Father's Day

Philip started off his third Father's Day (so crazy) with a trip racing. He left thursday afternoon and spent Friday and Saturday racing at Putnam Park. To make him have a good trip (which I am not always known to make it easiest on him) I made him a care package full of snacks for the road, breakfast foods, Red Bull, iTunes gift card and cash for pizza that he loves to order from there. Not the greatest gift from me, but useful I think:) 
About a month ago Ainsley, Mom and I went to the Mad Potter and made Philip a platter for him to use when he grills. She did so good and it turned out very cute I thought! 

She brought it to Philip that morning and said 'thats not a lion it's a tiger!'. lol  We went to church that morning, grabbed some lunch and then set up her pool in her back yard for her to play while I worked on dessert for Father's Day dinner at Matt and Rachel's. She took a card to Pop at church and told the greeter at church 'this is for Pop!' as she showed him his card. :)

We were so excited to grill steak and scallops (p was excited about this, not me so much) and sadly did not make it there:( the interstate was shut down and we got stuck in traffic for 3.5 hours so once we were able to get off the interstate we pretty much turned around and came home and got home just in time for A to shovel some food in and go to bed.  Let me tell you how not fun it was to be in a car with a hungry toddler, no real food (do fruit snacks and suckers even count?), a 7 month pregnant woman who had to pee so bad she is in tears, and traffic literally not moving. I was very disappointed in the way the night went; not getting to eat dinner with my Dad and Philip having to spend his Father's Day sitting in a hot car with two unhappy girls on his hands. 

Good thing we had such a good day up until that point:) and my dessert just went in the fridge last night, but Philip did have some for breakfast this morning. 
I have been blessed with the most amazing dad and he has taken care of me since before the day I was born. He still takes care of me even at the age of 32:) He is one the most selfless people I know- is constantly doing for those he loves and even those he doesn't:) I respect and admire him more than he will ever know. And seeing the love Ainsley has for her Pop melts my heart and makes me love him even more:) 
I also have been beyond blessed to watch my husband become one of the most awesome dads. He has far exceeded my expectations of being a daddy to our little girl. Seeing Ainsley's face light up when 'daddy is home!' or watching her run down the hallway to wake him up in the morning makes me so so happy. Watching Philip teach her things, pray when she asks him to, kiss her boo-boos and carry her 'up high' makes my heart literally soar. He is so good with her, which shouldn't surprise me after how good he is to me:) I can't wait to see him continue to become even more amazing as Ainsley grows up and Parker comes into the picture. We are some lucky girls:) 
Enough mushiness. But I have two great men in my life and they deserve to be recognized:)  Happy Father's Day to all of you Dads/Pops/Pawpees out there! 

30 weeks!

A little late in this one- not that they are that exciting of posts really:) 

ten weeks to go! 

Parker this week: 

He is growing like a weed! Weighing in at 3.2 lbs and 17.1 inches (approximately the size of a butternut squash). His brain is maturing and he is shedding his lanugo (the baby hair that keeps his body warm). He is still super active- even if I go days without any ounce of caffeine. He is getting the hiccups at least 3 times a day and I even googled if there was something (maybe honey?) I could eat to make him stop. I even tried to scare him. Didn't work. 

Me this week: 

I passed my glucose test! I even have the bruises to prove it. 

It was not the most pleasant way to spend 4 hours but I got to study for my test, clean out my car, and take care of some phone calls. It went pretty fast! Thanks to mom for hanging out with A so I could get my arm poked every hour. I celebrated with a Big Mac and fries (who makes a pregnant woman not eat for 18 hours anyway?!) 

Taking the regular prenatals hasn't made me as sick as I thought. 

The past few days I've gone back to the yucky generalized nausea I had in beginning but no puking so that's great. 

Still praying for better sleep and to not lay awake for hours in middle of night. But overall no major complaints:) 

Starting every two week appointments so I go back this week. Maybe I'll wear long sleeves to hide any tan lines he might disapprove of :) 

29 weeks

29 weeks today! Chugging right along… and speaking of chugging- here I am downing my glucose drink. 

I had my cheering squad telling me "chug mommy chug!" 

Parker this week: he is weighing in at 2.9 lbs, 17 inches! about the size of a small cabbage. My app tells me he may double or even triple in size before he gets here. I honestly don't know where he has room to do that. he is already thumping on my bladder and settling into my ribs!  But he looked (i guess sounded is more accurate since they didn't do an ultrasound) good at the doctor today. 

me this week: let's just say today's appointment was not one of the best ones I have had. I did not pass my glucose test (my sugar was higher than it was allowed to be) so I have to go back next week for the FOUR. HOUR. glucose test. I have to fast, go get my blood drawn, drink twice as much sugar as I drank today, then have my blood drawn every hour after that. not just a finger prick like today- actual needle in arm blood draw. and for four hours. what a waste of a morning:(  so that happened. THEN he tells me my iron is low, and I have to start back on prenatal vitamins. the prenatal gummy vitamins I have been taking (with no iron to protect my stomach and nausea) are apparently not cutting it. soo, no Diclegis and now back to prenatals. I don't anticipate this week going well :(  oh, and to top it off, he tells me I "have gotten too much sun and a sun burn can cause pre term labor". this one seems pretty far fetched for me- but if a sun burn induces labor- better believe at 37 weeks I am going to be on my patio with cooking oil slathered on me;) So, this resulted in me crying in the bathroom at the doctor's office.  My sweet husband was waiting for me in the parking lot after my appointment with Ainsley in tow to make me feel better before I headed off to a wedding shower. She told me 'it's ok Mommy' :)  I start every two week appointments now…we're getting close to the end!  All in all, Parker is healthy and things look pretty good. Praying I don't have gestational diabetes, but if I do, it's definitely not the end of the world.  cravings: *guess ill be putting away that chocolate milk this week!  pickles  bologna 

Michigan Trip

This past weekend we took a road trip to Michigan for Philip's cousin's Courtney's wedding. We left Thursday after lunch, hoping that she would nap for at least a little bit on the way up there. ha- wishful thinking apparently. She did not want to nap, but was still so good and only fussed when she was ready for dinner, when we stopped at a McDonald's with a playground so she could play a little bit. It took us a little under 7 hours to get there, which considering we had a two year old and a 6.5 month pregnant woman, that is NOT BAD! 

We missed family dinner that night, but got there in time to hug several people before they went home for the night. Aunt Melody and Uncle Curtis stayed at Papa and Grape Grandma's (as ainsley calls her) with us, so we got to visit with them that evening. 
Friday was a fun day just spend around Papa and Grandma's house. Philip and I took A out on the lake in a canoe. She put her hand in the water almost the whole ride, alternating sitting with Mommy and Daddy and "helping" us paddle. She also saw her first frog, which she wouldn't touch. She loved talking about the frog though and how "we let it go on the steps". And held her first caterpillar which she claimed was a "nice boy". 

During nap time, Philip and I went fishing and had such a good time. We only caught little blue gill, but it was so relaxing and fun. (thank you for watching monitor Gramma!) I would like to point out that while he caught more fish, i caught the biggest:) 

That night those of us not at rehearsal dinner grilled out and hung out at Papa and G's house. After dinner, Papa treated us all to ice cream. Ainsley got "blue ice cream!" and was so happy. 

Friday morning we took A back down to the lake hoping to let her see one of us catch a fish- but they weren't biting:( and she got bored pretty quick. so we let her fly her kite and play outside until nap time and time for us to get ready for the wedding! 

The wedding was outside at a beautiful location. Courtney was a beautiful bride. Carol did such a great job on all the decorations and everything went smoothly for the happy couple:) 

That night Philip got Grandma and Papa all to himself and got to spend some time with them going over old photo albums and hearing old Europe stories. He had been wanting to do this and this night made him very happy:) I was sent to bed after falling asleep on the couch:) I was in bed before Grandma even got home from the wedding! 
The next morning all of the family came over for a brunch for Courtney and Brian and to open their wedding gifts. We didn't get to stay for the gifts as we had to get on the road to come home, but we were happy to see everyone one last time before we had to leave. Once again, on the ride home, Ainsley would not nap. But she was seriously soo good in the car. We couldn't have asked for better from her and rewarded her with a popsicle and sucker:) She was so good the whole weekend, we are so proud of her:) 
We had such a good time getting to see the family. We wish we could have stayed just one more day to have a day to relax and spend more time with Ted and Carol (who were understandable very busy on their daughter's wedding weekend). We will just have to make another trip up ! (well maybe not for awhile with this baby coming and all;) ) 

28 weeks!

Hello third trimester!! 

We celebrated this milestone by taking a 7 hour car trip to Michigan:) me and my bladder did better than either of us thought:) (to be a later post!) 

Parker this week: 

He is weighing in at 2.5 lbs and is 16 inches long this week (roughly the size of a cauliflower). He is still a wild man who gets hiccups very frequently. He can blink and can now have REM sleep. Although I'm not sure he sleeps long enough to know that yet;) 

Me this week: coming off my Diclegis has been rough. I was sick several times this week which I completely blame Anthem (our insurance company) for. I managed not to pack on too many pounds on our vacation. My walking has slowed down some but I am still walking every day I can, depending on Philips schedule. 

I go to OB this week for my glucose test so prayers I'm not too sweet;) 

Cravings: like I said before- McDonald's French fries are the best nausea cure out there. So I indulged several times this week. Also: chocolate milk and Subway (subway has been a consistent one all pregnancy). 

Funny article and random recipe

I read this article today and literally was like " I could have written this!" :) minus the f- word and few vulgar comments (dad you might want to skip this read it's not very lady like). But the overall gist is me while pregnant.

And since I was sick as a dog last night, ending my no-puking streak- I thought I would share:)

People who love being pregnant baffle me- but I also realize people who love being pregnant typically have easier pregnancies and for whatever reason my body just doesn't react well to growing a child. My husband made a comment on how I fare during pregnancy and while it did NOT go over well at the time- I understand what he meant. I'm just not at my best a lot of times during pregnancy:) it's hard yall. 

So yes while I love Parker and am so anxious to meet and love on him and kiss his face- I also wouldn't mind skipping the whole process it takes to get him here:) 

Ps- every time I'm super nauseas, I have one miracle cure: McDonald's French fries. It is better than zofran - I can't explain why but I am being totally serious here. It helps my nausea soo much! 

Here's the article for those who enjoy a light hearted chuckle- all in good, joking fun: 

http://www.scarymommy.com/i-hate-being-pregnant/

And since its been a while since I've shared a recipe- here's one my whole family seems to consistently enjoy. It's like adult macaroni and cheese with hot dogs. 

Spicy Sausage Pasta 

http://abitchinkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/09/spicy-sausage-pasta.html?m=1