Conversations with Jellybean - Volume 7

Conversations with "The Jellybean"

Jellybean: Hey Mom! What is going on out there?

Me: What do you mean, Jellybean?

Jellybean: Its like a tsunami in here and I'm trying to take a nap...

Me: Well, we have friends coming over for dinner so I'm trying to get everything ready. There's food to cook.

Jellybean: Oh that looks good Mom. What else ya doing?

Me: I set the table all pretty...

while stepping over these guys...

Jellybean: Looks good, Mom. I still don't know about those two though. So who's coming over?

Me: Our friends that just got married - they have a baby on the way too! So you'll have a playmate!

Jellybean: Dude - I'm so much bigger than that other baby. I could take him down!

Me: Now Jellybean, We're not taking anyone down!

Jellybean: Hey Mom - speaking of all these babies...How did we get in here anyway?

Me: Go ask your father...

Preggo Update time....
How far along? 26 weeks






Baby's size? According to The Bump its an eggplant, BabyCenter says English Hothouse cucumber

Weight Gain? I'm not sure, I haven't weighed myself this week. I have an appt next Thursday so we'll know then I guess.

Maternity clothes? All I can fit into for pants pretty much, still holding on to regular shirts.

Sleep? Good nights and Bad. I'm a peeing machine now though so up at least twice a night for that.

Food? Oh man- I think I am hungry all the time. The heartburn has gotten bearable too which is such a blessing!

Best moment this week? I can't pick between dinner with our friends and possibly good news regarding surgery for my dad.

Movement? The kid never stops. He is also quite adamant about not liking certain positions I try to sleep in. Never thought something that small could make me roll over that fast.

Symptoms? Sigh..The swelling has begun. I noticed this week that my ankles and feet were starting to hurt and sure enough - I got in the tub last night and found a pair of cankles staring back at me. Then I cried for 20 minutes. (Not really!)

What I'm looking forward to? We are finally carving our pumpkins tonight. Then next weekend we are going to the corn maze for my birthday.

Weekly Wisdom: If baby says to take it easy - LISTEN!

Milestones: I can go take my glucose tolerance test now. Oh joy...

What I love: watching the little guy kick away in there.


I'm also linking up with -

PYHO - Random Acts of Kindness

I had a million different thoughts running through my head as to what I could make this post about as I lay on my couch relaxing last night. Then my internet decided to be a PITA and wouldn’t connect so I watched a “Bad Girls Club” marathon with the hubby instead. (His choice, not mine) (I also did not get to comment on all the blogs I wanted to last night - stupid Brighthouse!)

I decided I needed to write about the good in people after all my negative posts I usually do on PYHO!

As many of you know, my dad was admitted into the hospital back in March and had a series of mini strokes or TIAs. He was in ICU for a week and in the process we learned that his right carotid artery was completely occluded. Meaning no blood flow – AT ALL – to his brain. They had a bear of a time trying to regulate his blood pressure and through it all my dad was gracious and thankful to all the hospital staff and a favorite patient for most of them. He was surrounded by family the entire time and we too went out of our way to make sure everyone knew how much we appreciated them.

I think this in turn helped us in the long run. Good karma and all that mumbo jumbo.

My dad is one of the 50.7 million uninsured Americans. His work didn’t offer insurance and private insurance would have bankrupt my parents. So we were counting on patient assistance to help us out. That took over six months of battling and appeals and resulted in only partial help. But beggars can't be choosers so we were thankful for any assistance at all.

One of the amazing things that we have been exposed to through all of this is the goodness and kindness of people. Every doctor that my father has been seen by has gone out of their way to make sure my dad gets the care he needs. They didn’t care if he had insurance or not. Most immediately agreed to discounted rates on office visits and tried to help us navigate the system in the best way possible. None of them have to do this. They do it because they truly care.

From offering personal cell phone numbers to providing treatments in their office that they would usually outsource – we are constantly blown away by the generosity and kindness shown to us by these virtual strangers.

As I watch the news each morning and am subjected to horror story after horror story  - I wish someone would spotlight all these angels among us that provide families like mine with hope and reassurance.

One of my dad’s doctors is the father of an old classmate of mine. We happen to still be friends on Facebook so yesterday I sent him a note to thank him and his father. I’m sure he had no idea his dad was doing all this for mine but I felt he needed to know. When my dad was in the hospital and recovering all sorts of people came out of the woodwork with stories about my dad’s kindness and generosity. They made me appreciate the man he is so much more. I owed it to my friend to have that feeling too and to give him the chance to let his dad know just how much we as a family are moved and touched by his actions.

Many times people try to “Pay It Forward” -  I’m not sure if in a situation like this there is any way we can pay it forward but I hope by writing this little blurb and sharing with all of you – it too restores your faith in people. I think most of us truly are good and that all we hear about is the bad. Is there anything that stands out to you about a good deed or person in your life that you’d like to share?

Shell over at Things I Can't Say hosts - Pour Your Heart Out. It is a place to just get whatever is weighing on your heart out. Please be kind to all of the posters.

PINT - An @$$ kicking courtesy of Jellybean

Can you be a childbirth class dropout?

As I mentioned before Joey and I have been attending childbirth classes as we prepare for Jellybean’s grand arrival. As I also may have mentioned once or twice on my blog – we aren’t the most mature couple out there.

This makes childbirth classes fun and interesting (No, not really but we try!)

For example –

I may have suggested to Joey that he whip out a bag of popcorn during the video portion of the class that showed the actual childbirth. He one upped me by offering to pass out beer to all the guys too. We then giggled through the first portion of class.

Joey likes to speculate on which of the guys are actually gay and just using the ladies as a cover. Along with who may or may not be a drug dealer.

We are convinced one couple has the girl on uppers while the guy is on downers.

I may have spotted Joey cleaning his nails with a pocketknife during one portion of class. He may have also been caught napping once or twice.

We decided childbirth will be NO BIG DEAL since I am already psychotic and neurotic so he will probably be unfazed by anything I may do or say then. Or maybe we’ll just save that 6 pack of beer for then…

So given all that you would think that I am just happy and calm regarding the whole squeezing a watermelon out of something the size of a keyhole thing. And I was. Until they decided to share such great childbirth tidbits like this with me –

Things that can make labor longer or more difficult –

First baby

(Check)

Average labor for a first time mom is 12-18 hours!!! EEEKKK!

Shorter in height

(All 5’ of me – check)

Then we can go into things that might cause me pain – like the herniated disc in my back.

Or the fact that the baby is going to regress back up with each push.

Or when she said THEY WANT US TO STOP PUSHING AFTER THE HEAD COMES OUT!!!

Really? After all that work you want me to stop for a minute. Sadists.

That’s IT! I’m letting Joey carry and deliver our next child.

After all that – I’m still going to try my best to go natural. I’m staying open to the idea of drugs be that stadol or an epidural but after getting a tooth implant with only Novocain as a pain killer I’m hoping I can tough it out. I like most of what this hospital does though. I’m still freaked the heck out by the idea of Jellybean actually making his debut but luckily I have quite a while to get use to the idea. I’m going to take advantage of the full 48 hours that I can stay at the hospital. I will let Jellybean go back to the nursery if I need a nap, a shower or to eat. I’m slowly getting use to the idea that he will be here sooner rather than later. And I’m not freaking out yet…but we do have our C-section class on Thursday. Maybe we’ll eat dinner after class instead of before like we usually do.

Oh wait! Speaking of dinner – it’s week two of being back to meal planning in “Operation Save for the Jellybean” (I just made that up – you like?) If there are any repeats from last week that means we skipped that meal or improvised.


You can find out more about Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Monday – Spaghetti with meat sauce, Garlic Rolls, Salad
Tuesday – Breakfast for dinner (My excuse for squeezing bacon into a meal!)
Wednesday – Beef Stew, Biscuits, Spinach and raspberry salad (We have friends coming over so I’ll cook this Tuesday and have it ready for Wednesday! We love this recipe too!)
Thursday – Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Friday – Cowboy Pie (I'm adding green beans to this too!)
Saturday - Chicken Pot Pie (I put a crust on the bottom too and freeze the leftover veggies, broth and chicken to make chicken and dumplings later!)
Sunday – Either leftovers or Hot Dogs, Baked Beans and Sweet Potato Fries

Conversations with Jellybean - Volume 6

LAST DAY!!!!!!!  Don't forget to enter the CSN Stores $35 Giveaway!

Conversations with "The Jellybean"

Me: Hey Jellybean!

Jellybean: (Somersault, somersault...Weeeee!) Yea, Mom?

Me: So, I'm starting to think you might not be my kid!

Jellybean: Umm... Mom....Have you noticed I'm IN YOUR STOMACH? (Sheesh...and I thought she was the smart one!)

Me: Yes Jellybean, I know where you are (PS..That knee to the ribs was uncalled for!) but you seem to like certain things that Mom would never ever enjoy which make me question if you're really mine!

Jellybean: Oh yeah? Like what?

Me: Like this!

 
Image courtesy: Google Images

Jellybean: Ummm..Can't read Mom! Try again!

Me: urghhhh....(smart alec kid of mine!)

Image courtesy: Google Images

Jellybean: Oh yeah! Oatmeal! That stuff rocks! Have you noticed how much I flip out when you eat it? It's awesome!

Me: See Jellybean? I knew you couldn't be mine. I can't stand the stuff. I just choke it down because I know its good for me and you. I think its like eating wallpaper paste though.

Jellybean: Geeze! What's wrong with you? Oatmeal is the best thing ever. Even Dad likes it!

Me: Oh and Dad is such an authority on everything huh?

Jellybean: Thanks Mom! Now I'm scarred for life!

Me: Just doing my job, son!

Now on to our Friday Preggo update:

How far along are you? 25 weeks

Total weight gain/loss? +18

When is your baby most active? He's either going constantly or sleeping a good stretch. Usually more when I'm relaxing but sometimes it doesn't matter. He's chilling today so I guess he tired himself out yesterday.

How are you feeling generally? My back is really starting to bother me. I missed work because of it yesterday. My dr is going to have me start physical therapy.


Weekly BOOO HOOO? I need to start Christmas shopping on a non existent budget.

Weekly WHOO HOOO? Joey actually cooked dinner for us the other night! It involved 9709383209 questions but my favorite had to be - when do you know the noodles are done? Is it when their soft? (From a 32 year old man!)

How did your Dr/Midwife appt go this month? I had one back on the 7th which went well. My next is Nov 4.

Will you have the glucose test soon? Anytime after the 28th. I have my order for it already.

Anyone having a shower coming up? Yep. They are doing one for me at work and my sister is planning my other one for early December.

Finally my second week of joining in -

I am so excited to meet Jellybean yet overwhelmed by the though that it could be in just 3 months. So much to do and so little time!

I wish I was able to take care of my parents financially so they could retire. They have worked hard enough already.

I like falling in love with my hubby all over again through out our marriage.

I can not believe my birthday is 2 weeks away. The last year has flown by and I'm not ready to be 28 yet!

I hope that my Dad gets awesome news at his Vascular appt on Monday and that we can get him in for a quick, affordable and uncomplicated surgery.

I think that my niece is going to do awesome at her cheerleading competition tomorrow and I'm thrilled I get to go watch her do her thing!

I was hoping to finish Jellybean's room this weekend but between the cheerleading competition and a wedding on Sunday - chances look slim!

You said - How many days until Christmas?

Don't forget to enter the CSN Stores $35 Giveaway!

My sister and I went out to lunch on Tuesday and she asked me if we would be doing our holiday shopping together this year. I broke out in a crazy woman's laugh.

There are 65 days until Christmas.

I currently have one present purchased. That I bought back in January.

My budget is hovering slightly above nonexistent when it comes to purchasing additional gifts.

We have somewhere in the ballpark of 35 people to purchase gifts for. Plus Jellybean. All are immediate family.

Excuse me while I go breathe into a paper bag for a minute. (See, I knew these childbirth classes would be helpful!)

Yea, we are screwed. I know that Christmas is not about the presents but Joey and I both love to give them. In the past I have been really great at finding awesome deals and being ahead of the game. This year I've been distracted. Oh and broke.

I wish I was a crafty person. My crafts end up looking like a kindergarten project. And that is being generous. I know how to knit but I'm not very dedicated or quick with it. Quite honestly I don't enjoy the process of knitting. I just like having a finished product. I can bake with the best of them but people get so overloaded with sweets at that time that I hate to add to it.

So my plan is to really start scoping out the good deals. I know they are out there. One of my favorite sites for finding these is Slickdeals. Free shipping, clearance, coupon codes they list it all. I'm also going to scope out Ebay and see what's shaking there. Finally thanks to the wonderful world of blogging - I'll be spending my lunch hours entering every darn giveaway I can come across. Then my evenings too. I really hope to win or get to do some of the cloth diaper giveaways out there too so I have a good stock when Jellybean makes his debut. So if you notice some annoying tweets or giveaway reposts - sorry! A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!

I know our family won't care one way or another what they get but it matters to me. I bit the bullet and ordered Joey a new power supply for his tattoo equipment since his other two went out on him. Without a power supply - no tattoos and no extra money. The first few tattoos will be paying off bills and the machine but after that - it will all be Christmas money.

How are you doing Christmas on a budget? Do you have any favorite sites for killer deals?

Pour Your Heart Out - We see things differently

Don't forget to enter the CSN Stores $35 Giveaway!

Joey recently told me that he knows he hasn't been there as much as he should be during this pregnancy and that he was going to start doing more. It was going to be about me, him and Jellybean from here on out.

Somehow - in my crazy, deluded head I decided that this meant a fairy godmother had come down, waved her magic wand and everything was going to go smoothly from then on out.

As I mentioned before I worked six days last week. Three of those days were 14 hours or more. By Sunday, I was exhausted but the house was also falling apart around me. We hadn't cleaned the previous weekend since we had my nephews over and then there was no way I had time to clean at all the rest of the week so Sunday I had no other choice. Joey had promised he would help me out with the cleaning. I should have known from previous experience what that actually meant.

He rolled out of bed around 10:30 and on to the couch. I had been up since 7:30 am and had already swept, done two loads of laundry, made breakfast and put dinner in the crock pot. Then he took a nap. I mopped, washed dishes, did 87 more loads of laundry and cleaned the bathrooms.

When he finally woke up from his nap...around 4pm - I asked him if he would please vacuum already since it had been sitting in the living room since 11am waiting for him. Then he told me I was a slave driver. (This would be an Oh No He Didn't! moment and yes he really did.) Once my head stopped spinning and I was no longer tempted to grab a chef's knife or rolling pin and go after him, I gave him a quick run down of everything I had done so far that day - and what he had done. I calmly let him know that I had no problem not asking him to help me anymore (at six months pregnant) but I in turn would also stop doing everything that I do. For some reason at that point he decided to start vacuuming.

I'm not sure what inspired him but I have a feeling I'm going to have to start making these great offers more often in order to get some help. How do you distribute the chores more evenly at your house and get your other half to help you? As I get further along in this pregnancy I am going to be more and more limited in what I can do and especially after Jellybean is here. In Joey's defense he has picked up some of the chores I really can't do anymore - walking the dog, using the harsh chemicals on the deep clean of the bathroom, etc. I have actually considered a chore chart but my biggest problem is I get upset when something doesn't get done on my time line - you know immediately. Any advice on accepting that he will help you but it may take a day, two, or a week?

Shell over at Things I Can't Say hosts - Pour Your Heart Out. It is a place to just get whatever is weighing on your heart out. Please be kind to all of the posters.

PINT - Stuffed Dog?

Don't forget to enter the CSN Stores $35 Giveaway!

I wanted to update, but BACON distracted me.

Don't forget to enter the CSN Stores $35 Giveaway!

So I started to come on here to update everything that has been going on lately but then I got distracted by this article. Yes, an article entirely devoted to bacon. For anyone that knows me IRL - I absolutely love Bacon. Preferably crispy. I blame my mother. She use to make us the most amazing bacon sandwiches growing up. She would sneak off to the corner store and get these long skinny italian loafs of bread that were still warm and then fry up some bacon to go with them. Cut the loaf in half, dip the bread in the grease and just pile bacon on top. A nightmare for our cholesterol but the ultimate in comfort food. My sister and I still love to have these for breakfast!

So now I'm the person who loves bacon as if it was a boy toy. I order it as an appetizer when I go to eat at Cracker Barrel. My surefire way of testing a diner is to order their BLT - if you screw that up I won't eat there again. I just found out a restaurant downtown makes a Fried Green Tomato BLT. I can't wait to try this out. It sounds AMAZING!

Having said that, in preparing for Jellybean's arrival I was forced to suck it up and realize that one of the main places I was overspending was at the grocery store. Joey and I have pretty much been living the "DINK" life until now. We pay child support for his son but that is different then having the day to day expenses of a child in the home. So when we would go to the store we would start with a list but rarely stuck to it strictly. There have been times where it took some creative arranging to fit everything in the fridge, freezer and pantry after a trip to the store. I'm going to venture a guess that we could easily spend $300-$400 a month at the grocery store - with only two people in the house. Knowing that I am soon going to be out an extra $580 a month for just daycare and health insurance alone - that just isn't an option anymore.

So - I am back to meal planning. Taking leftovers for lunch at work. Sticking to my grocery list. Actually waiting to run out of stuff before buying it. Buying less junk food/snacks. I know that at times this is going to be a struggle but its not about the two of us anymore. Its the three of us now. There's going to be soccer, T-ball, clothes, doctors, dentists, birthday parties and a million other expenses along the way. We just can't afford to be wasteful anymore. I am amazed by all of you who are able to survive on one income and still afford everything so feel free to share your advice with me. I'm not to proud to take it. I would love to be able to be a SAHM or WAHM at some point and I need to lay the groundwork now for it.

Now with my meal plan for the week -



You can find out more about Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Monday - Shrimp Stirfry (I've had a bag of shrimp and half a family size stirfry kit in my freezer for two months now so its time to use it up!)
Tuesday - Kielbasa on the grill, Fried onions, French fries, Salad
Wednesday - Chicken Parmesan, Angel hair Pasta with Italian dressing and Parmesan Cheese (This is awesome cold the next day!), Spinach salad
Thursday - Potato soup (from the freezer stash), Garlic bread (We have our childbirth classes so need a quick meal)
Friday -I'll be at my sister's so Joey is on his own
Saturday - My niece's cheerleading competition
Sunday - We are attending a wedding.

So this week I really only need to buy bread, milk, fruit and veggies. I have everything else. Thank goodness too since I don't get paid until Friday! :)

Finally - I've started thinking about getting meals in the freezer for after Jellybean is born and I am a zombie. Would you like to share your favorite freezer/crockpot recipes with me? (or come cook for me mid January/early February?)

Conversations with Jellybean - Volume 5

Don't forget to enter the CSN Stores $35 Giveaway!

Conversations with "The Jellybean"


Jellybean: Hey Mom! What's wrong?

Me: Mommy is just a little bit tired buddy!

Jellybean: Really Mom? I've been full of energy lately! Especially last night. I dunno why you were sitting for so long but that was fun!



Me: I noticed. I was here trying to pay attention to the childbirth classes but apparently you were doing the Riverdance in there for two hours.


Jellybean: What the heck is the Riverdance, Mom?

Me: This buddy -



Jellybean: Let's get this straight right now Mom. I'm NEVER wearing tights. Kapish?


Me: Got ya. Loud and clear!

I'm 24 weeks pregnant now or six months. I spent 20 minutes this week explaining to a guy at work how I could be six months pregnant yet due 2/3. Finally after the third run through of the whole 40 weeks thing he caught on. Sigh... We also started our childbirth classes last night. I only wanted to permanently injure Joey 4 times between the drive there, the class and the drive home. Labor is going to be a blast!

Total weight gain/loss? I'm not sure - I haven't had a chance to weigh myself. Last week I was up 16+lbs so probably around 17 or 18lbs this week.

Wedding rings - on or off? On. My hands haven't swelled at all yet.


How are you feeling generally? I'm exhausted this week. It's been 14 hour days at work.

Any stretch marks? A few on my boobies.

Weekly BOOO HOOO? See above about work.

Weekly WHOO HOOO? The week has to end at some point?

Have you bought anything for baby this week? Shoot I haven't had time to even think this week, let alone shop!

What does your nursery currently look like? A project under construction! The murals are half finished and I still need to buy the chair rail, ceiling fan, etc.

What are you most afraid of with this pregnancy/birth/baby? The finances and juggling it all.

Are you going to do any maternity photos? If so, When? I'm going to try to do these at the beginning of December.

What carseat/travel system are you leaning towards/going with/have? Graco Pagoda

 

1.   Blogging is something I seriously slacked on this week. I love getting to know all of you though!

2.  A current fashion trend I wish I was brave enough to wear is I'm pregnant. I'm happy when I find anything that looks cute on me right now. My body changes shape every friggen day.

3.  My greatest accomplishment in life thus far is Jellybean growing inside of me of course!

4.  If I had to choose between a mountain or a beach vacation I'd choose the mountains. I live 20 minutes from the beach so something a little different sounds divine!

5.  A talent I wish I had is  teaching the hubby how to manage money! :)

6.  A talent I do have is being able to juggle 8 zillion things at once and make it look easy.

7.  This week one I have no desire to repeat anytime soon!