine at 37 wks and start contracting like crazy do I just have my baby? No. Legally you must dilate to around a 3 to show you are in actual labor & progressing otherwise we cannot operate before 39 wks
****SO I am supposed to sit at home contracting like CRAZY & just deal with it if I don’t dilate????!!!! Yes. But chances are if you are contracting a lot your body will kick into gear & dilate.

Here are some questions people have been asking me…
**Are you really not doing anything? Yes I am really not doing anything at this point as excited as I am to meet my little boy I do not want to. It is for the best interest of our baby that he stays in & so NO I do not do anything b/c then I contract & I want a healthy baby most of all.
**Do you have a name yet? Yes we do have a name. 1st & Middle – No we are not sharing :0)
**Do you still have contractions? Yes. The medicine doesn’t stop contractions it just stops the regularity of them (I don’t normally have them every 2 min. for hours…) but on average I still have about 4 or 5 every hr. and that is with me just sitting on my bum.
**When are you going to have your baby? I don’t know. I am hoping during the 37th wk sometime (somewhere around Aug. 13th). At that point I will be full-term & off my medicine & I really don’t want to labor for 2 wks until I can get to 39 wks. So pray that at 37ish I dilate & can have my baby…Otherwise stay away from me b/c if I have to have regular contractions for 2 wks before having my baby I will not be a happy camper :0)
**Are you going crazy?? No I am not. I knit & watch netflix (Drop Dead Diva..strange show but entertaining non-the-less) God has given me a peace about this is just where I am right now & so yes I get bored & yes I want to help out around the house but when the health of your baby is at risk it makes it pretty easy (for me) to really just stay put. I am truly putting my selfish desires aside & focusing on the bright side of things.

I have started a new devotional 1,000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp & this helps me to keep a positive attitude as well.

Thank you everyone most of all for your prayers, help, meals & offers of help they are all so very much appreciated!!!

next blog: Entwined Cowl (finished knitting project)

xoxo!!!

Pre-Term Labor…Oy Oy Oy

So some of you may know some of you may not but this will be a blog on this pregnancy and especially the last few days. Wednesday, I was admitted to OSF (hospital), why? It is no secret to many of you that this pregnancy has kind of had me a little nervous not because I thought about miscarriage but I just had this never ending feeling about pre-term labor. I started getting Braxton Hicks (tightening of the belly) around 16 wks! Way earlier than the other two. I started to have actual contractions probably around 26 wks. and although they were never regular or that bad it was still a worry. I kept telling my doctors and they would say “you’re fine” or “you really don’t need to worry you are NOT at risk for pre-term labor” and I was like well okay, why would I be? So I just ignored the contractions.

About 3 weeks ago I woke up from a nap with regular contraction every 5 min. hard ones (no not like all out labor but non the less hard) I called the doc. and got a Nurse Practitioner (some may know how I feel about the ones in my office…I wont go into here :0)) She assured me it was nothing but I could head to OSF if I wanted..this was about 31 wks. They stopped after about 1 1/2 hrs & I did not go to OSF.

Wednesday 7.24 I woke up from laying down with the kids with bad contractions. I thought oh its because of this or that but none of that worked, I was plenty hydrated already and knew it wasn’t that. After laying on the couch for 45 min. and them not stopping only increasing I frantically start calling Dusty, no answer :0( He finally calls back and I am bawling “Why wouldn’t you answer your phone!!! I am having contractions” he rushed home we took the kids to Nana’s and drove quickly to OSF. My contractions were 2-4 min. apart lasting 1 min. & I was 34 wks 1 day. I was scared :0)

I was sent to Labor & Delivery in the Triage area where I was monitored & put on IV fluid. After 2 hours I was still contracting every 2 -4 min. and 3 bags of fluid later they finally decided it wasn’t because I was dehydrated! At this point I was admitted & put on full watch. Contractions didn’t stop & the doctor came in around 10:30 and put me on Nifedipine it is a blood pressure medicine that they put you on to stop contractions (I don’t have blood pressure issues) at that point contractions drastically started to stop. Note: this doesn’t stop contractions it merely slows them down & makes them not regular (currently I am still having contractions) I was also given 1 of my 2 steroid shots that were given to jump start baby’s lungs incase he did come or if he comes at say 37 wks his lungs will be like he is 39. The shot hurt like a …. well you can fill it in :0) It burned and gave about a 30 min. charlie-horse! OUCH! Yes I am a wuss.

To shorten it, slightly…I was monitored all day thursday & more non-stress tests, medicine & my second installment of steroids. I also had a cervical test done that is a swab and gets sent off to lab to see if any cells have developed from contractions and if this comes back positive it means you will dilate within 7 days. Negative means you won’t. Positive I would have had to stay at the hospital another week. Thankfully it came back negative!!! YAY! They say I have a cervix of steel – it doesn’t change, which is great for this case!

So what now? I am on full bed rest for 1 wk & 5 days or until 36 wks. I asked them what kind of bed rest this meant thinking I would still be able to do stuff…Nope. Full bed rest. I am allowed up to go potty & shower and that is about it. To give an example of why. Last night Kurt took me home & when I walked from the wheelchair to car I had a contraction. When I walked from the car to the house another one. This morning when the kids came in and layed and climbed over me another one. Just reminders to myself that I really can’t do ANYTHING! I will be on my medicine for no contractions for until 37 wks and bed rest until 36 wks.

I have some meals coming and some have offered to watch kids & even clean a little bit for me. Thank you for those offers they are very much appreciated & being used!

Hopefully that explains what is going on & is somewhat clear. Prayers are appreciated for patience, relaxation, joy in this trying time & most importantly a healthy baby!

Top Left: Non Stress Test being done on my Belly
Bottom Left: IV
Right: my view it was actually very nice!!!

Sad
Right: Knitting to pass bed rest time

Basement

So we embarked on a “re-model/finishing” journey this spring. It has taken awhile to get motivated but now with Baby #3 weeks away (1 1/2 months) well that sure puts some motivation out there.

It has been a very trying & tiring job! Dusty (and our budget) decided that he would do most of the work with some help from his Dad on what is code, what is not & etc.

The week of 4th of July he took off the whole week to solely work in the basement. Now I can say from having a hubby gone 12 days for work or weeks at a time traveling that it is FAR worse to have your husband home and not be able to help out than just gone. It took everything in me at times not to just throw my hands up & quit the whole thing.

I am an 8 1/2 month pregnant lady with a 3 1/2 yr old & a 2 yr old who is in the nesting phase. To say I am a little anal about how I like things in my home right now would be an understatement. While starting the plumbing Dusty had to cut out the concrete floor where the bathroom will be…we were warned about dry wall dust but NOT concrete dust. Needless to say we had dust all over the house immediately (the air was on!!) not to mention everything in the basement go filthy with the dust! My precious baby’s bassinet, all his toys, my Christmas décor…EVERYTHING! What a pain! Lesson learned.

Anyways, our plumbing is done, framing is pretty much done, electrical will start tonight or tomorrow & then hopefully dry wall in a few weeks…Here are some photos, I know they aren’t too exciting but it will be fun to go back and look at the progress…(for us anyways!)

Here is a picture of the bedroom

This will be the play room area. Where I am standing there will probably be a table for the kitchen area. It is an open space besides the bath & bedroom

This is where the kitchen area will be. Cabinets, fridge & microwave against the back wall. Under the stairs will be a closet.

And this will be where the couch & tv are!

Life Update

Yesterday was our 7 yr Anniversary!!! Doesn’t that seem crazy?? It is hard to believe that we have been married that long. Time flies when you’re having fun I suppose :0) To celebrate we went to Jim’s Bistro (in Peoria Heights) we had never been and it is pretty pricey so we saved it for a special time. It did not disappoint! Dusty had a salad, filet & yep FRENCH FRIES…and I had soup (tomato basil gorgonzola – AH-MAZ-ING) & a pork chop served on top of sauerkraut and with baked apples on top. It was delish! After dinner we headed to Target and we just browsed around While also purchasing some gifts for ourselves :0) We then headed to Fresh Market where we treated ourselves to picking out 1 or 2 items, it is such a fun store to walk around!! And lastly we went to get ice cream – first we tried the Kiwi something place in Metro Center and it was NASTY! so I opted for DQ instead. Thanks to Amanda for babysitting our kiddo’s and making the night possible!

This past weekend I went on a trip to Columbus, OH with Mom Funk & Linda. We went to TNNA (The National Needlearts Association). Basically it is a huge convention that offers classes, has a fashion show, personal buying opportunity & then “market”. We went for Market & everything else was just bonus. We left early Friday morning and got there in good time. We headed straight to a place called “The North Market” which is a food place & has tons of different yummy foods. Go there sometime. We checked in at the convention & then waited in line to do the “Yarn Sampling” where different vendors sell products at wholesale for a personal use, so if you wanted some yarn from a particular brand but not enough for the whole store this is when you did that. This was so much fun but I couldn’t help but feel slightly sad, there were SO many things I wanted & I left with NOTHING! I thought oh, to have lots of money! The next day I did get something I wanted though so don’t feel too bad :0) After that we went to a Fashion Show which was fun but SO COLD!!! It was neat to see what is trending & then see the totally weird stuff!!

Saturday was filled with just “Market” that is where you walk around a giant area that has 100’s of booths set up of different items but all Needle Art related (Knitting, Crochet, Needle Point, Yarn & etc) we went and checked out different brands, placed orders, dreamed of orders we wished we could make. It was a l-o-n-g day but fun! I should mention the reason we went is because Mom & Linda are part owners of a Knit shop (Knit 4 Together – in Dunlap) and they went on this trip to purchase new yarn for the store for fall & winter.

Sunday we got up leisurely & then went over to market & checked out some more booths, then we headed to The North Market grabbed some lunch & headed home!

Meanwhile my amazing hubby stayed home with the kids. They had a blast! Friday night they camped out in the back yard, Saturday they went to the Glen Oak Park & the Zoo, and Sun. they got up and went out to breakfast before church.

Before that was Father’s Day. We celebrated Dusty on Sat. by eating at Cony’s and then coming home & opening gifts. Sun. was spent at his parents house with the whole family home :0)

Sorry this was so long but I thought it would be better than 5 little posts! Enjoy the pictures!

Here was our stash of gifts.

My gifts: Barefoot Contessa book, Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds, Sweet Trail Mix & my craving —-BlowPoP’s!!

K-Cups Reg & Decaf & then these berry things…he likes them, I do not…good choice dear!

Gia in the Tent – She loved it!!!

Oliver in the tent – he also loved it!

More playing in the tent

Gia loves to play baseball!!!!

Daddy & little girl

Hello Blue Eyes!

Daddy with his 2 kids

Opening gifts

Gifts: The History Channels “The Bible” and 2 sets of sausages from Pottstown

Me & the kids, Oliver would hold the beef stick up to my nose and tell me I was Pinnochio

Papa & his Girl

Cousins eating dessert…this is how I found them all huddled under the tree :0)

Strawberry Picking

I told Dusty that this year I wanted to go pick strawberries with the kids.

1. Because I never have
2. I thought they would love it
3. Nothing beats fresh strawberries

So, he told me where I could go & I looked up their website (Sat. or Sun.) and they said check back in a few weeks…Well this morning I got on facebook & saw a friend of mine had taken her kids there! I checked their page & turns out they just opened yesterday! So prepped the kids to go strawberry picking!

We got to Schaer’s around 10:30 had to wait 5-10 min. for the tractor to come pick us up & then we were dropped off in the field to pick on our designated row, and NOT any of the ones around us…Are you laughing thinking “yeah right” well they actually did pretty good! I had to remind them, a lot, but they caught on.

Oliver did a great job picking! He probably picked 1/4 of the strawberries, Gia def. ate WAY more than she picked and pretty much all she did was eat :0)

I got around 16 lbs. of strawberries & paid about $26 ($1.59/lb) So what did I do with that many??
– Froze 2 bags
– Lots of Fresh (Strawberry Shortcake perhaps? I have the best recipe if you want it!)
– Lots of Freezer Jam! YUMMM….
– And I sold 4 1/2 lbs to Nana :0)

Well worth the time & money! Enjoy the pictures!

Waiting patiently for the tractor to come & get us.

This is what she did…Ate Strawberries :0)

Oliver enjoyed them also

and again, I think I said “do I have something on my head???” to get him to actually look up…which might be why I am getting that strange look…

Yummy Strawberries!

Oliver did a great job picking! He would fill his basket & pour it into the big one & kept going!

Cheese…

Our group shot! This is all of our strawberries…

On the tractor ride heading back.

Vacation – Sea World

When we initially talked about going on vacation I said I wanted a beach and Dusty googled all the Sea World’s in North America. We narrowed our to vacation to either Texas or Florida. Due to cost & distance we chose Florida. Isn’t that pretty cute though, we just had to go to Sea World! :0)

So for Dusty’s birthday present I said okay let’s go! It was about an hour away from where we were staying, not bad! We headed out at around 9ish got gas & a starbucks & arrived around 10:30. I was really excited that we were going during an off time so it wouldn’t be so crazy. Spring Break was over & School wasn’t out for the summer yet. It was a beautiful day, trying at times but overall a great memory! We left at 7, when the park closed & the kids slept VERY well that night!

Here are lots of pictures :0)

Watching their first show!

We went ahead and bought food passes for $10 per person (3 of us) for the day, so $30 total our first meal alone would have been at least $40 – Great deal!!!

Enjoying the yummy fruit!

Being eaten by a shark!

My favorite animal! Oliver hated the smell :0)

Manatee

Mommy & Gia

Family picture…Oliver refused to be in it :0)

More Manatee’s

Dolphin Show – it was AMAZING!!!

They had people dressed like birds & all sorts of stuff going on from up above

Surfing the Dolphins

Snack time! (this was including in our lunch pass too!)

Oliver petting the sting ray

Funnel Cake! Highlight of my day!

Oliver greatly enjoyed it also!

Sitting with the Bear!

Riding the Merry Go Round – Oliver loved it, Gia hated it.

Riding the Train ride – if they were older they could have rode on a lot more things. Oh well :0)

We let them pick out 2 things from the store that fit in their budget. Oliver got a shark & penguin, Gia got a whale (she picked the pink – not us!) and a penguin

All being eaten by a shark!

Feeding the sting rays – it took me 3 tries but I got enough courage to let it suck the shrimp out of my fingers…pretty cool!