37 weeks

It's pretty unbelievable that this little baby will be here within the next month. It could be tomorrow, it could be 4 weeks from now. The unpredictability of birth can drive you crazy.

Trying to focus on preparing the house, preparing myself, and staying rested and hydrated, etc. I've also been really thinking about spending time with Noah. He still wants mommy to rock him to sleep and soothe him at night if he wakes up. I had been stressed about trying to transition him to daddy and the more we pushed it, the worse he resisted and the clingier he became with me. I think he knows that baby is going to change things and that's why he's clinging on to me. I'm trying to relax and enjoy the snuggles now and trust that he will transition when the baby gets here. I'm so grateful for the past two years I've had with him. Things won't be the same once Audrey arrives, but I bet they'll be even better. He is incredibly excited about having a sister and I hope they are great friends.

He's a smart little boy and I think he will understand why I won't be able to rock him to sleep always or be there because of Audrey.  I'm sure it will be difficult still but in the end, I'm sure he will get used to it.

Belly is getting larger... its pretty sore right now.. she is losing room....! Time to come out baby girl.

Resolutions/Menu Plan Monday

So... unusually for me, I didn't really make any New Year's Resolutions, at least not by New Year's Eve.  Normally, you'd find me with a notebook, pen and huge list of different resolutions that I needed to accomplish for the year.



This year, I kind of let them come to me over the past two days.



Family Resolution: move. enough said.
Relationship Resolution: serve my husband in love.  Trying to remember to do little things for him that show him how much I appreciate him and love him.
Personal Resolution:  whether its talking a walk or dancing with Noah around the house, incorporate fitness back into my life. I'd love to start taking a yoga class with the babies too.
Home Resolution: Menu Plan! I drive myself crazy every single day trying to think of what to make and this is an area of my life that NEEDS to be simplified, especially with baby #2 on the way.

So here it is... menu for the week.

Monday
Breakfast: leftover pancakes with raspberries & syrup
Lunch: turkey veggie rice soup (slow cooker experiment)
Dinner: cheese ravioli w/beans
To do: buy, yogurt, eggs, burger buns, & corn meal


Tuesday
Breakfast: yogurt & cereal
Lunch: PB&J's & oranges
Dinner: Thai Chicken Salad
 To do: make apple muffin batter

Wednesday
Breakfast: apple muffins & scrambled eggs (planning on cutting the sugar and swapping the flour for whole wheat)
Lunch: soup & sandwiches
Dinner: ham, mashed potatoes & broccoli 

Thursday
Breakfast: muffins/apple slices/yogurt
Lunch: ham, red pepper & cheddar omelets
Dinner: homemade pizza
to do: thaw beef, get out ingredients for pumpkin pancakes


Friday
Breakfast: pumpkin pancakes
Lunch: annies mac & cheese w/beef  (it's a box I've had hanging around forever...!- kinda like hamburger helper but organic... should be interesting?)
Dinner: burgers & fries


Saturday
Breakfast: leftover pancakes/yogurt
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: baked ziti & veggies
to do: soak beans, cut up veggies for slowcooker


Sunday
Breakfast: smoothies w/whey protein & spirulina (bagels at church)
Lunch: leftovers
Dinner: slow cooker veggie chili and corn bread

Merry Christmas Eve!

Mmm. What a better way to start the day by sleeping in for an extra hour, having your hubby take your baby sledding, drinking coffee, and starting a blog post in the peace and quiet that is a house filled with washing machines running.

There isn't. :-)

Wonderful news. Everything is all set for the birth financially. Our HSA will be able to cover any extra costs incurred and we don't have to worry anymore about the possibility of paying out of pocket. I'm now free to focus on preparing for the birth and getting all the supplies together.

I ordered the birthing pool last night and after MUCH debate over the La Bassine, Aquaborn, and BPIAB (birth pool in a box), I decided to go with the simplest option, the La Bassine. The Aquaborn is deeper and comes with a lid, but it also takes longer to fill and was going to be $40 more in the end AND it's a bright green color and I sorta envisioned a blue pool. I want to feel calm and centered and I think the lime green color would be distracting. The BPIAB has a lot of great features but in the end, just too expensive right now. The La Bassine has been proven over and over through many births, reliable, quick to inflate and fill and a beautiful blue oval shape with see through walls which I found really nice.

I'm so excited!!! I am really in baby la la land right now and can't WAIT for this baby to be here. Our first home visit is the first week in January and that's really solidifying the whole thing for me. It's happening. We're going to have another little baby. I'm just over the moon right now and can't wait to meet her. Second pregnancies are really more fun because you know ahead of time how incredibly in love you are going to be with your baby. With Noah, it bowled me over. I had NO idea the fierce instinctual feeling of love and protection a mother feels. I had no idea that your whole body physiologically changes... its like your nerves become alive and you can suddenly SEE and FEEL everything.

Mothering is such a privilege. I am so thankful that I've been allowed the chance to experience it.

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve!

5 New Purposes for Old Christmas Cards

5 New Purposes for Old Christmas Cards

Also beautiful idea from The City Cradle

I adore this lovely lady.

Stringing cranberry words

Check out this post by The City Cradle

Pictures to come of my own cranberry words!!

Merry Christmas <3

32 weeks

32 weeks... 1 day. in my 33rd week. It's a little frightening. I only have less than 8 weeks till this baby gets here.

I'm going to have TWO children.

TWO.

2. 

two.

Wow.


Feeling anxious about the birth... not really because of the actual birth but because of spotty weird insurance coverage issues that go along with having a home birth. Some (okay... I'm not sure which ones) insurances are GREAT at covering homebirth and there is no issue. Others, not so much. Blue Cross Blue Shield only covers CNM's and not CPM's. Medicaid covers part of the birth. I'm hoping that BCBS may cover more of ours because we are having our birth with a preferred provider in their network (she's a doctor as well). I may be able to argue that case since she is acting within her license as an ND with a midwifery provision.

Either way, I'm hoping things work out. (understatement)

This little girl is very active and it seems like 11:30 pm is her favorite time of night.... maybe I have a night owl on my hands... JUST what I need.

Noah is getting so excited for his baby sister... he is always talking to and holding my belly. It's so sweet. It started snowing the other day and he started yelling " baby audrey!! baby audrey!! snow! out!! out!"... because we told him that baby Audrey would be here when the snow was... oops... we meant in February. He doesn't understand why she can't come out now but we just tell him she's got some growing to do.

Looking forward to meeting my little girl........