Follow Up

This picture is funny, huh.

Just a few things to follow-up on:

Cleaning stuff:

*I tried some Electrosol dishwasher tabs from Costco and the dishes are the cleanest they've ever been. Not spotless like the commercials, but so much better, so THANKS for the tips! I am still experimenting with laundry.

Saw the doctor finally...

*Weight gain was 25lbs (not 30), which makes me feel a little better

*I'm measuring 30 cm (at 28 weeks) even though the baby was normal in the ultrasound

*I'm feeling much better after getting better sleep (what a difference the Tylenol PM makes)

Thanks everyone for all your encouragement.

Other questions I've been asked:

*When is my due date? November 15th....so a possible induction around Oct 31st-Nov 2nd (ish)

*What names are we considering?

--Annalise is the only name we both like right now...we'll see.

Kalia Turns 1

On Sunday, August 24, Kalia turned 1! So...get ready for the cliches:

I can't believe it's been a year since Kalia was born!

The time has flown by!

They grow up so fast!

Being a mom is the most rewarding thing ever!

I'm so lucky to have her in my life!

I can't imagine my life without her.

She woke up bright and early, and while Samuel and I were dozing in and out of consciousness, she found a red marker (that did not say washable) to entertain herself with. I wanted to cry (as I choked back the laughter) as I imagined having to take her to church looking like Bozo the Clown. Luckily (using a clorox wipe!) I got most of it off until it looked like a nice rosy flush
She wore her Hawaiian Muumuu to remind us all of that great, long, and crazy day one year ago.

Later that night my Grandma had us over for dinner (Samuel turned 31 the day before, so it was a double celebration.) Kalia's favorite presents were the stuffed doggy and kitty from her Great Grandma Ruth, but the baby doll and her cell phone from cousins M&M came in at a close second.

I baked a little cake for Kalia (my mom kindly did the decorating...I don't have cake decorating skills.)As you can see, she LOVED the eating her cake.

Maddux and Malakai helped too. It was everything I hoped it would be for her.

And birthdays are fun once again!

Complaining

Yes, this is a complaining post. I already feel guilty about it, and I haven't even written it. I feel like I should just keep all these thoughts in my head (or try not to think them at all) as I see others around me having to experience much worse (like my mom finishing up chemo or all the couples out there who are trying to get pregnant.)

I apologize to anyone who reads this and has much bigger problems. I really have been trying to count my blessings. It's just that I have found a lot of comfort in the advice and support of fellow bloggers. Just today I got to go to mother's group/swimming with three of you and you guys were wonderful and helped calm me down a bit.

But now I'm back to worrying again.

I am somewhere between 27 and 28 weeks along. I am most likely going to be induced at 38 weeks, which means I have 10 weeks left. It really has gone fast this second time around. But the "fun part of pregnancy" is offically over.

It seems like I got huge all of a sudden. I don't even want to put a belly picture up. I haven't been to the doctor in two months, making all these trips to St. George and all, so I had no idea how much weight I've gained. (until the other night. boo.)

I will never be one of those, "I wore my same pants the whole pregnancy" girls, as I gain half my weight in my thighs alone. But I was hoping to not gain 45 lbs this time, since I am chasing a hyper-active toddler everywhere.

I was at Walmart the other night, and decided to get on a scale in one of the aisles. Bad idea. It shows that I've already gained 30 lbs. It ruined my week. If that's accurate then I'm on course for a 50-60 lb weight gain this time. What the crap is going on.

To add insult to injury, my mom's sweet, extremely skinny friend asked me if I was SURE it wasn't twins I was having and if I was SURE I had two whole months to go. (This lady has had two kids, I mean, she should REALLY KNOW BETTER than to say something like that to a prego.)

I wish I didn't care about stupid weight, but I do. I've heard it's harder to lose the weight with each kid, so I am even more anxious about it. It just makes it worse when people make their dang comments about my size.

The other bad news is that my ribs have started aching, especially when I eat a big meal. This happened last time, but it didn't seem like it hit until 35 weeks. I just don't understand how they could ache already, when the baby has to get so much bigger.

Sleeping just got much harder too, and so I'm beyond tired during the day. Until 9 p.m., then I'm finally wide awake. It's all messed up.

And on top of it all...I'm really starting to worry. About everything that could go wrong. About maybe having another 27 hour labor and 3 hours of pushing, only to be told the baby is stuck at zero station and it was all in vain, thus, another c-section. As I imagine trying to recover from a c-section with Kalia crawling all over me, it almost makes me want to cry.

How in the world am I going to survive the last 10 weeks??

I'm just having a little pity party here. I know it's all worth it in the end. But like I said. Tonight I just needed to vent it out and move on. Thanks for listening. Good night.

Wicked Story

So, how many Wicked fans are out there?? It's only my favorite musical of all time. My little brother Eric, who is now 20 and on a mission, introduced me to it four years ago. He played the CD for me in the car on our way home from Thanksgiving in Vegas, and I fell in love. Then I got obsessed. Then I decided I had to see it in New York, before Idina Menzel (who played Elphaba) left the show. I was in college, single, and able to talk my little brother into a very spontaneous trip to New York three weeks later.
I found a reasonable price online for tickets to Wicked at Gershwin Theater, I ordered them, and had them shipped to the hotel where we'd be staying. Then we flew to New York city, (our first time in that crazy city! Loved it!) and arrived around 7 a.m. It was December 16th, freezing, and my brother was wearing shorts and flip flops. He got some good heckling from some construction workers. We just laughed. The tickets hadn't arrived by the 16th, or the 17th. (We were supposed to go on the 18th). I called the company and found out they'd cancelled the order for unknown reasons, and we HAD NO TICKETS. I was devastated. The only reason we'd gone to New York was to see that show. Don't get me wrong, we were having a good time, seeing the big tree at Rockefeller center, shopping (Eric was so patient....he'd hold my piles of clothes as I tried them on. Big Big piles of clothes.) and feeling the excitement of Christmas shopping in a big city...that was all fun...

but NO TICKETS TO WICKED??? We even tried waiting in line for hours to get "free tickets" (they do a drawing) but NO LUCK. I just didn't want to let Eric down. If I could just get ONE ticket for him, that would be almost as good.

We rushed to an internet cafe, hanging onto a thread of hope that we could find something. I got on ebay. And this is just another testimony to me that we have a VERY loving Heavenly Father who really does care about those little not-so-important things in our lives. There were two tickets for sale for the show, on the 18th, for $125 each (which was a great deal) and we bought them immediately. Thank goodness it wasn't a scam, the kid met us at the show and gave us our tickets, and we saw that wonderful, amazing, goosebump producing production.
(I videotaped most of the songs, secretly, so that my family could know what it was like...I doubted they'd ever get the chance to see it.) That video is a treasure to me now. Illegal or not. Megan Hilty played Glinda (she was so funny) and Idina Menzel played Elphaba.

It was a wonderful, fabulous time.
I found out that Wicked is coming to Capitol Theater in Salt Lake City next year, only for about 5 weeks. I missed the ticket sales though, and now they're only for sale by ticket brokers who are charging an arm and a leg. I'm bummed, but still determined to find a deal-- luckily I have about 9 months to do it. I can't wait to see it again. And I think I need to go back to New York too. That city is amazing.

Which is Better?

Just curious- but what works better for you?

1. Liquid Dishwasher detergent, or Powder?
2. Liquid Laundry detergent, or Powder?
3. Fabric Softner in the middle tube of the washer, or in a Downy Ball? Or just dryer sheets?

Yay for the Olympics!

I love the summer games! And this is the first time we've ever had cable to enjoy it (I didn't know Handball was an Olympic sport!)

Your favorites are probably my favorites...(gymnastics, diving, swimming, volleyball) but maybe I'll broaden my Olympic horizons a little.

Go Michael Phelps! Hope you can win your 8 (if not 10) gold medals. And good luck to Dara Torres, the amazing 41-year old U.S. swimmer (she has a 2 year-old daughter) and I could go on and on....the athletes are all so inspirational. And the stories (and commericals) are making me cry. Big shocker.

Dreams. Showering. Videos.

So, I have these random thoughts to share. None of them relate to each other at all.

1. My pregnancy dreams have been different this time. With Kalia, I was always dreaming that I was another character (i.e. Sarah from Prison Break or Kate from Lost) trying to hook up with Michael or Jack/Sawyer, respectively. THIS time, I am me in my dreams, but I'm dreaming of all my past boyfriends and loves. And then I wake up missing them, thinking, I am going to send them an e-mail and say hi. then I'm like, Wait...I had the dream, not them. THEY'RE not missing ME!! I wish I would quit dreaming about them so I could quit missing them. I am quite happy with the husband I have.

2. Showering...so, I know some of you have talked about slumps, not getting dressed all day, etc. I am willing to admit to all of you that I am one of those people. Sometimes I don't shower for days, I'd rather use that time to read, blog, or sleep. I usually only wear make-up on Sundays, and I am still struggling to get into a routine of cooking and cleaning. I have a million excuses, and frankly it's just too easy to stay in comfy clothes and eat cereal all day...especially when I usually don't go anywhere or see anyone besides Samuel and Kalia. Most days, I'm fine with it, because I know eventually my life will demand more from me. But every now and then I feel the urge to be better, look better, live better. Recently I discovered that SHOWERING has an amazing effect on me. I don't plan on doing anything else, but once I'm showered I think, "hmm, a little makeup would be nice!" Then some lotion and deoderant. wouldn't hurt. Then I feel so good I think, "I'll just clean this bathroom counter. And this mirror. Well, I might as well mop the floor. And the kitchen floor." Then my whole apartment gets clean. And it all starts with a shower. Samuel is so happy I discovered this.

3. Okay, any advice on home movie clips? I just realized that every video clip that I have of Kalia is on a memory card or the computer. I want to get them on a DVD or somewhere safer. What have you guys done? Is there a website or program that will just mush them all together or what?

Thanks for listening to my random thoughts of the day.