Bug, Bug Go Away, and STAY AWAY!

Well, the Reaves family was hit was a horrible bug this past week. I woke up last Wednesday night with the nastiest stomach bug I've ever had since I was like 10 years old. I missed Thursday and Friday of work and still felt yucky on Saturday. Caeleigh then woke up Friday night (or Saturday AM) throwing up and hers was a true 24 hour bug. Then Sean woke up with a sore throat on Sunday that got progressively worse and by Monday morning he had a temperature of 102.1 degrees! He went to a Med-Check and has strep. It's Wednesday now, and he still has a low grade temp (even with Ibuprofen and Tylenol in his system) and throat does not feel much better). He missed Monday and Tuesday of work, should've missed today, but went in.

So today Sean dropped Caeleigh off at school and as I was leaving for work, I started at the back of the house and sprayed EVERYTHING and EVERY area with Lysol (for like the 100th time!)

I am feeling so much better...but get tired very easily....the bug really zapped my energy. It was hard to stay hydrated. I don't wish this misery even on my own worst enemy!

So my parents were supposed to come last Saturday to paint and help get the nursery together, but they didn't (don't blame them!) Mom is coming on Saturday and Sunday...so hopefully we get some things accomplished! My good friends from my old school are also hosting a shower on Sunday, so I hope to get some pics of the nursery and shower soon!

Going to the doctor on Monday for a checkup...I'll post again after the appt!

Stay well everyone! Wash, wash, wash your hands....disinfect, disinfect, disinfect!!! Keep it clean folks!

XOXO,
Sarah

32 weeks, measuring 33 weeks

Had another doctor appt. on Monday. Only gained a couple of pounds...which my feet, ankles, fingers, and even MY TOES are swollen...so I have a feeling I'm going to have more water weight gain!! My blood pressure was still good (120/70); baby's heart rate was 146; and I still feel good.

It's getting harder and harder to move quick....I need to give myself at least 5 extra minutes of travel time just for getting into/out of the car and walking into the school buildings. Geez!!

Had a great date with Sean last Friday night. We went with our friends, Brent and Angie, to go see "He's Just Not That Into You." It was such a great ensemble cast with different stories going on....kind of "Love Actually"-esque (which is one of my favorite movies!) We went to Tripps's afterwards for a drink (diet coke for me!) and an appetizer. It was such a nice night....and probably my Valentine's Day celebration....since I refuse to make a big deal out of Valentine's Day with the almost 100% mark-ups, need for reservations, crowds, etc. Now don't get me wrong, I like getting a card...but can have the flowers early or late....just TOO expensive on the day of!

Not much else to report. Caeleigh is doing great. She got all A's and B's on her report card and is ready to sign up for softball. She is getting a little anxious about the upcoming birth...worried we won't pay attention to her, leave her out, etc. It is so hard to convince her that won't happen, but am doing my best!! Her birthday will be in a couple of weeks...we are starting to plan a little party for some of her friends. She went to a party with 14! girls last weekend and came home upset because there was so much drama and fighting. I told her that's what happens when you get too many girls together....and she came back with "Well, instead of 5 girls, I think I'll only invite 3 or 4 to my party....and it'll be easier to all get along!" What a smart girl...must get it from her momma!

Going to start working on the nursery this weekend. When it's done I'll post some pictures....may be a 2-3 week process (remember swollen TOES) so be patient!

Have a great week...have another appointment Feb. 23. My doctor did make a mistake about my progesterone shots...she wants them to continue through 36 weeks...so got a new scrip for 4 more doses...hooray! Dr. Denman originally told me 16-32 weeks, but guess she meant through 36 weeks. Oh well! They aren't bad at all. I've not had any reactions, so that is good!

Have a good rest of the week and a sweet Valentine's day!

XOXO,
Sarah

30 weeks

Sorry to be slacking on the blog updates. It's been a crazy week!! Monday I had my 30 week check-up with my OB...actually it was one of her partners...mine was probably on some tropical vacation somewhere! But I really liked Dr. Hillaker. She is young, petite, and took a lot of time with me. I was afraid since I wasn't one of her normal patients, she might make is a super short appt. Anyhow, the appointment went well. I've gained just under 15 lbs; my blood pressure was 120/76; baby's heartrate was 156; and everything else was normal.

On another note, I had to scoot my car seat back a little more. The belly is not in the way for driving, but getting down and in that little thing is getting to be more and more of an acrobatic feat. (I drive a Pontiac G6.) I'm carrying this little booger so high, and it is just difficult to bend over to get into the car...I'm sure it's quite comical for the passer-byer who watches me attempt to get in/out of the car.

Weather-wise this week , we got 12 inches of snow Wednesday. Needless to say we had a snow-day and school was cancelled for Caeleigh and me. I've not seen snow this deep in quite a while! We are blessed to have such good neighbors who own a snow-blower and he came over to snow-blow the driveway and sidewalks later Wednesday afternoon. THANK YOU JAMIE!!! Because our town is FULL of newly built subdivisions, we had 2 hour delay starts to school on Thursday and Friday so the buses could get through these neighborhoods....many streets were not plowed. Also many students would be walking to bus stops in streets b/c the sidewalks are not shoveled. So it's been a pretty crazy week. I could get used to waiting until 9:30 to go to school each day!

On a totally different note, I started a second blog for my colleagues at work. As you may know I work with children on the Autism spectrum. My new blog is Social Skills Lessons. I work with one of our special needs teachers to record her social skills lessons that she does with our kids and write about them and post them to the blog. I also plan to upload some of my lessons that I do with a different special education teacher and our social language/social thinking group. It is a work in progress. I will probably do a lot more uploading of lessons/tips/strategies, etc. while I am on maternity leave and over my summer vacation. I'm pretty swamped at work right now getting everything done before I have this baby! The website is http://www.socialskillslesson.blogspot.com/ or you can follow the link above as well!

Well, heading out to my cousin's FIRST birthday party! I may be looking forward more to cake than the noise! :) Have a great week!

XOXO,
Sarah

Pregnancy Clumsiness

Enough has finally happened, I think I have enough to blog on now.

I guess I only remember one bout of clumsiness when I was pregnant with Caeleigh. It involved trying to shave in a shower stall (we have a separate garden tub and shower), losing my balance, and falling towards the shower door onto the floor. I was pretty bruised, but no cuts. Thank goodness, considering I was holding a razor. I vaguely remember lots of shaving cream on the rug too! I can't remember how far along I was, but I think I was at least 24 weeks along. I just remember giving up shaving the legs after that! Or maybe my mom or someone bought me a lady's electric....too long ago to remember!

So my bouts of clumsiness have started a lot sooner this time. The first started at about 12 weeks. I was driving home from a doctor appt. and decided to pick up some lunch from a restaurant to take back to the office. As I was carrying the sack and LARGE lemonade out to the car...I guess I missed the curb and fell flat on my front. Somehow I threw the sack of food forward and did not land on it. But I obliberated the large foam cup of lemonade as I landed right on top of it. It was hot out and lemonade is sticky, so it is fair to say I was one HOT MESS! I still have a scar on my knee from where I scraped the crap out of it. I also got a NASTY bruise on my arm from hitting a car's side-view mirror. I wish now I had a picture to post.

So remembering how I fell out of the shower (we still live in the same house) with pregnancy number one....I've been anticipating a fall from there....but so far so good! But, don't worry.... the clumsiness factor has increased!

My hands have lost their grip. Even though I can still see the ridges in the skin on my fingertips, one of my vitamins or the progesterone must be making them not do their job and help me grip things. About two weeks ago I was putting away groceries and as I put the largest bottle of A-1 sauce I could find at the store into the pantry...it slipped and landed on the wood floor. LUCKILY, only the plastic cap cracked and there was just a tiny mess to clean up.

I am even more convinced the fingers are extra slippery because on Friday night I was getting a jar of marinara out of the pantry and as I turned around to walk to the counter, it just looked like I pitched it forward and it shattered ALL OVER the kitchen. Sean summed it up well...the kitchen looked like a scene from CSI with splatter on the floor, upper & lower cabinets, the stove, the range hood, under the range hood, the wall, the counter tops, and even my jeans. I just couldn't help but cry!! Sean was such a good help and cleaned 90% of the mess up. He could definitely tell I was stressed. He had cereal for dinner and Caeleigh & I ate PB & J. No "super easy chicken manicotti" for us.....like the name of the recipe should've predicted it for me! The kicker is earlier that day (with -13 degree temps) I did a load of laundry and later Caeleigh went to get her boots out of the laundry room and came in and said "Mommy, my boots are sopping wet!" Went in there and the floor was covered in water. I cleaned that mess up. When Sean came home we had a plumber (hubby of a friend...so no service charge, thank goodness) come out. He figured out that the drain pipe was probably frozen in the morning and when it was time to drain the dirty water, there was no where for the water to go, except all over the floor! Ce la vie!

I still haven't given up shaving my legs yet....I am very careful as to not fall out of the shower! Also I'm surprised with all the icy, snowy, cold weather we've had I haven't fallen yet. Don't worry...I anticipate it happening! I do think it's funny my cousin told me not to name this little girl Grace!

Have a great week! It's my off week for a doctor appt. So nothing new to update there!

XOXO,
Sarah

28 week appointment

Today was an uneventful OB appt. It takes about 40 minutes to get there in traffic...waited 15 minutes in the waiting room and then 25 minutes in the actual room...and 35 minutes home...and I only spent about FIVE FREAKING minutes with my Doctor. Oh well, at least I know I did pass the glucose tolerance test (no gestational diabetes!); my blood pressure was fine (120/76); baby's heartrate was 146; and my weight gain is still minimal. The only thing she mentioned was that I am measuring much bigger than being 28 weeks along...so will probably have another ultrasound at one of the next two appts. to see how big this baby actually is!



Still haven't decided on a name yet. I still really like McKenna, but one of Sean's buddies just named his baby girl McKenna...I also like Kendall, Cassidy, Carly, Teagan, Lane, and others. Sean is still stuck on Sundance. Oh, but here's a funny...he brought a jewelry box into me this morning or yesterday morning that had "Sundance" (the jewelry brand) written on the lid. He thinks it was a sign....I said it just a box holding gift cards from Christmas. :)



Also this baby has been movin' and groovin' like crazy. She is so active and can often see my stomach being "poked out." Well, last night Sean witnessed it and he started to gag!!! He has the weakest stomach....it is so sad. I was DYING laughing and crying so hard trying to tell his mom about it....while he is so grossed out! And yes, he won't go anywhere but staying as close to my head and shoulders as possible during delivery!! Apparently this child is an alien according to him.

Well, we have 1-2" of snow coming in with some super frigid cold temps later this week. Poor Sean has to travel for business tomorrow (possibilities could be FL, Vegas, CA, etc.)....and he has to go to Minnesota!!! Poor guy!!

Have a great week!

XOXO,
Sarah

Goodbye 2008, Welcome 2009!

Happy New Year's Eve! As I sit here thinking about what to blog about, I began reflecting on the past year.

Sean put in a full year at Main Gate, Inc. I am so thankful he has a job that he seems to enjoy and has not near as much travel as he did with his previous position. It's so nice to know he's home most every evening...which means I have to cook more, but even though I complain about cooking, I don't mind it! (As long as he doesn't complain about what comes to the table...except for those mystery meat pork chops that were just NASTY!)

Caeleigh has made a great transition from 1st to 2nd grade and even handled the transition to a new school this year. We started her at St. Malachy Catholic school (same church I belong to) this year. She seems to really enjoy it....uniform and all!

Caeleigh also mastered swimming underwater!! Her strokes still need some help, but she'll go under and swim the width of my pal, Angie's, pool! Caeleigh also played her first organized team sport...softball. She was a little timid, but earned Most Improved Player award from her coaches. That made Daddy beam!! She continued to do dance lessons and basic gymnastic lessons. She keeps me busy! I just can't believe how much she has grown up! She's about 4 feet tall and wears a size 7/8. Not just grown physically, but mentally as well. She's turned into quite a reader and loves to draw. For Christmas she got tons of drawing/sketching stuff and some fashion designer pads (she loves to design clothes!!) I wanted to post some Christmas pics, but am having some trouble downloading from my camera (grrr!) So stay tuned for those!

And, of course, expecting our second child was a surprise! That is something to look forward to in the next few months. Speaking of un-named baby girl Reaves, I had another check-up on Monday. I am 26 weeks along (will be 27 tomorrow!) and had a great appt. My blood pressure was 120/76; baby's heartrate was 156; and did the glucose tolerance test...icky! The nurse practitioner said "No news is Good News!"....so I am assuming I passed and have not developed gestational diabetes. I've gained 13 pounds....which shocks me....I think with Caeleigh by this point I had gained a good 20-25 pounds! I also had to have my Rho Gam shot (because my blood type is negative, and Sean is positive....so could have clotting difficulties after baby is born without the shot...it was a breeze with Caeleigh!) So I go back in two weeks and will continue two week appts through February. The beginning of March, I will start to go weekly.

Good wishes on 2009 to all my readers....Sean and I may go get a bite to eat or get some take-out. I rented movies, we plan to stay in and relax. Caeleigh gets to go to a hotel with Grandma Shirley and Grandma Bonnie...she is very excited about that! Stay safe tonight!

Sarah

We've Been Busy!!

The past week has been event-filled. Caeleigh had her Christmas program at St. Malachy. We went to the Indiana Pacers/Golden State Nuggets basketball game. And our week wrapped up with Caeleigh's Christmas Dance Recital. Enjoy the pics!!

Caeleigh and her teacher, Mrs. Strahle (before the Christmas program!)

Caeleigh and her classmates singing in the program. (She is near center with the green, red, and gold ribbon in her hair)

Here are some pics from the Pacer game!

And finally our little sugarplum fairy in her dance recital. (Notice the little dance skirts...I made all 9 for the girls!!)

Have a Merry Christmas if I don't blog again. Caeleigh and I are going to make a gingerbread house this afternoon, bake some cookies and make treats this week, and finish wrapping presents in the next 3 days!! Even though we are on break from school, I think we're going to be VERY busy!!