Week 21 - Ugh

It's taken everything I have to post this week.  Yeah, pretty sad given all the time I spend on the computer each day at work.  You'd think I could find a few minutes to do this one little post.

If it weren't for the fact I actually work more often than not when I'm at work.  And don't want anything to do with the computer outside of work.  Add to that another cold that's been slow to leave and it's been a really rough week.

But here I am, last minute on the last day of the week.  Putting up my post as promised.

Brianne tried to snuggle with me one night this week and put her head on my stomach.  I've not really pouched out yet, so it really doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary.  She realizes (sorta) that there's a baby in mommy's tummy, but I highly doubt that's what she's thinking about when she lays her head against it. Or kicks at me as I change her clothes.  But this time, the baby was moving around as she laid her head down.  I can't help but believe she felt the baby and didn't realize it because within seconds of her laying down, the baby started kicking in the same general area.  She responded with a "Hey! Stop that!" and lifted her head to give me a dirty look like I'D done something.  It was over after that and she's not felt the baby since, but it was pretty entertaining in the moment.

Once again, I really have nothing to complain about with the pregnancy.  No maternity clothes yet (yay!) and down a couple more pounds (double yay!), but I can say that I'm becoming more sensitive to the temperature.  You'd think 75 is a pretty nice, comfy temperature.  Usually it's fine.  But by midday I'm dying and ready to turn it down and get the AC going.  Think I'm going to have to move the fan that's behind me to the desk so it's blowing on me.  It's too early for this to be happening already.  Going to be a long, hot summer...

Save a cowboy, ride a horse

I just couldn't help myself!

At Kidfest, they had a 4H group outside with their horses that was selling rides for a few dollars.  Brianne's love affair with horses has only grown, so when I saw the horses I knew we would be making a trip over there by the end of the morning.

She was in such a foul mood when we headed over that way - she had gotten a free balloon inside the exhibit hall and promptly released it into the air.  Of course, she wanted another one and I couldn't find another one anywhere.  The crowds were a big pain and I really wasn't in the mood to keep traipsing about and making nicey nice talk with vendors in exchange for free junk all in the hopes we'd find another free balloon.

Once we got over to the horses, she got so excited.  The concept of "wait your turn" was completely forgotten and we wanted our turn NOW.  It was all I could do to manage the diaper bag and the bag of junk we had picked up, not to mention a squirming two year old that was doing everything she could to get to a horse pen.  With all the rain we'd gotten the few days before, the field was a waterlogged mud pit at that point, so that definitely added another dimension to the moment I could have done without.

When they came up to Brianne with a helmet to wear as she rode the horse, her excitement exploded and she took off.  I thought there would be someone walking next to her as well as the teen leading the horse, but no, she was on her own.  I could have died right then and there for fear she'd fall off the horse, but I literally could do nothing.  The mud was even worse in the pen and with everything I was juggling, I was going to be more of a hazard than help by going in there.  So I watched as my little girl got on the horse and started her ride.

The helmet was way too big for her head, so she kept trying to shove it up so she could see.  Only problem is that meant she had to take one of her hands off the horse to do it.  Every single time she did it my heart stopped.  All I could see was her tumbling off the horse and into the mud.  My only consolation was that the helmet was there and adults were close by watching everything from inside the pin.  That didn't help me enough, especially as she did this again, and again, and again, and again...  One thing I did notice though was her incredible balance.  At one point she took both hands off (I swear I almost stroked out that time) and even with the horse continuing to plod through the mud, she held her balance perfectly and didn't get jostled or anything.  I was completely shocked but at the same time so relieved!  I made a mental note as the ride came to an end that I needed to look into children's riding lessons when I got back to the house that afternoon...

She was beside herself when they pulled her off the horse.  To say I was mortified with my two year old was an understatement.  I dragged her off to the car, not an easy feat in the  mud and carrying a diaper bag and junk bag, and listened to her wail and scream about how much she wanted to ride the horses.  It took five minutes after we left before she calmed down.  Even then, she didn't forget about the horse.

Our new adventure

After we left Kidfest, I told Brianne I was going to go find her a bicycle to learn how to ride.  I asked her if she would like to learn how to ride a bicycle and her response was "No bike, no bike!".  So I asked her "Well, if you're not going to ride a bike then what are you going to ride?"  to which she quickly responded "A horse".

Needless to say, she was going to have to settle for a bike.  I mean, where would we keep a horse. :)

It didn't take long for her to warm to the idea of a bike.  Especially when I started to get them off the shelf to see what she could and couldn't fit on at this point.  To my dismay, this was the only bike there that fit her properly.  I guess I could have bought one for her to grow in to, but at the same time how was she going to learn how to ride a bike that she couldn't put both feet on the pedals?  So, here it is.  Her Pinkalicious bicycle.  She loves the Pinkalicious books, so of course this was a hit.  It's so pink...shudder!

Week 20 - Ultrasound (again!)

But this was a fun ultrasound!  Especially because the baby was so wiggly and active.  This makes the third ultrasound and we seem to be on track with the last pregnancy because once again, they weren't able to see everything they wanted to see - specifically the heart and kidneys.  Kinda important organs, so while everything else looks great and they have no reason to think anything is wrong, they want to look again at my next appointment.

These pictures were much better, so more than happy to share.

Apparently, the baby is measuring a little smaller than "average" at this point in the pregnancy.  Whatever that means.  I'm sure things will quickly change.  Brianne was right on target with her size and weight at this point.  It wasn't until the last month or two of the pregnancy that she grew into such a big baby.

Week 19 - Nice and quiet

I've been trying to think of something to put up here all week and I've come up with nothing.  At least nothing baby related.  Then again, the status quo isn't necessarily a bad thing, is it?

That's OK.  It's been a while since I did a Brianne post, so I'll save any baby news for that.

Week 18 - FLU!

The most momentous event of last week was getting Brianne's flu bug.  I hate being sick!  I've been blessed with a very strong immune system and very rarely get sick, let alone get the flu.  In fact, I'm more likely to get a cold than I am the flu.  So, imagine my surprise when I got hit with it.  I had a feeling I was in trouble.  Joe had been sick a week and a half earlier, Brianne got sick a couple days before..the writing was on the wall.

I spent most of Sunday on the couch, dozing in and out while trying to keep Brianne out of trouble.  Joe had to work (I really hate his boss every other Sunday), so he couldn't stay home to help.  I was blessed that Brianne decided to take a nap with me that afternoon.  Yay!!  She doesn't do that very much anymore, so when she wanted to snuggle I didn't object.  During our second showing of Hercules, she passed out and slept right there next to me for who knows how long.  I am so grateful for that little blessing because without it, I can honestly say I wouldn't be feeling better already.  Baby definitely didn't move around much that I could feel while I was sick, just little pats here and there.  Today however we seem to be making up for lost time because as I'm typing I just got the biggest kick I've had in several days. :)

Too close

Last Friday afternoon was a really long afternoon.

The forecasters were warning residents for days that things would be bad on Friday, but this was more than I think anyone saw coming.  Especially since there had already been a crazy round of weather with tornadoes early in the week.  

I've never been a fan of tornadoes.  I saw a horrific movie about them in elementary school during tornado awareness week that both scared and scarred me.  My parents could tell you stories about how crazy I was growing up - I was so scared whenever bad thunderstorms blew up that I would do the craziest things.  Like taking all my toys and favorite things into the basement at the sound of a tornado watch because I didn't want to lose my things.  It got better as I got older, but it will never completely go away.  I swear our realtor thought I was a loony toon for insisting on only considering homes that had a basement.  In my mind, who in their right mind would build let along buy a house without a basement in an area prone to tornadoes??  Granted, you may never live to see a tornado come through, but why take the chance when you have the option? 

Some early morning storms blew through on Friday that weren't too bad, but they weren't all that calm either. When I got up to let the dogs out and felt how warm it was outside even though those storms just blew through, I knew we were in trouble.  Usually, after a decent thunderstorm, there's a coolness to the air and a smell that's hard to describe.  It's a clean smell, but it's crisp too - probably because of the coolness.  On Friday, neither was the case.  It rained a couple more times that morning, but nothing more than a couple heavy downpours.

Quilting

I received some unfinished quilts a long time back and they've been sitting where I put them ever since they arrived.  They haunt me regularly, more so than other projects I have laying around that have yet to be finished.  Not sure why, but I have some theories.  Regardless of what they are, I happened to find myself in a really random situation at the end of October which started me down the road to maybe finishing one of the quilts.

Our patio wall has two door-length windows plus the patio door.  These doors are made out of steel and the window molding around the panes are too narrow to mount anything inside.  We've tried a couple different things and none have worked.  The solution that lasted the longest was more of a last-ditch effort than something we really liked and even that had started to look pretty pathetic.  So, one afternoon during a really boring meeting, I stumbled on a blog that someone runs that has all kinds of crafty things on it.  One of those things was a quick "how to make curtains" tutorial.  The tutorial itself didn't catch my eye so much as the fabric.  It was so vibrant and contemporary.  Next thing I know, I'm looking up the designer's website which led me to looking for fabric stores that carry that line.  I quickly found one in Louisville and decided I'd go check it out that weekend.  By the way, it was a quilting store.