Quirks

I have been tagged to list a few quirks... which is hard to do for yourself! I can name everyone else's quirks in a heartbeat, but it is no so easy to name them for yourself.
1. I am definitely not organized in every area, but I have to have my clothes hanging in order of color. I don't know how this really helps me, but I guess it is easier to pick between 2 blue shirts if they are right next to each other. It would probably help more to organize by outfits, but that would throw off the whole closet and it would not be as visually appealing.
2. I start a book before I am done with another one, so I end up reading several at a time. It is not really out of boredom, it is usually just because I can't wait to see what the next one is about. Brandon makes fun of me all the time for this and he will check on me to see if I ever finish a single book. Just so you know, I am currently not reading anything since I just finished 2 I have been working on. Sometimes you just need a little variety!
3. I absolutely CANNOT HANDLE hearing someone eat! If I can hear you chewing or smacking, you are either way too loud, or we are way too close! There are a few people (I am choosing not to name) that I will actually avoid sitting by because I know their eating will be too much for me to take.
4. I hate mayonnaise!!! Random- I know! I worked at Roly Poly in high school (don't be jealous) and they would make us take the giant vat of mayonnaise and put it into little squirt bottles with our hands (at least we did use gloves). This is what completely ruined mayo for me. Feeling the greasy, nasty texture in your HAND makes it a little hard to eat on a sandwich. At Auburn, we would go to Breezeway Restaurant every Wednesday night after chapter and my favorite sandwich was called the Salsalito, which was a salsa-basted turkey sandwich toasted with cheddar cheese on sourdough bread, yum! BUT, if you weren't careful, they would load on the mayonnaise and soak the bread in butter (which makes for a not-nice tummy later). So I always ordered mine with no mayo and no butter on the bread. You would think they would get it after awhile, but they still would try to slip in one or the other. I would send that sandwich right back and they tried to just scrape off the mayonnaise one time, but I lied and told them I was allergic to it so they wouldn't try to do it again. My sister also had to take care of it sometimes because I would still be gagging at the sight of it. Anyway, the strangest thing about this hatred of mayonnaise is that I have actually eaten it on fresh tomato sandwiches this summer- I am blaming it on the pregnancy. I had a sandwich and didn't realize it was on there, and I was ok with it. If I am conscious of the mayo's presence, there is no chance of it coming near me!
5. I bite my nails. I am a nurse, educated on all of the possible bacteria under there, and I still have a habit of biting my nails! It is not all the time, and I have been able to grow them out here and there, but it always seems to come back. My grandmother used to tell me that I would become Venus De Milo (the Greek statue with no arms) if I didn't stop biting my nails... that still didn't do the trick.

Enough about the quirks~ onto baby news!
I went today to see Dr. Adcock, and I was 3 cm dilated, 80 % effaced, and his head is "engaged" in the pelvis, which means... COME ON LABOR! I don't know what Blake is waiting for, evidently he is comfortable! I am praying that any day now he will decide to join us in the outside world because I am past the point of comfortable. Brandon and I went to Tuscaloosa and spent the night on Sunday, and at about 10 PM, I was having pretty strong contractions (a few made me jump out of bed and walk around) every 10 minutes, but they went away. It was not a good time for labor to start anyway, but I still got excited to think, "This could be it!" We went ahead and scheduled the induction for Halloween just in case Blake decides to hang in there, but I am seriously praying that he will come any day now. I do not go to the doctor anymore now, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel! Brandon has the day off tomorrow, so maybe we will go for a LONG walk!

Blake Update

I went to the doctor yesterday to see how ready we are for Blake, and we are moving right along! When the nurse went to look for his heartbeat, she was surprised at how low he is positioned. I have been telling Brandon lately that I thought he had dropped because my ribs don't hurt quite so badly and I cannot go more than an hour without having to go to the bathroom. I have also been having tons of contractions, but I have had them for a while. And they are not the regular (real) contractions, but the uncomfortable (becoming more real) Braxton-Hicks contractions. However, even the Braxton-Hicks ones can mean that something is going on and your body is preparing for labor, so I don't mind them all that much! Anyway, Dr. Adcock checked to see if I was dilated and he just said, "Wow." That can mean a lot of things, so I asked if it was a good "wow" or a bad "wow." He said it was good and that I am already 2 cm dilated. I asked him about how low Blake is and he said he thought he was pretty far down there too. I got really excited for a second, but then I remembered that women walk around for weeks dilated 2 cm, so that doesn't mean he is coming all that soon. And, Dr. Adcock said he doesn't think Blake will be that big afterall. He said he would be surprised if he was much bigger than Kate (which made my day)! When I asked about scheduling the induction, they just laughed and said, "We shouldn't schedule it yet, you're probably not going to make it until Halloween." I am not going to hold them to that, but it is nice to know that at the longest, I will only have to wait 2 weeks and 2 days to meet Blake!
Brandon has this dream of throwing everything in the car and speeding to the hospital (forgetting the fact that we live all of 7 minutes from the hospital), so he is excited that I may go into labor myself instead of being induced. Then, his Nascar father-to-be dream will come true! He is supposed to go to Greenville this weekend to do some work on his hunting land, but I am a little skeptical now for him to go too far if he doesn't have to. We also have a residency interview scheduled for Sunday night/Monday morning in Tuscaloosa that I have been given permission to travel for, but I don't know about that either. The last thing I want is to be far away or alone when I do go into labor! If he goes to Greenville, I think I will be taking Kate to stay with my parents so I won't be alone (and because they will wear her out playing). I guess you just never really know how or when labor starts, so I am just going to keep on with my normal life and pray that he is ready whenever he does come! We will keep you posted on any updates!

I May Be Tired...

But not too tired to shop for bargains! I went to CVS earlier and had a great trip!



I am starting with 10 ECB from last week, so here is the breakdown...

Transaction #1

Soleil Razor, $5.99 (on sale from 6.99)

2 Soleil Razor Refills, $5.99 each (on sale from 6.99)

Colgate Maxfresh Toothpaste, $2.99 (on sale from 3.29)

Coupons Used:

(3) $2 off Soleil coupons

$4 off $20 CVS purchase coupon (printed from last purchase)

$10 ECB from last week

Total out of pocket: $1.66, and then I earned $4 ECB for each razor, and $2 ECB for the toothpaste, and then a bonus ECB popped up on the receipt thanking me for my summer spending... So, basically including ECB I spent $11.66, but I earned $15 ECB, making a net profit of $3.34. CVS just paid me to take home this stuff!

Transaction #2

Tylenol Rapid Release, $6.00 (on sale from 7.49)

Children's Motrin, $6.00 (on sale from 6.99)

2 Children's Tylenols, $6.00 each (on sale from 7.49)

CVS Hand Sanitizer Spray, $1.99

Coupons Used:

$2 off Tylenol Rapid Release

$3 off when you buy 3 Tylenol/Motrin products

$5 off $25 CVS purchase printed with first transaction

$12 ECB from razors

$2 ECB from toothpaste

$1 ECB from summer spending

Total out of pocket: $1.59, and then I earned $1 ECB from the hand sanitizer and $10 ECB for spending $20 on Tylenol/Motrin products.

So, I started with 10 ECB and only spent $3.25 cash out of pocket for $55.71 worth of merchandise, and I still have $11 ECB to roll next time! This is why I love CVS! I will probably do another week or two and then take a break from CVS-ing to spend some time with Blake. Besides, we have enough razors, deodorant, and toothpaste to last another year!

Finishing Projects

I have been trying to get a few last minute projects done... and I have finished a couple!

I have added ribbon and monogrammed some burp cloths for Blake. I went to Babies R Us the other day and bought a few last minute necessities like receiving blankets, a Boppy Cover, and some little tiny shirts and pants for him to wear right away. I have washed all of his newborn clothes and sheets and blankets, so I only have a few things left to wash and I will be all ready.

I have taken a few smocking classes lately, and I finished my dress for Kate! I took the basic smocking class to do the design on the pleated fabric, and I loved it- but they didn't finish the dress for me. It would have cost me $38 to get them to finish the dress or $45 to take the class and learn how to finish the dress myself... so I took the class. I really enjoyed learning how to do it myself, but I feel like I need a new project so I don't forget what I learned. Also, I am taking the class next week to learn how to use my pleater that I got for my birthday, and then I will be able to make a bishop dress from start to finish by myself! I am looking forward to that even though I am not sure how much time I will have to be smocking dresses soon.
We had a scare the other morning with Blake. I woke up and realized that all 3 times I had gone to the bathroom during the night, he had not kept me awake with his moving. So, I laid in bed turning from side to side and poking at him for a good 30 minutes. I got up to move around some, but he still was not moving, so I called Brandon and got him to come home and take me to the doctor. I had a non-stress test done, where they just put a monitor on me to keep up with his heartbeat and they gave me a button to press anytime I felt him move. I sat there for a while without feeling him move, so they came in with some vibrating buzzer and zapped him a few times. He went nuts! He hated it so much that he started jumping around and my stomach looked like an alien had taken over inside. I have to say that it was the greatest feeling in the world! My doctor told me that Blake is just "getting into position" and that he just isn't able to move much anymore. He was also just very sleepy that morning and needed to be buzzed to wake up. I felt like I had over-reacted, but Dr. Adcock made me feel so much better and told me he would have gotten his wife to do the exact same thing. That is the scary part about babies- if you wait at all, you could have waited too late! Needless to say, I was pretty hysterical that morning thinking of all the "what-ifs," but it just reminded me that we are not promised any good thing in this life and I am so thankful that the Lord has provided so much so far!
I am feeling more ready to have Blake these days- I am about out of room and I am way out of energy. I had Kate at the park the other day and she was running away from me, so I was chasing her. I got to her and another mom was standing with her kids and she said, "I see you are having a hard time breathing." I wanted to thank her for noticing in a not-so-nice way, but I just kind of smiled and went on chasing Kate (which would make any non-pregnant person out of breath). I also am not sleeping well at all, which is to be expected. I can't help but feel a little sad about rocking Kate's world. I know that is horrible to say, but I just have been able to give her full attention for 16 1/2 months and now she will have to become more independent and lean on her daddy/grandparents more than ever. When I had Kate, I never could have imagined the immediate love you have for your child, which makes me wonder how it is at all possible to love ANOTHER child that much. My mom and friends with more than one child all assure me that I will just feel that same love for the new baby and keep feeling that love for Kate. It is nice to know that I won't have to divide love between kids, but that God just doubles it! Anyway, I will keep you all updated on the changing emotions and the preparations for Blake as they come along!

Growing Up Fast

She is a girly girl! Kate has gotten to be obsessed with having her shoes on and her bow in. When I dress her, she pats her head and says, "bow" and then she points to her feet and says "Shoe-shoes." I actually have had to put her shoes where she can't reach them, because she has hidden one and I cannot find it anywhere! Even when I don't dress her (notice the footy pajamas), she will put her own shoes on! Doesn't everybody wear crocs over their pajamas? I do put little bows in all the time just because her hair hangs in her eyes, but she loves reminding me before I do it.

If you aren't careful, she grabs glasses right off of your face. Usually she just pulls on them and waves them around, but this morning she figured out how to put them on. She walked around holding them in place so she could wear them like me... not long enough to hurt her eyes though because I am blind!

Kate is learning how to give sweet kisses to Baby. They are still big, open-mouthed kisses that leave a generous amount of slobber behind, so we will keep working on that before Blake gets any "Kate-kisses." Brandon and I are constantly amazed at how much of a toddler Kate is, and not so much of a little baby! Last night I said, "Let's go brush your teeth," and she walked right to the sink and stood there pointing at her toothbrush. Then I said, "Go tell Daddy 'night night' and give him kisses," and she walked right to him blowing him kisses and saying "nigh nigh." Where does time go?!

Kate still loves to help her Daddy do pushups! As soon as she sees his hands on the floor like this, she runs over to him and jumps on his back. It is funny that she even knows to hold on tight, and she jumps around like she is riding a horse. I personally get a kick out of it every time she does this because Brandon can barely finish any because he is laughing so hard at how excited she gets. It is even better when Bailey tries to get underneath him with Kate on top of him. At least Bailey listens to commands, Kate is still learning!
Speaking of growing up fast... I went to the doctor on Tuesday and we are moving right along! The last time I went, I saw another doctor and he told me that Blake was going to be "significantly bigger than Kate." Yikes! So, this time I saw Dr. Adcock and he said that Kate was just on the smaller side of average (7 pounds, 1 ounce), and that Blake would likely be on the bigger side of average (above 8 pounds). He did say we can plan on inducing on Halloween... that is 29 days away! I will be exactly 39 weeks, so it is not too soon. I am feeling enormous and he is already sitting so low that I am wondering if I will make it that far! I know everyone says that... I guess it is just wishful thinking!

Getting Ready for Blake (plus some recent shopping)

Brandon went to the Auburn game this weekend, so Kate and I stayed at my parents' house to relax and go through baby stuff. We don't have much storage here, so we have stored things at their house, and this weekend we sorted through it all! I went through all of Kate's clothes from newborn until now and organized them by size to put them in Space Bags (they are awesome by the way)! Piles and piles of clothes turned into 3 vacuum-packed, easy-to-move bags. I did find a few things that were neutral so Blake can use them, and I got out the baby bath, activity mats, Bumbo seat, etc. When Brandon got back in town, he loaded things up and we finally brought Blake's cradle home.

Kate has been loving her baby doll! She carries her around the house, makes sure she has her pacifier in, and pushes her in the stroller. She calls her "Baby," and she knows where she is at all times! The only thing that concerns me after watching her with Baby is that we may need to work on being more gentle before she is introduced to Blake. She holds Baby by her head and drops her whenever something more interesting comes along. Not quite ready to hold a real baby yet!

We set up Blake's cradle at the foot of our bed (it is kind of hard to see since the cradle, bed, and floors are all the same color wood). I found the cream colored cradle sheet and bumper at a consignment sale for $3, and it is in perfect condition! We washed all of his newborn to 3 month clothes, socks, hats, bibs, and blanket so it would be ready. We are going to clean out one of our drawers in the bedroom for his stuff soon. It feels GREAT to get this stuff done- not because I think he is coming too soon, but I know my energy level is dwindling by the day and I want to know things are done!
Now... if you care to see today's shopping steals:

Publix:
Lysol, $1.60 (b1g1 free $3.19, but I just bought 1) used $0.50 off coupon and they doubled it, paid $0.60
8 Dannon yogurts, $0.75 each (on sale $0.50 each) used $1 off 8 coupon, paid $3 for 8
Quaker oatmeal, $1.90 (b1g1 free $3.79, but I bought 1) used $1 off coupon, paid $0.90
2 Voila! meals, $2.35 each (b1g1 free $4.69) used $2 off 2 coupon, paid $1.35 each
10 Green Giant frozen vegetables, $1.75 (on sale $1.00 each) used (5) $1 off 2 coupons, paid $0.50 each
4 Toaster Strudels, $1.25 each (b1g1 free $2.49) used $1 off 2 and $0.75 off 2 coupons, paid $0.80 each
2 Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta, $0.90 each (b1g1 free $1.79) used $1 off coupon, paid $0.39 each
2 Campbells Select Harvest Soup, $1.20 each (b1g1 free $2.39) used $1 off 2 coupon and $0.50 off 2 coupon that they doubled, paid $0.20 each
2 Dole Fruit Cup Packs, $1.33 each (b1g1 free $2.65) used $0.75 off 2 coupon, paid $0.95 each
Bananas, $1.03 (no sale, just needed them!)
Apples, $1.77 (saved $0.95 since they were on sale for $1.29/lb)
Used $3 off $15 CVS coupon and $5 off $25 Piggly Wiggly coupon for entire purchase
Total Value: $67.25
Total Saved: $51.77
Total Spent Out Of Pocket: $15.48

CVS:
Transaction 1
Covergirl Foundation $5.49
Covergirl Powder $5.49
Febreze Noticeables $6.99, on sale from $8.49
Total- 17.97
Coupons Used:
$1 off Covergirl
$5.49 off, B1G1 free Covergirl Face Product
$5 off Febreze Noticeables
$3 off $15 purchase
$3 ECB from last time
My total out of pocket was $1.68
I earned $5.79 ECB from Covergirl (so they paid me $0.30 to buy Covergirl)
Transaction 2
3 cans Pringles $0.99 each, on sale from $1.99
Dawn Dish Soap $0.99, on sale from $1.99
Dawn with Hand Renewal Soap $0.99, on sale from $2.39 (NOT an advertised sale)
Softsoap $0.99, on sale from $2.49
Gillette Fusion Razor $9.99
M&Ms $0.79 (just to make my total above 0)
Total- 16.72
Coupons Used:
$0.30 off 3 cans Pringles
$0.25 off Dawn
$1.00 off Dawn with Hand Renewal
$0.35 off Softsoap
$4.00 off Fusion Razor
$3 off $15 CVS coupon
$5.79 ECB from last transaction
$2 ECB from last week
My total out of pocket was $0.62
I earned $5 ECB from the razor.
I started with 10 ECB and ended with 10 ECB, so my out of pocket of $2.30 paid for ALL of this stuff that was worth $43.09! Brandon has a hard time understanding how you roll ECB and not lose money, but it really works when you split transactions up!!!

A Packed Weekend

My sister, my mom, and me at a tailgate for the Auburn game. I wish the final score was different, but we had a really fun day! I did actually have a girl say to me that she can't wait to be pregnant so she can get big and fat and waddle around... that was not my favorite comment! Sometimes you just have to laugh at things people say and realize that they have no idea what it sounds like, or realize that they may be drunk. I took Kate over to Brandon's parents in the morning and I went to tailgate for the whole day with NO worries. They were so excited to keep her, and I was excited to not chase her around a tailgate. Brandon was in charge of the grill and I knew I would want to be free to visit with people and not run around after Kate. I saw tons of friends that we never get to see and I also got to walk around campus a little- I miss being in Auburn! Kate had a blast with Papa-G and JoJo, they wore her out and she slept like a log Saturday night.

We made it back into Birmingham just in time to have a small shower for me and Blake. I have some sweet friends that made such an effort to make me feel special! This was the diaper cake that Krystle made- so cute and so useful (when you take it apart)!

Kelly was obsessed with us taking pictures of being pregnant together, so here is one after the shower.

Notice I am not smiling that much here... I am a little tired of the belly pictures! She wanted a back-to-back picture and now I think it was just to make her feel better about herself. Wow, a side view makes me feel enormous!