Too Hot to Handle

So today I was really hungry for some chicken nachos. I made some chicken fajita meat with peppers and onions, put that on top of some tortilla chips with cheese on top, and chopped some jalepenos and the baked everything to get it nice a hot and scrumptious! They were very good and definitely hit the spot. Until a few hours later my hands started tingling/burning. I know sometimes when you're preggo, your hands can tingle anyways, so I attributed it to that. My hands have been starting to throb and tingle, so I just figured it was worse today. So as I used google to figure out a "cure" and guess what I found instead? Burning hands from chopping jalepenos! That is definitely what happened. I guess the juices get on your hands and boy do they BURN! I also had some burning sensations in my nose because I itched it.

So in hindsight, I guess you are supposed to wear gloves. It would defnitely be worth it because this burning sensation is TOO HOT TO HANDLE! and hopefully it goes away SOON!

Garage Sales Days 2,3,4

On Garage sale day 2, I found a few more crib sheets for 50 cents a piece, some hats, clothes, sleepers, onesies, and a few sleep sacks. They were all pretty cheap. I even found a brand new 2 pack of fleece sleepers! I bought a couple of books that I should really start to read up on. I had a list of about 15 garage sales I wanted to go to that day, but I was 1) extremely hot and 2) exhausted........ so I went to about 8.

On garage sale day 3, it was kinda rainy, and I guess that means some places should be closed! URG! I did find one sale that had good priced items - every item was $1!! I found some jeans, sleepers, sweaters, etc. Pretty good find on that one. DH went with me for a while, but we never found anymore. After going to all these sales, a person really gets tired of digging through everything.

Day 4 was a total flop. First off, I had about 8 I wanted to go to, and half of them weren't even open. And the ones that were open, the prices were too high. I refuse to pay more than $2 for a sleeper and some were going for between $3-$4.. so I came back home and did laundry and worked on the nursery a little bit. I decided that the nursery would look best with another painting, so I painted the purple hippo. I also painted letters to put on the shelf above the changing table, and DH and I got them all hung. It feels good to have things almost in place. I need to still pick up a few more baby things, and wash all the items I found at the garage sales.
Last weekend DH and myself put up some wood blinds and the curtains we received at the baby shower a few weeks ago. It really finished off the nursery.
And since we are talking about our LO, in honor of the Vikings winning their first game today, here is my bump in DH's Vikings jersey! Only 6 more weeks! We can do it!!!

Garage Sales - Day 1

City wide rummages started today......and I have my list planned out according to what time garage sales close, and the most fuel efficient route. I am mostly looking for clothes, but I surprisingly found some things that I haven't bought yet....... the best things I found today? A boppy pillow for $3 and Playtex Vent-Air bottles - 4-6 oz bottles and 5-10 oz bottles for a grand total of $5.75. I also bought an extra crib sheet for 25 cents, a 2-pack of hats for 25 cents, and a baby sweater for $2. I hope I can find some clothes tomorrow and possibly some more crib sheets, and anything else I can find thats "too cute" to pass up.

How could I forget? Our 2 older neighbor ladies were having garage sales at their condos. Josh found a brand new tape measure for $2 and I got a loaf of home-made banana bread for $1. Can't pass up baked goods! We also went to a different garage sale not on the map, and the first thing the older lady said was "You go to our church!" Totally random, because I sure didn't recognize them! But none the less, atleast we know another couple from our church now, even if they are in their 70's.

Home Improvements

Yesterday was a fun-filled day of working around the house (with my mom and dad's help) and doing minor updates on things that have needed to be done for quite a while. The first update? Buddy's haircut. He gets his hair cut every 10 weeks, and he was starting to look like quite the shaggy dog. He looks completely different all shaved down, but it grows on you, and he doesnt pant as much! I included a "blooper" shot of Buddy too, silly dog! He was a very upset yesterday, and pretty much whined and barked for the 1st half of the day.....can you say attention whore?! I think it was because no one sat down on the couch for him to chew on his bone. True story.

Outside Improvements

On the left we have the front screen door knob. You see, it was broken off last winter. My sister came over and the door was frozen shut, so naturally she tried to pull the door open and brooke off the door handle. It was pretty funny, but not so attractive for our house. We finally got a new one put on, and now the door locks too!
On the right we have a massive nail. Our gutters are falling off our house. Everytime it rained, they were so clogged that even the lightest rain shower would overflow our gutters. We have already re-attached the ones on the back of the house, and yesterday when DH was mowing, this nail fell out of the gutters right past his head. Yup. Definitely time to be re-attached.

Inside Improvements

On the left we finally put up our new track lighting in the basement, which we bought from IKEA all the way back in May. We put up 2 sets and it looks alot better. We need to angle the lights in the right direction, but other than that, it really finishes off our basement.
On the top right, we have our ever-wonderful toilet handle flusher thingy. Ever since we have bought our house, this toilet handle has always acted funny. Sometimes flushing on the first try, and sometimes on the second or third. In the 2 years we have been here, it has progressively gotten worse. Just the other day it took me 18 tries to get the toilet to flush! We figured out the inside mechanism slips which causes the toilet not to flush. My dad rigged it up so that a wire attaches to the flusher thing, thus flushing the FIRST TRY every time! It's amazing! I didn't know what we were missing!

On the bottom right, this is our only screened-in window in our bedroom's window crank. The windows in our house need to be replaced someday, so they aren't the greatest things in the world, but this window always gets stuck. Especially when its humid and warm out, its almost impossible to shut because it warps so much. So to get the window shut, we have to crank it hard! Well apparantly DH cranked it a little too hard a couple weeks ago and SNAP! It broke off. So we are excited to have a new crank that actually works!

Nursery Improvements

On the left, we have our changing table cover. We also bought the changing table pad at IKEA, but it never quite fit into the changing table. Since changing table covers are hard to find anyways, I went and bought some $3/yard fabric and my mom made a custom one. It is white with dots and I think it turned out great and matches the nursery! Its a little big, but I figured once I wash it, it will shrink a little bit (its flannel).
In the center, we have the trim where the ceiling and walls meet. There wasn't any trim before, so we thought it would look nice to finish it off. My dad wasn't too thrilled about putting it up, but even he agreed it looked better.
On the right we have the shelf that DH bought at a garage sale about 1.5 years ago. He bought 2 of them and we painted one green that has been in our bedroom for about a year. I just painted this longer 2nd one for the nursery. I think it will work great to either display the paintings, or to put blocks that spell out the baby's name.

Thats about all the improvements we did so far, and it feels great to cross a few things off my list. We still have a few more things to do, but it will be done eventually...we only have 9 more weeks!

Baby "bumps"

So it has finally happened....no, not my baby bump, but actually a baby bump. DH and I were getting groceries at Fareway this past weekend, and lo and behold. I bumped my belly. The grocery cart was apparantly too close, and totally smoked my belly into the cart...which pushed it back a few feet. I couldn't stop laughing and neither could my hubby..poor bun!

I also had another baby bump while on vacation...my sister accidentally ran into it. Pretty good times. Another bump in the road is trying to put on running shoes and tie them....its also difficult to shave your legs. Pretty much anything that requires bending over, including putting on my pants every morning, is getting more difficult day after day.

Another bump in the road....BABY NAMES! No, our bun in the oven doesn't have a name yet. We better start kicking it into gear, because our baby will be here in no time! DH and I have a combined baby name list started, and sorted them out in numerical order to our top names and bottom names. Good idea right? Well it would be if we could agree. My top names are his bottom names and vice versa. It is hard to find just the right name. We want something unique, but not so weird, but not so common.....which makes it even harder. Things to consider? The baby's initials, to make sure they don't spell something funny or bad. Also, the business card test. Can you picture the name on a business card, or be a lawyer in court and still be taken seriously? So after being stumped with our baby name list, we went to look at some cradle roles for some ideas, and we have come to a conclusion...

No matter what name we choose, it won't be as unique as some of the names we found. How about StormieSkie? Whatt? Barnabas? ......atleast that gives us a little hope, that no matter what we pick, we know it will be better than some of those!

...speaking of bumps...thought I would share my 30-week picture....I think I have "popped!"

John 9:1-3

One thing I have noticed, ever since we found out I was pregnant, is no matter how far along I am, I would always have some kinds of worries. First, once I made it to past the 1st trimester and heard the heartbeat I was excited and grateful. But the worries don't stop there. In the 2nd trimester I was always wondering if our baby is okay since the baby's kicks weren't consistent. I would look forward to every appointment to just hear the quick little heartbeat. All screenings came back negative, and our baby is growing the way it should.

Now today, I am officially 3 months away from our due date and in the 3rd trimester. Right now our baby has an 85% chance of survival if it were to be born today. You would think I wouldn't worry? Wrong. I find that as the baby gets closer the more anxious I get, and excited I feel. I will be starting my 2 week appointments now, so I get to hear the little one's heartbeat more often!

I think it is only the motherly instinct to worry, considering I hear/read horror stories of children who didn't make it or a baby that quit developing, etc. I don't always feel the consistent kicks which makes me worry. This past week I failed a screening and have to take a new test on Thursday. My blood pressure went up a little so we have to keep an eye on that. It has been a little bit of a rough week. I try not to worry, and I don't worry 24/7 ...But honestly, I find alot of peace knowing that God has a plan, and its in his hands. Josh and I both pray for our child every night.

...so where does John 9 come in?

The past couple of weeks at church, our preacher had begun talking about John 9, and the blind man who was healed. (If you want to hear the sermons go to First Reformed Church Sioux Center . The sermons are called "I was blind but now I see" and "Look before you label")

The first 3 verses of that chapter have really made sense in my life right now. It states:

"As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."

It makes me realize that God has a purpose for me, our child, and whatever happens. Why should I worry when I know its up to God? It is reasurring that, if anything were to go wrong, it wasn't because I sinned, or deserved it. ...God is just working in our life and our baby's life.

So really, I ask myself, why worry? God has a plan for us. God has a plan for our child. It is in his hands, and I 100% believe that.

....and a little kick just now lets me know everything is okay :)

Twenty-Four

Twenty-Four Years Old

That's right...as of July 1 I am the big 2-4...which is actually pretty old considering its almost 25 which is almost 30 which is half way to 60....time sure does fly! I recieved some gifts for my birthday. I got the typical $20 from my grandparents, a maternity shirt and hooded towel from my mom & dad, some flower's from Josh's parents, and an UGLY DOLL from Brooke. What exactly is an Ugly Doll? Well, its pretty much explanitory...and ugly doll that is so ugly its cute...you be the judge. They are pretty entertaining with unique names like Big Toe, Wedge-head, Ice Bat, etc. Brooke got me Ox. Hes pretty cute for being an Ugly Doll!...and I love him, and im sure bun will too!

Twenty-Four Weeks
Yup...24 weeks preggo. I found my week 12 picture and took my week 24 one on Monday...and needless to say, I think my abdomen has gotten just a smidge bigger! All I know is I liked my hair 100 times more than I do now, and my face was a little thinner :) ...and pardon me for looking like a mess!Twenty-Four Trips to the Bathroom
Just kidding...but it sure feels like that! Usually atleast 3 times per night, if not more!

48 divided by 2 = 24
We decided to paint the nursery this weekend since I had 4 days off and it needed to be done....so my dad, older sister, Josh, and myself went at painting the nursery...with 48 "dots" It actually went by pretty quickly and it was fun to hang out with my sister as I don't see her that often. We still need to finish putting up molding and the artwork (which my sister and I painted)...but its a great start and nice to have that scratched off the list of things "to-do" ....my dad thought he would be clever and write "Bun's Room" in the process...so here are the pictures!

24 hours until the weekend
...thank goodness!