29 week belly

It's that time again! Time to see how I've grown...
The thing is...I haven't changed that much in the last month. My belly looks the same-ish, yes?


I still have a small semblance of a waist. I'm not saying that I'm rocking the hour glass figure, but my waist still goes in a little.

So i ask you...Where the hell am I hiding the 25 lbs I've gained? Could it really be all baby, fluid, placenta, etc?


Ah-hah! There it is! Bliggity Blam! My ass is huge! My poor granny panties can't even cover it anymore. sigh. My loungy pants look painted on now. Awesomeness.

So I gotta say I'm a little worried about my impending birth. My first go round, labor lasted 6 hours from first contraction to baby being born. Second labor was 4 hours. I just really hope I don't have the baby in the car. Oh well. If I do, I will save all the money on hospital bills. If that happens, I wonder if I can use my heath savings account card for Botox. :D

How do I have a 7 year old?

Yesterday was first my babys 7th birthday. SEVENTH! Holy cow! Hello, my name is Stella. I'm 29 and I have a 7 year old. It's amazing...she suddenly has grown up a little more. Yesterday for the first time Kimberly curled up on the sofa with a Junie B. Jones book and read 2 chapters. This is the child that I was planning on putting in a summer reading program because she was behind in reading this year. Well slap me and color me purple. Now that I know that she 'can' read, I just need to make sure that this summer she 'does' read.

Her party was a huge success! The day started off really bad. Like ridiculously bad. Like I wanted to cancel the whole thing, pull the covers over my head and cry myself to sleep. We planned to blow up the inflatable slide from last year so Kim and her friends could put on their swimsuits and have some fun in the sun. But it was raining. Not only was it raining, but it was raining only over our house. You could see sunshine on every horizon, but there were black angry clouds thundering overhead. Also, Jeff and I could not find the stakes needed to secure the slide into the ground. We tore apart every storage closet, and searched the garage and the attic high and low only to come up emptyhanded. And I was somehow blamed for the loss. Then I went to McDonalds to order Happy Meals for all the kids and 99cent burgers for all of the adults...and I had the wrong debit card. I had them swipe it anyway for good measure, and it was declined. o.v.e.r.d.r.a.w.n. Yep I was the asshole that just ordered $100 worth of food with no way to pay for it. Shoot me now. I drove back home and got my other debit card, all while crying hysterically.

Thankfully, bad things only happen in 3's and I racked up my 3 'bads' before noon. It could only get better from there. The sun started to shine, my friend Laura came to the rescue with stakes to secure the slide so it was safe enough to use, and debit card number 2 worked splendidly. I showed up back to my house with happy children running around my backyard...eager to tear into their Happy Meals. Even better was that I was surrounded by my friends. Suddenly I realized that nothing was really that bad after all and that I might be a little hormonal and over reacting. :D The last few children left at 9pm and I had so much fun! It was Kimberly's birthday party, but it also felt like the kickoff to the summer. I am definitely ready for days filled with swimming, sun, hot dogs grilling and ice cold beer. Just kidding, I wont be drinking beer. Just a little wine. I'm kidding people! mostly kidding...

I only have 10 or 11 weeks left of this pregnancy. Hallelujah! I had a doctors appointment today and after the doctor checked me over, she said "Okay great...see you in 2 more weeks!" Just so you know, that means I am in the home stretch. Every appointment up until now has been once a month. My wonderful doc also gave me another ultrasound. I have been nervous because the baby doesn't kick a whole lot. Today my fears were compounded becasue the nurse couldn't find my sons heartbeat! Ack! Once the little dude was up on the ultrasound screen, we saw that all was well. He is head down and his little hands are smashed up next to his face. His butt is in my ribs and his little legs kick towards my back. I guess he is just sort of a quiet baby. He does more shifting and slow rolls wheras my other two kids actually caused me physical pain with their thrashing around.

Oh! And I am please to officially announce this little dudes name. We completely scrapped the old list and had to start fresh. Jeff and I were in a stalemate...big time. But we finally agreed! Sometime in August, we will be welcoming Griffin Jacob to the world. Kimberly, Kennen, and Griffin. We were unable to keep going with the 'K' alliteration but I still think that Griffin somehow matches. Plus, it just feels right. And when Kennen says "Gwiffin' my heart just melts. :D

p.s. the ultrasound tech said that my baby is already 3 1/2 lbs! Holy macaroni!

Throwing you a bone

Helloooooo?

Does anyone still read my blog? I completely suck since I never update. But I suffering from some serious writers block. Or something. :D

Instead I am going to share a new website I just found:

www.textsfromlastnight.com

Let the hilarity ensue. You are welcome. :D

Moms really do make everything better!

My Mom has been visiting here for the last few days to keep me company while Jeff is away on a fishing trip. We have spent most of her trip scouring the city of Houston for the best deal on things for the nursery, and I think we have found them! It reminds me of how we used to spend our free time together when I used to live in Arizona. She is the only other person I know that also loves spending their Saturday morning at yard sales, followed by brunch, and then finish the day off with rearranging furniture and basking in the glow of knowing you have gotten a smoking good deal. I miss her so much. I wish we could do this every weekend. Maybe I could just not drive her to the airport tomorrow. Hee hee...I want to keep her. I think my stepdad would object though so I will be a good daughter and drop her off at the airport as long as she promises to come back soon.

Being with her just fills my soul. Aren't Mom's great? Just look at a child and their primitive need for 'MOMMY!' I guess it never really goes away huh? She will be back here in August when I have my baby...if it takes having a baby to get her to come out and pamper me, then maybe I will have a 4th. ***just kidding!***

Stay tuned for pics of the baby room...and for the little buggers name! :D

A rose by any other name...

Guess what I learned today? People no longer 'potty train' their children. Some people are so civilized and stuck up on a high horse that they call it, "potty learning' now. To insinuate that you 'train' your child to do anything is offensive apparently.

But I don't belong to that club. I kick it old school and train my kids, yo. I have even had success with *gasp* spanking a kid that has peed their pants one too many times. That's just how I roll.

The big secret is that Moms, especially stay at home Moms are isolated and we start to feel a little down on ourselves. Since we feel unimportant, we decide to make a big deal out of nothing because we all need something to be passionate about.

It's funny that someone feels the need to stress the point that they are 'potty learning' their child when there are real problems in this world.

*hormonal rant over*

A little late for an Earth Day post

...but this is my blog and I can do whatever i want. I have mentioned a few times that I will be cloth diapering this baby. Most people stare open mouthed in horror and I understand completely. But I have invested my money and now I HAVE to see this thing through. I have all types of diapers and it is turning into an addiction. Jeff keeps getting angry at me for spending so much, but I really have just done him a favor. Since I spent money on these without his blessing, he has ammo for every fight from now until the baby is about 1 years old. By then as long as I have successfully cd this new boy, I will have recouped my original investment. I have pockets, fitteds, and flats as well as todays topic...PREFOLDS!

These are unbleached indian prefolds. (UIPF). I bought them from www.cottonbabies.com. They are soft and quilty and apparently pretty absorbant. It is basically a huge piece of cloth that is folded so that the diaper is more absorbant in the middle than it is on the sides. This is a 4x8x4 and that is in reference to how many layers of cloth are in each of the 3 sections. I have a dozen:
Sine I don't have a baby to practice on, I am using my old doll. Yes this baby was mine as a child. His name is Matthew and, as you can plainly see, he is a boy. And uncut boy. To strap the diaper onto the baby, first you lay the baby on the diaper so that the rise is in the appropriate spot in the back:
Then you cinch the diaper together in the middle so that it will fit between the babies legs. If you feel so inclined, you could actually roll the sides in instead of folding them. Apparently rolling in the sides creates a better barrier to keep the mess in.
Pull the diaper up between the babys leg, pulling the material tightly:
Fold down the rise to the appropriate height. This flap folded down in the front is actually extra helpful for boys becasue they pee in the front.
Then wrap the wings around to the front of the diaper and snappi it on. The snappi would be the green thing in the diaper. It is a 3 legged replacement for diaper pins. There are clawed teeth on the underside of the snappi that work like an ace bandage clip. I did buy pins but they scare me.
Matthew is free to poop and pee as he pleases now. Not that he can do any such thing, becasue he is just a doll.
Prefold diapers need a cover to be waterproof. Without a cover, your lap and his crib will be flooded after he pees. This one is a Thirsties xs cover. It's made out of PUL which is poly-blah blah blah laminate. It's waterproof.
Strap it on just like a disposable diaper.
Voila! Now Matthew is ready for a nap. Nite nite!
...does is scare you that I play with dolls? Jeff thinks I'm nuts. Kimberly thinks I am lots of fun now.

Answer this riddle...

When is shopping Un-Fun?

When you are 6 months pregnant and shopping for a swimsuit!

I did find something and I brought it home, but I have decided that I am okay with the bottoms, but I hate the top. Well, both tops. I bought two and they are both not good. I had to try on sizes that were big enough for my belly...which made them too big for my boobs. I am returning them tomorrow...but I figured since I was half naked in my bathroom, why not take more belly pics? I think it's been awhile!

These are the bottoms I bought today that I am keeping. This top is actually from Classy Bride and I love it! I have had it for about 5 years now and I have not found a better fitting top for me. When I'm pregnant I have small boobs, and when I'm not pregnant I have zero boobs...but this top somehow makes the most of what I have. The awesome thing about this bikini is that you can have the bottoms customized with Swarovski crystals with your new last name! They are super cute...just click the link and look under 'Just Married Swimwear'.

But this isn't about brides...this is what happens after the wedding. Or before the wedding in my case, lol. When you swell up to the size of a beach ball. Ch-check it out:





I know that all I talk about is the baby, the pregnancy, baby baby baby but well there just isn't much else going on in my brain these days. Soon though, I will show you my new psychotic obsession...cloth diapers.