Unexplainable Boredom

I don't know why I've been feeling so bored lately.

Remember how we all got that nasty stomach bug? Well, we had a few days of good health, then were struck again! This time it was a nasty head cold. Ugh. It hit me harder than the flu did. I was miserable. Jeff was too, but pushed through it and did all his work stuff. THANKFULLY, Jeffy got a runny nose, but wasn't too bad at all. I would much rather me be sick than Jeffy. That lasted for about a week. We're feeling much better now. I still have a cough that I think is going to stick around for a while, but other than that, we're ok. I hope it lasts a little bit longer this time!

Pregnancy is going pretty well. I'm almost 35 weeks and compared to this stage last time, I think this one is going better. I haven't really started swelling at all yet, and I think last time by this point I was already stretching out Jeff's shoes. :) I had one really, really uncomfortable day during the cold where my back hurt and my hips really hurt and it reminded me of the end of the last pregnancy. Thankfully, it went away with the cold and I hope it stays away. Hip pain is one of my least favorite parts of pregnancy. So yeah. I'm feeling pretty good. Just . . . waiting.

BUT (and this is the really frustrating part) we're still in limbo about the VBAC. Good grief. I first came to this doctor about two months ago and filled out all the releases to get the records from Jeffy's birth and they still haven't shown up yet. I filled out the releases again, and nothing. Without those records, the doctors aren't able to say definitively whether I can try a VBAC. Grrrrr. I guess it's up to me to get them somehow. My last appointment was hugely frustrating as well and right now I really don't like doctors or the whole health care profession. Oh well. As long as baby gets here safely I guess I can't complain too much.

I've been working on lots of projects lately. Jeff's mom sent me a bunch of material and a pattern for muu muus that she got on a trip to Hawaii. She brought me back one and it's the best thing for a pregnant summer! So I have some of those to make. And she also sent material for some cute little Hawaiian print clothes for Jeffy.

I'm also finishing up Jeffy's old clothes quilt. I was actually brave enough to quilt it on my machine instead of tying it. That was exciting! I am now in the process of hand stitching the binding. The perfectionist in me is irritated at all the little mistakes, but oh well. I think overall it turned out pretty well.

So you'd think I wouldn't feel so bored. But I do. Maybe I have spring fever. I'm stuck inside the house all day, as it is TOO HOT to go outside. I hear the weather starts cooling down in November. Maybe I can make it.

Introducing Daisy Lyn Pieper!

My little sister, Kimi, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl early last Saturday morning. Poor girl was 8 days overdue and soo ready to have her baby here! I'm so proud of her, and excited for her, and so sad that I'm not closer to go visit. I have to be satisfied with pictures, I guess. And speaking of pictures . . . .

Eyes wide open!


My mom with her newest grandchild.


Proud new daddy!


Yay Kimi!


Isn't she sweet?

Much Better, Thank You

We're almost back to full health. Stomachs are still a little queasy, but overall, we're all a lot better. Thank goodness. When things like this happen, I have no idea how on earth it will all work out with another baby. I could barely handle the three of us being sick. Add a newborn? Sigh. I guess you just do your best!

Anyways, Jeff had a good birthday barbecue, aside from the fact that just about everyone who came got sick, which was about half his class. Whoops. There goes our social life! ;) We had about 15 people come, which I thought was pretty good. Jeff had a good time grilling hamburgers and converting new people to the nerf world. He had lots of guns out there and the guys enjoyed shooting each other. We even had a couple families with kids come, which was fun for Jeffy. Everyone stayed a lot longer than I expected and eventually I needed to go hide/rest in our bedroom, since I had pulled a muscle in my back. Nobody cared though, so no big deal.

Jeff's classmates really like the chocolate chip cookies I make, so I made sure to have plenty available. I made almost 8 dozen, and they were gone quite a while before people even started to leave. I'm pretty sure they would have eaten as much as I could have made easily. Jeff had to come in and put some aside for himself to even get any. I thought it was funny.

So I'd say it was a success. But I do feel bad that we got everyone sick. At least I know that it was a real bug and not food poisoning. I would have felt even worse then!

So . . . since we never finished cleaning up from all the fun, then we got sick, the house is pretty much a disaster. It's my task for the day to get it presentable at least. Not really looking forward to it, but it has to be done!

A few other things: this morning I ran over our kitchen trash can while backing out of the driveway. Don't ask what it was doing out there. We had a big storm last night and it got blown behind the front tires. Ironically, I had checked behind the back tires, but not the front. Oh well. I smashed it to smithereens. (How on earth do you spell that word?) Then about 5 minutes later, I found a new trash can! Friday is big item pickup day, where you can put out big items and the trash guys will come pick it up. Redundant, I know. Anyways, I always like to go treasure hunting on Thursday evenings/Friday mornings. Since this is a military base, there is a constant flow of people moving in and out, resulting in stuff on the curb. So this morning I found a trash can almost identical to the one I destroyed! I was happy.

But the real treasure was found last night. I was taking Jeffy on an evening walk in hopes of distracting him from his teething fussiness and found an entertainment center! These people obviously were moving or had moved out, and left everything they couldn't fit on the curb. I was really excited, since we've been looking for something that is harder for Jeffy to get into. I ran as fast as my prego belly would allow and made Jeff go get it. Don't worry--he was very willing. There was a nice couch too, but its cushions were missing, so we left it. It's a nice big center, with cabinets that I can easily Jeffy-proof. And you can't beat the price! Now we have a little rearranging to do. I like rearranging, so it's good motivation to get the house cleaned up. :)

So that's been our week. Being sick, getting better, finding treasures, and now getting the house and our lives back to normal. It feels good to be back.

Jeffy's Sharing

So Jeffy's head bumping had nothing to do with being sick. He just got sick, and being the sweet little boy he is, he shared it with all of us! Jeff is home sick today, after spending the night throwing up, and it even hit me this morning. For all you women out there who throw up a lot during pregnancy, I feel for you. This is the first time I've thrown up while pregnant and it stinks. So we're a bunch of sickies today and I hope it goes away soon. This is yucky!

Jeff had a nice birthday barbecue though. I'll post more on that when I'm not so dizzy.

Ugh

So here was our day today. Quilted a little in the morning. Jeffy hit his head on the wall after losing his balance running around on our bed. Took the screaming toddler with me to an OB appointment. Was told they're still waiting for my Idaho records to determine whether or not I can actually try a VBAC. Went to a teddy bear picnic with Jeffy, where we made a cute frame to hold a picture of him and his favorite teddy bear. Got really hot. Came home and got thrown up on. Gave him a bath and called doctor. Went to Urgent Care. Got thrown up on again. Held again screaming toddler down through a shot and a rectal temperature. Waited outside while nurse held down screaming toddler through a CT scan. Finally got the ok to come home. Trying to comfort exhausted toddler. Now I just have to clean the whole house and make lots of food for Jeff's birthday barbecue tomorrow.

I'm tired.

It's now a few hours later and aforementioned toddler has diarrhea and a diaper rash. Yay life!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Today is Jeff's 25th birthday. And here is a list of 25 things I love about him.

1. The first thing he does when he comes home is grab up Jeffy in his arms and give him a big hug.
2. How naturally smart he is.
3. How hard he works and is willing to work to support us all.
4. He always says dinner is great and he appreciates me making it.
5. He never loses his patience with his little vampire of a son.
6. He encourages me in my hobbies and dreams.
7. How we can see the same movie, but see totally different movies, and enjoy trying to bring the other around to their point of view.
8. He likes my family and enjoys spending time with them.
9. He's willing to put dreams and wants of his aside for a while for the immediate needs of our family.
10. I've never felt uncomfortable sharing deeply personal things with him. It's the opposite--I've always felt completely comfortable and want to share with him.
11. He trusts me enough to do the same.
12. He brags about me to his co-workers.
13. His confidence.
14. How often he tells me he loves me.
15. His willingness to help people.
16. His cute shiny head.
17. I can bounce ideas off him and he listens and responds (even about things he couldn't care less about, like quilting and crafting.)
18. He initiates prayers and scripture study for our family.
19. He would rather be home with us than get perfect grades.
20. I feel very safe with him around.
21. I know his decisions are based on what's best for our family and not just himself.
22. He takes Jeffy when I need a break.
23. He never stops wanting to learn more about . . . everything.
24. He wants to make a difference in the world.
25. He loves me.



Now I just have to sit him down and make his read this. :)

Super Duper Post

It's been a while since I've posted, but it's not for lack of trying, I promise. The internet is really hit and miss, and most of the time it's miss. Especially when I'm trying to upload pictures.

So here we go--what we've been up to for almost a whole month.

Jeffy and I introduced Daddy to the water park a few weeks ago. Jeffy had an even better time than when we went with playgroup, and an even better time than that when we went with the church playgroup last week. Every time we go, he gets a little more brave and I get a little more tired. Before we went to the sprinklers, we all crammed into a 2-person paddle boat, which was quite an adventure. I held Jeffy on my lap, and needless to say, it was pretty crowded with me, Jeffy, and new baby. And Jeff did almost all of the paddling. What a good sport! Jeffy was wearing a lifejacket that was too big for him and he looked really cute, though uncomfortable. That was a fun trip.










Later that same day, we went to a bbq hosted by one of Jeff's classmates. That was my first time meeting many of these guys and it was fun. Jeffy was the only kid there, of course and he provided some good entertainment. And he really liked to play with their puppy. Maybe we should get one. Well, maybe we should borrow one for a day instead.

We had a nice father's day. At church Jeff got some chocolate, which is always nice (especially since he shared. :)) After church I surprised him with a charcoal grill and steak and he had a blast cooking. We had hamburgers for lunch and then he grilled the steaks for dinner. It started out a little shaky but ended well. Jeff burned off all the hair on his hands while protecting his face from giant flames. We had lighters in the house, so I didn't think I needed to get matches, but apparently lighting a charcoal fire with lighters isn't such a great idea. No harm done though, and we both thought it was kind of funny. Jeff really enjoyed it and thinks he has a new weekend hobby. We didn't get to serve him cinnamon rolls as breakfast in bed because he had to go do morning colors, so I was glad the rest of the day was fun. We had the cinnamon rolls for dessert! :)



The Navy is going to new working uniforms this month--blue fatigues. The guys all make jokes about how they'll be perfectly hidden in all the blue bushes. Here's a picture of my sailor in his new uniform.



So we found out for sure that baby #2 is a girl! We've been waiting a long time to know for sure and now that we do, it's time to get excited! Really, anytime I think about my little girl, I get really, really excited!! I got out my sewing machine, which hasn't seen use in two years and made little lady her first dress. I think it turned out really cute and I was intent on doing a good job, so it's well-made too.



Then the weekend after the ultrasound, our community had a giant yard sale, and we hit it early to find cute baby stuff. And it was a big success! We found two especially good sales where we got lots of really cute clothes for not very much money! I was so excited I took a picture.



And we even found a stroller! It's a sit-n-stand stroller, which is nice. And for it we paid ... [insert drum roll here] ... $20! Wahoo! It was only a year old and I think they had gotten a really good price on it so they passed along the savings. And the best part about it is that Jeffy loves his new seat. We brought it into the house to give it a good cleaning and Jeffy couldn't be torn away from it. I buckled him in to test it out and when I went to undo it, he hollered. So we went on a little walk in our new half-filled double stroller. I'm glad he likes it.



I pulled out the infant carseat to make sure it fit in the new stroller and Jeffy wanted to test that out too. He sure has gotten big since he used it!



After the yard sales were over, things that weren't sold were taken to the thrift shop on base, so I knew I wanted to make a trip there. They're only open a few days and week, and when it opened, we zoomed over to see if there were any goodies. Once again we hit the jackpot! We found a ton of more cute stuff! There was a set of onesies in particular that were super cute. There was one for each day of the week. Too fun. And we even found a crib bumper pad for $2! This thrift shop is the best. Their prices are unbelievable. I love it! This time I didn't take a picture, I just added it all to the growing pile of pink clothes.

Ok, back to the baby that's already here. A friend of mine made her little boy a quilt out of his old baby clothes and it's super cute. I thought about doing it for a while, but didn't necessarily want to cut up a bunch of baby clothes in case of a future boy, but as I was sorting through them "just in case," I realized that we have plenty, so I decided to go ahead and do it. It was kind of hard to cut up some of those cute little things--they have a lot of sentimental value to me! But I'm glad I'm doing it. This way they won't get worn out or given away by mistake. So far I have all the pieces sewn together with a border around them. I have batting and a soft fleece backing and I just need to tie it. I got everything all set up and then realized I didn't have the right kind of needle to thread yarn. Darn! But I'm close and I think it's going to turn out really cute. Thanks, Amanda, for the great idea!



And this is just a cute picture of a sleepy little man. :)



Oh yeah, we're thinking of the name Caroline Elise Davis for the new baby. What do you think?