Well, we've hit 36 weeks in this pregnancy- yay!

I was hoping I'd be even a little bit dilated but no luck.  Actually, my cervix is still so high that the doc requested an ultrasound to make sure Nate is even head down, which he is.  The exam hurt like a b*%&$ and made me bleed and I think it might have triggered some harder contractions, if that's possible, b/c all of a sudden they're getting pretty intense.

Last night was the worst so far.  The contractions actually woke me up from a dead sleep, which has never happened before.  And they took up more of my belly and low back instead of just the typical lower pelvis. 

I'm actually feeling okay right now.  My pelvic bones are still really sore, but I think mind over matter has been helping- I feel like there's a light at the end of the tunnel so I'm in a better mood.  Oh, plus it snowed last night and today and it's beautiful outside, and I love driving around in the snow.  (Brian made me promise not to be out too long today though in case of accidents and w/ me being preggers and all...aww...)

I still have so much to do to get ready for Nate's arrival:

1. put my clothes away in the new dresser- they're still in the corner next to my bed and that's where the bassinet will be going.
2. move bassinet into room
3. wash baby clothes
4. check out the crib Brian's friend gave us to make sure it's safe
5. get Sophia's new carseat installed so Nate can take hers
6. pack my hospital bag!

and some non- baby stuff:
7. bring up xmas decorations from basement
8. clean out Sophia's diaper pail- apparently even the ones designed to reduce smell get really stinky
9. take some things over to Childish Things in Boulder
10. pick up iced tea packets from Celestial Seasonings
11. send out xmas cards- they're all addressed, I just have to cut the letters and stamp the envelopes.

Well, there's more to tell, but I'm treating myself to a prenatal water aerobics class this morning- can't wait to lay on my belly in the water!!!

I am so incredibly irritated right now that if I actually tell someone how I feel they're going to think I'm a total bitch.

Brian wakes up and clomps around the house making as much noise as he possibly can.  He wakes up Sophia and she wails for an hour- I'm hoping she'll just go back to sleep, but no such luck.  I can't sleep while I'm pregnant and I am pretty much uncomfortable every single second of every single day.  I had actually been sleeping peacefully before B & S woke up.

NOTHING can make her happy today.  NOTHING can make me happy today, come to think of it.  She is currently upstairs wailing in her crib because it's naptime and she's tired...but she won't sleep.  I can't listen to her anymore!!!

I'm blaming all this on Brian because he was so loud this morning.  He's always loud.  How about a little respect for people sleeping?  Can you shut doors quietly?  Do you have to slam them?  Poor guy.  All he was doing was putting the dishes away and trying to do me a favor...but seriously, I would have rather he didn't and not made so much noise. 

What am I going to do with her today?  I don't think anything's wrong.  She's just as crabby as I am.  We cannot survive together today...

Ugh.  I hate being pregnant.

I've been having contractions since 5 1/2 months but they're getting worse- harder & closer- and they're hurting.  So I called the doc just in case- I don't want to feel like I'm overreacting but you know, just in case.

Well, it turns out I wasn't overreacting.  Things are okay- cervix is closed- but the doc did have me take a fetal fibronectin test to give us peace of mind.  We'll find out the results tomorrow.  Doc thinks it going to be okay but she wants to make sure. 

If it's positive, however, we won't be going to Omaha this weekend.  Not that that's more important than the health of the pregnancy of course, but a lot of family and friends are going to be there that we'll miss seeing. 

But I'm sure everything's fine...

P.S. "Whoa's"...did I spell that right?

Well, the winetasting was fabulous.  We really had a great time.  We didn't get as crazy as we did last year but it was still a lot of fun.  And it wasn't bad being pregnant either!

My best friend, Kristen, was in town for the weekend and we had a great time.  I'm a little worried about her b/c she's really gained a lot of weight I think from being depressed.  Her job situation is horrible and always up in the air and she never has any money.  Good thing is that she just moved in with a roommate so her rent will go down significantly and she purchased a new pair of running shoes in Boulder on her visit.  I really hope she gets back into running and feeling better about herself.

Well, I finished my baby registry at Babies R Us.  It was really weird b/c we don't need too much baby stuff but more toddler stuff.  I think we're going to decorate Nate's room in Nebraska Cornhuskers gear so I ended up registering for a lot of red stuff.  I feel a little bit strange about getting a shower for a 2nd baby, but I guess we do need some things so no complaints here!  We'll be driving to Omaha on the 24th of this month for the weekend.  I'm not looking forward to the drive, but I am looking forward to seeing Brian's parents again.  I just love them.  They are awesome with Sophia and it gives Brian and I a break.

Sophia's doing great.  She's starting to take steps and babble a lot.  She's saying what I think is "doggy" but what Brian thinks is "daddy".  I'm humoring him.  I'm feeling better with this pregnancy too- no kidney stones- yay!  My S.I. joints are a mess but it hasn't been as bad lately, just tolerable.  I haven't gained any weight in 3 weeks which is huge for be b/c I started out 20lbs. heavier than I did with Sophia.  Everyone says I'm smaller this time around.  I think my belly is bigger but I'm not gaining all the chub everywhere else...thank goodness!

Another friend of mine is coming in town this weekend from Boston.  I haven't seen Megan in forever so I'm really looking forward to this visit.  Her and Brian and I all hung out together in Memphis and we always had a great time.  She'll be meeting Sophia for the first time!

So Brian is coming home from Guadalajara today.  I have to say that he's freaking me out a little b/c he's talking about moving to Mexico!  This is latest email:
"Be prepared to help me with my resume when I come home.  We need change in our lives - the US is too basic and boring to raise a diverse family.  We need to get out after Nate is born.  I'm telling you - the US is not the place to be right now."

I have to say that I'm not totally against it.  It's quite an upheaval in our lives though.  I would only go if the stars were totally aligned.  We'd have to live in a city, which actually Guadalajara doesn't sound too bad.  Apparently it's considered the San Francisco of Mexico.  I'd have to sell the studio- boo.  We'd have to sell our house, which would not be an easy task right now.  The cool and adventurous thing is that we'd all be immersed in the Mexican culture.  I'd have to brush up on my Spanish and Brian would have to learn.  Apparently, Nestle Corp (who he's visiting) is desperate for English-speaking engineers, which means Brian could get a great job and possibly phenomenal pay.  He said we could get a house the size we have now for about $60K.  Huh.  Yeah, it probably won't happen but it's nice to dream...

Whoo-hoo!  It's this Friday!!!  I'm so excited!

1. hummus with pita & veggies
2. toasted pecans
3. gourmet cheese plate
4. fruit w/ dip
5. brownie bites (I know, this is weird but everyone snatched them up last year...and I wanted to serve some chocolate)
6. summer sausage

I don't think it's as much as I did last year but I'll make a lot of food and it'll be fine.  We also got some bottles of wine to drink afterwards and Brian will pick up some beer.  I told our guests to bring their favorite drink if we didn't have what they wanted and I'm sure our neighbor will bring over his Yukon Jack- yuck!

I'm sad that I won't be able to drink that much, but I'm definitely going to taste so we can order for the holidays.

Ugh, now I'm thinking about this bedspread...it's way more expensive but I think it's worth it.  I'm going to start asking for Pottery Barn gift certificates to save up for it. 

So I found this bedspread to go with our bedroom set.  The thing is that I've been looking at nice, kinda expensive sets and this one isn't very expensive but may still be nice.  Which leads me to wonder if this is the kind of situation where you can actually get a good deal on something nice that you really like, or maybe is this one of those instances where you're going to get what you pay for?  Hmmm...

Yes, my 6'3 husband and my pregnant self have been sleeping in a full-sized bed on a mattress that's probably almost 20 years old for...about 4 years now.  Well folks, that's all about to end!  We finally sucked it up and ordered our bedroom set with a giant king-sized bed- whoo hoo!  We didn't go with a CA King (everyone seems to be asking) b/c we didn't want to deal with the difficulty of trying to find the right sheets and comforter.  A king will do just fine...check it out!  The pic shows a queen poster but we got the king sleigh, dresser w/ mirror, chest, & 2 nightstands.  We didn't get the amoire b/c we don't watch TV in our bedroom and to be honest, the doors seemed a little cheap.  We loved everything else though.  The set doesn't get delivered for a few weeks but we're SO EXCITED!!!  Now to find a comforter set I like...

My little girl turned 1 yesterday.  Wow.  I knew it was a milestone but I didn't realize how it would affect me.  I kind of felt like it was a special day for me too. 

As if we didn't have enough going on this year (Sophia's birthday party, going to California, my parents coming for Thanksgiving, Brian's fam coming for Christmas, oh yeah- the birth of another child) I'm thinking about hosting another wine tasting this year.  Last year's was so much fun that I think we're going to do it again.  Am I making life harder than it needs to be?  Brian would say yes- but notice he doesn't argue with a wine tasting.  He would hibernate himself away in a cave if it was up to him.  But having parties makes me happy so I think it'll be okay...

Hehe, look what I got for Sophia for her birthday!  I wanted to get her a cheerleading outfit but couldn't justify spending $40 on one...

Whoo-hoo!  Have you ever stalked clothes at a store?  My job at J.Crew opened my eyes to the desperation that ensues when you can't find the item you wanted and thought it was perfect and believed that if you didn't get it that your life would change for-ever...for the worse.  Yeah, I called the store where Sophia's blue dress is and they still had the last one in her size!  Yay!  Wow, it's really sad how excited I am.  Oh, and better yet, it's on sale for less than what it is online!  Double yay!

Sad, sad, sad... 

So something else good happened to me today- Linens & Things is going out of business in Broomfield and this is what I scored for only $107!!!

Wine Fridge
Ice Bucket
Box of Tea
Punch Bowl

...and the best part is that when I called Brian to see what he thought about buying this stuff he said go ahead!

Okay, I don't think I can stand it.  I thought I wanted foofy for Sophia's bday pics but I'm really thinking about this other dress we found.  It was really my first choice, kind of mod, blue which is a great color for her.  The only reason why we didn't get it is because when she sat down it didn't lay right.  But...I'm thinking maybe we can get some standing up pics in it...darn it!  It's just so cute and if I don't get it I think I'll regret it.  There's nothing wrong with having 2 outfits for her pics, is there?

Well, my race tonight was out and so is my bike ride.  I've messed up my back pretty bad this time.  Thank God for Brian's mom who was able to come out and help...

Once I started feeling a little better I wanted to get one of those pregnancy bands to help support my sacrum and back and found one at Mimi Maternity in the mall.  Since we were there Annette & I decided to find Sophia a dress to wear in her birthday pic.  Yes, I'm going foofy.  I never thought I would, but I have this vision of Sophia sitting in this beautiful poofy dress just smiling away at the camera...so here we go...

We found this at Gymboree...hehe, it's called the Icecream Social Dress:

Just making a list for Sophie's bday plans...

Things I have:
1. 4x pink tablecloths for picnic tables
2. brown streamers to "tie up" table to make them look like gifts
3. big giant bows for center of tables- I could only find 2 white & 2 silver...no brown- who carries brown bows anyway?
4. pink streamers to twist with brown for decorations- I know, this is simple and non-imaginative, but since it's outside it could be really windy and I'm not going to spend a ton of money on something that's going to blow away.
5. a bday sign to put in the grass (I couldn't resist this one)
6. digital memory frame to put early pics of Sophie on display
7. party hat for Sophia
8. booster chair that fits on the end of the table
9. camera!

Things I still need:
1. upload pics to frame
2. cupcake mix- I might just do the stuff in the box- I'm thinking vanilla w/ the blue "water" icing and chocolate w/ pink icing just because they'll match the party colors
3. cupcake deco: teddy grahams, blue food coloring, gummy lifesavers, "1" candle
4. order party eco packs- they come in 25ct and so far there are 18 coming so I might just order double and expect to have a lot left over...
5. Brian's mom is taking me to Costco to get food
6. charcoal
7. party favors- these will be simple since most of the kids are babies or are pretty young.  I'm either thinking about getting a bunch of helium balloons and let the kids take them home (no cheapy toys left around the house) or maybe get some sort of pool toy like beach balls or something...

Really getting excited about Sophia's birthday party.  I actually woke up this morning at 4:30am thinking about it and couldn't get back to sleep.  I think I'm going to wrap up the picnic tables in pink tablecloths and put a brown ribbon around them with a giant bow in the center.  Now I just have to find giant bows...huh...

A local mom is selling her digital memory picture frame (new & unused) because it's not compatible with her Mac- yay for me!  I'm going to put some early pics of Sophie and put it on one of the tables.

More later, got a big day ahead of us!

Good things that have happened in the past couple days:

Brian took pity on me and said I could buy some maternity clothes...and I didn't even ask!!!  I'm waiting for the alien to come popping out of his body...

We got a $1700 check from the insurance company to fix my car.  I swear, it was like it came out of nowhere- some guy came to inspect the damage, went out to his car, and came back with a check.  Now the question is: do we really get it fixed or do we use it on something we really need?  The car isn't really all that damaged- afterall, I've got one of those cheesy fake black plastic bumpers.  It's dented a little but it wouldn't look w.t. if we didn't fix it.  But it's not like we need the money for food or paying the electric bill either.  We'd probably use it to pay off the doctor bills for this pregnancy...hmm...baby or car?  I guess the question of the day would be: is it dishonest to use your accident insurance money for something other than fixing your car?

I HATE BEING PREGNANT.

We're at 16 weeks with baby #2!  I went to the doc yesterday and since I've been having pains in my low back again they did a renal ultrasound to check if it was kidney stones...fingers crossed it's not!  Heartbeat was good and we're moving along just fine.  I got some Claritin for what we think are allergies so hopefully that'll help. 

Sophia's been into everything- she is just non-stop.  We're learning the places it's okay for her to go so we've resorted to shutting a lot of doors and blocking off walkways with chairs until we get our baby gates up.  I guess we'll be using the gates for a loooonnnggg time!

Got rear-ended today.  First car wreck ever.  I was surprisingly calm, maybe because it wasn't my fault.  Sophia and I are okay.  Poor Kit was in the far back and got knocked pretty hard, but she seems fine too. 

There's so much more I was going to write but I'm super tired so I'm going to bed.  I've been having to stay up late just so I'll actually sleep and maybe possibly be too tired to think about how my low back and sacrum hurt when I lay down...I hate being pregnant...