Reagan 4 months old

She loves to hit the table while were all sittin 'round talking or eating. Still hates the carseat. really, its embarrasing to have people stare at us. Reagan can be a happy camper until its time to leave. she arches her back, gets as stiff as a board all the while, screaming! Cuz the kid doesnt want papa and gamma to buy 'em things.

176 lbs 3 month post baby figure

can it be doneagain?????????????????
can i lose the week again and then some???????

Look how frumpy ,,,,, ewh!

hello world

Cant get enough of Phineas and Ferb on Disney channel! lol !!!!!
too funny. if you get a chance to watch, quirky!

I have three other favs on the Disney channel programmin... Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly & Suite Life of Zach and Cody! I know there childrens' shows but I think there funny... in there own innocent way. No more rated R nonsense for me these days. Yes, my days are spent watching Sleeping Beauty over and over as well as reruns of the forementioned tv shows. Rhyan finally caught the latest viewing of the Lizzy McGuire Movie. She enjoyed the movie but thankfully she chooses to cover her eyes when the characters kiss. Love it! Hope she continues this behaviour until shes 30. lol.

So Ive surrendered to fact Im getting old. Im getting really bad acne with many scars. I still have the pregnancy mask and a lot of wrinkles. So Ive looked into Fraxel resurfacing! Its pricey and its all out-of-pocket costs, obviously no insurance will cover. So Ive been researching and its kinda scary. I mean real scary. I cancelled my consultation in ABQ but will eventually look into it in the future. For now, I'm on my 3rd day of Proactiv treatment. We'll see if it works for me. It promises, besides clear acne, to fade dark spots and acne scarring. So far with only 3 days of treatment I have seen a big difference in the redness of my skin, not rosacea, but the tiny capillaries that are present on the cheeks. Also, I can see the fading in some of the dark spots in the cheek area below my eyes. Or maybe it isnt pregnancy scaring but rather clogged pores. Huh? who knows. Im happy its working for now. Ill keep you updated.

Next find pictures of my current figure at 176lbs. As I stated prior, I only gained 7 lbs after the delivery swelling at my 2 week post op appointment. But as of 4 months later, today that is, I have gained 176 minus 156.... is ........ twenty pounds. eeekkks!! Thats crazy. Just a month and a half ago it was 14 pounds. Uh Oh! Im gaining too much weight. But you know what ? having a newborn is hard on the psyche! I love children but sometimes I think that I wasnt meant to be a caregiver of a baby. Sometimes she drives me batty! Other days Im so happy I cant contain myself. I know its an adjustment or the hormones or .. or... or....! reagans a blast but I cant wait till she stops with the constant cry to be held! LOL ! really I love the girls and I cant wait till we can mimic Lousia May Alcotts novel with MY 'little women'. cheers to a good day!

R u a version of your youth

Do you play your music from your teens years or rebellious college years with the windows down, speakers blaring, once in a great while tryin to reclaim some trace of my SELF ??????

I run away to the movie theatre to find that yummy, feel good feelin' from a romantic comedy chick flick. It works for about an hour after I leave the theatre and then WHAM I get home and its back to Reality! Mommyhood slams the breathe outta me when Rhyan yells out asking what I brought home for her. Reagan has one very nice warm and steamy wet diaper waiting for mommies loving hands! YEp, thats my life. Take it or leave it. I'll take it and Ill love everyminute of it!

Pictures: Reagans prior to her blessing at church. Rhy and lil sis wearing the same sweater (cheesy but cute). Reagan humiliated by mommy in jan tryin on her Christmas dress.

I know i havent been consistent. Believe me when i say I have nt been consistent with anything in my life lately. Except bottles, diapers and crying lil girls. Rhy cries about everything and its annoying. reagan cries becuz she wants to be held ALL the time. At first it started at 1.5 months old...we thought colic.....later realize its formula agitation and constipation. Then 2 wks later is starts again. With very lil sleep on my part, she begins again with the none stop screaming. Come to realize 4 days later .... the kid is teething! Doh!

So Ive had my ups and downs with her questionable attitude. The crying and fustration gets worse when Dom is out of town or working long hours. I dont get a break and come the 2nd day with out relief Im ready to tear my hair out and im cryin from sun up to sun down.

I keep thinking soon this to will have to end. So waiting for that moment to happen patiently. Reagan used to be a good kid and now shes just a menace. Its weird how she cant sleep without Rhyan near her. She can fight the sleeping all day but as soon as Rhy jumps into bed, reagans right there snoozing away. Even when Rhyans at school and the house isquiet .... reagan is missing her sis and waiting for her to return. its hilarious!

Can u believe Rhyans finally losing her first tooth. Shes so excited ... she said she cant wait to find out what the toothfairy will give her... $1 or $0.25.

Im trying to find the will power and encouragement to start my weight loss plan.... but its seriously lacking. has been and dont see me finding it any time soon.

Who's Who

Can u pik Rhyan and Reagan???

rambles

Feb 11, 2010
Wow I missed typed the year, the date above read 2020. Can U Imagine what it’ll be like in ten years. Ill be 42 yrs old. GULP!! And Rhyan will be 16 yrs old. Double gulp! My Lil Reagan will have just turned 10 years old. What about u all? Think about it. I wonder if Ill still be in lil town New Mexico or will we still be living in the same house. ???????
Last night I was filing out Reagans Blessing Record sheet to be filed with the Church. Afterwards, I opened my scriptures and thumbed through, randomly opening to a passage about baptism and blessings of an infant! WOW! Amazing how the lord speaks to us! :O)
Reagan and Rhyan got shots yesterday and its been nice. Reagan has been eating and falling right bak to sleep. Last night I got some good zzzzzzz’s. She so tired. Her lil body is exhausted from making lil antibodies and apparently its a lot of work. ;O)
Feb 9, 2010
So much for the forecast! We we expected to get snow Monday, Tuesday, Weds. So far nothing has happened. Its been sunny and no flurries for miles.
Reagan has started her REM cycles. She stays up for hours on end. Once it was 8 hrs, then 5 hrs, and this morning 3 hrs. I have nt been reading my baby book (Owners Manual! Hahaha) so I cant remember if this is normal? Rhyan has had a major growth spurt again! I’ve been so busy with Reagan, breastfeeding problems,sleep deprivation, cooking and cleaning I havent noticed how small her school clothes have gotten. The other day she went out the door with a very short dress shirt in her uniform, when she lifted her arms overhead her belly showed. Not good! So We are going thru her closet again to weed out small outfits for packing away.
Im currently working on several projects that are all unfinished. I should have emphasized that their all unfinished! Right now Im working in 17 valentines day treat boxes with cardstock. Ugh! I wanna do it but this time Ive bitten off more than I can chew. I also would like to make 9 more for my primary class at school. I used to hold on tight to my stampin up supplies for a special occasion. Now Im from the school of thought : LIVE FOR TODAY! So Im using up all my supplies in every capacity. I thank everyone for anything all the time. I consider myself a brand new person. I stop and smell the roses per se. All those important things I used to put off - take precedent over all others. Any how…..

Reagan's almost 3 months old

Picture of our lil chunky munkey! At Feb 10th peds appt she was 11lbs and 1 oz. Im sure shes well over 12 lbs by now. ;O)
She is gettin so big and has a definite personality now. She can scream her little head off but the minute shes picked up...it stops. Like nite and day. no Joke! Then she catches her breathe and soon after begins to talk to you. Almost like shes chewing u out for not coming to her rescue sooner! lol. Rhyan adores her but is still on edge with us. She cries at the drop of a dime. *sigh* really stressful.No matter what I do I cant win with Rhyan. Even if i try to love her more, shes cries bcuz im neglecting Reagan. *gulp* . hopefully it'll pass sooner rather than later.

Reagan's First Few Days here!

These are pcitures of my DH and baby in ABQ Presbyterian in NICu. See the blankets covering that light. That was her bili-lamp, she UVbathed under that for 3 or 4 days straight. It was aweful. It made her groggy, hot, red -skinned, and we could only hold her for 20 mins durations at 3 hr intervals for diaper changing and feedings. DH went to NICu with baby on Thurs (12/10) but I wasnt released from smalltown, NM until saturday (12/12). Traveled to ABQ and didnt get to hold my baby until 5pm that day. When she was born I wasnt able to hold her b/c of IV's. I spent 40 mins to an hr with her before my body began to play trips on me. Confined to the bed after being sliced open only hrs prior, the nurses and dr's made an exception and let me crawl into a wheelchair to rolled into nursery to see Reagan after we got the worrisome news about her planned airplane ride in the next few hrs. After sitting with her for 40 mins I began to get dizzy and very nauseous. Then I was forced to get bak into bed. Waiting and crying for the next 3 hrs (thats how long it took plane to get to our town from ABQ). Yes, they have to call in an order, wait for next available Emergency Neonatal response team to assemble and fly over. But it was the most dreadful time. Your baby needs help ASAP and u have to wait - its like hey man, my kid needs help, we couldve driven her there faster. *sigh*

Reagan born in Smalltown, NM 12/0/09@909am.

delivered by Cesarean Section (placental abruption).

Blood sugar levels low, couldnt see her for 10hrs. All our visitors, including her dad, were able to see her. Although, just on the other side of the wall of my room I wasnt able to visit her. Drs concernced about her bilirubin levels and sugar level. So they continued her on IV for those 10 hrs. I was told I would be able to see her just as soon as she stabilized. Waiting patiently hour after hour, told at 12pm and then at 3pm that I could hold her at 6pm and begin nursing.

When 645pm came and went I had had it with being nice and waiting patiently. I was ready to get medieval on dem nurses and doctrs! Five minutes later the pediatricians walked in and gave us the bad news......

Reagan had a rough time with the c section, had to be resucitated shortly after delivery because of all the blood she ingested, blood sugar levels low, bilirubin levels at high marks (AO incompatibility), and NOW, she had abdominal distention. That means her tummy was swollen and it wasnt getin any better. She was on a dextrose drip (IV) and should have had a bowel movement ... but nothing. So we were told she would be air vac'd to the neonatal intensive care unit in ABQ. We couldnt believe what was happening!

PICTURES OF LAST WEEK (37TH) OF PREGNANCY!

HOW SCARY IS THIS PIC OF ME ONLY 4 HRS AFTER C-SECTION. EEKS!!! NOTE: AT THISPOINT IM STILL ON MORPHINE & OTHER WONDERFUL NARCOTICS.....

MY DH AT DAY 5 IN ABQ NIC-U, TIRED AS ALL HECK AND SO READY TO B TOLD BY DR'S IYS OK TO TAKE BABY HOME. BUT WE HAD TO WAIT 3 MORE DAYS.

SIDE VIEW.

ME AT 37 WEEKS. PICT TAKEN 4 DAYS B4 DELIVERY DAY.

DANG GIRL, U HHHUUUGGEE!!!!!! LOL

Im back ladies!

I have been crazy busy...in and out of the house for several weeks. I havent been napping. But I think Im finally prepared for all that needs to be done AT home. The only exception is I want to craft so desperately, but I have lil time for anything else. I would rather put it off and make things easy on myself. For instance, I bought all my greeting cards this year. I didnt bother making them - as you all know - I always make em. Shocker right?
But Im back online and checking all my internet accounts and actually opening all my email. Including the ones from my shopping departments, like GAP, oriental trading, JCP, Amazon, etc. I have been avoiding most of these emails and sites for the past 4 months. If I pay attention to every last one of them I could be on the internet most of my day, starting at 9am and next thing you know its 230p and time to pik up Rhy.

So back to blogging and sending out greetings. I have been busy planning my baked goods that I will hand deliver. Dom suggested we purchase these personalized cookie tins (filled) from Oriental trading, 6 tins for $9.99. I would have purchased 18 and used the coupon from the magazine ($10off). But after we ran thru cost and shipping and the estimated arrival. It wasnt worth it. I wanna get these things outta my house ASAP, like within a week. So I have only immediate family to worry about. So Im bak to original plan of baking something and handing them out with cards. As usual, in rhonda Fashion, I was gonna make tons of baked goods PER PERSON and hand them out. Cuz I always think that quantity is better than quality. I know terrible rite? But by now Ive surrendered that thought and figured a lil $1 container from DOllar Store would suffice with peppermint candies and a quik card is enuf acknowledgement for anyone. Right? I mean what do people expect ... Im expecting and their lucky Ive even decided to do this . lol! Plus we are all in an money crunch situation, right?
So thats the plan . But I still have to bake pumpkin bread Cuz its the easiest to do in large qty's. and I still have to make several batches of Applesauce cookies, wrap and hand out to others.

Usually I make my moms famous sugar cookies and hand decorate all of em with royal frosting but that job is SOOOOO tedious. There yummy and so worth it but not right now. I can hardly sit in a chair upright for more than 20 mins without pain and having a strong urge to urinate. lol!

So applesauce cookies are a good sub and they have all the holiday spices (cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc) in 'em so I figure it'll suit.

LAst night I tried a new recipe from internet for Chicken Tetrazinni. So yummy! Its a meal Rhy eats at school and hates. I wanted to try and see how gross it really is. SImple recipe. Nothing fancy or difficult. I had everything on hand. I chose to do the simple version rather than Giada de Laurentis version. She always does things the HARD way. Have you ever noticed she loves to use a food processor. ONe! I dont own a food processor. So most of the time I change the channel before she even begins tocook. Makes me depressed. LOl! Heres a quik descript. of what was involved.....

Chk Tetrazinni

cooked chk breast, tenderloin, or whole chik deboned
cooked spaghetti noodles, boiled in chk broth, sprinkle with EVOO after draining.
in separate pan, sautee onions and grn pepper in 1/2 butter (not a paula dean recipe, mind u)
Then add to sauteed mix, can of cream of mushrm soup, 50z evap milk can, pound cheddar cheese or velveeta block. after mix is melted pour in chk and noodles. mix well. add to baking dish, bake 350'F for 30 mins. Yum-o!

We had this with our traditional spaghetti with meat sauce, salad, and garlic breadstix. IT was delish! Rhyan again, not liking marinara sauce nor alfredo sauce, chose to eat her plain noodles with an apple, and salad drenched in ranch dressing! *grunt* why cant this kid eat any of my food? Seriously, if it doesnt come wrapped in a mcds container she wont eat it! *scream*

whatever happen to the simple life?

Dominick and I have been goin crazy organizing and planning for this month. And now its here and it still feels like were going bonkers!
We've been going and going and going, its crazy busy here with other peoples plans, our plans, and the like!
We are so sleep deprived and the new kid hasnt even arrived. We have gone through sooo many To-do lists and marked plenty of things off - its never ending. Im a list-maker and when things need to get done - I make a list! A chart! a binder! complete with title covers! what a geek, right! Im so type A personality like that. lol! Really its a sickness.

Im have been completing list and making new ones for whatever new comes my way and I think this is why im stressing out. Cuz my lists arent marked off! eeks!!!!
I have my hospital bag complete, baby bag ready, christmas cards sent out, gifts ALL wrapped, christmas dinner completely planned, kitchen organized, some of the rooms straightened out as much as possible (when you live with a pack rat like DOm) and pantry stocked.
All I have to do is some baking for hand delivered gifts and spend some QUALITY time with my 5 yo. I need to do one last hurraah with her. I do everything with her, all the time. So its kinda hard to find something special to do with her without it being service for others OR spending money on junk (which I know she'll love). I want it to be very special cuz as soon as that kid arrives we will be so busy esp. if the breastfeeding pans out.
Whats the nicest way to tell people to stay away atleast for a month - until we feel comfortable enuf for others to visit the baby during this cold season.
I told DC that I was gonna send out lil inserts (inside xmas cards) with a brief description about our concers with the Swine flu and the baby visits. But! he got really offended and said we would just vocalize it to them when time comes. *grunt*
So I told him no visitors to hospital or house the first few days and that info was backed up by the nurse at the hospital while touring the LAbor & Delivery Ward! The RMCHCS hospital said due to the conditions of the H1N1, there can be no more than 2 visitors at a time per patient. If your sick with any slight symptoms, stay Away! So that'll be nice with exception of Rhyan. No children under the age of 15 are not allowed in Hospital. So forever how long Im in the hospital - she will not be able to see me! Which..... will be very difficult for ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I havent been away from her more than a day - since 2005! *awe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

The planning and tasks we've been doing are not ridiculous - there realistic! we have so much to do. clean! get rid of excess junk. We have absolutely no room in this house with all the junk we've collected. So we've had to rid our closets to make room for the new member of our family.

OH! by the way....we have yet to set up our tree. We just put away the Halloween decorations last night (All the way up to the attic). Its amazing how much u realize u make a great team with your partner - only when one of you are incapacitated. I cant lift heavy things and poor DC had to grunt his way from the garage to the attic opening in the hallway! I wanted to help so badly. I hate to see him struggle. But hes such a trooper. He did all the work, completely capable, by himself. but you just wanna help out people - u know?
So after my lists are complete. Dom hits me with "his" TO DO LIST! which makes me upset. Its down to the last qtr and he says he has all these things he needs to prioritize. *LOUD GRUNT*
Why?!?!?!?
Why couldnt he have taken care of this earlier! Why!?!?!?
He always does this to me. I cant stand it!
Oh!!! yea!!! by the way he also throws at me - that he has atleast 3 projects at work he needs to complete before he takes leave for the b-a-b-y comes!
So Im thinking I have the next 3 weeks to spend the evenings with my hubby before Ryan goes on break, before my mother comes to stay for 2 wks, and before the lil ones pops out of the oven! BUT NOOOOOOO!
He has to work Saturdays, and come home late monday thru friday for the next 2 wks, AND AND AND go to work an hour early every morning. So not only are we not eating dinner together, but we dont even see him before he leaves for work in the morning! *screams*

*Sigh* but I guess this is all to be expected with another person in our family. right? So there goes my once simple life with just the three of us. Goodbye! See ya again never. But on a happier note we have one more time to experience all those cranky moments while fixing a bottle, steaming poopy diapers that need changing and all those silly giggles we hear when another lil one makes our baby laugh! *sigh* Life is great and so are babies! love u all and have a good week!

Wedding Day in Vegas

So Dom's brother got married in Vegas on sat evg. and I forgot the camera. We got back to the room after lunch at Circus Circus with Rhyan and we all crashed without setting the alarm clock. Waking up late we had little time to throw ourselved together and Dom and Rhy went down 20 mins b4 to get truck and pull around to valet. Well this prego lady had a hard time getin herself together and catchin an elevator down. Elvis snubbed me inthe elevator and let it close b4 I could jump in. That jerk!

So after we took group pictures at the chapel and left for the reception site I tried to get my hubby to bring camera back from the room. He forgets. So I gave up! We all dressed so nice and no pictures. B4 I could take our family photo Dom changed his clothes. *growl*. The buffet in conference room made me very happy. Last time I ate = 200pm. Dinner served at = 815pm. Too long for this momma! So I had a total of 4 plates next to me. Didnt eat everything. Just had to try almost everything and I hated most of it. For dessert I had 2 plates full of treats. Ate only a few bites of all. Again I had to try it all. This kind of behaviour wouldnt jive if I WERENT pregnant. The food was alright but for the most part it was gross. All the meat was too dry and no good side dishes, except the stuffing, red potatoes, and vanilla pudding. Oh and lets not forget the mediocre dinner rolls with butter. Mediocre but still it was a dinner roll! Yummy! I wanted something else to eat after this although I had much food dished out...I ate very little. The only thing I really enoyed was the dinner salad and my diet soda. So this is a picture of me back at the room by myself standing in the entry way! Dom already in his pjs and ry running around naked crying she cant find her pjs. *sigh* the life of a mother. So here is my family picture for the day - me! looking all pretty all... ...by..... my ......self!

Vegas Aftermath

Im gonna make this quick becuz Dom just came in from the garage and is sittin on the couch! Do you know how hard that feat is to accomplish. He's sittin, watchin the hunting channel, no doubt psyching hisself up for the big hunt in January and February!
I wanna jump on the couch with him and have some cuddling time before he either....falls asleep or runs into the office to jump on the computer! hee hee.
So made it to vegas with our new car, had to take it to dealership on friday morning becuz check engine light came on.
Forgot stroller in car and walked strip with a 5 yr old for two days .. poor kid ( i know!)
Saw many attractions on Friday and Saturday!
Most of them without Dom, he was at dealership or at the roulette table (sigh)!
Rhyan had fun but was super tired by 7pm, good for us...cuz we wanted to get her off the strip by nightfall! too many crazies and much profanity and debauchery after nightfall!
Dom would joke and liken her to Will Smith character on the movie, "I am Legend", Will's character goes into lock down shelter b4 dusk so the demon mutants will not eat him! lol I know what a weirdo.
Yeah, So.. we had rhyan in the hotel room for bed by nightfall and recuperation for the next days activities. She loved the wedding and actually started crying. She was embarrased she was crying and tried to wipe her tears b4 anyone saw. AWE!!!!! adorable, right?
So my computer is down and as soon as I get it up again I will upload the pictures from Vacation.
take care and hope you all had a good halloween weekend.

Prego NEWS!!!!!
- weight gained 2 lbs from last appt. = 176 lbs
- fundus height = 32 cms
- baby heart rate = 140bpm
- mommy blood pressure (bp) = 116/79
- craving alot of stuff but mostly eaten like a truck driver.
- I have am enormous appetite! Dom makes oinking noises when I eat! LOL ;o)
- baby moving frequently
- belly huge! I mean HUGE!!!! U know Madagascar when MOto Moto says to Gloria, "Dang Girl U HUGE"!!!! Thats what Dom says to me often. lol

Hamburger Helper Update!!!

As you remember I made 3 different boxed dinner meals - and none of the two picky eaters here at either one. Oh wait! I take that back...Dom and Rhy really liked the Asian Beef Stir Fry from Hamburger Helper. I think Betty Crocker makes 'em? I didnt care for it much. I didnt care for a single dish i made. Wait! yes I did. I enjoyed the Beef Stroganoff. The Tomato Penne Pasta is still in the freezer. My father will be over to house sit on Halloween. So... I'm thinking of defrosting for him! hee hee. that man will eat just about anything :-).

So Ive been really busy with the Halloween party planning, the Vegas trip planning, and costume making, and church activities and rummage selling! Happy to report that we made $280 at our garage sale two saturdays ago. Mostly happy that I rid my house of alot of excess clutter. Gave my mother alot of her things back that I borrowed years ago and to this day never used, i.e. George Foreman Grill, molding cake pans, maternity chair, etc.

Rhyan had her first lemonade stand at the garage sale. At the last minute I made a few dozen sugar cookies, and cupcakes. I mean the very last minute, the night before at 8pm I was still frosting and placing 'em in cutesy packing for sale. I made $15 and Rhy made $10. Hurrah! lol...

She wanted to rush off to the Dollar Store right after. The money she earned was burning a hole in her pockets. lol. I told her to save it for Vegas and to my surprise a week and a half later she still had all her money in her purse tucked away in her suitcase just for that purpose.

I had only known this because for 2 - 3 days after the yard sale I was running around the house looking for change for the laundrymat! I wanted to wash the blankets before the Halloween Party ( I didnt want stinky body odor lingering in the house when peeps came over). So after hours of looking and puting the whole idea off until I could get over to ATM halfway across town... my daughter gave into my fustrations and pulled out her stash! Surprised I fell to my knees, helping her dig into the suitcase on the carpet and expressed over and over how proud I was she took such good care of her money. I then promised I would give her money back just as soon as I could. What a sweetheart! I was mostly amazed she kept the money in a safe place because usually she totes it around everywhere with her and ends up losing her wallet or takes it out and starts to play with it. So yes, I was proud of my lil girl! ;-p

Hamburger Helper anyone?

Ialmost ran out of frying pans to cook with this evening! lol

whats in my garage?!!

See all the ground beef in those 2 lb chubs? I have 17 more chubs to eat before freezer burn takes over! ;o) The picture on the right shows the beef roast and steaks we have to eat. Wheres the beef?

See the Jeep window or plywood I should say. Dom broke the window while trying to adjust the springs or tighten teh bolts..... something. Either way the window is still broken. Happened 2 nights ago. He keeps making fun of me and my indian car! Atleast he was kind enuf to paint it black so it wasnt TOOOO obvious. Yea like thats gonna help!

And that is our lil freezer that dom makes fun of becuz its so tiny. He said it would hold ALL of 2 steaks. Whos laughing now buddy! We have a butt load of meat and i dont c him complaining about the grocery bill?!?! heh!

Today is Friday, October 9, 2009

Tomorrow we have the last soccer game of the 2009 season. Yahoo! terrible right? Im glad its over but sad for Rhyan. Its her only connection outside the home and away from school she has to communicate with other children. I feel bad that Im glad its over. tailgate party afterwards..so neat of her coach to play it. I dont really wanna be there and i know neither does Dom. So guess who has to unfortunately be the one to stay while she eats her hotdogs in the parking lot, me! Dominick will surely find an excuse to head out early so he doesnt have to stand around with a bunch of parents conversing about stuff.

tonight I made 4 dinner's for the next couple of days. I had no choice, i defrosted 4 lbs of ground beef from our freezer and had to make use of it. So I made 3 different Hamburger Helpers and seasoned taco meat. Luckily for me Rhyan enjoyed all of them. yippee!

My dad took one of his cows to a meat packing place in Arizona and gave us tons of BEEF! So we have alot of 2 lb chubs of ground beef. The only thing up till now that ive used it for: taco meat and spaghetti! So getting tired of it all. So yesterday I went grocery shopping and purchased 8 boxes of Hamburger Helper to keep the family happy. We never eat the stuff so I thought it would be a nice change up to the ordinary. Both Dom and Rhy loved all the flavors. Thank goodnes! Im tired as heck but for the next few nights all I HAVE to do is push a few buttons on microwave and tah dah..... dinner is served!

Last night I slept for 3 hrs (i should say I passed out) while dom was home, from 4p -7pm. Poor Rhyan had to watch Disney's Halloweentown and Return to Halloweentown on TV. I felt bad but I just couldnt get out of bed. the day before i cleaned the house like crazy. I have a huge pile of things Im tryin to get ready for a yardsale and give items away. Im Nesting BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no joke. I will take pictures of what Ive done thus far and show you. My house looks tidy but lil does everyone know the millions of unfinished projects I have stored away for that particular "one day" phenomenon. You know that "one day Ill get to that so I better save it today" issue! Well Ive been hanging onto things for over 10 yrs and Im tryin to embrace the rule..."if you havent used it in a year then toss"! So, thats what im doing!

Plus Im finally taking care of pictures that ive been storing for years. Im placing them in appropriate albums or frames and hanging them on the wall. Yes! finally my walls are no longer bare! dominick is finally putting up all the shelves, brackets, hooks, etc that ive saved over the years. I buy em and expect to have him put them up asap. Nope! never happens. always gets pushed aside. So finally hes taking care of business. I have to wall mirrors that have been waiting to be hung for years (over 3) and finally they will be hung this weekend. Extending the wall shelves in the pantry , FiNALLY! No more cramped pantry. trying very hard to make more room for the new member of the family that'll be here in only ...... 9 to 10 weeks! I hope the baby comes at 38 weeks. I sure dont want to inconvenience anyone by having the baby too close to Christmas. Plus, I dont want to be overdue I need this kid to come for a 2009 tax write-off! hee hee!

So I will post the pictures of the meat before you get to read this! Im using DOms computer and it reads pictures soooo slow. Cant wait to take the pictures and post to show u all what ive accomplished. P.S. We finally bought a bissell carpet cleaner and Ive been busy with that as well! If I go into labor early or get put on bed rest u'll all know why! lol!

NO Gestational Diabetes

The Book I ordered from amazon.com for our trip to Vegas with Rhyan on HAlloween. Neat book! Gives me alot more info and definitely weeds out all the adult crap I dont wanna know about.

This is what happens when your pregnant and forgetful! I forgot to take my glass baking pan out of the oven BEFORE preheating for chicken strips! Doh! (1st and foremost - i never ever store the pyrex rubber lid with the pan and just this one time I did cuz I was in a rush to clean my kitchen)! Double Doh!

The sample of the halloween party sandwich I m gonna make for Oct 24th. Grilled chz jackie lanterns! :0)

one decoration sample Im working on for the party and for the house. Can you see were all ready up and runing with our decor. Thanks to my huby! Ive been waiting almost 4 months for this shelf to be hung. and finally he took care of it in all of 10 MINUTES! why? why? why does it take husbands forever to take care of their 'hunny do lists' hmm? Why?

A trick or treat craft I made last yr for the kids in the neighborhod! Can you believe I made 150of these babies. I found a few left overs in the bins from the attic and had to share cuz I dont think I ever did last yr. It was a last minute idea and forgot to take picts.

NOw on with the news..............................................

I love watching HouseHusbands of Hollywood on the Fox Reality Channel.Its a cute show about hubbies that stay home and take on the domestic housewife duties while their hollywood wives work outside the home on bringing home the bacon. Cute show ... these men would be the kinda guys I would feel comfortable around. I always use to feel more comfortable around the opposite sex versus females. I think its because I dont feel adequate enough to hang with women. I have little in common with them and I didnt grow up like a normal female should. I didnt have a mom teaching me everything. I hung around not-so-appropriate guy gatherings such as autobody shops, underneath a car (doing auto mechanics), bars (yes, garage bars - most of time I had to sit in the vehicle while my dad chatted), etc. etc. Although my dad was a recovering alcoholic he still had to conduct his business with the type of crowd that still frequented these joints. What can I say that was my life. I dont feel bad about it - its what I had to encounter and my dad DID try to shelter me from the harshness of these situations but sometimes you cant cut out everything.

I guess thats the same thing I have to realize with my little girl. No matter how hard I try - she's still gonna hear profanity and see inappropriate things - I just have to talk it over with her! *sigh*

So Yeah back to the TV show. I feel very intimidated by women.. Their conversations - their talents - Thats what I guess I mean when I refer to "Im still a work in progress". But on the other hand I do feel very comforted by older women who seem to understand that Im not a talented "female" per se and that im willing to learn what ever it is they're willing to educate me on. For instance, cooking! I love to learn to cook new dishes. Im not in tuned with what seasoning and spices go with what type of fish or poultry. So when I get an opportunity to pik someones brain I will. Women in my life that have really influenced me in the kitchen were: Lilibeth (my old friend), she was an amazing cook. Man did I love her food! Dont talk with her since my falling out with her over my lil girl and babysitting arrangements. You win some - u lose some! Then there is my aunt michele, she seems to cook like its second nature to her. Its no bother for her to throw things together and the taste is phenomenal. ugh! u couldnt imagine. She can even make ordinary turkey deli sandwiches taste like a gourment meal! lol

Lets see there's Toni, she has some amazing recipes mostly baking that ive tried and I love it. When I duplicate it - it actually comes out yummy. which is amazing for me!

and then lastly, donna, my neighbor! She cooks great food and the only one that can back me up on this one is Dom. He drools over her food. Shes originally from Baltimore and we cant get over her style of cooking. Yum-o! She even bakes awesome treats! Can you believe it. cooks and bakes. Thats one thing lilibeth was never god at - she says, not me.

Boy is it blistering cold today. The winds up to 35 mph and the high for today is 65'F. I wore a skirt today and I froze the lil hairs on my legs right off! :0) Suppose to continue like this throughout the week. with rain on weds, thurs, and fri.

Came close to catching H1N1 from my brother -in-law last week. Luckily I didnt. Dont really think he and his lil son had it either. They were out in about with their symptoms and seemed fine. But just blessed I didnt fall ill with ANY symptoms.

Went to OB appt today and still weigh 167 lbs. Same as 2 wks ago- hurrah!

Well like I told you all if my glucose was over 130mg/dL , i would have to take the 3 hr glucose tolerance test. Well My one hr came back 132 mg/dL. not high but because we live in a HIGh incidence area I had to do it for policy's sake! hate HMO's!

So they put me through the ringer on Friday when I did the 3 hr tolerance test and I was sure I failed it. So all weekend I worried but tried not to stress. Found out today that I PASSED MY 3hr test. I was certain that I failed my test! I was feeling so terrible that I called my regular family practitioner and ordered a 3 month recheck on my A1C and other blood work up. So I had all these lood tests run on Friday and come MOnday I find out the following GOOD NEWS!

A1C = 5.4

3 hr test--> fasting blood glucose (bg)=66, 1hr=124, 2hr=124, 3rd hr= 98mg/dL !!!! Goal is to b below 130mg/dL on all levels. So that was accomplished.

So u can imagine my relief and my happiness when I heard these numbers. YAhoo!

THe only bad news I got was concerning my cholesterol, triglycerides. and my LDL. The Doc said they were high.... how high?! I dont know. I didnt ask. Not like me to not ask for numbers and make a note of it but I think I was still beaming from the good grade on my 3hr tolerance test! I have another appt with family practitioner on Weds. to go over results Ill ask then and get back to you. I will have to definitely hit the walking harder from here on out so I can work on bringing down my cholesterol. Just back in July my cholesterol was said to be great... the doctor even said to me _ "HE wished HIS cholesterol was that good!" that made me feel good becuz he seems like a very trim and healthy individual. So now Im kinda bummed and wanna work on getting the heart back in shape! P.S. got my flu shot today and boy is my arm sore. Remember to get yours!

So thats my news for today and I will post some picture so enjoy and dont forget to read about rhyans news. Luv u all and stay healthy!

Week 27

This is a picture of me infront of the garage outside on a windy day at one week short of 7 months. My belly looks strange doesnt it? Im sittin really low. If I drop any lower Im sure I'll be peeing my pants by month 8. lol! This is me laughing at something silly or inappropriate that my husband said to me while trying to snap a mug of me. He doesnt like taking candid pictures of me like this for my blog,, he thinks its sooo vain! So any chance he gets to poke fun at me - he will!

I weigh 167 lbs. Too much according to my doctor. My thighs and tricep area are getting very cottage - cheesy! YUK!

(BTW: my neighbor found a snake still alive in her garage stuck to sticky trap - u know the ones for mice... gross just wanted to share that with you)

As of yesterday I failed my one hr glucose test and now have to go in tomorrow and drink more yucky solution and take the 3 hr test. Blood drawn at fasting prior to drink and then at hour 1, then hr 2, then hr 3! UGH! so hate it and so mad - at myself and my body. I hate this blodd sugar stuff - I hate it I just do !

So I have to get back on my strict diet - ive been very bad for almost 7 months and my body's in trouble again. So i went to BK and had my last Fast food sandwich until after the baby is born. I added a small fry and diet soda to top it off. Have to run or jog or walk or maybe even crawl on the treadmill for atleast one hr or push self to do 2 miles. Has to be done. Im tryin to drop down to 160 lbs or atleast 161 lbs before the Las Vegas Wedding on Oct 31st. Doms brother will get married at the Little Chapel of Flowers on the strip. So pretty - you all should google it and see how neat the chapel is. And im sure it costs a pretty penny too!

On my way out to BK I ran into my neighbor ms. dona and we had a nice long talk. She talked about her ailments and her hubbies and all of a sudden my woes didnt seem so bad. So I have to always remember that if I have it not to easy - theres always some else less fortunate than I and I should be grateful for the positive things in my life and not dwell on the bad! No more pity party for me. Oh and she educated me on how to make a quik eggplant lasagna. U know Ive never eaten it and never once concerned self with looking at a recipe and I didnt know u DONT use lasagna noodles. LOL ! too funny right. How sheltered am I? go figure. So now maybe Ill try to make one and see if I like it. BEing a meat eater I think I would prefer to throw in some meat somewhere in that dish.

Also I asked ms . donna to help me plan a halloween party for the lil lady and her munchkin frends for oct 24th. A lil shin dig b4 we set sail to vegas. I will use that cute song that ms toni posted on her recipe/cooking site classical whimsey.. something or other?! I will post the web address soon. When I get around to adding her to my links posting! Cute site - u all have to click on over to it.

So high on carbs and bad cholesterol fat I have to make my way over to rhys school and pick her up. Enjoy the picts and I will post more later and pray I pass my 3 hr test and dont need insulin shots. Blah!