Aw Dump It...

First, before I dump the many photos, I had to share this awesome GIF I recently saw, especially after Sunday's game (which, because we were with family, specifically sports-HATING-SIL, I didn't dare ask her to put the game on while she was watching Sex In The City reruns and so I worriedly checked the score every 15 min or so on my phone, and the second SIL stepped away from the living room, I confirmed she was done watching and dashed in to watch the last 4 minutes of play... The Pats kicked it up against GangGreen (gangrene - the worst name ever!) of course when I started watching... thank bajeesus)

*Right back atcha babe!*


Anyways - photo dump time! (Because, catch up posts? with like, a post for each week/weekend I'm behind? NEVER GONNA HAPPEN...)

So here goes:

end of September - we got the finishing touch for his Halloween costume (except now DH has setup a second costume for Button to wear to his work party tomorrow evening... as I made fun of moms that had two costumes for their kiddos. lol)
Also - a G-rated (no?) bathtub shot, and the kale is STILL coming! (which reminds me, there's THREE bagfuls in my fridge waiting to be used!)

The craziness that happens on weekend mornings... 

Second weekend in October, we hit up the "local" (and WAY OVERCROWDED) pumpkin "patch" (where - ha - we didn't even actually buy any carving pumpkins... too anxious to escape the crowds that kept showing up!)

but Button sure had a lot of fun going down the slide (over and over and over and over) and checking out the fun tractor!

a little random October fun - sleepover at "Auntie's house" (she captioned her pic "guess whose waffle is whose!") 

and a great yard-sale find for $5!

What can I say? the kid loves to clean!! (his little vacuum was another yard sale find - I think $1 or $2?)

"Shades"

(yes the first pair says Heineken... don't judge... he loves those shades!)

The next weekend, we went for a walk (technically to get "family" photos in the beautiful fall foliage - pictures are still on my large Canon!) and DH got some cute phone photos...
the next day was a christening for a cousin's second-born son, where the parents and kids were slave to the DJ played some stupid hoola-hoop game...

This past weekend, while DH was off playing hockey/hanging with the guys (ALL WEEKEND! ugh no resentment here...) we had a craft evening!

We made yummy homemade popcorn (vs the microwave-bag-kind) with Bacon Cheddar seasoning (as requested by Button)
And Mommy took over on the fish craft
(aw who am I kidding? it was my craft from the start lol)

And this past Sunday was carving day at the IL's where Button got icked out by the pumpkin guts, and then helped Daddy carve (or at least pull out the eyes after they were carved...)

That's a Wreading Wrap, Folks!

or - Hell Froze Over because I actually FINISHED A SERIES!!!!  ((As I finish writing this post on Friday... oops. I should know to start writing a Wednesday series post on MONDAY...))

I guess some of the series I started don't technically ever end and can still be considered a success (Foodie Friday? Makin' Things Monday? - good grief when did I last post in either of those?!)
Maybe during my pre-baby maternity leave I'll work some more on Tour Tuesdays...


No, you guys - as of October 1st, I have read a book for all 50 categories in the 2015 Reading Challenge! 

Here's a reminder of the challenge, which I started in January!

check out the full size list/image here!

And if you want a recap of how it progressed throughout the year, be sure to check out each update:
     January 7, 2015 (Book #1 : category35)
     January 14, 2015 (Book #2 : category16)
     February 4, 2015 (Book #3 : category38)
     February 14, 2015 #1 (Book #4 : category41)
     February 14, 2015 #2 (Books #5, 6, 7 : categories10,3,14)
     June 1, 2015 (Books #8-21 : categories26,13,22,34,24,9,8,37,44,35,5,27,1)
     June 17, 2015 (Books #22-26 : categories49,15,7,11,17)
     July 1, 2015 (Books #27-32 : categories4,40,25,36,23,29)
    August 5, 2015 (Books #33-41 : categories28,46,39,33,43,12,30,31,6)
    August 19, 2015 (Books #42-45 : categories19,45,20,32)
    September 9, 2015 (Books #46-50 : categories42,47,21,48,50)

((HAHAHA - so I'm looking through the lists, wondering - how did I read 50 books but still supposedly have two categories left at the last check in?!
well - it's because I double read (and counted) books for category 22 and category 35, and forgot to account for that during my blogging... LOL so 52 books read, for 50 categories...))

With that note, here is the final entry for the 2015 Reading Challenge!!!!!

A grand total of challenge and non-challenge books read: 76 books total, 52 challenge books! (That's an average of one book every 3.89 days!!)


#67. Crash by David Wright & Sean Platt    N/A Category      (fin 9/14/15)
A unique story (again by the guys that wrote the series Yesterday's Gone) about a guy who survived a car crash that killed his little girl... TWIST ending, which somehow made the book about a topic that E and I were very "all about" last fall, if you remember...  with the surprise ending, a great read! (I will tag it with a TRIGGER WARNING!)


#68. When Mockingbirds Sing by Billy Coffey     N/A Category    (fin 9/15/15)
"What marks the boundary between a miracle of God and the imagination of a child?" (from GoodReads) A little girl, who has moved to a new town, has an "imaginary friend."  Is it God/a Higher Power? Is it just coincidence that old Mr. Smith won the lottery after seeing numbers in a painting the little girl could never have painted herself?? A pretty good read...
 
#69. Never Never by Colleen Hoover    N/A Category     (fin 9/16)
Two highschool sweethearts, apparently together for years - but woke up one morning and neither can remember ANYTHING... annoying because of the cliff-hanger ending (which, you'll see, I read #2 in the series immediately, but #3 isn't released yet! WAAAAAH!)

#70. Never Never #2 by Colleen Hoover    N/A Category   (fin 9/16)
(see above)

#71. The Graduate by Charles Webb    #2/50: A Classic Romance     (fin 9/19)
So I'd started reading a different (relatively unknown) book for this category, got bored with it - and how "classic" can it be if it's unknown?! So out came this book... I'd seen parts of the movie, and of course the "spin-off/tie-in" movie Rumor Has It (cute movie!) so I was excited to read the book... kind of dryly written, and the ending... I can't believe the author left it like that!! Overall, kind of a bizarre read...


#72. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake     N/A Category     (fin 9/20)
A fun ghost-story read about a guy whose a ghost-hunter by legacy... until he faces one that doesn't want to kill him back...

#73. Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon      N/A Category     (fin 9/29)
Another sci-fi/ghost-story type of book... a woman returns to her childhood home (where her young best friend had been murdered 30 years before) only to have another young girl be murdered in an eerily similar way...

#74. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides     #18/50: A Pulitzer-Prize-winning book     (fin 10/1/15)
AND THIS BOOK CLOSED OUT THE CHALLENGE!
(ugh ok so I was a little bit of a cheat - I'd actually read this book a number of years ago, and liked it - except now I couldn't remember a lot of it, so I decided to completely re-read it... it totally still counts though!!)
The main character, a person stuck between sexes, tracks back through his/her roots to ultimately the beginning of his/her story, with grandparents in Turkey/Greece years before he/she was even conceived...the story follows three generations, as the "genetic mutation" travels along the family tree...(I know, really prosey and poetic, right? lol)
(one part I found funny, was the TTC logistics when Hubby wants to conceive a girl and so fills his wife in on the best time to have sex, and "here - you use this thermometer" and a temp-shift would confirm ovulation, etc.  Except - when two characters were "synchronized in their menstrual cycles [and conceived on the same night] - that night was day 14."
yea? both gals were on CD14, and they BOTH ovulated "on time?!"
HA.


Anyways, a really good book (one I'm willing to re-read!) and highly recommended...



And because I will never be done reading in life, I've decided to maybe keep a reading series going, just sans Challenge!  Maybe an annual tally of the number of books read...

So to carry on for the rest of 2015:

#75. Hopeless by Colleen Hoover     (fin 10/6)
Obviously was liking this author for awhile... a lightly written story (with a heavier storyline): a highschool girl meets (and develops unprecedented feelings for) a guy who seems to know her from another life... He finally helps her uncover/remember a deep secret she's had repressed and will change her life as she once knew it...

#76. Murder Under Construction by Maddie Cochere     (fin 10/13)
a light read (a free download while at lunch and wanting to read) about a woman who fell on a murder victim, knife still in her chest while dirt-biking at a construction site.  Apparently it's a thing of hers, as this is the third body she's come upon in the last year! What ensues is (supposed to be) a comic who-dunnit... eh not bad, for a free book...


And now I'm currently reading (slowly since I've lost the time to do it at work) the second book Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy, Girl Who Played With Fire.

And that, folks, is the end of the 2015 Reading Challenge - but the beginning of a regular series, What's Been Read!

holy CRAP - Single digit Weeks Left!!!! (aka 30WeekPost)

Baby

• As baby's skin smoothes out, her brain just keeps getting more wrinkled (more room for brain tissue!)
• Her grip is now strong enough to grasp a finger!
• Her bone marrow has taken over production of red blood cell, which means she is better able to thrive on her own once born.
• Expect to feel your baby moving every day, especially after you’ve had a snack or meal and (sadly!) when you’re lying down She totally ramps it up when it's mommy's bedtime! sometimes when I wake at night to shift positions, she's mid-dance-party!

Momma

• About 75 percent of pregnant women suffer from puffy ankles and feet (and I feel guilty that I'm in the 25% that has no swelling... lol)
• Your second trimester get-up-and-go may have upped and left now. (totally... bedtime can be 8:30 if I'm laying on the couch, although I somehow made it to 11 last night - must have been the early bedtime from the night prior that helped me watch mostly all the Pats game Sunday night...)
• As your skin stretches to accommodate your growing belly and body, you (and 90 percent of the pregnant set) are probably starting to see the pink or red streaks known as stretch marks. (um.. again, in the minority percentage - no stretch marks... please don't hate...)

Best Moments This Week: (same as last check-in) : As always, when Baby Girl moves =) 

Total Weight Gain: I hovered at about the same weight for a bit after the vomiting a few weeks ago, but recently started upward ticking again - I'm gonna guess about 22 lbs now...

Maternity Clothes:loving them... all ready for legging + sweater weather!

Symptoms: (same as last check-in) : lots of kicks (and mood swings)

Sleep: (same as last check-in) : no change (enjoying it while I can, around the random just-because wake-ups (I think it's BabyGirl's nighttime calisthenics that actually wake me... lol))

Food Cravings: (same as last check-in) : nothing really crazy - it can change hour to hour...

Anything making you queasy or sick:  No, except the 3-hr GTT... YUCK

Movement: (same as last check-in) : Lots still!

Stretch Marks:(same as last check-in) : Still just ones I had on my hips from highschool...

Gender: (same as last check-in) : Baby Girl!!

Labour Signs: ooooh there was a night in the last week where there were a good amount of Braxton Hicks (in fact, the night before my 3hr GTT!) and I tried to really cool it and sit down and rest (hard with a toddler after work!) and then got attitude from DH when I asked for help like would he mind giving Button a bath... DOES HE UNDERSTAND I'M GROWING A HUMAN?!

Belly Button In or Out?: (same as last check-in) : In (never turned out last time either - though I finally took out my belly-button ring this time...)

Wedding Rings on or off?: (same as last check-in) : On

Happy or Moody?: Happy! I've always said this pregnancy that I didn't expect another baby shower, we have all that we need (except some girly clothes lol) but I discovered, while at breakfast with a somewhat friend/acquaintance, that there is a shower being thrown... =) I'm slightly bummed friend ruined the surprise (they really would have surprised me!) but I still have no idea who is throwing it, where it is, or when it is! (I didn't tell the friend she ruined a surprise. lol)

Purchases for baby: I hit a few garage sales with MIL last weekend and found a few onesies, and then "found" the clearance rack at a Carter's outlet (Baby Sister onesie for under $3!!!) but I'm trying to not buy another single thing, especially with the above-mentioned shower and gifts coming!

Purchases for Momma: hm... a striped summer dress from Old Navy Maternity ($8!) that I'm thinking would work with some bright tights and brown boots this fall!

Miss Anything?: A good drink... no change in that answer! And a friend pointed out recently, my parents will be here for New Year's Eve! Is that awful? contemplating/calculating if I can get out of the house 1 week PP?!?!?! LMFAO

Looking forward to: meeting Baby Girl!!! Figuring out what her damn name is going to be!  Seeing how she looks in this sweater I am SO CLOSE TO FINISHING:

Speaking of The Patriots - I apparently dreamt of Tom Brady a few weeks ago (according to notes I had saved in Blogger... OOOOO I just remembered it! the dream!

on some soccer field at night, stretching (seated, legs spread) and he sits behind me the same way to help me stretch... mmmmmm....

where was I? wipes drool

oh yea, so then last night's dreams were of Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter coming after me.

AWESOME...

We recently listened to Baby Girl's hiccups on the Doppler (so cute!) and then Button wanted to help listen to her heartbeat (140's, just like at the doctor's) and then demanded we listen to his heart beat...
(E has the cutest pictures on his phone...)

It's so crazy - 2.5 years ago we were listening to him through my stomach via the doppler, and now we’re here listening to his little toddler heart going, after listening to his littler sister's...

(oh yea - weekly bumps!)

 Yesterday before a christening 

exactly 30 weeks!

she's ALIVE!

Ok - we're reaching the point where it's been so long since I blogged that there's so much to write about that it becomes daunting and I put it off for another day (or ten...)

so it's TIME TO JUST WRITE!

On Oct 5th I had my 28week check-up (weight was good, BP was good, all's good!) as well as my 1-hour GTT, and was all psyched because the doc had said four weeks prior that I'd get to schedule BabyGirl's eviction date! (her RCS)

So the 1hr GTT went well (as in I didn't have to fast, but did anyways after failing Button's 1hr GTT 2 years ago... chugged the glucose syrup stuff like a champ... didn't get nauseous, and only had ONE blood draw at the end of hte hour!)

And then I was all pumped (and ready to plead for a RCS earlier than 39w which is Monday 12/21) when the nurse was like, "ok and the scheduler now does scheduling on the phone/computer so she'll be in touch!"

um, ok...

AND THEN I got a voicemail from Scheduler Susan later in the day, saying she'd gotten me down for 7:45am on DECEMBER 23RD (which would be 39w3d...)

and I was all, "NO! NONONONONO!!!" and pouted in my car on the way home (where I listed to the voicemail) that we'd totally be in the hospital through Christmas (Eve and Day) and then put my big girl panties on and realized, Christmas this year is gonna be CRAY CRAY to begin with, what having JUST ARRIVED HOME with a new born... what's the difference if it's in the hospital?
(as I type that, I'm cringing, picturing Christmas morning stuck alone with baby girl in the hospital until family gets there after their cheery cozy PJ-clad Christmas breakfast by the fireplace... WAAAAAAAH!!!!)

And no, they couldn't schedule any earlier (after conversations with Scheduler Susan) because:
1. The hospital, due to insurance reasons, WILL NOT schedule an ERCS before 39weeks
2. 12/21 (exactly 39w1d) none of the surgeons/OBs from my office are scheduled in the OR
3. 12/22 (39w2d) there were no openings between the surgeons/OB and OR...
(It also doesn't help - the OB has my official EDD as 12/28, which makes 12/21 the absolute earliest possible scheduled date at exactly 39w, whereas O date and one of many early measuring U/S made me go with a 12/27 EDD (and not want to budge. lol))

so, unless I go into labor earlier (like I did with Button) we'll be having our BabyGirl on december 23rd! (so, yes - I'm hoping for early labor!!! not only because I don't want to be in the hospital on Christmas, but because I want to give BG just a little more time between her birthday and Christmas! oiy!)


And about the whole 1hr GTT - it was a repeat of Button's pregnancy:  failed the 1hr (blood sugar was 144) and had to take the 3hr GTT a few days later... and it was a bit worse than I remember...
I got nauseous and then hot/cold while out in the waiting room... (BUT - in the 3hours there, I did get 90% of a hat made for BabyGirl! and finished it a few nights later:)

(they called less than 24-hours after I finished the 3hr GTT to say I passed with flying colors... If/when there's a next pregnancy, I'm gonna tell them just to skip the 1hr, save me the time and hassle, just give me the 3hr from the start!)



Button's started to report back from daycare on his own (without us reading his daily sheet and prompting, "Did you make Owls for "O" today?")
Case in point: one night during bedtime routines, he tells me "[Button] got in trouble at pe-school ta-day..."
I asked why and he got to his knees and said, "do dis to Ms. Cohtney" (whatever the being-on-his-knees was... we discovered at a "Back to School Night" that he wouldn't lay down during nap time and Ms. Courtney got mad... lol)

At this same Back-to-School night, another mom from the daycare (totally different class/age group) had brought in a bag full of baby girl clothes! (Her youngest is now 4 months old, and "as she grows out of her clothes, [mom] will keep bringing bags in!"

She didn't know me, but had asked the director if she knew anyone having a girl, and director replied, "yes! [Button's] mom!" and so she bagged up her baby girl's clothes for "[Button's] Mom" and brought them in for me, so sweet!!!
(aw, remembering going through hand-me downs for Button 2.5 years ago as well!!)

(I also recently nested went through Button's old newborn/3M clothes for any usable clothing - found a crap ton of (stained) white onesies! score!)



In other big news, Button's first 2-yr molar errupted sometime in the last few weeks (I've written it, of course, in his baby book... poor Girl may not have the first 14 of her teeth written down, I'm sorry ahead of time!)




Um, also - My 2015 Reading Challenge is DONE AND COMPLETE as of last Friday some previous Friday night (The date I finished my final book is noted in my nerdy spreadsheet, and I'll have a final update for you hopefully this Wednesday!)
(of course I'm still constantly reading - but just totally not at work anymore, as the next big news item is:


We hired the gal who will cover my maternity leave! She's also a permanent addition, and will take over A/R and Collections (today is the start of her third week and I've already noticed a relief of collections duties!!)  But - so the last two weeks solid have been training, and familiarizing her with our systems, etc so no more reading at work (I've just now caught up on blog reading from the last few weeks!)


and with that - yesterday I hit 30 weeks...

30 WEEKS, PEOPLE!

Which means that, given a RCS event, there's single digit weeks left! (9 to be exact!) ACK!

((And you'll notice she's still "BabyGirl" - that's not because I'm being secretive with a name or anything, it means she still has no name!!!! I can't decide! PLEASE HELP! Suggestions welcome!!))

(30week post to follow (as well as a fall photo dump!) as I think this one's gotten unexpectedly lengthy...)

Fumin' on Friday...

Can I just let this all out?

Fucking "Darling"Husband... 

It probably doesn't help that in my dreams last night, it was something about Christmas Day at my family's house (we always totally split each year's holiday because his fam = NJ and my fam = TX) and in the dream he left before the meal because he was supposed to be having friends over to his house  (apparently we were all in the same state) and people were going to start showing up... So I woke up peeved at him...

And then, as usual lately, he snoozes his alarm about 10 times while I get up and get Button changed, myself 1/2 ready (makeup only) and then breakfast for the two of us.  15 minutes later I can hear him just getting out of the shower, and when he finally gets down to take the dogs out, Button and I are finishing breakfast and I have about 5 minutes to finish getting myself ready... 

Back upstairs Button and I go for the next 10 minutes (and where is E during all of this?! certainly not coming up to help Button brush his teeth or anything!) of course, a diaper needs to be changed (yay for still not pooping on the potty, ARGH!) and teeth brushed (both his and mine!) and then E comes up and is all, "c'mon [Button] we need to get your shoes on!"

Oh now you want to try to step in and rush him to help? (oh yea, go pregnancy hormones)

And at one point we're discussing weekend plans and I say I planned breakfast/playdate with bestie Dee and her 13-month-old Sunday morning, and E's all, "but I play hockey Sunday morning, and it'll be the last time Button can come watch me..." (and in my head I'm going, bullshit, this is the last time you'll ever play hockey?!) he continues "...I mean, for the next year or so..."

Ok so now you want me to change my plans?! I say that Dee isn't available Saturday morning and (true man) E doesn't hear that part and says, "yea, Saturday morning would work better for me, so [Button] can come watch me plan Sunday morning..." and acts all hang dog that I (I'm sure as he perceives it) won't change MY plans so Button can go watch his daddy play hockey (which will entertain him for all of 2 minutes and then we're sitting there for the other 58 minutes, bored - me chasing Button all over the stands...)

Then I'm having to pack the dog's food and treats (a coworker is "borrowing" her for the weekend - they love to dogsit for her and we don't have any upcoming vacations lol) and Button gets into clear nail polish on the coffee table (that yes, I left out last night - but FUCK, E can you watch him for two seconds this morning?!)

And then - tonight we're going out to dinner - so E suggests it'd make more sense for me to pick up Button and then just meet him down by his mom's (who is babysitting and is local to the restaurant we're going to).

Yup, sure - I'll get Button, run home, get the other dog out and fed, get myself ready for date night and Button ready for your mom's house, and then meet you down there.  

In time for dinner.

SURE.

(oh yea - we're going out tonight for our 5th wedding anniversary... HAPPY ANNIVERSARY "DARLING" HUSBAND!!)