Monday, December 29, 2008

My 1st Pocket Diaper!

I sewed this on 12/23. I used the free RRP diaper pattern found here. I love this pattern, it's so easy, even I could do it! heh =) I've made 6 or 7 now, I believe, and I've gotten better and a little faster at making them since the first. Now, I need to get making some covers. =)

I've got a ton of pics to upload to the girls' blogs, I just have to find the time. Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Christmas Morning

Sunday, December 14, 2008

My Girls... and their favorite man of the season. =)

This was on the 6th, at a Santa's Helpers Event on base, put on by the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society. C had a blast and was so excited to see Santa. D wasn't interested, obviously, although she looked a bit hungry. LOL The guy was an awesome Santa wasn't he? Pictures were taken (for free!) by Joseph Farmer of Firelight Photography.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

quick fix.... ?!?

A while back, we noticed that there was a leak in the wall of the guest bathroom. It must be between the shower head and the bathtub, because it never leaked for the past 2 years of C's baths, but suddenly showed water damage when I started using that shower. We finally called in the work order a few weeks ago. Last week, a maintenance guy came and re-caulked the bathtub. Hmm... Okay. I asked T, "Did you make sure to tell them the leak is in the wall?" He said of course. Today, was round two. The maintenance guy primered the water damage on the wall. (I guess that's what he did, or just put a new layer of wall stuff over it. LOL I'm so home repair knowledgeable, am I not?) He was supposed to paint it I guess, but couldn't because it's pouring rain, and the wall needs to be completely dry. So he's coming back next week to paint. But not to fix the leak. No, of course not. Seriously, why on Earth would he do that?

Friday, December 5, 2008

Lookie what I got to make today!

No... not the baby, she's crossed off my "things to make" list. haha... the diaper! I finally started cloth diapering yesterday for good. I tried for the very first time at the hospital, and lets just say it didn't happen then. I couldn't get the diaper to fold right, and D was more than a little mad, so I decided to wait. I've been using the disposables that I received as gifts, and then yesterday, finally asked my friend Mira to come show me how to do it right. =) *thanks again!*

Well, after D went through almost all of her prefolds yesterday alone, I realized I needed to get on the ball and make some more diapers. I got 2 made today while T and C were at base. I've got two more almost ready to sew if I can get a chance to pin them really quick. I used my friend Mira's tutorial for turning receiving blankets into prefold diapers, posted here (you have to join the forum to see it.) My receiving blankets were smaller though, so they made diapers that are only going to fit for a little while, but that's okay. I'll make more later. I also have a bunch of pocket diapers for when she grows a little bit, too.

After all that practice yesterday, I'm pretty good at putting them on the baby. And D's pretty used to me doing it now, too, which is good.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

So here's how it went....

D's Birth Story

I had a doctor appointment on Tuesday at 8 AM. The doctor checked me, and I was still at 4 cm. We then discussed the options for days to induce. The day would have been Saturday the 29th since a new doctor would have been taking over by then, and that was when he wanted to do it. My family would be leaving the following Tuesday (2nd) so I figured if I was going to have to induce, I'd rather do it sooner than later. The doctor asked if I wanted her to strip my membranes to get things going. I really hadn't even wanted to do that, but I figured if it did help get things moving, then perhaps I could avoid inducement. So we did that. T and I ran errands around base all morning.

Around 10 my contractions started but were very minor. Around lunch time, I had some back pain and thought maybe the stripping had triggered it, but then realized that with how steady each pain was, I was actually feeling my contractions in my back. yay! So, we finished up errands and drove home.

We got home around 1 pm and T went to take a nap. I took care of some last minute emails and getting things together, since my contractions were still steady. I knew we'd be going in later. My grandma was looking very concerned every time I had a contraction. The contractions were still about 7 minutes apart at this point, so I went upstairs to try to take a nap as well. While I rested, my contractions got down to about 4 to 5 minutes apart. I couldn't sleep. So I went back downstairs, and stood/walked around through them, while talking to my mom and grandma, answering C whenever she said anything, and generally enjoying my excitement that was building up.

Finally, around 5 pm my contractions were about every 3 minutes, still minor back labor. We decided to head in so that we could stop by the Commissary and pick up some food since the hospital wouldn't have food for me. I kept getting distracted and finishing up little things around the house =) My family practically had to drag me to the car to get me going. We were finally on the road around 5:30 PM. My contractions slowed a little bit on the ride to base. We made it to the commissary after 6 PM and I had 5 contractions in the store in about 20 minutes lol. I don't know if anyone noticed, but they probably thought I was crazy. My grandma was sure I wasn't going to make it to the hospital. hehe...

So, we finally got the hospital a little before 7 PM. The doctor was already there, as it turned out to be a pretty busy night with 3 or 4 other ladies having their babies! She checked me, and I was still only 4 cm!!! She told me she would not admit me until I was in active labor (since she knew I wanted to go natural.) So, she told me to walk around for a few hours, and come back around 9 pm to be checked again. They let my family and our stuff stay in one of the monitoring rooms, and I got to walking with my mom.

My contractions while walking stayed consistent, and remained as back labor. I called a friend to ask what was best for back labor, since it took me by complete surprise. I was not expecting back labor at all, since the baby was in the right position for weeks. The walking did not seem to be productive with my contractions and it seemed to make the pain worse. My friend told me all fours was best, and a few other things to do that would help. So, we headed back to the room to eat dinner (thankfully I was able to, since I wasn't technically admitted yet) and to labor in the room.

I stayed on all fours for a bit, then wanted to just lay down in Bradley's runner's pose. That really helped me relax through the contractions that were getting stronger, but still staying mostly as back pain, but at this point I was also feeling it around the front as well. I thought for sure things were moving along nicely with the increase in intensity, but when the doctor came to check me again around 10 pm, she found I was still at 4 cm! "You've got to be kidding me!" I said. "After all this?" I felt really disappointed and like things were going to end up not going the way I wanted them to.

At this point, the doctor had the inducement conversation with me. She recommended that we not go home since we live in the further housing neighborhood. She said once things get going, that they were probably going to go fast. So, I could either allow her to break my water, or start on pitocin. Pitocin was out of the question as a first resort. So, I decided to let her break my water.

They finally admitted me, I think it was around 10:30 PM? maybe later (this was when time started to not even matter.) My contractions were getting stronger. She broke my water and within a short amount of time, my contractions were suddenly even closer and even more painful. I told T who was by me, "If this is how it's going to be until I'm 10 cm I don't think I can do it." In my head I thought I was still 4 cm. I thought labor was going to stay at this pain level for hours and hours until I reached 10 cm. I told him I was going to need pain medication.

While they were getting the medication ready I was already talking to the anesthesiologist about the epidural, since I was still feeling the pain full blast, I was seriously considering it. My laboring was hard throughout this waiting time. I suddenly got very hot and sweaty. I remember thinking, "When does this happen? I know I read it. How soon until she's ready? Hours? Minutes?" I couldn't remember. I couldn't concentrate. I couldn't relax even on my side. My back was in constant contractions, I could not relax it, I kept waiting for them to start the IV. I kept thinking, if it's going to be like this all night, I can't... I can't do this. They finally came with the narcotic for the IV, after I don't know how much time.

T told me, "Okay, they got the medicine in." *Note: they did not check my dilation at this point.* Literally two minutes later, I had a pushing contraction.

"My body's pushing," I said out loud to no one in particular. I'm not sure anyone heard or noticed. The epidural lady told me to roll over to the other side of the bed and sit up. I did, had another pushing contraction and fell back over to my side to push. I couldn't not push. "I can't stop pushing," I said again.

The epidural dr. finally went and got my doctor to ask if she wanted to check me before giving me the epidural. She came in and checked and said quickly, "Sheena, you're done. You ready to have this baby?" They must have immediately taken the medicine out, and really I should not have even had it since I was past 8 cm. *T says the medicine was in for about 10 minutes.* They helped adjust me in the bed. I didn't even bother with squatting like I had wanted to, I could tell she was coming already. "Alright, with your next contractions, push." (Like I could have not? lol)

I waited for the next one to arrive.... it took what felt like a few minutes, but I'm sure it was only a few seconds lol, and pushed. I pushed through 4 contractions, and with the last, felt a huge relief of pressure from my belly. I knew she was out. I opened my eyes and looked and saw the doctor pulling her away from me. I knew I wasn't going to get her to my stomach like I had wanted, she was completely blue and purple. She still held her out for me to cut her umbilical cord, only saying to hurry. So I didn't panic, I knew if she had given me even a few seconds to do it myself, then she felt it wasn't a dire emergency. After I cut the cord, they immediately took her to give her oxygen. She was born at 12:06 AM, technically Wednesday morning.

While they worked on her, I delivered the placenta and the doctor started taking care of me. Then apparently, something wasn't quite right, and the doctor said something like, "I'm really sorry to have to do this." I didn't realize what she was talking about, since I had been paying attention to what they were doing to the baby, not to me. Suddenly, she was all over my abdomen practically beating it. Let me tell you, that hurt like nothing I've ever felt before. She had to go inside and for lack of better words, scoop out everything that was keeping me from stopping bleeding. Apparently, if even one piece of the placenta is left in tact, the body will continue to bleed. So, this was torture. She did that, and then massaged/beat my uterus. I was also on pitocin at this point to help my uterus contract. I honestly don't know how long this took but it was torture. I was fighting her the entire time, grabbing her arm and asking her to please stop. *T just told me they didn't do this just once but several times. Every time the doctor came in to check on me.* This hurt worse than my labor! Anyway.... That is definitely an experience I wouldn't wish on anyone.

Finally, the doctor was done doing that, and she told the corpsmen to hurry and give me the baby when they had the first chance. The entire time I was fighting her, and was crying and reaching for my baby. I wanted her. They finally gave her to me, and I was so incredibly happy. I can't even describe it.

Overall, D's birth was so much harder work physically than C's had been, but the recovery was so much easier. I felt pain (that I can't even remember what it felt like) with D, but after she was born, it's true what they say and the pain just disappeared (except for the whole beat down lol). With C, I felt nothing while delivering her, but afterward, recovery was hard. My body had felt like I had been hit by an 18 wheeler, and that was even before all the drugs had worn off.

I was a little disappointed at first when I found out how fast she came after I had accepted the medicine. If I had only realized I was in transition, or had someone told me, I would have just gone through with it without medication. In my head, I thought I had the whole night to go through at that level of pain. Really, though, the doctor should have checked my dilation before giving the medication. Perhaps, it was meant to be that I received that little bit of medication to help with what was going to happen afterward, but still.... I wish I had known.

After they finally gave her to me for good, we were good. She took to breastfeeding right away. The family was ecstatic to finally meet her. C was so excited. I was so proud of C, she was there the entire time, and did really well. I'm so grateful for T's support. I was worried he was going to freak out LOL since last time I was practically smiling the entire time while pushing. I didn't know how he'd handle me feeling everything, and my reaction to it. I'm also so grateful my mom and grandma could be there. And I'm so glad I ended up not getting the epidural. I kind of wish I had gone ahead and hired the doula even though it would have been expensive for the amount of time she would have spent with me, but if I had had one, she would have known I was in transition, and I wouldn't have taken the medication.

But, then again, I think everything happened the way it was meant to. If we have another though, I know I can do it now. I know what to expect with a natural delivery. I think that was my biggest thing to get over, was not knowing. I read so many books, and watched so many birth stories, and I thought I knew, but you just don't until you are experiencing it. Overall, I am happy with my experience, and I would definitely do it again. We have another wonderful baby girl, who I am so excited to get to know and watch grow.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

She's HERE!!!!

Our precious little girl is here! Here are some pics from my mom's camera. Hopefully I'll get to a more detailed post tomorrow. =)
Introducing:
Dl born on November 26th, 2008 @ 12:06 AM
8 lbs 2 oz and 20.5 inches long




Tuesday, November 25, 2008

yay!!!

looks like we will be heading in to base here in a little bit.... contractions are about every 4 to 5 minutes!!!! and staying steady!!!

so exciting!!!!

dr. apt

Had another doctor appointment. Same as the other day. But afterward, my contractions which were about every 10 minutes started getting stronger. Came home anyway, so hopefully they'll stay constant and get stronger, and hopefully we'll be going back in today. Otherwise, they want another monitoring session on Friday and inducement on Saturday. But if we're going to have to induce, I might decide to just do it tomorrow. Hopefully though, my contractions will get stronger and we'll have to go back in today anyway. =)

I'll give another update soon, hopefully, or if not, my mom can leave a comment to update everyone.

Monday, November 24, 2008

[another] Update

We walked around Caltagirone for a few hours today..... and still, nothing. I thought for sure something would start happening. If it hadn't been rainy we would have driven out to Agrigento, then of course something would definitely have happened, lol, since it's quite a ways away, but oh well. My next appointment is tomorrow morning, bright and early. The doctor will be talking to us about "her schedule" for this week, and will undoubtedly recommend an inducement day.
=(

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Guessing Baby's Weight

Here's what we're guessing:

Grandma: 8 lbs 6 oz
Mom: 8 lbs 4.5 oz
T: 8 lbs
Me: 8 lbs 9 oz
C: "uhhhh 3 years old"

Anyone else want to guess?
=)

41 weeks today

I had another monitoring session today. They hooked me up to the wonderful machines again for over 20 minutes. Baby's heartbeat is fine. I was having contractions every 4 minutes, but I couldn't feel them, until I watched the machine, and realized... "Oh, that feeling is a contraction?" lol very weak contractions, so minor, I've been ignoring them for some time now. I'm dilated 2-3 cm now instead of 1-2. I met my new doctor, and while her bedside manner is not the greatest, I do like her method of inducing a lot better than my last doctor's..... that is if we have to resort to inducing. I'm still hoping I won't have to. But if we do, she's going to use an internal medication, if that doesn't work, then break my water, and if that still doesn't get things going, then as a last resort, use pitocin. I asked that if we had to resort to pitocin, once my contractions started up, if we could stop the medication, and she said she would be willing to try. So that was a little comforting. Hopefully I won't have to induce, and if I do, hopefully the internal medication will be enough to get things moving along. I'm very excited, and so happy I've stuck to my plan so far. I really think the only reason I've been able to keep saying no to an inducement is because of my mom and grandma's help. If they weren't here to help with the house, cooking, and C, I think I would have been exhausted by now, and probably would have given in to an inducement even though I didn't want one. So, I'm so grateful for their help. I just hope the baby decides to come soon, so we can all meet her! (and hopefully get a little bit of sight seeing in!!!!)

=D

Friday, November 21, 2008

soooo

I had the tests done today (another trip to base...) My family is already seeing why we're quite tired of living here sometimes lol. I had to be monitored for 20 minutes to watch the baby's heart rate, my heart rate, and contractions. Apparently, I had 2 contractions in that 20 minutes that I didn't even feel. I'm only dilated 1-2 cm. The doctor was talking about inducing Monday or Tuesday (I'd barely be 41 weeks.) But I think I bought some time. If I don't go into labor by Sunday morning, I have to go in for another monitoring/test session. At that time I will meet with the doctor who will be taking over for my doctor (since he's going on vacation.) She will give her recommendation which I'm positive will be an imediate inducement to avoid having a baby on Thanksgiving when "not all the staff will be at the hospital." ugh. We'll see.... I'll give another update when something happens.... or doesn't.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Dr. Apt.

My family made it in okay yesterday. Had another dr. apt today. Frustrating! I'm not dilated, and the baby is not engaged at all! lol she is quite content where she is..... Like I predicted, my doctor started talking about inducing already. I told him I'm not even 41 weeks until Sunday, so he better hold his horses. heh. He's going to start making me go in twice a week for stress tests, amniotic fluid checks, and possible extra ultra sounds. give me a break. ugh. So, we'll see what happens this week. I'm praying that she'll decide to come on her own... and soon.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

just another update

for family that's checking in:

Tuesday @ noon: still waiting.... might have decided on a different name... =)
we'll see.....

hehe

=)

Monday, November 17, 2008

another update

It's Monday night... 11 PM, still no baby. My luck, she'll decide to get things going as we're on our way to the airport to pick up my mom and grandma tomorrow lol. *knock on wood*
=)

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Still Smoking?


Still Smoking? Watch This !! - The best free videos are right here

I'm due today.... and nothing is happening yet...

Today is my due date. Leah is not here. Tony is at work (yay!) And Carlee is keeping me busy. Thankfully, right now she's occupied with playdough. (We've already painted, colored, read, and made & drank some apple cider, her new favorite.) She's definitely keeping me busy....

I'm tired of waiting. I'm so ready to be in the next stage of our life already. I want to hurry up and have my two kids! to be in our new schedule! to get my energy back! to be able to go somewhere without thinking, "Oh, but I might go in to labor." I'm even missing out on a Christmas Card workshop today =( boo. It's okay though, I'm still buying the supplies so I can make them here at home.

My mom and grandma are going to be visiting soon. They're coming in on Tuesday. I'm so excited! Hopefully Leah will be here by then... we'll see. I'm hoping she doesn't wait too long. I want my mom and grandma to spend as much time with all of us as possible. I don't want to spend it being tired and eventually in the hospital. Speaking of which. Another reason I hope Leah decides to come soon, is I know my doctor is going to be pushing for an inducement at 41 weeks at the most. I really, really, really, do not want to induce. He's making a big deal about the weight I put on in the last few weeks. Even though, really, it's not much and I haven't changed ANYTHING in how I'm eating at all. (Besides, I ate less healthy and put on more weight with Carlee, so I'm so not worried about it.) He's just weird, wants to be in control, and is beginning to irritate me.

anyway... time for lunch. Send labor vibes my way!!! =)

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Still.....

waiting.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

39 weeks today!

39 weeks and counting..... =) my friends were guessing the day she'd pick to arrive. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday were their guesses. Tony decided to take Thursday. We shall see...
=D
hopefully she won't keep us waiting for long....

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

chaos caught up with me

This past weekend I crashed. LOL The few weeks leading up to Halloween, I had so much going on. But at the same time, I really need to stay busy, or Carlee and I will go insane in the house. =) Yesterday, I spent all day organizing some MOMS Club stuff, taking care of business, etc. Today, I went on a walk with a friend, got some sunshine (it was so warm this morning!) and then we let the kids play at the park for a good while. That walk took all my energy. After lunch, I pretty much just lounged trying to get my energy back. The skies turned gray, and then I ended up dozing in and out of sleep while Carlee was being good and entertaining herself. After a short nap, I got to upload some stuff to Splitcoast Stampers. =) I'm not posting it on my other blog until I go to our next card swap. But I really like one of them. My poor craft blog has been ignored... I haven't had much time to craft at all. Although I did get to go to a stamp-a-stack for Thanksgiving cards. I loved them, and it was a lot of fun. Nice to do something creative. Now I'm about to head off to Bible study. We're reading Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. It's an awesome book. I have a lot to work on. =)

Well, this turned out to be a long rambling of sorts, eh? =) Hope everyone's week is going good. I have another doctor's appointment tomorrow.... these weekly appointments are starting to irritate me..... lol

Monday, November 3, 2008

So... I thought

the baby was going to decide to come last night..... Had my first contraction at about 11 PM. Had a few more throughout the night, just enough to keep me awake, anticipating things to happen, water breaking, more contractions, anything! But no... they just stayed very mild and far apart. Yay for false labor! lol But hopefully this means she'll be here soon!!!!! I did practice my relaxation and feel pretty good about that. Carlee also kept getting up throughout the night, so it was a rough night. Thankfully she let me sleep in this morning. =)

On an unfortunate note, my doula had to go to the states for an emergency. =( I'm praying for her and her family, and also for me since she won't be here if I go into labor before my due date. Keep us in your thoughts! =)

Monday, October 27, 2008

10/27 Vegan Menu Plan Monday

My 2nd week of menu planning! Last week went pretty good dinner wise. I used my plan maybe half of the week? Is that normal? lol But it was nice to have something to fall back on. I switched a few nights around, and on one night, Tony ended up cooking so that was nice. Another night, I ended up throwing together a quick shepherd's pie that was really good. All I did was use a can of Amy's Lentil soup, added in some frozen green beans, peas, corn, and carrots. Let that cook for a few minutes while I made some instant mashed potatoes. (Yeah, it probably would have been better with fresh mashed potatoes, but I was exhausted... lol) After the soup mixture simmered down for a bit, I poured it into a casserole dish, topped that with the mashed potatoes, then sprinkled crushed french fried onions on top. Then baked it in the oven for about 15 minutes. Even Tony said it was good. I thought so, especially since it was literally just thrown together. =)

Here's my plan for this week:
*Okay, had to edit because 1) wasn't feeling up to cooking tonight and 2) I completely forgot Friday is my birthday LOL!

Monday (if I feel better by this evening):
Broccoli Soup (my personal creation, I'll come back and add in the recipe)
Otherwise, whatever Tony wants to cook. =)
*Didn't feel better, so Tony made spaghetti with a ton of various veggies added in. Super yummy. Moved soup to Wednesday.

Tuesday:
"Meaty" Slow Cooker Chili from Geek, Poet, Housewife Wannabe

Wednesday (duty day):
Broccoli soup (my recipe... I'll add later.)

Thursday:
Fettucini with Artichokes and Beans (my current favorite dinner) with lemon juice squeezed on top, and green beans on the side

Friday:
Hopefully going to the Agriturismo! or at least a restaurant =)

Saturday:
Morningstar Chi'kin strips, broccoli rice (made with leftover soup,) and another vegetable.

Sunday:
Bean Tacos, spanish rice, and fried corn

I'm participating in:
Menu Plan Monday hosted by Organizing Junkie
Veggie Menu Monday hosted by Geek, Poet, Housewife Wannabe
Veg*n Meal Plan Monday hosted by In a Garden Somewhere

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Pregnancy Pics!!!!

Even when I was pregnant with Carlee, I wanted pregnancy pictures, but wasn't able to get them done. This pregnancy, I am so blessed to have a really good friend, Angie, who is a really really awesome photographer! This past Saturday we did a shoot together and I loved soooo many of the shots. We even had to deal with low lighting due to thunderstorm clouds that came in, and with Carlee's weird smiles and constant moving and they still came out great! These are my super super favorites. :)










Is she awesome or what?!
Thank you so much Angie!!!!!
=D

Monday, October 20, 2008

Vegan Meal Planning Monday!

I've decided to try my hand at meal planning. I have a friend who does once or twice a month cooking, and I would love to eventually get there, but I think I need to start small. lol. She raves about OAMC, how she's never in the kitchen and that it's so nice to have dinners ready to go. That would be soooooo nice.... But for me, organization needs to come one step at a time LOL otherwise, I will get overwhelmed.

This week, I'll probably be trying a bunch of new, quick, and easy recipes in order to get a small collection to share with some good friends of mine that have volunteered to cook us meals when the baby gets here. Do I have awesome friends or what?! :D

Here's the sites that got me interested:



Organizing Junkie who hosts Menu Plan Monday






In a Garden Somewhere who hosts Veg*n Meal Plan Monday


Monday:
Tortilla Casserole
*Review: This was pretty good. For the two cups of vegetables that the recipe calls for, I used: 1 can of rinsed & drained black beans, 1 cup of frozen corn, and 1 cup of chopped red/yellow/green bell peppers. Obviously I went over the 2 cups, but it wasn't too many vegetables, I thought it was just right. I used only 1 onion, since my hubby isn't too fond of them. One was enough for us. On the other hand, one clove of garlic wasn't near enough. I actually used 4 small cloves since all of mine were small, and next time I will use even more. Instead of the jalapeno, I added 1/2 of a 4 oz can of green chilies. I can't make things even remotely spicy if I want Carlee to eat it. I skipped the nondairy cheeses since I can't get them here. So, with all those changes, it was good. I didn't put near enough salt in while cooking (I never guess salt amounts right!) And I think that since I didn't go for spicy hot, that I need to add some different spices to it, just oregano was not enough. Overall though, it was a quick and pretty good dinner. Not great, but good. The best thing about this recipe was that Carlee ate all of hers, not complaining once! We didn't even have to count bites or promise dessert! So, this recipe will definitely be a keeper for that reason alone.

Tuesday:
"Hamburger" Macaroni Casserole
*Review: I really liked this dinner! So easy, and tasty. Then again I love those French Fried Onions. I am so glad they took the hydrogenated oils out of them too. (Well, the brand I get anyway.) (Unfortunately, the only tomato soup they had at the store had HFCS in it. boo.) This dinner was so quick to throw together, and I really liked the mix of flavors. Tony on the other hand didn't care for this dinner too much. This is usually how it goes for us with dinners. If I love it, he doesn't. If he loves it, I don't. lol. He said, "it's allright, but all I taste is the onions." I could taste all the other spices too, and I really liked the sweetness of the corn added in. Carlee liked it, so again.... it's a keeper. =)

Wednesday:
Southwestern Pasta

Thursday:
(Tony has duty so we'll eat Carlee's favorite meal)
Morningstar Chikin Strips cooked in coconut oil, garlic and olive oil cous cous, and peas (super easy!)

Friday:
Pizza night - Fresh basil pesto and tomato pizza. (Tony's absolute favorite) Someone posted the pesto recipe that I use from the Vegan Planet cookbook here. Add chopped tomatoes on top (we use cherry tomatoes) and you have yourself a super yummy pizza. This time, I'll be adding white beans on top for some added protein to see how we like it. *You can refrigerate any pesto you don't use for up to a few weeks.... trust me, it probably won't last that long though because it's so good*

Saturday:
Pistachio Pasta or Gnocchi *I will post this recipe soon*

Sunday:
Mediterranean Cannellini Bean Soup

I'll try to post reviews of all the new recipes as we try them.
=)

Here are some other vegetarian meal planners for this week:

Friday, October 17, 2008

My accident prone husband.....

Today, I had planned on taking Carlee to a fire demonstration in the other housing complex. They were going to have an empty unit filled with "user friendly smoke," and have the fire fighters and Sparky there to talk to the kids. Then about 15 minutes before I was supposed to leave, I got a call from Tony. "I'm coming home," he said. "I need you to take me to the hospital."

"What!? What happened?!"

"I sliced my ear."

"How did you do that?"

"Playing basketball."

Yeah........ playing basketball. Turns out someone pushed him into a transmitter that was waiting to be demolished. (They have a makeshift basketball court....) Anyway.... long story short, we had to head to the hospital. 10 stitches later.... he's fine. From what I hear, it was really gross, but I told Tony I didn't want to look. =D

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

What I want....

This afternoon, I had a meeting with my prospective doula. I had a different lady that I was going to start up with as soon as she helped the last lady to have a baby, but she let me know that she would not be able to be my doula after all. Completely understandable, as she has a lot going on, and she wasn't charging. So, she referred me to a different lady here who is a certified doula, but who charges. I knew I still wanted someone with me, so I met with her. She gave me a third off her normal fee since I'll only have 4ish weeks left by the time we will start our doula/patient relationship. I'm very excited though, since she seemed very concerned with what I wanted and helping me achieve it.

My labor with Carlee was not traumatic by any means, in fact I was extremely blessed that everything went so well. But looking back, I regret a lot of things, I'm disappointed in how things went, and there are so many things I would change. I was not informed, I was scared, and only had Tony to help me (who was gone most of the pregnancy, and who also didn't know a thing about labor and delivery.) I gave into the doctor's advice on drugs and an epidural, even though I had originally told him I didn't want one. I felt completely not in control, like I wasn't even having a baby, and passive. My epidural was so strong that I didn't feel a thing after they administered it. I was lucky that even then, I had a strong mind/body connection and could still control my body without feeling anything, otherwise I don't doubt for a second that they would have suggested a C-section if I couldn't push effectively.

I blame the epidural and drugs for how I felt after having Carlee. I was so out of it, and felt like I had been hit by a truck. It was like my body was wondering what the hell had hit me, since during the whole event I hadn't felt a thing. I also blame the epidural for Carlee's sucking problems. It took her 2 weeks to learn how to suck right in order to eat well. Even with bottles, not just with breastfeeding, so I know it wasn't me or that she needed to "learn" to breastfeed. I never knew epidurals could cause that until recently.

This time will be different though. I have a birth plan in my head and am currently planning it out on paper. I'm hoping to go natural, do my early laboring at home, not be restrained to the bed once I'm at the hospital, and have my doula present. I want to be relaxed and will have the environment a certain way, I want to shower if I feel like it, walk if I feel like it, work through the contractions in whatever position I feel most comfortable in, hopefully snack if I need to, etc. I'm really looking foward to this birth. I can't wait to welcome our little Leah into this world, on her and my terms and in our own way.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Everything's fine!

Thank goodness! I didn't start doubting my intuition until last night, and then I didn't sleep very well, but the ultrasound results today say she's perfectly fine! Her measurements are right where they should be. My amniotic fluid is fine. Everything's good. The guy tried to get a few pictures.... buuuut she's already head down! and was facing my back. =) She's getting ready!!!!

=D

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

33 week check up

My 32 week checkup was a week late as my doctor was on leave. We went in today, and everything was fine except my belly is measuring 4 inches smaller than it should. I'm not particularly worried, I can feel this child doing her little gymnastics in there; I know she's fine. But the doctor wants to be sure, so he scheduled me for another ultrasound.

....yay....

Can you tell how excited I am? lol I have to drive down to base again this week, (ugh) on a full bladder (UGH) and get looked at for an hour (DOUBLE UGH!!!) buuuut maybe I can con the guy into printing some more pictures. *crosses fingers* heh. Gotta have those pictures for the scrapbook! =D

I'll give an update on Friday. Hope everyone is having a good week!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Birthday Boy =)

Yesterday was my hubby's birthday. =) Last year he held a halo party, but this year he didn't feel like doing anything but hanging around the house... he's getting old. hehe. When I first met him, he had just turned 17. Yesterday, he turned 26. Goodness. I don't know where the time is going. Anyway here's a few pics of his birthday cake. He chose a Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

Look at all those candles!!! He was a little upset that I had to buy 2 boxes of candles LOL This was taken with my Nikon, then the battery died. The other two pics are of lesser quality. =(

The Birthday Boy and his little helper:
Thank goodness the fire alarms didn't go off with all that smoke! LOL
A funny thing was, when we were getting ready to eat the cake, Tony was pulling the candles out and said, "Uh Sheena..... the cake melted the candles."

"What!?" I didn't think the cake was still hot because I got it out fine, and could touch the pan and the cake and everything, I figured it had cooled off enough. Apparently not in the inside. LOL So to eat the cake, we had to scoop out all the little pieces of melted candle wax. It was too funny. I hope he had a good day. =)

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Homesick.....

I don't know what it is..... but homesickness struck really hard today. I think it was the weather. It's cool, fallish, and cloudy. When I looked outside, it looked like Central Texas fall. =( My Texas. Every time I glanced outside I thought I should be able to just drive to my Mom's house. sigh....

It's a good thing I had quilting class today. I would have brooded around the house all day crying about missing home. lol A funny thing was after a few people showed up to the class, someone noticed my t-shirt of my brother's highschool football team, and asked if I was from Texas. I said yeah. Turns out all 4 of us that were there first are all from Texas. So I shared my homesickness, and we talked about Texas for a few minutes, how we all missed it. That helped a little bit. =)

Then I spent the next 3 hours learning how to work my sewing machine (again,) and cutting my first color of fabric for my quilt. I am very excited! I hope to have all my fabric cut before the next class two weeks from now, so that I can start my sewing. =D

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

My daughter is a little rational adult stuck in a 3 year old's body

Last night, after returning home from Bible study, I told Carlee it was almost time to go to bed, and we needed to get ready. She matter-of-factly looked at me and said, "Oh, well tonight I can sleep in your bed, because Daddy's not here."

"What?" I was speechless for a few seconds! LOL "Well, don't you think you should sleep in your big girl princess bed?" *fingers crossed* {I still haven't been able to write about our whole buying her bed experience... I'll get to it.... eventually. heh}

"No, I'll sleep in my bed tomorrow. Tonight I can sleep in your bed because Daddy's at work and he'll be home tomorrow afternoon. So there's room for me now."

"Well.... I uh... hmmm.... Let me call Daddy and see what he says about this." So I called him, and he just laughed at her rational thinking. We both decided that if she understood the fact that when it was all 3 of us, there is not enough room, that neither one of us minded if she slept with me on Tony's duty days. I really don't want her to feel like she's not wanted in the bed, because that's not it at all, there really is just not enough room. And honestly that is the reason I've been giving her, so how could I tell her no after she realized that there was room last night? lol... I'm going to have to watch how I say everything and what reasons I give... looks like I have a little lawyer on my hands, or something. =)

Friday, September 19, 2008

Sigh....

Another one of my very close friends left the island this morning for good.
=(
I'm bummed.
ugh... the navy life.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The Sleep Situation

Funny that I got this article in my inbox this morning.... :)

So, the sleep issue is getting a little bit better. Okay, a lot better, but only in Carlee's weird little way. We ended up "SuperNanny-ing" it at first. I started it on Thursday (Tony's duty day YAY!) and it was a nightmare. She fought for an hour at first, with me repeatedly picking her up and putting her back in the bed silently. As soon as I laid her down, her feet were already swinging out of bed, and I had to race her to the door to close it and prove I was serious. Every time she opened the door, I'd take her back to bed. My back was killing me! She finally quieted down for a bit around 10 PM. I had time to take a shower (my only break) and as soon as my head hit the pillow, she started up again. That was about 10:30 PM, I did not lay back down until 1 AM when I finally gave up and let her in to bed. I insisted that this was the absolute last night, and crossed my fingers that she at least took a hint from the last 4 hours and would be more cooperative the next night.

Friday was much better. Still a struggle initially to get her bed, but she eventually quieted down but was laying by the door. She got up and fought Tony (I told him that night was cake compared to the night before, so he had Carlee duty) about 3 times max. She ended up sleeping by the door on the floor!

That's where she's been since then. She finally let us know that she thinks the crib (which is in its daybed form) is for the baby, and that she likes our bed. So, I decided to use a chart to track her nights slept in her room. Once she gets 10 stickers, *I guess....* we'll go to base and buy her a twin sized bed. I really had wanted to wait until we got to the states to buy her a bigger bed, with more selection and better prices.... but whatever will work, I am willing to do.

She's been doing much better. Usually only waking up once or twice and going back to sleep fairly easily once I remind her about the stickers. I just find it so weird that she's happy on the floor in a makeshift blanket bed. LOL but whatever.... :) Plus I'm wondering if when we do get the bed, if she's going to actually use it, or stay on the floor..... o_0

Monday, September 15, 2008

My Very First Award!

I was given this award by Loraloo over at Suburbia Las Vegas. I really love her blog too, so go check her out. :)

The Details:
(1) The winner can put the "I :heart: your blog" logo on their blog.
(2) Link the person you received your award from.
(3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs (if you can). **Not Required but please feel free to share the love!**
(4) Put links of those on yours.
(5) Leave a message on the blogs of the girls or boys you’ve nominated.

So, now comes the hard part of choosing blogs when I read so many.... :)
In no particular order....

1. Munchkins and Music - awesome blog by a mommy & music educator to help you include music education in your children's lives from the get go.
2. Vegan Yum Yum - Awesome vegan food and recipes with gorgeous photos!
3. No Time for Flashcards - Great blog by a mommy/teacher with tons of great activities and ideas to use for educating without the use of flashcards. Love it!
4. Crafty Crow - A collection of arts & crafts activities from all over the blogosphere. Love having so many ideas in one place!
5. The Mom with Brownies - Awesome blog by a homeschooling mom with homeschooling resources from pre-k through highschool, and tons of other frugal tips and links.
6. Stamps, Paper, Scissors - I love JanTink's cards.... they are gorgeous. I hope one day, I can be that good. :D
7. Parenting Freedom - This blog pretty much sums up how I feel about parenting... almost every aspect that I have an opinion on is covered. Just add being an ethical vegan to the list, and there you have me.

Monday, September 8, 2008

sooo sleepy

I haven't been able to update any of my blogs lately... Saturday my friends threw me a baby shower!! It was sooo awesome. THEY are sooo awesome. It was kind of weird for me, because I've never had a party thrown for me as an adult, so I kind of kept forgetting the party was for me LOL. I kept finding myself in the kitchen, and my friends would give me looks like, "What are you doing? Go to the living room!" haha. I hope no one was offended, I didn't do it on purpose. =) I will post pics later. I loved everything I got for the baby. I'm so grateful for my good friends I have here. I don't know what I would do without all of them.

So, why am I sleepy? Well, for the past week I've been dealing with Carlee's weird sleep patterns that showed up out of nowhere! Seriously, is there a reason to get up at 3 AM and NOT go back to sleep for the rest of the day!!!???!!! I'm not kidding. I'm 30 weeks preggers and dealing with this. I'd like to enjoy my sleep for the last few weeks I have it, Carlee, thank you. One night when Tony had duty, I fought to get her to sleep for 1.5 hours in the middle of the night, and finally decided to just let her cry it out, and went to bed. Well, she came in to my room and crawled into bed. I was too tired to even say anything... my biggest mistake. Well, I did tell her that when Daddy was home, she would not be able to do that, but she knew better.... LOL The next night, (when Tony was home) she did it again. Came into our room around 1 AM, went straight to my bed and started feeling for my face (since it's so dark in there, heh). "Can I help you?" I asked.

"yeah, you can help me. Pick me up." I had to laugh... little smart butt. We let her into bed. It's a battle for me, because I naturally parent with attachment parenting. I did it even before I knew what it was, just by following my instincts. But now, my brain is telling me that she's going to start taking advantage of it, and I don't need to deal with bad habits after the baby gets here. Anyway, she wanted to sleep on the edge, so I was forced to the middle, which is horrible for someone who can't sleep in their current state if it's higher than 71 degrees. It was so hot between the both of them... ugh. I couldn't move, my back was killing me. After laying there for a few hours, I finally had enough and told Tony to take her to her bed. Just as he was laying her down, she said, "What are you doing with me?" AHHH!!!! She ended up back in our bed.

Last night, I told her she had to sleep in her bed. It took me a while to get her to sleep the first time. As I left her room, I put the baby gate up in the doorframe. Yeah, she was not happy about that at 2 AM this morning, let me tell you. LOL I took her to the bathroom, then back to her room to try to get her back to sleep for over an hour. I didn't want her crying loudly since Tony had to work this morning. After that hour, I gave up. I was exhausted. I left the room, and of course she got out of bed, opened the door and screamed and cried and was pissed. I kept hearing her open and close the door, say Mom!!! (she's been calling me that lately,) turn the light on and eventually quiet down. Turns out she passed out with the light on the rest of the morning lol. sigh.... I don't know.....

I hope this weird phase passes soon. She used to be such a good sleeper. We'll be doing the baby gate again tonight. I hope she gets the point.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Sarah Palin: Mother and First Female VP Link

A friend of mine sent me this link, and I loved the write up. These definitely aren't the pictures of Sarah Palin that the news media wants everyone to see. I love how she is first and foremost a mom, no matter what.

Sarah Palin: Mother and First Female Vice President on Parenting Freedom

enjoy!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Raw Food Update

I forgot to give an update on the whole food issue! Well, about 2 weeks ago, I decided to incorporate more raw foods into our diet. I can't tell you how much better I felt almost immediately! I am now eating raw fruit for breakfast and usually some tea or lemon water. Carlee's been eating more fruit in the morning also since it's available but won't quit her cereal habit. =) Lunch is a loaded salad a few times a week at least. I'm talking all kinds of veggies, nuts, and seeds, awesome awesome awesome. I was surprised how fast I got full on the salads, and believe it or not it lasted me until dinner! We have tried a few raw dinners. One was raw "spaghetti" made of zuchinni cut into noodles, and a raw tomato sauce with dried herbs. Tony added mushrooms to his. He was so skeptical at first! LOL but he said he would definitely eat it again (and trust me, he is SUPER picky!!!) Besides eating more raw, we finally broke the soy meat substitute cycle and started relying on beans and lentils again. Like I said, I feel so much better already. I'm so glad I figured out what was triggering the sluggishness so quickly!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Cartoons, Comedy, and Compassion by Dan Piraro

Cartoons, Comedy, and Compassion by Dan Piraro (creator of Bizarro)
This comedy/lecture is about 1 hour, if you watch it, comment and let me know what you think!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

it was a good day :)

First, a few 365s... There are a bunch more... but I won't bore you. :) Plus I don't feel like uploading much more than this. haha

8/22/08 tony actually took this one, I was doing dishes... so it's not a self portrait, but w/e. :)

8/23/08 Reading the ads in the paper.... nothing good this week.
8/26/08 Breakfast this morning! Apple French Toast... Super Yummy! It was Tony's day off today, so I thought I'd make something extra special.
So with a good breakfast (well brunch really, since we all lounged around all morning,) to start our day, we were all in a good mood. We headed to base to run errands around lunch time. While there, I decided to stop by the college office, since they still hadn't contacted me about my degree situation, even though they said they would within a few days... yeah right.

I walk into the office, and wait a few minutes for another guy to finish with the college rep. Finally, I sit down tell him who I was and about my situation, and he says, "Oh yeah, your stuff is right here," and proceeds to pull my papers out of a stack on his desk. I asked if there was an update. He then goes over the paperwork in detail (for the first time, I think) and tells me basically what I already know: I have two options. I can get my diploma from the old plan but would still need Span 1 and 2 or I could get my diploma on the new plan but still need a performing arts humanities credit. I asked if they could substitute my Eng. Lit class for the huminatarian class since it was counted under the humanitarian section anyway. He called the lady in charge of all of Europe and managed to fully confuse her about my situation. So, he faxed everything over, and we waited for a call back.

We chatted to pass the time. He asked me about getting my bachelor's, and I told him I was planning on getting it, but I am not in a rush since I plan to homeschool both girls. He was interested, and surprised that there are really no laws in Texas that regulate homeschooling. (He's Texan too.) We talked about how our public education really disappointed us both, I was glad to hear it's not just my opinion. :) Anywho... I decided to take up his offer to go talk to the University of Maryland reps to find out if they had an art class available to take in case my college wouldn't budge on the credits.

Turns out they had a drawing class start yesterday. So, I was to apply tonight to UMUC and sign up for the class tomorrow and pay almost $600 for a 3 credit class. That is way more than I pay for my college, I know because it's a University, but also because with my college I'm a resident of their state, so I get way cheaper rates. But I was willing to do it to just be done.

We headed back to the CTC office and Tony and Carlee walked in. While Tony was asking about his degree credits, the Europe lady called back. She said she looked everything over, and was convinced that they would probably make the substitution and give me my degree. She said she would call the main campus and find out. We gave the rep our cell phone number so that he could call us in case she got back to him sooner rather than later.

While at the grocery store we got the call. Tony answered and sounded very short and straightfoward. I knew they must have said no to my request. Tony said, "They said they can't do it." I asked why, and he gave some answer I don't even remember now... then said, "Just kidding! Congratulations, you have your degree!!!" AHHHH!!!!!

I am so excited to be done with this degree! and I met my goal of being done before the baby gets here!!!! Now, I'm half way to a bachelor's, at least have something to fall back on, and my goal is to finish the bachelor's at our next duty station (especially if Tony decides to get out of the Navy.) I cannot even express my emotions right now. I think it's hard to really describe why this means so much to me. I know it's not hard to get an associate's degree, but I made the decision at a very young age to get married and start my family. That's what I wanted to do, and I did it. I knew I wanted to finish school, but I wanted this first. I had so many people tell me that I would never finish. That I had screwed up. What was I thinking? (I heard it all...) But I had faith in myself. I had the determination. And I still have the determination to keep going until I'm satisfied. And if you know me, I'm all about self improvement, so I am never satisfied with what I know. LOL That's why this means so much to me. =) It's taken me a while... but I'm done with it. All in my own time, and with my wonderful family by my side to celebrate with me. <3

Monday, August 25, 2008

I love it when....

I wake up to Carlee whining....

and the cat puking somewhere in my room.....

awesome.

=)

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Homeschooling & Crazy Event of the Night

Carlee had her first homeschool preschool co-op group meeting today. She loved it! She made all new friends and did so well. I was a little worried since she's used to only playing with a small group of friends here in our neighborhood. But I worried for no reason. =) Today was a simple water play date to introduce the kids and let them get to know eachother. They had a blast! Next month is my month, so I've got to get planning! =) I'm thinking some activities about our 5 senses since Carlee just got a new book in about the subject. fun fun

A few friends and I took the kids to the park tonight to wear them out... A young boy and his even younger sister showed up about 5 minutes after we got there. The boy must have been about 6, and kept jumping off of everything high. His mom was nowhere around. He even stood on the side of the highest & steepest slide and jumped off, grabbed the monkey bars, and swung. We told him we didn't think he should be doing that, but he assured us he was okay. I didn't doubt he'd be okay, it looked like he'd done it before; I was more worried about our 2 & 3 year olds trying to copy him. Well, two tries later he missed the monkey bar and fell. I thought he hit his head, because he was crying and yelling "OWWW!!" I went closer to ask him if he was okay, and I look down and there's his wrist in his other hand, obviously not in line with his arm. I immediately looked away (I have such a weak stomach!) and said, "OMG he broke his wrist!"

My friends were like, "WHAT?!" We kept asking him where his mom was. Where did he live? etc. Turns out his mom was out at baseball practice (about 4 streets down.) My friend D started to run to go get his mom after asking his name. Ugh after a few minutes (nobody really believed D when she told them he had broke his wrist) they finally ran down to the park. After about 10 minutes, they finally took him to base to the ER. I don't know what they were waiting for, I think they were trying to put a splint on it or something. He's so lucky we were there.

I just don't get it. I mean seriously, how old is old enough to go to the park by yourself, especially with a 3 year old(ish) sister? I definitely wouldn't have allowed him to be there on his own if he were mine. I don't even know how old Carlee's going to be before I finally feel comfortable letting her go on her own. I told Tony, "By the time I do feel comfortable letting her go, it's going to be boy liking age, so she's still not going to get to go." LOL just kidding... but honestly, I don't know. Six is definitely too young in my honest opinion. What do you think?

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

I am so JEALOUS!

Go take a look at this room my friend put together for her baby girl.
It's completely awesome.
I'm so jealous.
Emy, maybe I will be able to convince Tony to go to Virginia, then you can come help me do my baby's room. :D

Monday, August 18, 2008

I can just hear my family now....

First, before I start my post, I ran across this post in another blog:
USDA to list stores that sell recalled meats.
Definitely want to check that out, and keep up to date on what you're eating. Honestly... so glad I don't have to worry about that anymore!

So.. what is on my mind, you ask? Well, food's been on my mind, as usual. I've been feeling very tired lately, sluggish almost, my energy is barely lasting throughout the day... This is odd, since I usually feel great. I only started noticing this about 2 maybe 3 weeks ago. It could be that I'm coming to the end of my second trimester, yes. It could be the fact that Carlee's been sick twice in the past month, and sick kids do have a tendency to drain your energy as well, somehow... (wish someone could explain that one to me LOL.) But I thought about it, and I realized we are eating very crappy lately, mainly relying on some simple carb and soy meat substitute meal most days of the week. This is not what I want to be eating, and it's not what we usually ate before this past few weeks. I don't know what happened. I really think that this food rut is causing me to feel the way I do. And the more sluggish and tired I feel, the less I feel like cooking; it's a horrible cycle. So, I did a little web surfing to track down some new recipes.

Then I ran across this site: The Garden Diet. After seeing pictures of how healthy and energetic the whole family looks, I remembered my ultimate life's goal: to be as healthy as possible. After seeing the pictures of Jinjee 10 days (!!!) after giving birth, I was amazed. I looked up a few raw vegan sites and blogs. Then I remembered a book I had just read about a month ago: The Thrive Diet. I had loved this book! (The author is a triathlete!! and he is such a genious on food and how your body utilizes it for energy and muscle repair, etc. Definitely recommend it!) And then, as I got busy this past month, completely forgot about it. I had forgotten so quickly how I had wanted to incorporate more raw foods into my diet.

So, now I've set my mind to it again. I cannot possibly do 100% raw here, as there are plenty of ingredients I cannot get here. But I am going to work with what I have access to. I plan on eating raw breakfasts most days, and at least 3 raw lunches, and at least 2 raw dinners a week to start out with. I'm hoping that since I will have more raw foods available, that Carlee will enjoy them with me. I doubt she'll eat much of it though, it'd be a big change for her. I don't think I'd be able to go 100% raw also for the reason that I love to cook and especially bake. Maybe I can find some good books on the subject... always researching, no? :)

I once had a friend criticize me when I first went vegan for how "strict" I was with my eating, saying that she definitely couldn't do it. I told her that my and my family's health was my utmost priority, and that I wanted to take as good of care as possible of the one body I was given. "Well, I just enjoy life and my food. If it's God's will that I die tomorrow, I'm going to die, regardless of what I ate." I told her yes, that's true, and I believe that too. However, God did give us free will. That's like saying to a drug abuser, well go ahead and keep doing cocaine, if it's God's will that you die tomorrow, it's going to happen anyway. In the same way, if we clog our arteries, abuse our bodies nutritiously, and take for granted what He gave us as a gift, do you think that we will live as long as He meant us to? That's how I look at it anyway.

Anyway, I will definitely be giving updates, and posting about what I'm eating. I'm excited to start feeling more energetic again. :D

A Lotta 365 Pics

Catching up on 365s: I left out a lot of boring face shot days... :)
7/29/08
At the Doctor's Office for 24 week check up:


7/31/08
Driving home from... somewhere.

8/1/08
Yes, in my spare time I enjoy reading diet/nutrition/cookbooks... LOL
This one was okay... Found a few vegan recipes. Will have to check it out again.
8/2/08
I <3 Pig Tails
8/3/08
Sitting outside while Carlee played...
I was going to upload the pic of Tony mooning the camera while I tried to take a picture, but I thought I'd spare you. LOL
8/4/08
I'm a list maker....
8/5/08
I have no clue.... haha
8/7/08
Watching previews before my movie started. I watched Premonition. Pretty good.
8/13/08
Ugh. My weakness when I go to base.
8/14/08
Taken right before heading up to bed.
8/17/08
Watching The Reaping. I liked it.
8/18/08
Folding towels... yay!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Thrifty Baby

Every time I have to go to base, I make the trip worthwhile by stopping by the thrift store. :) There is usually no shortage of baby things here, well, since people are constantly having babies here. LOL Last week, I found 30 (!!!) baby washcloths. I'm guessing they were all donated at once, too, since they were all folded and packed together. I can't imagine needing 30 for baths, but for cloth wipes!!! yeah baby! My friend, D, found the little bath robe with the bunny. And I found that little red striped outfit from Old Navy. Cutest thing I've seen! The blanket in the background is so cute, it almost made me want to change the girl's room to a jungle theme, but I still want to do the woodland creature theme. :) I bought it anyway, since we have no carpet in the house, and I'll need blankets anyway for the baby to lay on. There have been a ton of other finds, too: cloth diapers, swaddling blankets, baby house shoes (that Carlee presently uses to "skate" around the house,) prenatal dvds, and a hand crocheted (!!! how could anyone donate this!?!!!!) christening outfit complete with a hat, booties, and gloves! So cool. :D

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Spending the morning Stampin....

I made a birthday card for a friend this morning... (yes, that's a link to yet another blog. haha) I want to keep my cards, scrapbooking, and crafts separate. Angie... where's your new one so I can link!? :)

Carlee is feeling much better. We're just lounging around today, since it's Tony's day off. We're kinda treating today like a Saturday. :) I hope to get some more scrapbooking done.... maybe I'll get to all those 365 photos I've been taking. It's going to be a pain to work with them though... my Microsoft Office trial is done... boo. Back to using Paint to resize... yay! LOL

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Update

I have a ton of pictures to go through for the 365 project... LOL it's not going to happen right now.

Carlee caught another viral infection and started showing signs of it on Sunday. She's feeling better now as long as she's on tylenol.

Been busy the past week with MOMS Club stuff, taking Carlee to parties, and whatnot (not knowing she was carrying that yucky sore throat bug.)

Last Tuesday I went in to the college office to talk about my credits. The one guy who would know anything was out of town until yesterday. So, I have to wait for him to take a look at it and email me...

Pregnancy is still going good. This child is always kicking me. LOL I go to bed, I'm getting kicked, I wake up and I'm getting kicked, I'm cleaning/eating/walking/sitting/etc/etc/etc and I'm getting kicked! little booger. :)

We found out yesterday that a mutual friend from highschool died over the weekend. I saw him last about a year and a half ago. He was only 25. He had just gotten married 2 months ago. :( My heart broke for his wife when I found out. I can't imagine. Just makes you realize it could happen any day. I'm so grateful for everything I'm blessed with.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Vegan BBQ with Food Network's Bobby Flay

A friend emailed me this video. Thanks G! This so makes me want to BBQ before summer is over! Everything looks soooo delicious!

Starting Homeschooling Again!

Today, I started Carlee's homeschooling again. We started out simple today. I "tested" her on what I had taught her back a few months ago before I started my English class. I was so surprised at how much she retained! First, I had her sing her ABC song, which she already knew, but it got her in a school frame of mind. Then I drew one letter at a time on an eraser board and asked her what letter it was. She could identify most of them. W and Z she got on the second try, and N and U she still had trouble with. She could write: C, H, T, A, O, P, X, L on her own (she was trying to test me LOL.) She recognized all numbers 1 - 10 except 9. She knew all her colors: green, purple, pink, yellow, orange, brown, blue, black, red, gray, and white. She also wanted to start a new workbook, so I let her do a few pages in a Hidden Pictures workbook. I thought this was going to be a challenge from the get go... apparently not. She did a total of 7 of these pages completely on her own.
I had originally not wanted to do workbooks as we got further into homeschooling, but for now Carlee still loves them, so I'm letting her. I've decided since she doesn't even know enough to know what she wants to learn about, I'm going to do sort of unit studies that I will revolve around things I know that she enjoys or that I think she will enjoy. Our first will be "farm" animals. I wish we lived in the states so I could take her to an Farm Animal Rescue. She would LOVE that! sigh... oh well. We'll save that for kindergarten I suppose. =D I'm also going to be working on the upper case letters she had trouble with, and then start on recognizing the lower case letters. We'll also start working on numbers greater than 10, and of course, continue working on the list of things preschoolers are supposed to master before kindergarten.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

So bummed....

I found out this morning, that the college I'm going through changed my degree plan! ugh! You know that English Lit class I just took? The one I spent so much time and effort on, struggling not to stress out too much over it? Yeah, well, it turns out I didn't even need it anymore with the new Business Administration Degree plan. GRRRR!!!! They moved the Eng. Lit credit to the humanities section (which I already had credit for,) removed the foreign language requirement (that's good,) but added another performing arts humanities credit that I cannot get online. Great. So my degree is on hold until I can take some stupid "learn to draw" class, or "learn to do interpretive dancing" class face to face somewhere. I've wanted to scream all day. I just wanted to be done with this. Sigh....

I'll upload 365s later.
:S

Monday, July 28, 2008

A bit of Sheena trivia....

Click Here to watch the 1984 movie I was named after.
=D
I have it on DVD....
now I feel like watching it.
haha

Friday, July 25, 2008

sigh....(of relief!!)

365s:
7/23/08
This is Tony's cat: Dori. Can you tell she's his? LOL She doesn't like me much... I don't know why. It's just because I'm not Tony. I should take a picture of him holding her, and show you the difference. :)

7/24/08
Studying some more... Reading the next to last lesson. WOOHOO! Now this is my cat: Nemo. :D She looooves me. She even likes to keep me company while a read a whole book included in my text book, while I'm secretly trying not to run through the house screaming like a lunatic.
7/26/08
My daily prenatals: a vitamin and a DHA supplement. The prenatal is uncoated so it's horrible to try to get down. And the DHA one tastes like seaweed... well, because that's basically what it's made from. The things we do for our kids... before they make it here, no less! :D

Don't those pills look yummy?

Do you notice how shiny my sink is? :D Spent extra time cleaning it today. I'm starting back up with Flylady. I used her site for a while, some time ago, and got really good at routines around the house. School and MOMS Club volunteering eventually gave me a reason to ignore my routines though. Now I want to get back on top of it before the baby gets here. I have a friend who is starting up with the site too, so now I have someone to talk to about it.

So, the reason for the post title. I checked out my messages in my English class, and noticed the teacher sent me a message saying my paper was graded. I immediately headed over to the grades page and saw that I got a 235 out of 250 points. I knew it was a good grade, as the average was quite low, but still I needed a calculator to be sure.... 94% baby! What!?! Seriously that paper was not an A paper.... Either I am really hard on myself, or everyone else in the class is turning in crap. I don't know which one it is, but I'm really glad for it. Then again, when half the class thinks they can get away with plagiarizing the discussion questions, I can't imagine what their papers look like. I almost feel bad for the professor for having to read them. But whatever. That grade put me over the 70% mark, so even if I don't turn in another single assignment, I will still PASS!!! (of course I will though, and with 100% effort, because that's just who I am.) So, this class is guaranteed! AHHHH!!!! All I have to do is clep Spanish when I get back to the States.... and I am DOOOONNNEEE!!!! Can you tell I'm uber excited? :D