Burn the schedule!

Feeling the burn! Heartburn is crazy this time around! I remember having a little with Sami, but this time around it hurts so bad! I want to rip my esophagus out and throw it in a bucket of ice water! Night time it is the worst, as soon as I lie down, I feel like there are flames in my throat! I guess we'll see if the Old wives tale is true or not and see if this baby has a lot of hair, lol.

Sami's schedule is killing me. She has decided she no longer needs naps! OMG! Are you kidding me? It is impossible to get her to take a nap. I literally have to have her running for a good 2 hours straight in order for her to possibly take a nap. She will sit in her room and play for awhile, but then eventually will open the door and come running out of her room. I've tried laying her back down, I've tried being firm with her, I've even tried laying with her for a bit. She just will not sleep! Now I have to figure out how I'm supposed to shower, and hike out to the barn in the snow to feed the animals. The showering isn't a problem really because she will watch a movie in our room while I shower and I can see her from the shower. But getting out to the barn is another story. The snow is too deep for her to walk through, and I really can't carry her out to the barn and back through the snow, plus with all her snow gear on she tends to fall a lot and I don't want her falling in the barn or near the animals.

So my first thought was, well I'll just get up earlier, go feed the animals, come back and shower before she gets up. The problem with that is that she gets up as soon as the sun does! So the other option is to go out when she goes to bed. Either way it looks like I'll be trekking out there in the dark. There are lights in the barn, but not out where the alpacas actually are. Oh, boy sounds like fun huh? Guess I'll have to figure this out. I only have 2 weeks of help once Jilli is here then I'll have to figure out how to adapt it again to do with a newborn and a 2 year old. Hopefully by then the snow will be gone and Sami can come out with me and I can put the baby in a wrap.
Ahh, the farm life. Such fun. Not sure who signed me up for this...oh wait, yes I do. Thanks Hun I love you!

Can you believe how fast this kid is growing! My God where does the time go?

Sami has some nasty nose business going on this week. She's so stuffed up and has been drooling all over the place because she can't breathe. She looks a little rough in this pic, lol. She loves her backpack and has been wearing it around all week, lol.

The double stroller search

This is proving exhausting. Ian and I went to the mall this weekend to look at a few double strollers that Target had. I was interested in the Graco DouGlider because it is compatible with our carseat, the color was a decent match with our carseat as well. I was excited to have Ian take it down off the shelf for me so I could get a better look. They had all the double strollers tied to each other! You couldn't take anything down, or try it out! What the heck! What's the point of having a display if you can't try it out?

I can't decide if we should go with a traditional two seat stroller, which seems much more comfortable, or if we should do a sit and stand type. I think Sami is still a bit young for the sit and stand, since it's only a jump seat that they sit on, an she would be facing me and couldn't see where we were going. Not sure it will be too comfortable for her.

Anyone have any opinions or suggestions?

I also like the Graco quatro tour duo, but from what I'm reading in reviews, you're paying for the new look, and no real benefits in features. It looks slimmer, but weighs the same, if not a few pounds more....

I thing the one at target is really the best value...hmmm, decisions decisions....we don't have the $$ to make any immediate decisions anyway, so I guess I'll just keep reading reviews for now, until I can save up the $ or something comes up on craigslist.

30 weeks

Had our 30 week appointment today. Gained one pound in two weeks...still have 14 more to go to put me at the same weight I was with Sami, and only 10 weeks. We shall see. I can't wait to meet this little one and I'm getting so excited now! My belly measured only 29.5 weeks, but the doctor thinks I'm doing great, I'll be back again in another 2 weeks.

Jillian has finally settled in now...I think. This past week she has flipped head down and is (crossing my fingers) staying that way. YAY! With the exception of a few nights ago, when she decided to wiggle her way back up and was laying sideways and keeping me up all night. She finally figured it out and wiggled her head back down and has been resting comfortably. Her little butt still floats back and forth across my belly as she switches which way she wants to face. I remember Samantha doing that a lot in the end. And of course she tries to pierce my stomach with her little limbs, pressing so hard that I actually feel like I'm bruised from the inside out in some places. She stuck out her foot or knee or something in the front of my belly a while back and I swear you could see it sticking out a good inch and a half to two inches! It only lasted a few seconds and she tucked it back in, but that spot on my belly hurt for days afterward.

I am officially in full on nesting mode. I've gone through all of Sami's old stuff and separated by size. I've washed and folded everything from newborn to 3 months. (Now I just have to figure out where to put it all) I'm a little upset to realize that we have a TON of stuff left over from Sami. I was kind of looking forward to buying a few new things, but really...we have SOOO much! Clothing wise we are all set, for her.
I brought out her car seat and cleaned it all up, ready to go. Even packed a few things in the hospital bag for her to wear! But I can't decide on what she's going to wear home.

I think Ian is getting a little anxious and excited too, he wants to get the bassinet set up this weekend. I have a feeling he's more nervous this time than he was with Sami. I think it's a lot of stress on him because he's traveling and doesn't know where he'll be when he gets "the Call." I think he's worried about missing some of it, or it being too much stress for me, or how I'm going to manage with Sami too when the time comes. But he's really been a great support and I love to see him getting excited about the new baby coming.

10 More weeks! Let the count down begin!

Just some pics

This is a hat she had for Easter last year and just found and she loves it. She wears it all throughout the day.

The drool!

Taking her baby for a walk.

Belly shot

Lists

We're getting closer!! Ian and I are both starting to get nervous now. We both feel that this baby is going to come early. Lately I've been thinking about plans in my head for all the what if's. With Ian gone most of the week, I feel like I have to have some kind of plan in place just in case something were to happen in the middle of the night, or even during the day when he's not here. On most days Ian could be anywhere from an hour to 4 hours away, even 6 if he was in the office for a meeting! So I told him that I have devised a plan..or a list of sorts as to who I am going to call and in what order, lol. First is the doctor, or on-call office, then Ian to let him know what the plan was, then my in-laws, cause they are the closest, then my parents. I will have to evaluate whether I can drive myself to the hospital. I'm not so worried about driving as I am about lifting Sami in and out of the Jeep.

I was using my in-laws car seat for Sami because it had a higher weight limit for rear facing, once we took her out of the infant seat. I've since given it back to them and put Sami's new seat in the car and had to move her from the middle so that the babies car seat will fit too. I'm not happy about moving her from the middle seat :( but it will be easier for me through the end of this pregnancy to get her in and out of the car, and it is a necessity for the babies seat to fit in the car. They won't fit side by side so neither can be in the middle :(
I'm all about safety especially when it comes to the car and car seats so this sacrifice is very disheartening for me.

So in our worry that I will be going early (note: there is no medical evidence that I would possibly go early, it's just in my head...and Ian's too, lol) Ian suggests that I should get our bag ready for the hospital...just in case! LMAO. So that's the plan this week and I am realizing the few things that I really need to start getting together. We really have just about everything we need from Sami, but there are a few things that we will need to get. I have to go through what we have for newborn and 0-3 stuff, I know I gave most of the little stuff away to a needy family that we knew when they were having their first girl, so I might be a little short on the newborn stuff, thankfully though there really isn't much that newborns need.
So here's my list...again, for my own reference to help me stay organized, lol.

Double Stroller
Burp Cloths
Baby wash cloths
Nursing pads-lots of them! LOL
Nursing Tank tops (these are the BEST for nursing and I totally relied on them with Sami, so I'd like to get a few more this time around.)
Nursing bra or 2
newborn diapers (I bought a case of size 1's a couple weeks ago since they were on sale at Targ*t)
Some zippered newborn sleepers (Zippers are so much easier than all those snaps!)
New nipples for our bottles. ( I heard that Babies r us will take back bottles that are not BPA free...does anyone know if this is true? Even if they are used? I heard that on another blog...Think I'll have to check that out.)
New breast shield and valves/membranes for the breast pump

K, that's all I can think of for now, I'm sure I'll come up with more, but these are the top on my list for now, as I start getting things together for this new little girly.

How come they don't make baby laundry detergent for HE machines? The regular stuff is supposed to bad for the front loaders and I can't find Dreft or All baby for HE machines, but I want that baby smell! LOL.

I know it's still early, but I want to get as much of the bigger stuff like the car seat, clothes and bassinet ready before I get any bigger and things get even more difficult, lol. Oh, and I need to make dinners this time around and freeze them. Once my two weeks of help are done (a week with my mom and a week with Ian) I know I'm going to need quick stuff that I can just throw in the oven for Sami and I. So if you have any great recipes send them our way!

Watch this baby hang in for 42 weeks now that I'm all nervous about her coming early and preparing. Sami came on her due date so she was exactly 40 weeks. 10 more weeks and we'll know for sure!!

Name, name, names

So I think that we finally have it. I know things could change once I see the baby, but it was really bothering me that we didn't have a name picked out for this new little one...so here it is....
Jillian Rose
She will have the same middle name as her 1st and 2nd cousins, but it just fits so it's going to stay. I feel relived that we have a name that we agree on and we both think is beautiful. Our little Jilli Bean (my nickname for her, lol) has been very active lately, so much so that I almost started freaking out the other day cause she was actually calm and quiet. I swear in the beginning she didn't jump around as much as I remembered Sami moving, but lately...she's a "little acrobat" as my OB put it.
At this point in the pregnancy I have gained 2 pounds less than where I was at with Sami in the same week. Kind of hard to believe cause I feel like I'm bigger this time around, and I have insatiable hunger all the time. Seriously, I'm always hungry! Ian is a little upset because I never have left overs when we go out to eat now, lol. I used to take a few bites, eat maybe half of a meal and that was it...not these days! Mama wants to eat! And have dessert! Well, no dessert right after dinner, but about 20 minutes or so, I'm dying for some chocolate cookies and a big glass of milk.

Sami has been doing great with her letters. She knows 95% of them by sight She can't seem to get a handle on G and J and W (although she will make a sound that is somewhat like a W, but she can't pronounce "W". She says "Eee" for A, but then will say it correctly after you tell her A. And she says "M" for N.
S and K are her favorite letters. I love that she's learning so fast and I'm so proud of her, but now, where ever we go or where ever we are she spells EVERYTHING! Every sign she sees she yells out the letters! It's so funny, but then when I'm trying to do something on the computer real quick she is climbing all over me screaming "S! S! S! TTT! Kay! B!B!B!B!B!" It's crazy, hahaha. She loves her letters.
Her other big loves these days are Elmo, she L.O.V.E.S. him. and Tigger too. She can be found saying any of these things about a hundred times a day, "Oh, no!" and "Oh, maaaannnn!"(thanks to Swipper) "Peeeezzz" (Please) "Mama, mama, momee, mama, momee!" "Daddy, dada, daddy, daddy!" "Patchie, Patchie" "Bu-Bye! Buu-Byyyeeee"
She obviously says much more through out the day, but not a day goes by that I do not hear these phrases at least 20 times each...seriously.

Her new snack...frozen peas! She used to love veggies, now for some reason she will only eat canned diced carrots. So I read on another blog about someones daughter who loves frozen peas, so I figured why not try it, and she likes them! So there is nothing better than a snack trap full of peas while Mama's making dinner. I feel like a better mom when she's eating them, lol.

There's so much more to share about Sami, but the days just go by too fast, I wish I could blog everyday, cause there's just so much to share, she's growing so fast everyday!

A really blurry belly shot, but it's all I got, so there ya go.

Third Trimester

So this week marks the start of our third trimester...the final stretch. Last week I had the glucose testing. I passed...yay!! Then I had to get more blood work to test for antibodies for fifths disease. My nephew had it while he was at our house and none of knew until after the week after. So my blood work came back good and all is well. Today started my every 2 weeks appointments...fun, fun. It should be fun dragging Sami along into the office every two weeks for the next 3 months.
I feel huge, more so then I remember feeling with Sami. Even Ian said he thinks there might be twins in there, lol. He wants to get another ultrasound to be sure. So after today's appointment, my weight was good, my urine was good, and the belly measures perfectly on track....I decided to check my Belly Book that I had for when I was pregnant with Sami, and I am actually 2 pounds less than I was with Sami at this point!! CRAZY! I swear I feel bigger, I feel like this baby could come at anytime, lol.
This pregnancy is different. In the beginning she didn't move as much as I remembered Sami moving early on...now, she doesn't stop! She flips all over! I swear Sami was head down from day 1, not this girl. She's usually head up, but flips back and forth through out the day/week. The other night I swear she was doing the river dance on my cervix!! I was actually scared. She woke me up at 3am kicking like crazy on my cervix, I was sure she was going to break my water. I even tried to push her to try and turn her. I could feel the top of her head at the top of my belly. She wouldn't turn, but eventually did stop kicking so that I could get some rest.

Sami and I spent the beginning of the week in CT with my brother and niece and nephew. I'm pretty sure Sami is in love with Cole. Even the week before we went down she was running around the house pointing at his pictures and saying "Cole, Cole, Cole!" Now she loves Ryleigh too. We went to the mall after my doctors appointment and every little girl she saw was Ry. It was so cute. She loves her cousins and had so much fun with them! Today I think she was happy to have her toys back, but I know tomorrow she will be looking for Cole and Ry.

Ok, off to bed for me. Sami's been waking up early the last few days and it's killing me, lol. Mama likes to sleep until 8am...Sami likes to get up at 6am....ugh, doesn't she realize I only have 3 more months to get any sleep at all, lol.