Cleaning Out My Desk

I am cleaning out my desk today.  Technically, my last day is not until Monday but I'm going to take the majority of my stuff home today. 

The reasons behind that decision are

1: I don't want to wait till the last minute

2: a bunch of my co-workers are gone today and I think removing my stuff today will cause less "sappy drama".

Also, since a bunch of my co-workers are gone today, I decided to buck the dress code and am wearing blue jeans.  W-H-O-A...  In the past four and a half years, I have only worn blue jeans to work four or five times and each of those times I'm pretty sure I made a donation to the American Heart Association in order to earn the "privilege".  Not today.  Today, I'm just in jeans.  Sorry for the dark, bathroom self portrait. 

Oh and since I'm trying to catch up on my life...  If I had to name this picture, I would call it Crossing the Finish Line in the Tour De Bonus Room.  haha.  Yes, hubby and I have bicycles in our bonus room that are set up on stationary trainers so every once in a while (for me, all the time for him) we go upstairs and ride bikes.  Last night we rode bikes and watched Louisville play basketball.  Needless to say, I was being an idiot in this picture.

And because we couldn't have a blog without a picture of the princess!

And finally because this is my blog and I can put this up here if I want to...  Hopefully, I can have a real picture of my Callie girl like this someday.  I'm hoping, hoping, hoping that she'll be a horsey girl just like her momma!

Stay At Home Mom??? Me???

Hi Friends...

I guess that really this post could've been titled "So this is where I lost my job..." but, I'm trying to look on the positive!  Actually, it is very positive.  We had discussed this at length but always come to the conclusion that "the timing wasn't right" and we would say "maybe in a a few months".  Apparently, God decided that he didn't approve of our delays and on November 30 I received the news that as of January 30, I would be unemployed due to budget cuts.  We stewed and thought and cried and prayed and by Christmas had realized what a blessing this truly could be.  We have decided that I will be a full time, stay at home mom.  Hopefully, along with my SAHM position, I can also find the time and energy to blog.  Working full time and then being a mommy/wife has left me with little opportunity to communicate with you all.  I have still been reading a lot of blogs but posting and commenting has obviously decreased.  I am also planning to get my butt back to the gym.  I have lost all of my pre-pregnancy weight plus about 5 or 10 extra pounds (????) but believe me, nothing is the same.  I miss the little flat belly that I had before it expanded to fit a 7 1/2 pound babe!  I will get it back though, I'm determined!

So anyway, I hope that you all (assuming, of course, that anybody even still reads this...) are doing well.  Be on the lookout for more regular posts from me...

Oh, and I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of my Callie Belle! Much Love!

I fell off the blogging planet...

No guarantees guys, I'm not sure that I can keep up a blog but I did want you all to know that my sweet Callie Belle is here and she's amazing.  She was born April 18 and weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long.

Here are some recent pictures...

Like I said, I will try...  but if not, I hope that you all are doing well and that your summers are as amazing as my has been!

Last Week Was a Rough Week...

Well, I think I'm almost recovered.  Honestly, I really just hope that I am.  Last week was a pretty difficult week for me.  I made an unexpected and pretty much un-Callie related trip to my ob's office which was followed three days later by a trip to the "Private Referral" portion of the hospital, followed by another trip the next day, followed by a trip to Labor & Delivery that afternoon.  It was definitely not awesome.

To make a very long story short, I had raging stomach issues (sorry for the TMI) for approximately 8 days which caused me to be extremely dehydrated.  The trips to private referral resulted in IV treatments with a liter of fluid each day.  I also had an ultrasound done to check the fluid levels in my uterus as well a Non-Stress Test done on Callie.  It was exhausting and when the OB asked me if I would rather stay over-night and continue IV fluids or go home and sleep in my own bed, I begged and pleaded to go home.

I contracted a bacterial information called C Diff which should basically be considered hell and will make you feel that way until you have been diagnosed and been on antibiotics for probably 36 hours.  The OB described it to Drew as basically a bacteria that makes your insides and gut "raw"...  He was trying to find food that I could eat (I lost 5 pounds during this period) and she told him that throwing food at me would only make me more miserable and shock my system.  I was eating jello and drinking Gatorade and that was pretty much it.

Fortunately, Callie Belle is doing fabulously and we did learn some exciting things about her through the Ultrasound.  As of Thursday, she is approximately 7 1/2 pounds (give or take a pound...) and has hair!  I'm sure that it will be dark brown or maybe even black and I just absolutely can not wait to see her!  Hopefully she will be here soon!

I was also told that I am now officially to be on maternity leave.  Apparently after all the stress to my system, I am supposed to be staying home and resting.  That has sort of worked, except for the fact that I've been waking up at crazy times in the morning.  This morning, I was out of bed unloading the dishwasher at 5:45....  Oops...  so much for rest!

Anyway, well, hopefully we will have a baby soon but I wanted to let you all know what had been going on with us.  Needless to say, it has not been fun!

****Also, I should add that my normal OB was on Spring Break through this whole ordeal in Cabo...  Lucky her.  Her instructions last time I saw her included that I was not allowed to have a baby because she wouldn't be there to deliver her.  Something tells me, she would have rather me gone into labor than almost be admitted to the hospital for some crazy raging bacteria!

KB & Baby - Week 37

How Far Along: 37 Weeks
Size of Baby: Miss Callie is about the size of a Swiss Chard...  Now, I have no idea what that is or what the size of it is so we will say that she is approximately 6.3 pounds and 19.25 inches (according to my iPhone app).
Total Weight Gain/Loss: By my scale this morning - 25 pounds (I am extremely pleased)...
Maternity Clothes: Everything is maternity!  Drew has a few t-shirts (that he says are too big for him) that I can still wear if we go walking or to lay around the house but everything else is maternity.  Now even the maternity clothes are even not working.  The waist bands in my pants are starting to slide underneath my belly which makes me pretty self-conscious.  I don't want to be one of those Mommy's-to-be who walks around with her bare belly hanging out.
Gender: G-I-R-L!
Movement: Her movement is now almost continuous.  Especially when I'm at my desk at work.  Its also starting to be a little painful.
Sleep: This one sucks.  Sleep varies from almost non-existant to interrupted.  Last night was interrupted, night before last non-existant... 
What I miss: Just the norm...  but we're getting so excited that it doesn't matter!
Cravings: no real cravings or aversions... I seem to be eating all of the same foods that I ate before pregnancy, which is nice.
Symptoms: Basically just exhaustion and body soreness.  Pretty much every night you can find me passed out on my couch by about 8.  I have been in bed asleep by 9:30 or so for the past few nights...
Best Moment this week: Probably packing hospital bags on Monday night.  I was really excited to get some of the stuff put together.  I still have a few of your suggestions (thank you for these, btw, they were very helpful!) that I need to get together and will probably work on those this weekend.  Also, the nursery is now completely put together and I absolutely love it.  I'm so proud of it and need to post some pictures for you guys.

Hospital Packing...

Ok, I need some advice.  I am usually a major procrastinator and that has gotten me into large amounts of trouble on more than one occassion.  I decided last night that I needed to do my best to not fall into that habit for the next three to four weeks.  I worked on laundry last night and even started to pack my hospital bag.  So far it includes:

• nursing tanks with pajama pants
• a nursing night gown because I figure I'll be much more comfortable in it than in a hospital one for at night
• house slippers
• flip flops
• fuzzy socks
• a fleece to wear if the room is cold
• a robe
• two sleep nursing bras and then another nursing bra
• I also packed sanitary pads and nursing pads
• I also have snacks for the dad, grandparents, and then for me to have in the room while we're there

I have also worked on packing for Callie, even though I don't think that she'll need as much...  She has:

• her going home outfit (w/ blanket, etc)
• boppy
• her baby book and a pen so that visitors can sign it
• a notebook so that if she is brought any gifts we can keep track of them

I have a few things that I know I'll need to pack closer to time so that I can use them up until the date.  They are:

• toiletries (even though I'd like to go ahead and get some travel shampoo/conditioner, saline solution, etc. and put them in a bag so that they're not forgotten)
• cell phone charge
• camera/charger

What do you guys think I'm missing???  I know that there are some Mommies and Mommies-to-be that read my blog and I'd love your input.  What did you take that was worthless and just took up space?

Lunch Date!

I was so excited to be able to meet up with two fellow bloggers for lunch yesterday!  Paige (from Mommy & Charli), Erin (from Howell's Happenings), and I all met at a great restaurant in BG for lunch on Wednesday!  It was such a great lunch and I was so glad to be able to hang out with these two great girls!

Erin and I went to school together but we were in different grades and had different friends and neither of us had ever met Paige, so it was great to be able to take that time to get to know each other a little better!

It is so fun to be able to meet people and already know so much about them!  We decided at the end of our lunch that we couldn't wait to get together again soon!

Girls, thanks so much for meeting up and I hope that you all had as good a time as I did!