Christmas Time

Andrew surprised me last night by getting our Christmas tree from Grandma's barn. It was so exciting to put it up and to decorate it. We both compromised a little bit on the decorations. Yes, it has colored lights, but I got things that I wanted too. It looks very nice (especially for a free tree!!). We still want a tree topper, so I am going to run over to Hobby Lobby at lunch to get one. Our nativity set looks great on the piano and I have a few other little things that will go around the house. We also rearranged our living room, so tonight my goal is to get that room all set up, then I will move on as time allows.

This is the first year we have put up a tree or any kind of decorations. We felt like it wasn't necessary in the past because we weren't actually going to be at our house for Christmas, but we are this year. I have taken some pictures and will post them soon.

We are still working hard to finishing our upstairs. It hard on me not to be able to do more physically! I just like to accomplish things. My hips/back were painful last night, just after decorating the tree. I will definitely have to take it easy painting this weekend. I hope we can get most of this done on Saturday. We want to have our carpet in by the 14th (have I said that before?) because we're hosting a Christmas party. We also want to move upstairs into our nice big room!!

Has my time come?

No, I'm not talking about the baby coming! I'm just not sure I can paint anymore. After my lessons, I headed upstairs to put a second coat of paint on the baby's room walls. After I finished and cleaned the supplies, I felt like I could hardly walk! This same back pain got me up about three times in the night (it causes my legs to cramp). There is still stuff to be painted up there, so I hope that if I stretch before and perhaps just do a shorter amount of time, then I can keep painting (yes, I see a chiropractor regularly). The main reason I want to be able to keep painting, is that I want A to spend his time on other projects . . . like tiling the shower!! He also has to put up baseboard before the carpet goes in.

We're hoping to be able to put the carpet in upstairs by December 14th. That is out goal. We are both very excited about moving up there. The master bedroom is huge compared to what we've been living in, and it will just be nice to have that extra space.

I also really want to put up some Christmas decorations this weekend. That also means that A will have to go get our tree from Grandma's barn and carry some of the heavy rubbermaids to the main floor of the house (they are upstairs and in the basement).

Well, I'd better get to work. Our copier is currently broken (yes, actually broken) so I'm backed up on a couple of things. Oh, the copier also happens to be my printer!! :)

Kansas Trip

We had such a good time on our trip to Kansas. The journey out there was very pleasant. It was nice to stay overnight on the road, instead of drive it all in one day. We had a great time visiting my family, playing games, eating (of course), watching movies, talking, and opening Christmas presents, since we won't be able to travel out there for Christmas this year. Perhaps I will be ambitious next week and put some pictures on here. We also got to see quite a bit of snow for the first time this year. Thankfully we just had to drive in rain on the way home and no snow.

The journey back seemed to really wipe me out, even though we did stop for the night again. I feel sort of dazed this morning and could certainly use a long nap!

This week is busy! The vocal recital is Friday night and so I have "dress" rehearsal tonight and tomorrow night. I hope all my students are ready to go. I am looking forward to the recital and I really do love teaching voice but I must admit that I will be very glad to have a rest. I'm tired! A and I have been looking forward to December and January for some time now, as we don't have any extra stuff going on, except for work. Our birth class ended last night (it was so good!) and lessons will be over this week. I'm looking forward to decorating our house and just enjoying some down time!

I'd better get started on work!

Midwife Appointment

I had my 28 week (7 month) midwife appointment today. It was the first time for me at this new practice. I was glad that A got to go with me. Anyway, I was impressed with the staff and felt comfortable there. Everyone was friendly. There is not really much to report, except my appointments have now gone to every two weeks. Anyway, we just did the usual stuff in my appointment, family health history, my history, measured my belly, and listened to the baby's heartbeat. She had to stick the dopplar right into my belly button to find the heartbeat! :) I then had my Rh- injection. I didn't even really feel it.

I should have prepared some questions for the midwife, but I already felt like I was in good hands because of they deliver at the birth center, and are some of the only ones to do water births. We talked a little bit about that. I told her that I had never thought about having one before but had wanted to keep my options open, just in case, and she thought that would be a good idea. I have no idea how I will feel that day. We also talked a little bit about what happens if I have to go to the regular L&D floor. She said that she has still witnessed some wonderful natural births in the L&D floor. The nursing care is different, but they still have to follow your signed birth plan, and the practitioners are the same.

She encouraged me to stay in the Brewer diet (high protein) but also encouraged me to add in more vegetables (yes, I don't eat many). She also said to make a goal of drinking 1 gallon of water per day. I'm not getting anywhere near that, so I'll have to make more of an effort in that area.

A and I navigated a little easier around this massive hospital this time, which also puts my mind at ease for when we go there for the birth.

Last week

Sorry it has been so long since I posted. I have just been very busy at work! My job here is so interesting. Some weeks I could only work part-time and be ok, but there are others where 40 hours just doesn't cover everything I need to do. Those weeks are increasing in number! I'm beginning to feel a little backed up against my maternity leave and I just have to remember that I still have January (December is too busy) left to prepare stuff for a sub.

I have felt pretty good this week. That means that I also got quite a bit done. Besides the usual voice lessons, cooking, cleaning, and working on Monday and Tuesday, I also got some detailed cleaning done, like the stove and the sink. If only they would stay clean. Then on Wednesday night, I actually got the whole master bedroom ceiling primed. In an effort not to get overly tired, I decided to set a timer and only work for one hour. Well, I wasn't even rushing and got it done in an hour. I'm ready to get done with the upstairs, so I'm sure I will do more painting this weekend. All the ceilings either need paint, touch-up, or a second coat. The baby's room needs a second coat of paint on the walls. It's starting to look pretty nice up there. Then last night, A and I went to see Camelot in Cincinnati. It was very good and we really enjoyed going out together. A's mom got us the tickets (for free) to that made it especially nice!!! :)

I think the only thing going on tonight is dinner and a movie. I feel like I should be painting something, but perhaps I will just take a day off. I told you that I find the work/rest balance thing very difficult. It seems to be all or nothing. I'm looking forward to getting some rest during our trip to Kansas for Thanksgiving.

Anyway, I have a midwife/doctor's appointment on Monday, so I'm sure I will update about that!

I passed

I feel like I just passed an exam in college or something. I passed my glucose test with flying colors. I "scored" a 113 and anything below 135 (I've read 140) is considered "normal". I also had good results on my other blood work (no anemia, blood counts look good etc). I'm so thankful to be healthy!

Early to Bed

We were all cozy watching a movie last night, and I just couldn't concentrate on it. My feet were cold and I just felt uncomfortable. So, I decided to take a bath and go to bed. The funny thing was that this was at 8:00 pm!! I didn't actually fall asleep until 9:00 pm, but still that's CRAZY!! 9 hours of sleep (I get up around 6:15 am)! I do feel very good today. Hmm, perhaps I need to do this more often, even though I like to stay up later.

Tonight is our last night of small group until after the holidays. :( I like getting together with my friends but I will enjoy being a bit less busy.

My goal for Saturday is to paint something! I have procrastinated way too long. The dresser/changing table needs one more coat of paint and new hardware, the upstairs bedroom needs painted, and now I have another great dresser that I'm going to paint (and new hardware). I feel like I need to do something! The most important is probably the upstairs painting, so I'll try to do some of that. Unfortunately, the ceiling needs primed and that's why I'm procrastinating! I'm not a fan of ceiling painting. I think I can motivate myself to do it if I set a time limit, say 30 minutes of ceiling painting only. I could easily get it done in a few days, if I did this.

I really am enjoying this sleep thing today. I feel like I have so much energy and I've been very productive at work. I can concentrate! I'd better enjoy it and sleep while I can! :) :) :)

Test

My test went just fine. I haven't gotten the results yet but I will tomorrow or Friday.

I actually had to have blood drawn twice! I was up and ready to leave when the nurse called me back again and said she forgot to draw enough for a second Rh factor test. It was fine really. The tape seemed to hurt worse than the needle prick. I've never had skin reactions before but that tape really irritated and now my deodorant (natural stuff) has irritated my skin. Pregnancy does weird things!!!

I can't believe there are only two weeks until Thanksgiving. I'm really looking forward to seeing my family!

I agree

I completely agree with this blogger's post about the TV strike! It probably won't make much of a difference to us. The only TV I really watch it Dancing with the Stars and I usually miss 1/2 of each episode due to voice lessons. I try to catch what I missed online (full episodes are available).

http://thesimplefamily.com/?p=47

I've been prepping for my test today (I want to pass this SOOOO bad). I had a high protein supper, lots of water, and eggs and turkey bacon for breafast. I brought two hard boiled eggs and cheese with me to work, which I will eat right before I drink the dreaded drink.

Punching

My ribs have suddenly become a punching bag for our girl (we're calling her Toddweina for now, it's a long story). Most of the time it is just ticklish for me but there beginning to hurt a bit. The funny thing is, I love it! I just have to stretch out a little more, so she can have more room!

In other baby news, I have my glucose test tomorrow. Since I'm not a fan of having my blood drawn, I'm not looking forward to this. Yuck! Oh well, better to get it over with. We have our next appointment in two weeks from today. I'm looking forward to meeting the people in this new practice since they came to highly recommended.

I can't believe that we're headed to Kansas to see my family in just two weeks!! Yeah!!

Ok, I'd better start on these piles on my desk. We have so many new projects in November and December. I hope I can get everything done!