Baby Post- Week 33

Week 33 started out with a bang...Monday I woke up with a cold and yesterday I got to take a trip to the ER!  Yep, I scheduled a doctor's appointment for Tuesday at 8:00am to talk to them about my cold.  I wanted to make sure it was just a cold and not something worse.  Well, I had a slight fever of 99, and when the nurse took my pulse it was almost 100 beats per minute.  She left, came back, took my pulse again, and decided that I needed an EKG (that's when they hook you up to a machine to get a more accurate look at what your heart is doing).  Well, the EKG said my pulse was up to 130, which meant that I was experiencing tachycardia (when your heart beats too fast, basically).  The doctors decided I should go to the emergency room to get some more tests done and make sure you were still doing ok.  When I got there they did another EKG, monitored your heartbeat, which was slightly lower than usual, but still normal, and tested my blood to make sure I wasn't dehydrated or anemic.  Luckily, all of the tests said I was ok; my pulse had pretty much gone back to normal and my fever was down to 98.  They didn't really say what caused all this to happen, but a couple of nurses told me that a fever (which was probably caused by my cold) could sometimes make your pulse go up.  Maybe that was it.

I got a little nervous when they told me I needed to go get monitored, because the last time they told me that, when I was expecting Cam, they decided to induce labor the next day!  I was 40 weeks along last time, so it wasn't really a shock when they wanted to induce, but this time it got me thinking...I'm not ready for you to get here yet!!  There is still so much to do...or maybe not too much.  Maybe I've just hit that panic mode that sets in a few weeks before the baby.  Maybe I'm nesting.  Maybe thinking about the possibility of you coming early has motivated me to get those last few things done so I can relax and just look forward to your arrival :}  So, as excited as I am to meet you, you should stay in there a little longer, get bigger and stronger, and let Mommy get a couple more things checked off the to-do list!

Other than being sick and having to spend the day with a bunch of doctors yesterday, things have been going really well!  We're having a lot of fun in Georgia. Last week we had an awesome Thanksgiving.  Your dad got to come spend it with us, which was an unexpected surprise!  He got here Wednesday and we had a date night at Longhorn's while Grandma and Grandad watched Cam for us.  We had a great time eating and relaxing on Thursday, then on Friday we went to pick out our Christmas tree.  Cam had a great time running around, trying to find the perfect tree!  That night we went downtown to the square to watch all the trees and shops get lit up with Christmas lights.  What a beautiful town!  

Photo found here

I'm so glad he got to do some Christmas-y things with us...even though he won't be here with us on Christmas day, it felt like he was still a part of the Christmas season :} Saturday he went back to El Paso. I think it was harder to say goodbye this time, but it was definitely worth the extra time we got to spend together. I felt more of a sense of closure this time...everything felt/feels a little more real now. I think I'm moving out of "denial" and am beginning to reach the "acceptance" phase now. The sooner we get this show on the road, the sooner it will be over!!

In other baby news, I got an awesome Black Friday deal on some cloth diapers from Diaper Junction.  I'm going to do a follow up post with more details later, after I've tried the three different brands I ordered.  Stay tuned!

Musings on a Cloudy Day

I walked into the nursery closet this morning looking for a paintbrush to finish painting a lamp for Jude's room, and I stumbled upon a piece of folded paper with unfamiliar handwriting in pencil (Dad must have found it while he was cleaning up and getting ready to work on the nursery).  When I looked more closely at the paper, I realized that it was my great-grandmother's writing.  It was a recipe for canning dill pickles.  And on the other side was a to-do list: Meet someone at 10:00am, pick up prescription...I wished that she was still around to teach me how to can fruits and veggies.  I unfolded the paper and saw that inside was a letter written to my great-grandmother from my grandfather in 1983!  He told her that along with the letter he had included a recording of himself singing "How Great Thou Art" at a church function, and that he planned on singing another one soon called "Because He Lives."  I have heard both of these recordings he mentioned, so reading about them  immediately brought Granddaddy's voice to my mind.  I wished that he was still around to sing in his beautiful, powerful voice to my kids.  What an  unexpected and pleasant surprise to find this tiny little piece of family history that brought up such sweet memories. 

As I was humming the lyrics to "Because He Lives," for some reason I started thinking about the election results.  I've seen so many comments this morning about being afraid for America's future.  But, because Jesus lives, "all fear is gone."  God is in control, and we should have faith in his plan for our country. 

Because He lives
I can face tomorrow
Because He lives
All fear is gone
Because I know
He holds the future
And life and is worth the living
Just because He lives

I think another important thing to remember is that we are still a free nation.  Regardless of the specific policies of the current president, we still have the freedom to vote for our leaders, we still have freedom of religion, we still have free speech, we still have opportunities for ourselves and our children to get an education, we still have opportunities to get jobs (as difficult as it may be to find one, right now), we still have access to competent medical providers, and women have all of these things as well!  We still have choices, and we still have so much that others don't.  And I think we should still be thankful for that.

Is This the Real Life? Is This Just Fantasy?

Well, here I am in Georgia.  Just sitting here while my husband is on the road back to El Paso.  He left this morning a little over two hours ago.  Cam and I said our goodbyes to Josh this morning with only a few tears.  I don't think I would have cried at all if Cam hadn't started hugging him and pulling away from me, wanting Josh to hold him...that was pretty much the worst thing E.V.E.R.  :{  I think the reason I haven't been very emotional or cried about it, like really cried about it, is because I still don't think things have really sunk in yet.  It's all still kind of surreal.  I've been trying so hard to forget about what's going on, focus on moving and enjoying time together at home, and push my feelings about the "D" word out of the way that I think I've almost made myself a little numb to the reality that we're not going to see each other for 10-ish months.  Shew.  Hea-vy. 

Wives who have been through deployments: did you find that for the most part you felt this way the whole time, or did it seem pretty real from the get-go?  Did reality set in gradually or hit you all at once?  If so, when?  I know everyone's experience is different because everyone deals with their emotions differently...I'd just like to hear your stories so maybe I'll feel a little more prepared.

Anyway, on a different note, we had a great time these past couple of weeks!  Our visit was jam packed, of course.  We had a Halloween party with my parents' neighbors, went to the pumpkin farm, visited with some college friends, took a trip to Charlotte to visit Josh's dad, grandparents, and mom (where they all spoiled Cam rotten!), worked on finishing up Cam's room and the nursery, and had a baby shower.  I haven't loaded any pictures yet, but I'll make a post with more details and pictures soon.  It was such a wonderful way for us to spend our last few days together...Josh and I even got to go on a date to our all-time favorite restaurant! 

Also, I'm 30 weeks today.  Only 10ish more to go before baby Jude makes his big appearance!   thebump.com said I should start packing my hospital bag...already?! 

Baby Post- Week 27

Well, Jude, you are the size of a rutabaga.  According the thebump.com, that is.  These fruit and veggie comparisons seem pretty arbitrary to me...last week you were the size of a head of iceberg lettuce!  Oh well.  I think what they're trying to say is that you should be between 1.5 and 2.5 pounds right now :}

I can pretty much guarantee that you'll be much cuter than a rutabaga.

 

 

So, we're getting down to the last few days before we make the big move.  We're nowhere near ready, but we've made some headway on getting our stuff packed and things ready to go.  Last week we had a yard sale and did pretty well.  We still had a ton left over that I think we'll just donate to the thrift shop.  One thing about moving a lot is that it cuts down on the amount of stuff that accumulates...although we still have plenty! 

 

It will be a little sad to leave this house.  Not only is it a really nice house, it's the place that your dad and I have lived in the longest!  We've been here almost 17 months.  We were at our townhouse at Ft. Benning for 6 months, then in our apartment in El Paso for 6 months, so we feel like we've been at this house forever!  I think we're ready to move on though, and start our next phase of Army life: deployment.  It had to come sooner or later :{  We've been really lucky so far, I guess.  Since we've been married, Dad has been home for every major event and holiday, which is very unusual, but it has been nice.  I won't list everything he'll miss after he leaves, but it's a good bit.  And, of course, the thing I'm most upset about him missing is your birth.  He won't get to meet you until you're around nine months old, and Cameron will be almost two years old when he gets back.  I try not to think about it too much because it makes me both sad and angry, but we knew this was going to happen and were willing to accept it.  The deployment is temporary, but our family is forever...I'm already looking forward to our reunion next year.  But I'm trying to focus on all the fun we will have at grandma and grandaddy's house.  I've already started planning things for you, me, and Cam to do together, like go to the library once a week, go walk around the park and play on the playground, maybe visit Starbucks a time or two (that's more for Mommy ;} )...we will get through this and be stronger when it's over.

 

Whew...I hadn't planned on this post getting so heavy :/   I meant to give a quick update about you, mention the progress we're making on packing, say that I'm getting my glucose test tomorrow (hopefully I won't have gestational diabetes), and talk about a visit from my friend Marie and her family!  One of my best friends came to visit us this past weekend!  I haven't seen her since she was in our wedding, two and a half years ago!  We met almost nine years ago at Young Harris College when we got assigned as roommates and have been friends ever since.  This was our dorm:

 

 

Oh man...good times and bad.  But mostly good :}  It was a little surreal watching our kids play together this weekend.  Who would have thought on our trip to Walmart our first night together in 2004 when we picked out those god-awful room decorations, that in 2012 we would be sitting half way across the country, both expecting our second child, talking about being moms and Army wives!?  Crazy.  I'm so glad she and her family got to visit us before we left.  And I hope it's not two and a half more years before I see her again!

 

Anyway, that's all for now I guess...happy 27 weeks!

The Cloth Diaper Chronicles: The Journey Begins

Well, we're entering day 5 of our cloth diaper adventure.  We're not "full time" yet, but the plan is to get there eventually.  I wanted to start recording my experiences and opinions of the different cloth diaper brands and styles mostly for myself to keep track of the ones I like and don't like, and also as a reference for some of my friends who are also considering using cloth.  So here is my experience so far :}

I'm not sure what got me interested in cloth diapers...I thought about it several months ago when Cam was still pretty small, but I watched some videos while I was researching (I pretty much can't do anything without thoroughly doing my "homework," as my dad says :} ), and, eww.  No thanks.  However, recently, more and more of my friends have started cloth diapering, and they love it!  I've never heard of anyone who has regretted using cloth diapers.  And, since my stomach is somewhat stronger now, I decided to look into it again.  The general consensus is that cloth diapers are a cheaper and more eco-friendly way to diaper your kids.  I read that families save about $1,000 on diapers if they use cloth for one child, and even more if they continue using the same diapers for subsequent children.  Nice.  I also read that a family goes through an average of 60 diapers a week per child until they are potty trained.  Now, I'm not great at math as we all know...but I think that means you would use 6,240 diapers, assuming your child is potty trained by age 2 (most take longer!).  That's a lot of garbage!  Literally!  And apparently it takes between 100-500 years for non-biodegradable diapers to decompose.  I watched Captain Planet.  I know that's not good for the environment.  We gotta bring pollution down to zero, people!  Ok, that's a little dramatic...but, all that info got me to at least consider giving cloth a chance.  And so it began.

Holy AIOs and diaper sprayers, there's a lot of info out there!!  It is incredibly overwhelming to try to figure this stuff out.  I tried to educate myself on every single brand and style and try to determine the best option, which is impossible, and finally decided to take the plunge and just buy some darn diapers.  You gotta start somewhere!  The only brand I could find that is easily accessible to buy at a physical store as opposed to online was gDiapers at Babies R Us.  They look like this:

 

Pretty cute, right?  They have Velcro closures that fasten in the back so that babies have a harder time figuring out how to unfasten them.  These are considered to be all-in-two diapers or AI2s.  This particular AI2 has a thin cloth outer shell (as pictured), with a plastic liner that snaps in so it's removable.  You can either use cloth inserts or biodegradable disposable inserts with the gDiapers.  When you change the baby, just take out whichever insert you decided to use, and either throw the disposable away (or flush or compost it) or put the cloth in the laundry bag.  If it's a big mess, simply unsnap the plastic liner and replace with a fresh one.  The idea is that the mess is contained in the plastic so the cloth outer shell doesn't get dirty and can be used for several changes in a row.  That's the idea.  Well, it did pretty well at containing the big messes (if you know what I mean), but I found that since there is nothing in the plastic liner to anchor the insert and keep it in place, it just bunches up as the baby moves around and basically doesn't do its job of absorbing messes of the more liquid persuasion :/  We had several big leaks, and I've decided that the gDiapers are not for us.  Now, there are different brands of the AI2s, of course, some of which you can snap the cloth inserts in place so they hopefully wouldn't move around and bunch as much...so I'm not going to give up on the AI2s just yet, we just haven't purchased any more.  One thing I did actually like about these was that they were very trim and didn't add a lot of bulk to Cam's bottom.

My friend let me use some of her FuzziBunz brand diapers so I could see how we liked them.  Here's what they look like:

 

These are pocket diapers.  That means that you stuff cloth inserts into the outer shell.  (there is no disposable option).  When you change the diaper, you have to put on a whole new one...there is no reusing these multiple times.  You will have more laundry, but these also seem to be more effective and less "fussy," shall we say.  If you have your shell stuffed with inserts and ready to go, it takes exactly the same amount of effort as a disposable diaper.  I like that.  No dealing with a plastic liner, no bunching issues.  The ones I tried had a snap closure (as pictured), which will take some getting used to, but I think this brand also has the Velcro option.  They are bulkier, but I don't really have anything bad to say about this brand.  However, we didn't try them overnight.

Speaking of, last night was the first time we tried to cloth diaper overnight. 

EPIC. FAIL. 

 

5:30pm- put on a BumWear brand pocket diaper that I just purchased used from a military wife.  It looks like this (same super cute dinosaur pattern any everything!):

 

 

A $27 diaper, by the way.  No, I didn't pay that much...it was included in an assortment of brands she was selling.  Anyway, I stuffed it with two gDiaper cloth inserts.  Good to go.  Ha...haha.

 

1:00am- Cam wakes up.  Nothing unusual about that (unfortunately).  I go to check on him.  Well, shoot.  The two cloth inserts: soaked.  The BumWear diaper shell: soaked.  His pajama pants: soaked.  His sheets: luckily, just damp.  Umm, yeah...fail.  I just put a Huggies Overnite diaper on him after that.  We might just be daytime cloth users for this  guy :/ 

 

So these three brands are the only ones I've tried so far.  I'm looking forward to trying the rest of the brands I got yesterday.  *sigh*  Trial and error...and a lot of patience.  We'll see how it goes!  It'll be worth it, right?

Try It Tuesday

So, for this Try It Tuesday I decided to try out a Green Chile and Rice Casserole recipe I found on Pinterest for dinner. 

Here are the ingredients:

Long grain and wild rice, chopped green chiles, cheddar cheese, and sour cream (I used reduced fat)

 

First, you cook the rice according to the package directions.  Super simple.

 

Then, you mix the chiles with 8oz. sour cream (I used half of this 16oz. container).  Again, super simple :}

Pretty sure even a visual learner like me could figure that out without a picture Ha!

 

Next, you take half of your cooked rice and put it in a greased baking dish, then layer half your sour cream mixture, then half your cheese.  Repeat.  Note: the recipe calls for 16oz. of cheese, but I used about 8oz. and I think that was plenty!

 

Bake at 325 for about 20 minutes.

 

And there you have it!  Cheesy, ricey, green chile goodness!



 

 

Now, it tasted really good the way I did it this time; however, there are a couple things I would do differently next time...I would use the whole 16oz. container of sour cream.  The picture on the recipe I used looked really creamy, but this wasn't creamy at all (that might have something to do with the reduced fat version of sour cream, but I still think it just needed more...I might even mix in some softened cream cheese actually).  I would also use a smaller baking dish.  I had to spread everything really thin.  I think adding some chicken to make it more of a meal than a side would be good.  Other than that, I think it was a hit!  Happy Tuesday!

 

 

Here is the recipe I used:

 

1 (6 ounce) package dry instant long grain and wild rice mix

1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained [the smallest I could find was 4.5oz.]

1 (16 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
2. Prepare the instant long grain and wild rice mix according to package directions.
3. Spread 1/2 the cooked rice mix over the bottom of the prepared baking dish. In a bowl, mix the sour cream and green chiles. Spread 1/2 the sour cream mixture over rice, and top with 1/2 the cheese. Repeat the layers.
4. Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until bubbly.

I found it here.

 

IT'S OK Thursday

Well, it's Thursday again...one day closer to the weekend!  I must say that I've been looking forward to today because it's the only day this week I don't have something going on!  I'm going to spend it getting the house back in order...probably for the last time before I start packing for GA.  Less than a month to go y'all!!  Can I just say that I'm ridiculously excited to see this:

 

and this:

 

 

and THIS!

 

 

 

IT'S OK...

 

that I used paper towels to make coffee this morning because I didn't have time to go to the store and get filters yesterday...hey, sometimes life throws you a "make it work" moment!

 

that my DVR will only record two TV shows tonight even though there are three that I want to record...although it is pretty annoying.  The season premier of Grey's Anatomy trumps Glee.  And I just can't miss Project Runway...

 

to use my "IT'S OK Thursday" post to talk about my belly baby, because I didn't get to do my 24 week post this week...so here goes:

 

I had a checkup appointment on Tuesday and I got to hear baby Jude's heartbeat!  Always so exciting!  The doc didn't tell me the beats per minute (it's usually 150-160), but she was able to find the heartbeat immediately and it sounded really strong.  She also went over the results of the 20 week ultrasound...she said all his little systems looked good and normal and that he's measuring right on track and is in the 50th percentile in weight.  He was about 14 ounces at 20 weeks.  I had gained seven pounds since my last visit, four weeks ago.  Yikes!  Must have been all those birthday goodies I've had this month!  But it's all good, because up until now I had only gained two pounds.  Having a toddler really helps keep the unnecessary weight gain to a minimum!  My blood pressure was decent, which is reassuring because it got really high towards the end of my pregnancy with Cam...that's why they had to schedule me to be induced (Cam had other plans, fortunately!).  I also had to schedule my glucose test.  It's in three weeks...yuck.  Last time that awful red sugar water almost made me pass out!  Hopefully we won't have a repeat of that :/  Anyway, I'm very thankful for a healthy baby boy!! Only 15ish more weeks to go!  Wait, 15 weeks?!  Oh my.  Don't panic...IT'S OK :}