A Touch Of Tyrell

I think I'm experiencing pregnancy depression  part 5 .  Three weeks ago the Dr. said that he'd strip my membranes at 38 weeks. I've been counting down the days... like a child counts and re-counts money.... as if they were gold.  I can't even tell you how many times I have googled phrases like: "chances of going into labor after stripping membranes" "do you go into labor faster/sooner with the second pregnancy" etc I carry ALL of my weight in my stomach and chest. I always have and assume always will. So all 27 pounds that I've gained is right in front and it is making my life miserable. Not only that, but because I carry straight out front, it puts a lot of pressure on my back and hips and I feel like I have twice as much pain as the first pregnancy. I've been so big for so long that I just want this baby to come out. And I can't even begin to explain some of the looks and comments I get. I'll admit, I look ...

Just as expected, Sunday afternoon was pretty awesome with Jake and Everett.  Jake has been waiting for the wind for a while now and Sunday afternoon was his chance. It was WIIIIINDY! After church we went to a nearby park and flew the kite. The wind was strong enough for Jake to ride his dirtboard across the field.... at least 5 times.  Everett chased him down the field and Jake gave him a ride on the board on the way back. I sat and watched until disaster struck.  Luckily Jake got it out and the kite was fine.  I love Sunday afternoons!

Sunday afternoon with these guys is always the best.  Makes me wonder what they'll do tomorrow!

Dear Journal, It seems like my life is a nice healthy cycle of freaking out and then calming down. I guess that's pretty normal. I think. On Valentines day, while I was delivering my neighbors flowers to her, we talked about Everett hanging out at her house when I go into labor until my mom can drive the 7+ hours from Colorado. She has a little boy 6 weeks younger than Everett and they get along really well. I think it will all work out just fine. I also had a Dr. appointment on Valentines day and expressed my many, many concerns and asked dozens of questions (because I'm still heartbroken about our friends that lost their baby). He calmed my fears and told me exactly what he would do in each scenario I gave him. I've been freaked out for months that this baby was going to be huge but my sweet, sweet doctor ordered an ultrasound just to calm my wild imagination and as of Monday, she's a healthy 7 pounds. If she stays in the oven until her due date she could be...

Jake is my favorite person ever. For lots of reasons. But here's one more.  We were getting things ready to do our taxes and it was my job to go through our home improvement receipts from 2012 and add everything up.  Jake's office in WA was right next to a Safeway and a Home Depot.  Sandwiched between all of the Home Depot receipts I found a few Safeway receipts that, of course, had nothing to do with our home improvements.  Here's what I found: Soy Milk Maple Donuts Monster Energy Drink Cheese Maple Donuts Candy Raisinets Monster Energy Drink Junior Mints (4 boxes) Maple Donuts Potato Salad Egg Roll Diet Coke w/lime Jojo Potato Wedges Buffalo Chicken Wings Kinda looks like he got the munchies at work a few times from staying up hours past midnight every night trying to finish the house! It's a good thing I try really hard to make healthy dinners because it looks like he loves maple donuts, monster energy dri...

Jake spent a good chunk on his childhood on the back of a dirt bike. It's what he grew up doing and has the best memories doing it. I always wished we owned a dirt bike as a kid and I guess that wish came true when Jake proposed to me... he proposed with a ring and a dirt bike and I was still kind-of a kid!  Everett didn't really love our quads for quite some time but now he LOVES them. In AZ they are street legal so Jake takes him on rides around the neighborhood pretty often.   Yesterday was so sunny, perfect, and warm. This is Everett hangin' out in the sunshine at 9 am.  After soakin' up the sun for a while Jake and Everett went to a nearby dirt bike shop just to check things out. Jake always loved doing that with his dad.  Everett came home and did some riding of his own... We all went grocery shopping and then decided last-minute to load up the quads and do a little riding.  Everett loves riding so much, i...

The flower delivery man knocked on our door on Valentines Day morning. And delivered these flowers. Too bad they were for my neighbor who wasn't home because she was taking her son to preschool and the delivery man didn't want to leave them on her doorstep to get ruined. And the best part? Jake answered the door! He felt awesome. So I got to enjoy some beautiful flowers for a few hours until she got home.  Apparently at one point in our relationship I told Jake that I didn't like getting flowers. LOL! What a guy! (I'm pretty sure I said something to the effect that if he were to spent $50+ on flowers I'd rather get something that wasn't going to die instead... but 15 bucks on some cheap flowers is perfect!) Everett and I wasted no time Valentines Day morning... we got to baking right away. Strawberry cake.  As soon as it came out of the oven we were off to a Valentine's party where Everett ate as much sugar as he could! It was ...

Dear Journal, I don't know how women do it. You know, be pregnant and raise families without feeling like they're going to die any second! I have failed to teach Everett how to play by himself and entertain himself so he still needs my constant attention. Jake has been home once before 7:30 pm in the last 8 working days AND worked half of last Saturday. Everett only naps occasionally, I have NO energy, I still feel sick, I freak out if I don't feel her moving, if I lay down I have heartburn, Jake snores, I can't sleep, I have no idea what we'll do with Everett when I go into labor, I am so huge that it hurts to move, I can pretty much feel my skin ripping, Everett ate cereal for dinner while watching A Bug's Life, I feel guilty about the amount of TV he watches, I bribe him with cookies and chocolate milk... and much, much more. No matter how good my day is, by 4:30 I am done. Jake asks me how I'm doing every night when he gets home and the only th...

I met a girl at church a few months ago who was also expecting and had just moved to the area. So we sat next to each other on Sundays and talked about our pregnancy woes, the weather, raising our toddlers, living in a new area without any family, etc She has a little girl Everett's same age and expecting a baby boy on my very same due date. It was cute to have flip-flopped families. Last week we stood in the hallway for a while (while our husbands talked) after we dropped our kids off at nursery. She had been in the hospital the day before with contractions and they said she definitely wouldn't make it to her due date. I was jealous. Her goal was to make it to 37 weeks to ensure the baby's lungs were fully developed. After church we talked about getting together to hang out and let our little kids play. Our husbands had exchanged phone numbers weeks earlier and I told her that I would have Jake get her number from her husband because we didn't have anything to ...

Last August Jake and his good buddy moved everything we owned from WA to AZ... including the last 8 jars of raspberry jam I made from Pam's raspberries.  Once you've had homemade freezer jam, you'll never want to eat any other type of jam. At least that's the way it is for Jake and I.  The other day we realized that we only had a tiny, tiny bit of raspberry jam left and I started to fret. There's no way I could buy enough raspberries here (at a decent price) to make more raspberry jam so we decided to make strawberry instead. A few years ago, Pam (my mother-in-law) taught me how to make freezer jam. The directions in the box are very clear but it's always nice to have someone show you how to do it the first time.  You'll need your fruit (some recipes in the box call for a little fresh lemon juice, too), sugar, and pectin. I've always used the reduced sugar pectin in the pink box. It's usually found in the same aisle as the sugar,...

I joined a newly-formed book club in December and I've loved both books we're read so far.  The first one was a super quick, easy read called A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck. It was super cute, very entertaining and I actually read it during one of Everett's long naps. So if you're looking for a good, fast read... that's your book.  I loved the book so much that I read the sequel a few days later: A Year Down Yonder . There is also a third book called A Season of Gifts  that is good. Those three books were in the young adult and juvenile section of the library.  The second book club book is called These is my Words  By Nancy E. Turner. This one was much longer and much more 'adult' than the others. It was such a fantastic book. It's one of those books that kind-of messes with your head a little bit because you get so attached to the characters and story. So those are a few good reads for anyone that is interested. I'm su...