Thursday, October 04, 2007

Uh oh...

It's time for Gymbucks again. I haven't been feeling very good, so I didn't plan to go to the store at all, just thought I'd buy a few things online. Well it's been killing me that I haven't bought anything fun for the baby yet. ( cribs and changing tables don't count! LOL) Everyone else has got to go buy him cute clothes. So I bought him a Christmas ensemble today.








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Farreys.com



Everyone needs lights! If you're looking for new lighting for your home, check out the
lamps at Farreys.com. They have 10's of thousands of lighting options, whether you own your home and want to replace fixtures, or you're just looking for the perfect desk lamp.


They also carry every kind of ceiling fan imaginable. How cute would this baseball celing fan be in Anthony's room? (If he had his own room of course! ) So if you're looking for any kind of
lighting and lamps go visit farreys.com and look around.



Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Let's play

In my prebaby (and pre marriage as a matter of fact) days, one of my favorite activities was game night. A bunch of us would get together and play all sorts of games. Somewhere in there we would end up playing poker. I don't think we ever really played for money, just chips, but it was still a great time. Once you lost all of your money, you were elimnated. There were also times we'd play for even more important things than money, on one trip to Tahoe we all rented a huge house. We played poker to see who got the best bedroom. The winner got the master bedroom, while the first person out got last pick and ended up on a broken hide a bed.

Now that I'm married, and have a kid and another one on the way, the weekends in Tahoe and the late poker nights don't happen much anymore. But if I had the urge to play poker, I could go check out bet365.com. They have a wide range of online betting facilities. They also allow you to have on wallet and move between games. So if you want to play some poker, or practice some sport betting go get some information from bet365.

Wordless Wednesday #1



Questions

So someone emailed me and asked about my blog reviews so I thought I'd answer it here. Yes I get paid for the reviews. No they don't really tell me what to say. Basically I have to mention their website in a post. It has to meet certain criteria ( be a certain amount of words, and use specific links to their site.) But that's it. I get to say whatever I want. I go check out the website and then give my honest opinion of it. If I think something sucks, I'm going to say so. Generally I only pick websites to review that interest me, so I'd probably use their site anyway, although in most cases I haven't actually bought anything from them, I am just saying what I think about their site. Or what I'd use it for.

Oh and if you don't want to read my reviews, then click on the label Not a review and it will bring up all the non review posts. :-)

Hope that helps!

A flying pumpkin


A flying pumpkin
Originally uploaded by Steph Whitson
I love this picture...

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

So...

are you all sick of all my blog reviews yet? I promise I won't only be doing reviews! I did a nice batch of them today, so I'll do some real posts for a while. :-)

A trip to Paris...


Another place I’d love to visit is France. Who wouldn’t want to go to France if given the chance? If I were to go to France, the first place I’d visit is Paris. There are many Paris Hotels to stay in. My first stop in the city of Paris would be the Eiffel Tower. In 2006 6,719,200 people visited the Eiffel Tower. I’d love to be one of them.

Another place I'd visit would be The Louvre. I could spend hours or even days there I'm sure.


If you’re ever in France, check out CheaperThanHotels.com They have many Hotels in Paris. Or if you speak French Hôtels en Paris.

Australia

!!

Goin2Travel

Are you ready for a vacation? Somewhere that seems exotic, but without the hassles of leaving the country, might be just what you’re looking for. Check out Goin 2 Travel Vacation Rentals. According to their website, you can book your vacation rentals from the owners in top resort areas, and save yourself up to 30%.

So I was looking around their site to see what they had to offer. In the Myrtle Beach vacation rentals there are some houses that look amazing. The Aces Wild Spade is a rental with 6 bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms. It sleeps 28 people! You could have a whole family reunion there.

If Myrtle Beach isn’t where you want to go, check out Destin vacation rentals or Naples vacation rentals. And don’t forget to send me a postcard!

Monday, October 01, 2007

Advantage Auto Insurance

Looking for car insurance can be a pain! We've all been there done that. I hate the process of calling different companies and getting quotes from 37 different people. I recently came across a way to avoid going through all the different companies.

Automobile Insurance Policies from Advantage Auto Quotes allow you to shop online, in the comfort of your own home. They have policies for almost everyone, whether you have a bad record, or a good record, check them out to lower your car/SUV insurance.

Advantage also has insurance for commercial needs. So if you're looking for insurance for your business or your self, go visit Advantage!

I should wait


to show my cute kid in her halloween costume. But things may be a little crazy at Halloween so I'm showing her off now. Isn't she the cutest "flying pumpkin" (her words not mine) that you've ever seen?

Flickr

This is a test post from flickr, a fancy photo sharing thing.

Oops

Amelia and I were going to go to the zoo today. One of Amelia's friends was going to be there too so I said if I didn't have a NST today we'd go. That was at 7AM or so. By 10 AM I had totally forgotten. Well I didn't forget about the zoo, I just had no concept of time.

I got busy cleaning, Amelia and I vacuumed the bedrooms, cleaned the mirrors in the house, and spent a half hour cleaning mascara off the bathroom mirror. (No cleaners would work on it. I was starting to get worried. Then I tried the obvious cleaner, eye makeup remover, and it worked like a charm.) I also noticed that the fronts of the drawers in our bathroom are pretty grimy looking. To the point that they really just need to be repainted. For whatever reason ( maybe because it's a master and just in the corner of our bedroom?) the sink part of our bathroom doesn't seem to be the right paint for a bathroom. It's a flat paint so get's dirty pretty easily. It's also lavendar so shows everything. I'd love to repaint in there, but I don't want to deal with doing it myself or getting it done. How lazy is that? I may just do some touchup though, repaint the fronts of the cabinets and the drawers since they are so grimy looking. I also need to do some repainting in Amelia's room. When her carpet was put in (a year ago!) they made a mess of the trim around the flooring. It's a little weird because it's just painted the same color as her room, so maybe that's why the trim hasn't held up so well? I wonder if I painted it with some paint that's made for molding if it would hold up better. There is also paint peeling in her room but I don't know how to fix that. There was a border up in there before we moved in. I am guessing that when the painters took down the border, they wall underneath wasn't prepped properly before the room was painted. So all along the walls where the border used to be, the paint is cracking and chipping. It looks awful!

Anyway, so after I finished analyzing paint, I noticed that there were bags of stuff in Amelia's closet, so I went through them, it was baby stuff and stuff from Target that needed to be put away. So I started putting that all away. Then I noticed Amelia was really quiet. I came out to the living room to find her with a box of donuts. She ate a couple bites from each donut. At least she was on the hardwood not on one of the carpets. I took a picture, of her and the mess, I'll have to post it later. So, after I got her all cleaned up, I noticed that it was 11 AM. If we were going to the zoo we were supposed to be there at 10. *sigh* I probably would have been too tired to walk around for long anyway.

Toys!

I love toys. Part of the reason I enjoyed being a preschool teacher and then a nanny so much is I'm really just a big kid. I love to sit on the floor and play with the toys. I get excited for Christmas and Amelia's birthday because I can buy her new toys. Half the time I'm more excited by the new toys than she is. (although she is getting much more into the toys the older she gets.)

Because of the new baby coming, I'm doing all of my Christmas (and probably a lot of birthday) shopping online. I came across this website while shopping, and it looks like they have a lot of great toys! So far I've found a lot of the things I want to get Amelia for Christmas. They have lots of great brands, Fisher Price, Mattel, Disney, etc. The best part is the website actually shows you the price for that toy at a bunch of other sites, so you can get the best deal.

I was looking at a Dora the explorer doll that Amelia oogles over every time we go shopping. Shopping.com has the doll. Normally, I probably would have just bought it from Amazon. But with this website, I can see that Amazon is not the best deal, so I can order it from another website that has it cheaper. I'm all about saving money. Kids are expensive! So if you've got some Christmas shopping to do, go check out http://www.shopping.com/xDN-toys before you buy anywhere else, and make sure you're getting the best deal.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Lots to do!

I haven't updated my to do list in a while, I guess it's time to see where I'm at.


  1. Get carpets cleaned

  2. Get the van detailed

  3. Move Amelia's car seat to it's new spot (baby is taking her spot in the van, and I want to do it ahead of time, so she's not kicked out of her spot when we bring Anthony home. )

  4. Put Anthony's seat in the van and show Daddy how to use it. LOL

  5. Put the clean bedding and skirt on the bassinet

  6. Pack my bag,

  7. pack babies bag

  8. Pack Amelia's bag

  9. Get Halloween stuff taken care of (I may be in the hospital then) for Amelia to trick or treat

  10. Get halloween costume

  11. Get double stroller

  12. Return stuff to Target and babiesrus

  13. Check on big sister/little brother shirts I ordered They are here and so cute.

  14. Pick birth annoucements, or make one

  15. Decide on Circumcision Ask ???'s at next appointment!!

  16. Christmas shopping done, or as much as possible. List is made

  17. Mail Shower thank you cards. I'm about halfway through this one

  18. Get down the breast pump, wash all the new parts

  19. Get swing and bouncy seats down and wash covers

  20. Wash bottles
  21. Get make ahead dinners in the freezer

Crazy,

I only have 39 days to go. That's a little more than a month. That's until my due date, I know I'll have him before that. I just can't believe I'm going to have a new baby in a month or less.

I'm finally feeling like I'm ready for this baby. I'm ready to have him, I'm ready to get the recovery over with, and start our life as a family of four. There are all these things I want to start doing, and I can't do them until he's here. Hurry up baby!!! I'm also ready to have my body back. I am not one of those people who is just in love with being pregnant. I'm doing much better this time than I did with the last pregnancy, but I'm still not good at being pregnant.

My poor little sickie

Well my kiddo is still sick. She is actually much better today. We went to the doctor last night and she said she thinks she just had a virus, and that was what was going on over the weekend. She thought the cough was something different, either asthma or croup. She gave us some meds to help with the coughing. She got her first dose last night, and I think she slept a little more than the night before. She's curled up on the couch sleeping now. But at least she is not coughing!!

Visionbedding.com

Christmas is coming! Can you all believe it’s less than 3 months away? With the baby coming soon, I’m trying to be as efficient as possible. For me that means a lot of online shopping. I’m always trying to figure out what to get for the people who have everything (like my mom). This year I found something I know she doesn’t have, Personalized Gifts from Vision Bedding. Vision Bedding has a ton of great products. You can order pillows, bedding, dog beds and a plethora of other products from their website. And all of these products can be personalized with your own photos. You can upload pictures of your grandkids, your favorite pet or your best memories to their website. It's also possible to make a photo collage with lots of photos. The simple to use online photo tool makes it so easy to get just the look you want. Once you place your order, the image is dyed into the fabric. It won’t ever fade, and is washable too. What a great gift idea! I think a pillow with a picture of the kids together once the baby arrives, would make a great gift for Grandma.

Look mommy, it's a Hopter Copter!!

My kid has some of the funniest sayings lately. They seem to fade so quickly though as they grow, so I want to remember them. Some of the most recent are


Hopter Copter (Helicopter)

Chimp (Chin)

Hey, I got an idea!

I can't like it.

No Daddy, I can't say purple. (When asked to say purple or whatever other random word someone asked her to say.)

Mommy, say red. Red. Great job Mommy. (This one cracks me up the most. She tells me great job a lot. LMAO)

There's more, I'll add them as I think of them...

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Got something to sell?



Recently I was researching website hosting and shopping carts for my work from home business. Most of you know I make bows to sell on ebay. The fees are pretty expensive, so I have been looking into setting up my own website and selling stuff on my own. Every website needs some kind of shopping cart software. It’s so much easier to take credit cards and have a shopping cart, than to have customers email you their orders. It’s also much more professional looking.


With shopping cart software you can set up a whole online storefront. This website is the solution for people who want to sell online. The site is very simple to use, and there is even a demo store on the website that you can use to test drive the product. When you choose to set up your ecommerce software through ashopcommerce.com you will receive ongoing upgrades and updates at no additional charge. Top quality hosting is also included, and it’s generally cheaper than doing it separately. Overall if you have a product to sell, and want to do it online, you should research ashopcommerce.com.

Trip to L&D

We had our first trip to Labor and Delivery on Sunday. I hadn't felt great for a few days, and had been running a fever. I called the advice nurse, she said they don't do patients over 20 weeks pregnant, so she transferred me to L&D. When I was talking to the nurse I realized I hadn't felt the baby move much that morning, so they said to come in and they'd figure it all out.

So after 2.5 hours of monitoring, a pee test, a blood test and an ultrasound they sent me home. They decided I have an infection, so I got antibiotics, was told to drink lots and lots of water, and sent on my way. The doctor who saw me did the ultrasound, she commented that the baby is head down and very low, pressing on my bladder. Yeah thanks lady, I could have told you that based on the fact that 10 minutes after I pee, I have to go again.

After L&D I was starving so we went to eat. The kiddo promptly threw up all over the table. Nice! We got our food to go, took the kiddo home and I did my best to sit on my butt all day. The kiddo went from seeming really sick and grouchy, to just fine in about an hour. Not sure what her problem was, but she hasn't thrown up since.

I think the antibiotics have kicked in and I'm starting to feel better. I've got more energy, and don't feel the need to sleep all the time. I guess I didn't realize how krappy I felt until this morning when I started feeling better.

Friday, September 21, 2007

I'm tired...

...of being pregnant.
...of not being able to sleep all night.
...of being exhausted all day, fighting to stay awake.
...of being totally exhausted and still trying to entertain a 2 year old without plopping her in front of the TV all day.
...of the cat running around the house like spaz all night. (Even if cat's are nocturnaland should be up all night, it's still irritating.)
...of my dear sweet hubby leaving stuff out and then getting mad at me that Amelia gets into it. I'm sorry that bending down to put things away in the childproof cabinets is too much for you.
...of my feet being swollen.
...of having to go to the hospital 2x a week for NST's.
...of doing laundry. I did 4 loads yesterday.
...ofmyspacebarnotworkingthefirsttimeIpushit. I don't like having to stop after every word to hit the space bar again.
...of having hardwood floors. I thought I would love them, but I hate them.
...of living in Southern California. I love my friends, I love my hubby, and I even love our little home,(except the hardwood floors!ha) I just don't like SoCal so much. And I probably never will. And that's okay.
...of all the stuff in our house that we don't use, but we have to keep. Why do we hold onto things we don't need and will never use? I'm very quickly getting over holding onto random krap because it belonged to someone who is long gone. Do they really sit up in Heaven or wherever we go after this life, and think, "hey!! don't you dare get rid of that gold plated butter dish!!" I'd rather have room for my kids to play, and for us to find our own things we love, so we can pass them onto our children and guilt trip them into keeping them forever. HA!


I should do this kind of post in the middle of the night more often. Just a little venting about random krap that really doesn't matter and I feel so much better! :-)I just get it out of my system and I can let it go.

It's not even 5 yet, maybe I can go snuggle my hubby and get an hour of sleep before the kiddo wakes up.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Would I be a bad Mommy


If I sold my kids Halloween costume on Ebay? For the last while, she has been all about pirates. Her build a bear has a pirate costume. She asks all the time to go ride the pirate water slide at disneyland. She has minnie mouse ears that are dressed like a pirate. You get the idea. We went last night to buy her a Halloween costume, and she wanted nothing to do with the pirate. She wanted to be a pumpkin! So we bought her a pumpkin costume. It's pretty darn cute, so I'm not complaining. Anyway, where was I going with this? (Darn pregnancy brain.) Oh right! I was talking about Ebay. So I paid $20 for the costume at Gymboree. They had a few of them. Then I went on Ebay, and saw they are selling for $50. I guess they are sold out most places, so everyone is willing to go on ebay and pay a fortune. Jeff suggested I throw her costume on ebay last night, and go buy her a new one this morning. But what if they don't have her size anymore?

So, what do you think? Would I be a bad mommy to put my kid's costume on ebay? And make her wear a sack or something?




















And no, I'm not really going to sell her costume after she picked it out all by herself. " No mommy, no pirate. No mommy, no witch. I can't like it. I like a pumpkin."

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

I'm still going to be doing some posts here, here and there, but most of my posting will be done at the new site,

Steph's New Blog

Digital Picture Frames

It's the picture frame of the future!

I found a new product that I think is pretty cool. It’s the digital picture frame. It’s just like a regular picture frame, but hi-tech. Here’s how it works. First, you take photos with your camera. That’s easy, right? Then you put your memory card from your camera into the digital frame. The frame can also be hooked up to a USB cable. Next you use the included remote control to select your slide show. It’s that simple! You can even play videos. The digital frames also have speakers and a headphone jack so you can have sound with your slideshow.

One frame can hold multiple photos, so you can display lots of your favorite pictures in one place. You can also switch pictures as soon as you take a new picture, no waiting for film developing or getting pictures printed. You can change pictures as your moods change, and you can use this product in any room in the house. Go check out digitalframez.com and see their lcd digital photo frames.

Moving

It's time for a change. Here's the link to
the new blog.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Shower time


My friends had a baby shower for me on Saturday. I have a great group of friends, I don't think I would have made it this far in my pregnancy without them, especially the hostess kathy. :-)I got so many great presents, I'm still working on putting them all away. The back of my van was overflowing, even with the back seat folded down. It was nice to get to see everyone, especially the people I haven't seen in a while.

I think we are actually just about ready for this baby. There are a few things I still need to buy, and I'm still working on the arrangement of all the baby junk, er I mean important baby stuff in the house. Amelia and I put the new infant seat in the van, that's a whole other post in itself. We have the crib set up in the kid's room, the bassinet is ready to go in our room. The first few months worth of clothes are washed and in the closet. My due date has varied throughout this pregnancy, the one on the tickers above is the latest date. I think I'm a week or two ahead of that. And I will be scheduled to have this baby a week or so before the due date. So really, I'm getting close! I could have this kid any time.

Wanna make some extra money?

I’m going to try something new in this blog.

Most of you know I’m a stay at home mom, and living on one income can be rough sometimes. Don’t you wish there was a way for us stay at home moms to make money, while doing something we love? Something like blogging? I have found something that works for me. I am getting paid to blog. The company is called Smorty, and they have great opportunities to get paid for blogging, using blog advertising.

First you sign up with Smorty.com. It does require a bit of information from you, as well as an approval of your blog, but it only takes a few minutes from you, and it’s usually completed within 72 hours. As a blogger, you are given a list of websites to review. Simply write your review and submit them to Smorty.com. After they are approved, you will be paid through Paypal. It’s a great system, and I’m glad I found a way to make a little extra money. You too can get paid for blogging!


We got a new car seat for this baby, I wanted one with the Latch belts, and I wanted one he could stay in for a while, Amelia grew out of the snug ride by 8 months, and she was tiny. The problem though, is it's kinda huge.I thought I was going to put the infant seat behind the driver's seat. As you can see, it's much longer than that space. I was trying to take a picture of how big it is when Amelia decided she needed to hop in the van (with her lunch) and sit in her seat too.

P.S.

Look at that ticker up there. It says 48 days! 48!! That's sure not very long until we have a baby. I think I'm going to start freaking out now. Am I really ready for another baby? I guess it's a little late to wonder that huh? :-)

Amelia's new look...


I took Amelia to get her hair cut today. Yes we went to the froufrou little kids hair place that charges 20 bucks to cut the kids hair. And then they style it to. Her hair was way over due for a cut though, and I just didn't feel up to doing it myself. I generally cut her bangs myself and then every few months I take her in and let them even it all up again and trim the rest of her hair.

She got a balloon, and flowers in her hair. I think the highlight though was playing with the train table.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Have you ever forgotten? Forgotten that someone important is gone? When my Dad first passed away I did it all the time. It was easy to do because of the distance between us. I was used to not seeing him for months, then I'd go home and visit and he'd be there. I'd start planning a trip, or I'd be just getting into town, or I'd just think about him, and think, I need to call Dad. And just for the shortest second, I'd think he'd be there to call or see. Then I'd get that feeling like I'd been hit in the stomach. Like I'd just lost him all over again.

It's been months since I forgot, but I did it again this morning. I was thinking of the camping trips we'd take when I was a teenager. I thought of someone or something and thought I should call Dad to ask him about it. But I can't. And even though we weren't really close, especially in the end, it still sucks. And it still hurts. Maybe a little more because we weren't so close at the end, and sometimes I feel bad for that. Although it was his choices in life that kept us apart, not just the miles.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

NST

I had my first NST today for the baby. It wasn't bad. They hooked me up to the monitors and Anthony did exactly what he was supposed to, his heartbeat was great and I was only hooked up to the machine for 10 or 15 minutes. The lady next to me had been there for an hour and a half trying to get her baby to hold still so they could monitor her. Next I had an Ultrasound to check the fluid levels. She told me to drink more water but other than that he looks good. He's still head down with his butt up. And he's still a boy. I get to go twice a week for the next 6 weeks or so.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Conversations with the crazy pregnant lady.

Jeff: Are you okay?
Me: No
Jeff: Seriously, are you okay? You don't look okay.
Me: No. This kid is trying to kill me
Jeff: What would make you feel better?
Me: Taking me to the hospital and having this kid cut out right now.

Poor Jeff, What do you say to that? he left the room. LOL

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Wow

This show
is scary. (and yes that's Elijah wood in the first one.)



It's working!

I've been lucky so far with this pregnancy, that I haven't had to take Amelia to any appointments, up until today. I packed everything I could think of to entertain her in case we had a long wait. There were grapes, and crackers, and water, along with crayons and books and toys. Basically a miniversion of a daycare ceneter all crammed in my diaper bag. Much to my amazement it went very well. My OB was on time (as usual which I love!) and was great with Amelia. While she talked to me, she had the coloring book in her lap and Amelia stood next to her coloring. It was great. We talked about the baby for 3 minutes, then listened to the heart beat. Amelia was fascinated with the little machine for the heartbeat. Once the doctor found the heartbeat, Amelia said "Oh good mommy, your tummy's working!. Go home now?" I love my kid. :-)

Then we talked about how to get Amelia to poop on the potty. Still no luck with that. I start Non stress tests this week, and go see my doctor again in 4 weeks. We should schedule my c section at that appointment.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

For Kathy

I think my tickers are correct now. Well the two top ones, not the one on the left. It doesn't like me and won't let me edit it.

We'll see what happens at the next appointment, if I get to change them back or not! LOL

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

My husband

is a good guy. Last night he totally negated everything he has done this pregnancy to piss me off. ( Im pregnant, everything pisses me off.) He went to the store after Amelia went to bed, to buy me chocolate. What a good hubby. I think I'll keep him.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Still hot

It's still hot, but there may be an end in sight. The weather man says it should cool off around Thursday.

When we got home from the mall earlier, it was 109 degrees out. One. Oh. Nine.

Maybe I can take a nap until Thursday....

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Another whine about the heat...

It's hot. Again/still depending on how you look at it. Friday when we got home it was 102. I didn't check the high for the day but 102 was high enough. It's been similar all weekend. Did I mention it's been cloudy off and on and humid. The poor AC is having a hard time keeping up. Jeff changed the filter last night, hopefully that will help a little. The coolest I could get it in here last night was 80 something.

I just checked the weather and at 745 AM it's already 80 degrees. I guess I'm going to spend another day sitting in the house eating popscicles and drinking water. maybe we'll venture out to the mall again to use someone else's AC. Although yesterday even the mall was hot.

I am not a good heat person anyway, but when I'm 7 months pregnant, it's really bad. I am also so swollen. My rings have been put away for a few days. My hands and toes have been replaced by sausages.

We were supposed to go to the International Fair in Old town this weekend. But when it opened at 10 yesterday, it was already over 90 out. I just can't handle walking half a mile to get there (parking is lovely) then walking around in that heat for hours. I am guessing we won't make it today either. Maybe next year the beginning of September won't bring 100 degree temperatures and we can go.

Okay I'm done whining now. I promise that one of these days, I am going to talk about something besides the heat and being miserable. That is most likely to occur after I give birth. :-)

Friday, August 31, 2007

Would it be silly to buy this for the baby? He may not even be born yet on Halloween. But he might be! LOL

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Amelia trying out her brother's new crib.



She is obsessed with his crib. Although for now she thinks it's for me to sleep in. :-) Those pictures are hanging above the crib are driving me crazy. I measured. I used the level. I can not get them to hang straight or to be even. Grrrrr I may move them over the changing table and hang the quilt over the crib. The pictures actually look a little small over the crib...

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Grr

Ebay is so slow to get auctions up. If I have the direct URL I can view the auction, but if I search by my seller name, it only brings up some of my auctions. I am paying for a 7 day listing, it should show up for 7 days. Not 6 or so.

Here is the direct link to my korker bows.
I finally put more auctions on ebay. I even have a new one this time.

Go see them here.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Rocker me!!

Earlier today Amelia came up to me and said "Mama your rocker me, on a treetop." ( Please rock me and sing Rock a bye baby on the treetop)

So I pick her up and hold her, the same way you'd snuggle a newborn in the crook of your arm. Then I rock her back and forth and sing Rock a baby baby. After I stop singing she says "Try again!" So I do. We do that three or four times. Each time she tells me to "Try again." After the fourth time she meows, tells me she is a kitty, then licks my arm and scampers off.

My sweet girl is no longer a baby, but sometimes she still needs her Mommy. Sometimes I need the snuggling as much as she does.
And I can only imagine what other things she has to show me as she grows up.
This is why we live on one income and I stay home.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

The joys of pregnancy.



This is totally turning into one of those "I'm pregnant and I'm going to complain about it" type blogs. If you don't like to hear about the pregnancy krap, come back in a few months. It will be over soon. Then you're all safe since this is our last pregnancy!

I did pretty much nothing today. It's Jeff's birthday so we got his presents and card together, but other than that, I sat on my toosh all day. Why do I feel like I ran a marathon or something? I'm also really swollen today. Not just my feet either, my rings are tight, I may not get them off tonight.

I'm also having contractions. They aren't close enough to be anything other than a pain, but they still suck. The doc said unless they are 10 minutes or less apart, or really painful not to go to Labor and Delivery. They are pretty uncomfortable, but bearable, and holding steady at 11 minutes apart. At least tomorrow we have playgroup, which means I can sit on my butt some more,and hang out with my friends while Amelia gets rid of some energy. One good thing is this kid is so active. He is constantly be bopping around in there, so I don't worry too much about him. Maybe he has more fluid than Amelia did? She consistently had lower levels of amniotic fluid. I just don't remember her moving so much. And I don't remember feeling her all over the place either. I think he is pretty long already, I will simultaneously feel movement at the very top and the very bottom of my belly.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Correction

Apparently I need to have a calendar handy when I'm posting blogs.

My due date is Nov 10th, which means earliest they will let me have the kid is the third which is a Saturday. So probably won't get to schedule it until at least Nov. 5th. Which by the way, is my niece Emma's birthday.

It seems to be cooling off around here. That or the AC is working better. Or maybe I've adjusted a little. We're actually going to the park today. Woohoo.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

It hot..

I'm tired, and I don't like summer any more. It's too hot to be outside doing anything. My AC can't seem to keep up with the heat either. It just runs and runs. Which is totally not energy efficient, but it's 80 something degrees in here and I'm hot. It is blowing cold air, just can't seem to keep up with the huge ceilings and the lack of energy efficient windows and insulation. I'm afraid to use the oven for fear the whole kitchen will just burst into flames from the heat. If it gets any hotter in here, I'm moving to Oregon.

On the plus side, I had another checkup Friday. The US went well, baby is measuring at 3 pounds, and I will start my twice a week appointments at 32 weeks. The only downside is they changed my due date. Apparently the tech who did my US originally to date the pregnancy wrote one date on the Ultrasound, and put something else in the computer. The doctor I saw Friday looked at the US and changed my date. I'm now due November 11th. That is so not fair! LOL

I'm thinking that can't be right though, because that means I was about 10 minutes pregnant when I got a positive pregnancy test. I was not even late yet when I tested, based on the dates I thought it was, it was only two weeks after conception that I got the positive. Based on the new date, I got a positive test about 10 minutes after conception. LOL so anyway, my earliest date for c section is now Nov 4th. Sucks to be me!! LOL

Steph

Friday, August 10, 2007

I try to be good and avoid Gymboree when I can. It's entirely too easy to spend a fortune on cute clothes there. And since my kid is two and grows out of things quickly these days, it's not real cost effective. But once things go on sale, I just can't resist.

I ordered this stuff for Amelia...





and this outfit for Anthony.



Not bad for $35 eh? Especially since the one dress at regular price was probably more than that.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

I'm back...



and I'm nesting. Big time. Jeff's mom is arriving Saturday, and I should be working on cleaning main areas of the house, since the cleaners haven't been here in a month and don't come until Monday. (darn vacations throw everything off!) but instead, I spent all day yesterday putting together the changing table dresser for the baby. And today, Amelia and I went and picked up the crib bedding. It's all i can do to not spend the rest of today putting together the crib. I just spent the last half hour on ebay ordering some prints and a clock to go with the bedding. I'm only 28 weeks, this kiddo should be in there for another 2 or 3 months. Maybe it's because of the umbilical cord issues, and them telling me there is a chance he'll be really early and or really small. I just have this desire to get everything ready for him right now. And it's making me crazy. Or maybe it's because I'm a stay at home mom now, and I have too much time at home. We've all been sick so haven't been able to do our normal playgroup stuff.

I don't need a clean house do I? (and yes I already tried to get the cleaners to come tomorrow. They haven't called me back.)I did however clean a big chunk of Amelia's carpet this morning. LOL

I should probably go clean my kitchen up so I can make some dinner...

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Organic Farming

Sometimes I miss living where I grew up. I was talking to a friend the other day who still lives in the little town we grew up in. She has small kids like me, and can't imagine raising them somewhere like this. Sometimes I'm a little jealous because I didn't plan to raise my kids here either. However, there are some amazing things here, that I just don't think my kids could experience back home.

Yesterday Amelia and I, and our playgroup went to Tanaka Farms. Tanaka Farms is the largest organic farm in orange conty. We go 2-3 times a year for strawberry picking, watermelon picking and for the pumpking patch in October. This trip was for watermelons. We rode on a wagon around the farm, stopping at different locations to try some of the things growing. Fresh out of the dirt the raw corn, green beans, carrots and tomatoes tasted better than anything from the grocery store. We arrived at a little tent where we were served fresh table cucumbers as well as pickling cukes. They were all wonderful. Even the littlest pickiest eaters were eating the veggies. Then we had some fresh watermelon. It was sticky drippy heaven. After that the kids got to pick out a watermelon of their own from the patch and we rode on the wagons back to the entrance. Then we had lunch and headed home.

It was a good day, and probably not something we could have experienced back in Ocean Park, WA.

Today we're going to my friend Tiffeny's to swim in her pool, and Saturday we'll be at disneyland for a birthday party. There are definitely some perks to living in Southern California.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Some pictures

This was on the 4th of July



Out back playing in her pool.


With her baby jaguar, he goes everywhere with us lately....



Don't you love the shoes? One sandal and one Croc (on the wrong foot of course. LOL)

Monday, July 09, 2007

Cooking

Amelia and I made Pesto today. It's so good. We're having it for dinner tonight. We also made Jeff a chocolate cake with home made frosting.

I think I'm nesting. LOL

Nervous

I'm getting a little nervous about my upcoming trip to Oregon. Flying with Amelia is always an adventure, but that shouldn't be too bad, she will have her own seat, and will be buckled in her car seat.

What concerns me is the actual trip. I love my family, and I love seeing them. But it's always hard staying at someone else's house. My mom just moved to a nice new big house, so Amelia and I will have a nice room to stay in. But, her new house has a big open floor plan, and so all of her antiques, and collectables are on display in the main rooms. Her last house was a 100 year old house so it had many small rooms and we were able to gate off the breakables room. My mom doesn't seem to worried about it, she thinks Amelia is old enough to learn to not touch things. I'm hoping though that she realizes Amelia is used to a mostly baby proofed house, so she is going to be learning that lesson on her breakies. Eep. The other thing is I swear this is some filter between my brain and my mouth that is inactivated by pregnancy hormones. I am usually pretty good at keeping my mouth shut when my mom or my sister says silly things, but when it's 100 degrees out and I'm pregnant and stuck in someone else's house with no car of my own, it might be bad. Eep. Oh well, other than all of that, I'm really excited to go see everyone. My cousin Connie is coming from Florida too so it should be fun.

Friday, July 06, 2007

Interview Meme

Interview questions!

I got this Meme from Steph, here are her questions for me.

1. (Because I loved Darlene's same question, I'll keep this one for you) If I were to come to visit for a day, what would we do?

It depends if you've been to LA before or not. We'd probably do the touristy stuff, I love taking people to the pier in Huntington Beach, there is a restaurant at the end of the pier. That's always fun. There are always things like Disney, Sea World, Hollywood etc, to go and see.

2. If you could form the most perfect career for yourself with your own two hands, what would you be doing?

I don't know. I get bored easily, so I'd probably like to do something a little different every day.

3. If you were to win $10,000, what would you do with that money?

This is sad, but it would go in the savings account for a down payment on a house. Not too exciting huh? :-) We don't really have any debt or any other major stuff we need.

4. What are 2 of the most important qualities you look for in a good friend?

Someone who will keep up with me when I'm being antisocial, and someone I can trust.

5. What personality trait do you love most about yourself? I can laught at just about anything.

What physical quality to you love most? My blue eyes.

I'll be back...

later today, I have a bunch of stuff I need to put up, but the laundry just won't wash and dry and fold itself. I really wish it would though.... I hate laundry. :-(

If i'm not back in a few hours send a search party. I'd start with looking in the 37 loads of clean laundry covering my bed...

Friday, June 29, 2007

Baby stuff

Not sure if I've updated about baby stuff lately. We've picked a name. Anthony. I had my 20 week ultrasound, it was cool to see him moving all over the place. It took forever. I was in there for over an hour. I was so tired that day that I was a little oblivious. At the end of the ultrasound the tech said my doctor would have the results by the end of the day. I said okay, so they'll go over it at the next appointment right? All she said was "or they'll call you." I should have known something was wrong.



The midwife called that night. She is one of those people who always sounds like she is nervous or something is wrong. She could be saying hello and you think "oh god, she's going to tell me someone just blew up disneyland or something." Anyway, she told me that there was a slight problem with the baby, his umbilical cord should have 3 vessels and it only has 2. Then she said "he might be just fine." MIGHT? You're telling me my kid MIGHT be fine???



Anyway that was all the info I got from her, she said they'd be calling to set up another ultrasound, that now it all had to be scheduled through the perinatal coordinator. So of course I went to google and found out the condition is called Single Umbilical Artery, and 70 percent of the time the kid is fine. It is more likely to occur with other birth defects. The baby is also more likely to not thrive as well during the 3rd trimester. So anyway, to make a long ass story a little shorter, I had the level 2 Ultrasound. It was very cool. We were there for 2 hours. Poor Jeff didn't get to go, we thought Amelia had strep throat (she didn't) so we couldn't leave her with anyone. So Jeff stayed home with her and Kathy went to the US. The first part was with the tech, they did the same stuff as a normal US, just measuring everything. That took about 45 minutes. Then Kathy got to come in for the rest, it was with a doctor of Radiology. He was cool because he could actually talk to me about what he saw and show us stuff, whereas the tech's can't say anything about anything.



So, the baby was fine at that point. He was measuring about a week and a half small, but everything else looked great. He checked his heart, (that was amazing, we got to see it in slow motion) all of his other organs, his head shape and size and everything. That part took over an hour. So the chances of birth defects is much less now. I will get another level 2 US every 8 weeks to make sure he is still doing well. So now the main concern is he keeps gaining weight. They will do more frequent ultrasounds towards the end to make sure he is doing okay. Once we got through the level 2 US and they said everything looked good I calmed down a lot. So if you all could just think some good thoughts or say a prayer for us I'd appreciate it.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Potty Training

It's going really well still. She still will not tell me she has to poop, if I catch her I can put her on the potty otherwise she poops in her panties. But other than that, she seems to be potty trained. She even stays dry all through her naps! Woohoo! It can't really be this easy can it? I swear she just woke up one day and decided she had bladder control.

She also knows a ton of stuff all of the sudden. She counts to 8 or 9 in Spanish! (Thanks Dora!) She she counts backwards from 10, and then shouts blast off. She knows most of the colors and it starting to recognize the numbers as well. At first I thought she was just absorbing this stuff while she slept, because I don't think I work with her on it much. I'm so not a flashcard kind of Mommy. But I've paid attention and I guess I do work with her more than I realized. If we're sitting somewhere and there are numbers or colors I point them out. When she gets a Popsicle, I ask her which color she wants, orange or purple. I guess it's the preschool teacher in me, I just do it automatically.

I'm working on getting a real website up and running! Ebay is so expensive, and the buzz on a lot of my groups is no ones getting a lot of sales right now. Maybe in the fall things there will pick up. A lot of people are getting frustrated though with the cost.

Friday, June 22, 2007

We have new sandals. I took the kiddo to Nordies today and got her some new shoes. They aren't as cute (or as expensive! LOL) as the Ecco's but they are still cute.

Poor Amelia has been cooped up in the house so much the last week since she has been sick, that I think she was just really excited to get out of the house. She ran all over the mall, it was great. We found a little toy store and bought her some glow in the dark stars for her ceiling. These ones are not the regular yellow, they are all sorts of colors swirled together. She was so excited to have them and her shoes, she carried one bag on each arm. We have to get Daddy to put them up for us though, he gets a little mad when I climb on things. Not my fault that being pregnant makes me even less graceful than i was before....Then we came home and had a nap.

She seems to have suddenly figured out the potty training. She is even staying dry during her naps! I still have to remind her to go, she doesn't tell me all the time on her own that she needs to pee, but she is doing so much better!

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Oops...



These are the Ecco sandals my mom bought Amelia when she was down here in February.
They are great sandals! Well, they were until someone left them on top of the van when we were leaving the hospital Saturday night. (Or was it sunday night? we were there a lot this weekend.)
Goodbye little sandals....
Amelia and I will be going to the Stride Rite store to get a replacement pair, just cause Gree-ma pays $60 for toddler footwear, doesn't mean I'm going to!

It's beginning

I think I'm starting to nest. Isn't it a bit early? I guess I am 20 weeks or so. (Is it bad that I don't know exactly how far along I am??) I'll have to check my tickers. LOL

Anyway, Amelia just feel asleep and now I'm off to start reorganizing her closet so there is room for little boy stuff.

I don't remember when I started getting stuff ready for Amelia, then I had an extra bedroom though so it was different. Anthony will be going in Amelia's room with her so I don't want to take over her play space too early...

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Fun meme
1. YOUR REAL NAME:
Stephanie

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 4 letters of real name plus izzle.)

Stepizzle
3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal):

Red dog

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (your middle name and street you live on)

Renee Almond


5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name.)

Whist


6. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (Your 2nd favorite color, and favorite drink)

Pink Daiquiri

7. YOUR ARABIC NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, 1st letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of you dads middle name, 1st letter of a siblings first name, and last letter of your moms middle name.)

Tirecsn

8. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one of your pets):

Black Clarissa

More Bows..

I am finally listing stuff on Ebay.

Click here to see some of my listings...

Monday, June 11, 2007


I am starting my first few ebay auctions today. Wish me luck! I spent hours yesterday figuring out the formatting and stuff of the first one, but then the rest of them should be pretty easy.

Here's a picture of my latest creations. Aren't they cute? I'll post pictures later today when my auctions actually go up.

Friday, June 08, 2007

My new bed is here. It's wonderful. Amelia got in bed with us last night, and she can actually sleep across the bed, and Jeff and I are able to not fall out of bed.

Now the question is, why did we wait 3.5 years to get a bigger bed? LOL

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Baby Elias Auctions

There is a mom in one of my online groups who just had a baby, and he has some health problems. So a bunch of ladies got together to help with some of their extra costs. Some of us just sent some cash, others made some things to sell on ebay to help the family out. Here's a link to the auctions, please, go check them out and bid if you can.

Thanks

Baby Elias Auctions

Saturday, June 02, 2007

Oh and one more thing, I updated my tickers. Kaisers Ultrasound Tech has a different due date in mine. Since they get to pick when I have my surgery, I figured I'll go with their date.

At least since it will be scheduled, I shouldn't have to go past 39 weeks if all is going well. If I start having problems like with Amelia, it will probably be a little earlier. I was 38 weeks when I had Amelia, and that was entirely too long for me. I don't know how people go 40+ weeks without going crazy.
Oh and I forgot, I've got a bunch more bows made, I'll upload some pictures later.

Sad...

the only time I have time to read blogs anymore, or even post in my blog, is in the middle of the night. It's a little after 4, and I have been up since 230. My back is killing me, and I just can't sleep anymore. I just LOVE being pregnant. (Can you all see me rolling my eyes??)

On the plus side we went shopping last night for a new bed. The one we have now is just a little sad, and old, and tired. And this pregnant lady has had enough. Actually it was Jeff's idea. He's probably sick of hearing me complain. :-) It's also much bigger than our current bed, so when little people want to come snuggle with Mommy and Daddy, no one will get beat up. Especially not Mommy, who often ends up on the couch if Amelia comes to visit during the night. Thank goodness she doesn't do it often. Our new bed is being delivered this weekend.

One cool thing about living where we live, we are actually getting to know our neighbors a little. The salesman at the mattress store was a nice older guy, not at all pushy, and full of information. He and Jeff were filling out the paperwork for the delivery and Jeff said our street name. The saleman said he lived on the same street, by a certain cross street. Jeff said, that's where we live! It turns out the guy and his wife live in the house next door to our condo complex. We walk by his house all the time, talk to his cats, and I admire their cute front porch and plants. When we were leaving he said stop by anytime we're out walking and say hello.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

It's 10 AM...

And so far today I've
Made my bed,
made Amelias bed
Picked up Amelia's room
Done 3 loads of laundry
Cleaned cat food off the kitchen floor (twice! Thanks Amelia)
Showered
Bathed , dressed, and fed the kid.
Cleaned both bathrooms
Paid bills
Watched 2 episodes of Jack's big music show
Colored pictures with Amelia
Cleaned out the car from our trip (almost done)

I'm tired. Is it nap time yet? Anyone who says stay at home moms don't do anything is nuts.

Now we're off to have a playdate.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Animals

Amelia loves animals. Especially monkeys and elephants. Someone shared this link with me, and Amelia and I have been watching the monkeys and even some elephants all morning.

The Africam

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Amelia and more bow pictures...


I made these this weekend. Click on the picture if you want to see them better. :-)

I wish I could take better pictures but I'm having issues, it's not my camera, it's the fact that this computer has no photo editing software. Stupid little laptop. I need to hook up the other computer, but I'm not sure it has software either. I guess I could actually buy some.

Oh and here are some pictures of Amelia wearing a couple of bows. She doesn't like for me to do her hair anymore , so it's always a bit of a battle to get them in and looking decent. Oh well, I knew she would get to this point and I'd have to give up a lot of things. You know, like having her in matching clothes. Or having her hair done beyond one little barrette. LOL



Saturday, May 12, 2007

It's a.....

Boy!! At least that's what the consensus is now.

The tech and I both saw boy parts from the bottom, I actually saw it and was like, um is that boy parts? and she said yes I think so! LOL

I have two pictures of that. But she couldn't get a side shot to confirm it. So she said if I want I can come back next week and she will do it again just to make sure for me, (and she won't charge me again.) How cool is that?

So she the bottom shot was definitely a boy shot, but she won't say 100 percent unless she can get a side shot too.

Friday, May 11, 2007

The bows are so quick to make. The Korkers ( the curly ones) have to have the ribbons curled first so they are more time consuming. The other ones take 10 or 15 minutes maybe.

Hey Darth Yaya, I have something I want to email you with more pictures and info, my email is

ameliasmommy at gmail dot com

I promise to get some pictures of Amelia up with her bows in her hair. So far they are holding up pretty well!

Bow pictures

Here are my first few attempts at bow making. It's actually pretty fun! And Amelia loves them. :-)





Thursday, May 10, 2007

Paypal

Someone sent me this link. Very interesting stuff. A little scary too...

Paypal Sucks
I was supposed to post pictures of my bows last night but my batteries died in the camera. I promise I will get some up today. :-)

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

My kid is so funny. I started watching my friends little boy today, he is almost 9 months old. He is crawling around, following Amelia all over the house. If he doesn't go fast enough, she stops and tells him "Come on baby. Let's go." She wanted him to sit in her doll stroller so she said, " Come on baby, hop in!" Silly girl. :-)

Monday, May 07, 2007

It's 98 degrees at my house today. Too hot. AC has been running since we got home from the park at noon. I feel bad about that. I don't like running the AC since it uses a lot of power. But otherwise I think I might die. It's just finally starting to feel bearable in here. I have all the fans running too. The AC should kick off soon, it's set to get the house down to 76 or so.

I had no idea how hot it was supposed to be today or I would not have scheduled a play date at a park with no shade. Poor Amelia was coated head to toe in sun screen. She was bright red by the time we left the park, she's just like her Mama, gets warm and turns red. LOL She went back to her normal color once we were home in the AC for a while.

So I think I may have come up with something to do as a little side business. It's not much right now, but it's fun! I bought a kit that has instructions to make hair bows. All sorts of bows, and ribbons and barrettes. If nothing else, they are fun little projects I can make for Amelia. I'm having fun making them. And it's way cheaper to pay $1 for materials, than to pay $8 a piece for little bows for her hair. Anyway, if I still enjoy it in a few weeks, I may see about starting to sell them.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

I have lots of stuff to blog about and post pictures of, Tanaka Farms, my kid sitting IN her water table but I don't have time today. We're going to disneyland in a little bit... wish me luck. That place can be kinda crazy sometimes...

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

The midwife I'm seeing was kind of freaked out that I"m overweight, (I'm not supposed to gain any weight during the pregnancy, and if I lose at the beginning that's fine too.) So I have been weighing myself weekly just to see how I'm doing. This week I lost 5 pounds. Not bad. LOL If only I could lose weight that easily when I'm not pregnant. I feel like I'm eating constantly. Although since the morning sickness seems to have passed, I'm able to eat much healthier.

My body shape is definitely changing more quickly with this pregnancy. I'm 12 weeks and already growing out of most of my regular pants. That didn't happen until 4 months or so with Amelia. I went to Motherhood Maternity's site this morning and ordered some pants. I don't seem to have as many maternity pants as I remember having. Although I know last time I got a lot farther before I had to wear maternity stuff.

I got these (isn't that waist band flattering? I just LOVE maternity clothes.) Especially since I think they are rediculously overpriced, and ebay has gotten a lot more expensive as well.



I'm sure these ones have just as cute of a waist band as the ones above.


I did get some cute tops, thank goodness a bunch of my newer shirts from Old Navy are long, I can probably wear them most of the way through the pregnancy. I'm hoping for another miracle with this baby. With Amelia I lost 33 pounds from the day I had her to my 6 week check up. I weighed less than I did when I got pregnant.

I think I will like this shirt, I will have to wait until it gets here before I decide for sure.


There was something else I was going to blog about, but I can't remember what it was...

Monday, April 16, 2007

Amelia's new favorite toy.

I don't think she's every going to come back in the house again...I still have to get some sand so right now, both sides have water in them.