Week 8

This is the first week I took a belly shot - though there isn't a belly, nor will there be for several more weeks! (The belly you see is the one I gained after being off of the South Beach diet for a few weeks, or never lost in the first place!) But, it's still fun to have pictures to go along with this journal. And, hopefully, with the scrapbook/journal/baby book I'm hoping to make!


On Saturday we took 4 of our nephews to the 4-H fair in Micah's home town while their parents went to a get together with friends.

It was a lot of fun! We took them to pet several animals and to look at projects their aunts and uncles made. They got their hands painted, had balloon animals made for them, and got to eat pizza rolls for dinner!

Then the fun really began: carnival rides!! There were so many choices to be made for those 5 and 6 year olds, because Uncle Micah and Aunt Magen limited the fun to 2 rides each (the tickets were like $3 or $4 a piece!)

Then to top it off, cotton candy was had by all! :)

It was a fun day! And, it definitely got me thinking about all the fun things Micah and I will some day do with our youngins. We'll definitely have to plan on family outings to take them on.

And, including the cousins will definitely be a must!

Cheap contact solution

Do any of my readers wear contacts? Money Saving Mom keeps mentioning Renu Contact Solution coupons. The travel size bottles are $1.54 at Target, and with the $1.00 coupons I've been getting all the time, I thought 54 cents was a pretty good deal. I don't need the stuff, but I've picked up one or two.

So, any takers? If you live in my town, I'd be happy to drop them by anytime!

Week 7

A very uneventful week. This week started on the Friday that we were still in Vegas. Mom and I flew home that Saturday, and our husbands drove and got home on Sunday.

Micah and I both had Monday the 20th of July off work which was nice to get to relax and get some laundry taken care of.

I think the only thing I had scheduled that week was a Women's Ministry Leadership meeting. It was still really hard not to spill my secret. Especially while telling my fainting story!

Link Love

I've been trying to catch up on this blog lately. It's written by a dear friend of mine with 6 kids, and is always good for a laugh - and some scriptural encouragement.

Some of my favorite posts from this year (Yes, I was THAT far behind):
- A list of 12 things that keep a stay-at-home mom out of the house (AND the kids happy).
- A list of "How things change" going from one kid to six. Probably this was most funny to me now, on the eve of my first child, trying to be realistic about all my new parenting goals.
- A list of things she appreciates about her husband.
- A list of questions continually rolling around in her head regarding parenting.
- A list (surprised?) of how she knows school has started.
- The difference between boys and girls in kindergarten.

Can anyone tell I REALLY like lists?! If you get a chance, definitely stop by and read a few posts. I think you'll be glad you did!

You can even tell her Magen sent you, though, I'm pretty sure nothing will be gained from it. :)

This week's menu

This makes 3 weeks in a row! Go me!

Monday:
Micah's Lunch - Chicken Pot Pie leftovers
Dinner - Grandma cooks

Tuesday:
Micah's Lunch - White Chili leftovers (Thanks again, Carrie!)
Dinner - Chicken and Rice Soup

Wednesday:
Micah's Lunch - Salad
Dinner - Tacos

Thursday:
Micah's Lunch - Chicken and Rice Soup leftovers
Dinner - Breakfast (We STILL haven't done this yet!)

Friday:
Micah's Lunch - leftovers of some sort, probably White Chili (Hehe...the only reason I even bother listing these out is so that I'm sure I'll cook something that will be good for him to take for lunch!)
Dinner - Chili Frito Pies again (yummy!)

Saturday:
Lunch - Anything that's left! :)
Dinner - Rudy's Birthday party at Mom's house

Week 6

Week six started on Friday July 10th through Thursday July 16th. This was the week that we went to Vegas, and was definitely the hardest as far as symptoms were concerned!

Mom and I flew out on Sunday the 12th. I normally get pretty car sick but I knew I wasn't able to take anything for it. The plane ride was so miserable. Did you know that it's common for pregnant women to experience sinus issues while flying? My nose was soooo runny! I only had a few tissues, and couldn't figure out why I was having such a problem. It wasn't til after, when I was able to look up my symptoms, that I realized that was pretty common.

I wish the flight had been the end of my motion sickness, but unfortunately getting around the streets of Las Vegas isn't exactly smooth traveling. My dad does really good driving in big cities, but I wish he'd use his brakes a BIT less. :)


I believe it was Wednesday night when the real scare came for my honey. That evening, we took to the strip with several people who'd never seen it before. We started at one end and walked clear to the other side. At about 10pm or so, we were standing outside of the Treasure Island, waiting for their free show to start. It was so hot (I think Micah bought me at least 2 bottles of waters from the street venders along the way) and I was so tired from the long walk. Then, we got crammed in around a bunch of people who were also hot! Oh, and did I mention that we hadn't had dinner yet?

My poor mom felt the affects of this awful combination first. She was getting very dizzy, and almost fainted. Dad went to take her inside the casino to sit down and get something to eat. I tried to follow after him, since I wasn't feeling well either, but he asked me to stay with everyone else until the end of the show so I could tell the rest of our group where they'd gone.

That worked until about half way through the show. I'm not sure if it was the smoke from the show, or just all the standing, but I started feeling very dizzy. The next thing I knew, I was sitting on the ground and Micah and another guy that had come with us were helping me up. I think I chose to sit down, but I'm really not sure.

My poor honey! He was the only person at this point that knew I was pregnant. And, I'm sure there were so many worries going through his head.

By this point, EVERYONE was ready to go inside for food, so we skipped out on the rest of the show, and went to go eat. We found my mom, who told me to drink some orange juice that she had. I was feeling so hot, but then started shivering! (Mom said that was a stage she went through too, and told me to just keep sipping the O.J. She's a smart lady.)

We got food, took a cab back to the hotel (dad went and fetched the car), and fell into bed exhausted.

The rest of the week Micah was continually making sure mom and I had enough to eat!! He's quite the trooper.

I was so ready to be home. I would say that this has been the worst week of my pregnancy so far! :) So much for a vacation, right?

Meal Plan

Monday:
Micah's Lunch - Leftover Pad Thai (Thanks Carrie!)
Dinner - Grandma Cooks

Tuesday:
Micah's Lunch -Salad with grilled chicken
Dinner - Skillet Chicken and Dumplings

Wednesday:
Micah's Lunch - Skillet Chicken and Dumplings
Dinner - Spaghetti

Thursday:
Micah's Lunch - Leftovers
Dinner - Chili Frito Pies

Friday:
Micah's Lunch - Leftovers
Dinner - Breakfast

Saturday:
KC all day with mom and dad!

Nothing new on this menu - I knew I planned way too much food last week. But, that means no trip to the grocery store this week. Which, is a really good thing, since I spent twice as much this last pay period than our normal budget! Time to get back on track!

My hubby is an old man...

But, I don't mind!

How could I, when he's just so cute?



This is him a few weeks ago at our Children's Ministry program (That he created!), Manna March. He is the commander, and he gets so into serving these kids. He loves them so much, it's really encouraging to me.

For instance, do you know how weird it feels to him to be without a beard? And, he shaved it off (half way at first!) just to celebrate crazy hair night with them. He's a good man.

On his birthday, I find myself thinking back on all the things we've done together, and all the reasons I have to love him, and I find myself in awe that God would provide such a wonderful man for me. (Though, I guess that's not a very good testament to my faith - I was praying for that for years before. But, I like to think of my awe as thankfulness, not doubt!)

Did you know that he considers my dad one of his best buds? In fact, he truly LIKES spending time with my family. I know to most of you reading this, you're probably thinking "duh!" but it's not as common as you might think. There were more days than I could count that I left work feeling so sad for the people who were so bitter towards their in-laws, or who complained that their spouse didn't like their family. It's a very sad life, I'm sure.

Did you know that he truly wants me to do whatever my little heart desires during this time between work and a baby? Honestly! One morning, about a week ago, he suggested I pack up and go to Panera for the morning, knowing full well that the dishes, laundry and house in general needed some attention. And, it's not unheard of for him to come home and do those things, even when I've been out gallivanting around the town! He's pretty selfless in his love for me.

I could make this post forever long, but I realize that you all probably aren't as fascinated by this man that the Lord has given me, nearly as much as I am!

So, let's just suffice it to say - God is good, and I'm wishing That Wonderful Man of mine a fabulous day today (and the weekend too - why not?!)

Love you, dearest.

Meal Plan and Cooking Day

I was so inspired by Money Saving Mom's Baking Day Posts last week, that I decided it's time for me to get back into meal planning, and hopefully stock up my freezer for days that I'm not feeling up to cooking.

So today in between my hanging out time with one of my sister-in-laws, that's just what I did! This morning I cooked some chick peas that I'd soaked last night, and made these cookies. Then just a little bit ago I started some pinto beans soaking, put some brown rice in the oven to bake, and cooked up some chicken for meals this week.

I even have a menu plan:

Monday:
Micah's Lunch - Leftover potato soup
Dinner - Grandma cooks
Tuesday:
Micah's Lunch - Leftover crab linguine
Dinner - Skillet chicken & dumplings
Wednesday:
Micah's Lunch - Leftover Skillet chicken & dumplings
Dinner - Micah's hamburger and chick pea concoction
Thursday:
Micah's Lunch - Leftover Micah's hamburger and chick pea concoction
Dinner - Friend's house?
Friday:
Micah's Lunch - Leftovers
Dinner - Chicken Alfredo
Saturday:
Lunch - Leftover Spaghetti stuff
Dinner - Chili Frito Pies

We probably won't end up eating all of these things, we're kind of bad about eating out, and I'm never a good judge of how far leftovers will stretch. But, I still have makings for "Breakfast for Dinner" and also tacos. It's kind of an odd week as far as meals go because all said it only required 3 things from the grocery store! I'm trying to use our pantry (instead of organizing it - cause I'm lazy) so that I can re-stock it with ingredients, not crud.

I had a few pictures of the chick peas and cookies and such, but they were boring, and I haven't figured out how to upload from my new camera yet, so maybe next time!

Week 5

There wasn't a lot to report on this week. Very few symptoms.

It was VBS this week for our church, and so I saw a lot of my church family every day this week. It was SO SO SO hard not to spill our secret!!

Proverbs 12:11

He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who pursues worthless things lacks sense.
-Proverbs 12:11

I have 18 things on my to-do list today. All of these things have worth:
- Having a quiet time
- Cleaning my kitchen floor
- Planning meals

Everything in its place, right? I'm focusing first on the Lord, then on being a good steward of the things He has given to Micah and I by keeping up on house work, and being frugal in what we spend, even at the grocery store. They're all good things.

But, I was struck today with the fact that, if I don't seek the Lord, and His will for my day - then I won't know which things HE considers to be "of worth."

Week 4

I found out I was pregnant somewhere in the middle of week 4. (I believe it was Monday June 29th).

Day 4 - I had had an inkling all day that I might be pregnant, despite the fact that I had had one minor time of spotting the previous Friday. So I went home after work and took a pregnancy test. It was one that if you weren't pregnant, the window would stay blank, but if you were, there would be a blue line. Well, I had a VERY VERY VERY light, VERY VERY VERY thin (was it even blue?!) line. So, as you might imagine, I was excited, but not entirely convinced!

So, before my honey got home, I ran to CVS, and picked up a digital pregnancy test (one that would say PREGNANT or NOT PREGNANT) so there'd be no question. Micah called while I was waiting the customary 2 minutes to look at my results. So then, my heart started racing! I had a plan for how I wanted to tell him - and tonight was not the night!

So, I rushed him off the phone, knowing I had about 10 minutes to hide the evidence. I quickly discovered I was pregnant, sent up a short prayer of thanksgiving, snapped a picture, and stashed everything in my night stand!

Day 5 - Do you know how hard it is to keep a secret from your best friend?! Especially one this big?! I went to work, practically DYING in anticipation of the end of the day!

Once 3 o'clock rolled around, I headed off to Walgreens to have my picture developed (on a disposable camera; how convenient.) The kind lady at the desk informed me that they probably wouldn't be able to have it done in an hour, but if I wanted to check back at 5, they'd probably have it completed. I sure hope she didn't misread my disappointment as annoyance. I thanked her, and went home, settling in for another evening of NOT SHARING THE NEWS I WAS BURSTING WITH!!

Later that evening, I was able to go back (I believe Micah was babysitting some of our nephews that night) and pick up my pictures from Walgreens. To my major disappointment this time, the picture didn't really come out. You could tell it was a pregnancy test, but the result was not obvious.


So, I headed home once again, armed with a second disposable camera, and attempted to take yet another picture. But, when I pulled out the stashed pregnancy test - it was blank. Apparently digital tests only hold their result for 24 hours. This is when I decided to give up and make use of the picture I already had. I probably could have tried to take another test, but there was no guarantee that the next picture would turn out any better.

Day 6 - FINALLY!! The day is here to tell my honey! I run off to work, super excited to get my picture and note to the dad-to-be into an inter office envelope by the earliest mail run of 6:30am. If all goes as planned, he'll have it sitting in his chair when he gets to work at 8:30am.

But, all does NOT go as planned (has anyone caught on to a theme in this story?!). The day goes sloooooowly on, and still no word from my honey. Surely he'd call after receiving such a package. Surely he wouldn't leave me hanging ALL DAY. He can't ge THAT busy.

As I'm walking out the door at the end of my day, I can't stand it anymore. I call him, and must have seemed really frustrated. "What do you MEAN you haven't gotten any mail today?!" "I sent you something at 6:30am this morning, are you SURE you didn't miss it?"

So much for the surprise factor! :)

So, my sweet, completely caught off guard hubby, (I'm sure he was wondering why I earth I was so frustrated!) chased down the mail room attendant, and begged him to look for anything that might be addressed to him. He found it, and called me back super excited like 3 minutes later. FINALLY!!

So, on July 1st, 2 whole days after I discovered the news, my hubby is finally let in on my little secret, and I add week 4 to one of the longest weeks of my pregnancy, thus far!

Lions and Tigers and Bears...

...and Alligators and Giraffes, oh my!






These are a few pictures of the crib bedding I got a couple weeks ago for a whole $8.60! I was super pumped!!

Now all I need to do is register for solid colored sheets, and find cute wall hangings and accessories to go with my "zoo" theme. Those of you who are good at craigslist or window shopping online, keep an eye peeled, if you don't mind! :)

A sign of the times

Would you believe that our biggest concern when we were telling people we were pregnant was that the news would make it out onto Facebook before we had a chance to tell everyone ourselves?

It's so weird to have to worry about that! But, we told our family on a Friday, our friends Saturday, and our church body on Sunday. Then, we wanted to send a few funny e-mails to spread the news at work on Monday, but we didn't want our co-workers to have already heard. So we actually begged the members of our church body not to congratulate us on Facebook until Monday afternoon! :) Isn't that pathetic?

Anyway, I thought you might like to read the letters my dear hubby Micah wrote to our co-workers! They're pretty entertaining!

To my co-workers:

Dear co-workers,

My husband and I recently found out we are expecting a very important guest, who plans to arrive in March and will stay with us indefinitely. We have a lot to do to get ready for our guest, so we'll be very busy! Because of this, I have turned in my resignation notice, and my last day will be Friday, August 28.

I have really enjoyed working with such a wonderful group of people, and I will miss you all. As the day of our guest's arrival draws nearer, though, I'm sure I will be very busy with getting things ready. We are planning on preparing a special room just for our guest, and we will also be trying to do other things to create a homey atmosphere (this guest doesn't get out much and probably won't be used to spending a lot of time with people, so we will have to ease into our relationship). I have also heard that the guest may have trouble sleeping through the night, so we are going to try to make the room as comfortable as possible in order to establish a regular sleep schedule.

There will be a lot of stress, and I bet I will start eating more to help me handle the strain. In fact, I'm afraid I might start gaining weight at the rate of about a pound per week until the visit, but I have heard of a great weight-loss plan that allows a person to lose about 15-20 pounds in less than a day, so I am planning on trying that around the time the guest arrives. As you might imagine, it can take a few days to recover from such a strenuous weight-loss plan, so I am planning on some bed-rest right after the arrival.

We appreciate all the support you've shown us, and we'd like for you to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we prepare for this big event in our lives. It's a little bit intimidating to be welcoming a new person into our home, especially when we don't yet know the guest's name, or even if it will be a boy or a girl, but one thing is certain: we will love him or her very, very much. We'll be sure to let you know all about our little guest just as soon as (s)he arrives!

-Magen

To Micah's co-workers:

Team,

I just wanted to let you know before you hear elsewhere that Magen has been diagnosed with a medical condition which has made it necessary for her to terminate her employment with our company.

The medical condition is known as primigravida. Essentially, it involves a microscopic organism that nests in an unsuspecting host and grows gradually more and more powerful over time. The host often experiences nausea, mood swings, and inexplicable cravings (all of which are driven by the chemical imbalances caused by the organism). As the organism develops, it begins to sap the vital nutrients from the host’s body and even hampers the host’s immune system. The organism’s growth is almost exponential, causing the host to gain weight at a phenomenal rate – especially toward the terminal stages of the condition.

The prognosis suggests that the next few months will be full of most of the above symptoms. However, there is some hope. Our specialist anticipates that around the beginning of next March, Magen’s body will naturally expel the organism, leaving her in some pain, but with a lovely little bundle of joy to make the whole thing worthwhile.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers as we deal with this life-changing event.

-Micah

Link Love

I have thoroughly enjoyed (and will continue to for several more days, I'm sure!) catching up on all my friends blogs! I've never really been completely caught up since before I gave up the internet for lent. And, because I'm a weirdo, I've had a LOT to read.

Some highlights:

Joy posts weekly pictures and updates on her little girl, Hannah. She's pretty stinkin' adorable!

Rachel always makes me laugh, but recently it's been because she posts about her hatred of movies A LOT. This has got me wondering about myself. I can probably count on one hand the movies I've not liked. Is this because I'm just that much less picky? I don't think that's true. I think it's probably more realistic to say that I'm much MORE picky - and that I don't sit down to watch a movie unless I KNOW I'll like it. So, what does that say about me? Do I use my time wisely? Or, am I not very adventurous? It's at least something to think about!

Money Saving Mom has been fun to catch up on, as well. I don't go back and read every one of her posts since they're mostly outdated if you don't get to them right away. But, lately, I've been intrigued by all the free samples you can get and have recently tried out paper towels and toothpaste. It's like Christmas getting little packages in the mail all the time!

Some others are favorites to catch up on because they always have fun things to share about their kids. So, if you feel like giggling, hop over to: Michelle's, Jessie's, Shawna's and Rachel's!

I've got lots more to catch up on, but I sure don't mind!! :)

Cleaning Marathon results

Well, I didn't quite make it.

By noon, I had finished my quiet time and completed the closet, family room, and packing. I also had the kitchen mostly done (waiting for the dish washer to finish), the bedroom almost complete (waiting for the sheets to come out of the dryer) and the bathroom was only lacking a clean floor.

So, after taking a much needed break for lunch, I jumped back in!

And, I would say everything went pretty well! Within another hour, I had the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, fridge and basement floors done. The only thing that is not complete are the upstairs floors, but those are technically on my list for Wednesday, so I'll get to them.


Overall, I consider this a success!!

Enjoy your long weekend!

Cleaning Marathon

I have a goal this morning, as I prepare our house for visitors, and pack up for a weekend at camp.

I would like to:

1) Have my quiet time
2) Reorganize my hall closet (b/c until last night, it was covered in dust from our living room project)
3) Clean up the kitchen
5) Straighten our bedroom and wash our bedding
5) Straighten the family room (which currently holds all the contents of our hall closet)
6) Pack for the weekend, and load up the car
7) Clean the bathroom
8) Clean out the fridge
9) Sweep and vacuum the floors

The trick is: I'd like to have all of this done by noon! I'll report back! :)

My first day at my new job....

and I'm loving it!!

I've had a few moments of extreme giddiness already. One happened around 4pm on Sunday when I was kind of dreading the end of the weekend - until I realized I wasn't going back to my old job! Then I just got really excited about starting my massive to-do list. :) What should I call this 6 months when I'm not working, but not too occupied with mothering? Something like "The Indianapolis 500" comes to mind, but I think that's been done before. :) Any ideas?

My second moment of giddiness came when I woke up at 5:45 this morning and had to restrain myself from jumping out of bed to start my list! I'm sure the newness will wear off in a matter of days, but it sure is fun while it's here.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Monday.

Back in the saddle again!

I was going to post these pictures with a date and break down of the stores and how much I paid for each thing - but, I seem to have forgotten. I started couponing again a few weeks ago...but blogging didn't follow as fast as I thought it might!

Anyway, I think I spent around $7 or $8 on all of this stuff - so I happy to be back in the swing of things!

How has everyone been?

I'm Back!

I didn't really get a chance to tell my blogging friends that I'd be giving up the internet for Lent. So, sorry about that. But, I'm back, and hope to be blogging more regularly in the near future.

Being off the internet was a little bit easier than I imagined. But, one thing that I didn't expect was to find other things that fill my time - even now that I can be on the internet more. I'm not sure when I found time to read everyone's blogs before I went on my internet fast! It seems that now I can't find more than 5 minutes to string together to work through my inbox!

But, I have over 300 e-mails to sort through, and countless entries in multiple blogs that I'd like to catch up on! So, hopefully I'll find time soon.

Not now, however. I'm off again, to cheer my dad on to victory in his bowling league championship!

Enjoy your Sunday!