Our Baby is HERE!!!

Our new baby was born on June 20, 2006. A 7lb 10oz little girl, perfectly healthy and adorable! She looks a lot like Olivia did as a newborn, surprisingly so.

She's so mellow, sleeps really well. I'm still tired from waking during the night, but at least she just wakes up to nurse and doesn't stay awake. Troy is still sleeping in the guest bed, and I miss him. It is nice not stressing about keeping him awake at night, though, so I can rely on him to be rested and helping with the kids during the day.

Troy went back to work today, and I thought I'd have a nervous breakdown when he left! I feel like that mother bear who chases her cubs off in preparation to have another one: THIS is my baby, I don't want to deal with the other ones! They are very good children and play together and help each other. It's nice that school is out so Taya can be helpful and entertain the little kids.

I'm sad the pregnancy is over, there's just nothing else like growing a baby and giving birth. It's like now the serious business of growing up begins. But that special time during this newborn stage seems just as good, and over just as fast!

Summer is BACK!

Somehow when the time changes and the weather warms up down here, life just seems good! All of a sudden I WANT to work out, I WANT to clean, I'm more organized, my house is cleaner, there's food on the table, even my kids are cuter.

We bought a new car, FINALLY! It's an almost new 2005 Toyota Sienna minivan, so Troy is driving the '98 Dodge minivan as his truck (took all the seats out). It's nice having something to haul things in, but still have passenger capacity when needed. I love the freedom of having my own car, but I hate paying for gas. Between that and helping out with the car payment, it's really taken a chunk out of my monthly income from teaching. I'l be throwing all my money at this thing until it's paid off, hopefully in about 2 years.

I was really sick last Thursday, some stomach virus. It didn't last very long, but I lost about 5 lbs in two days, and I'm just now back where I was a week ago. Putting on baby weight is mentally difficult: I'm at a 17lb gain, was hoping to keep it to 20 total, but with nearly 3mos to go I don't think I'll make that!
Still working out at the church classes, and going to my community rec center to lift weights twice a week, running on Friday mornings, and going to karate twice a week. It's depressing how much work it takes to not be overweight, much less in good shape. My eating has improved, but it's so difficult to keep the calories under control. I love bread and pasta, and even whole grain is just sky high in calories. But I'm determined to keep my weight under control because it was so difficult to lose it all after Olivia was born. I really let myself go during and after that pregnancy.

Baby is doing well. I'm at the point where I need to start seeing my two midwives more often, and I just hate prenatal checkups. I'd be happy to have about 4 the whole pregnancy! I need to write up my "ideal birth story" for her. My last visit she asked if my kids would be there, and I said, "No, I don't even want you two there!" She laughed and said they'd try to stay as inconspicuous as possible, and wondered if an unattended birth was something that interested me. It's not something I ever want to do, but the if nothing goes wrong I don't see any need to have them in my way: the unattended atmosphere is what I'm trying to mimic as best I can with the obvious observers who need to be there.
Troy's mom is coming up after the delivery to help out for a few days, that'll be nice. Hopefully she'll just play with the kids, cook, and pick up, because I hope to have all my meals put up in the freezer and the house spotless with laundry done the way it was when I left for Vegas. It was so nice to have the break, and Troy is so good about keeping the house up. All I had to do when I got back was laundry and wipe the counters and bathrooms. They even mopped while I was gone! That's what I'm looking forward to when the baby is born. I already have all the clothing washed, spring cleaned all the kids' clothes, and we're ready to go!

Work is looking up: I'm far more motivated to write my new classes, and working with a teaching partner has been really great. She helps me stay on top of things, set goals and deadlines, and stay enthusiastic. I have my computer time more under control, and have even managed to scrap a few of my own pages lately.

I sewed too! I made a new nursing dress that's loose to be more like a lounging dress, so it fits me now too. I already wear it too much! I'm looking forward to finishing writing my classes so I have more time sew. I don't want to write any more after these are done: I'm maxed out on how many I can teach. After the baby is born it'll nice to just focus on running the classes so I can spend more time being mommy, doing the simple things like housework and sewing. I don't need more on my plate, I want to enjoy my kids while they're little!

My goals are all progressing well, and I'm really pleased with how things have been going. Aside from being so irritable, and Troy's in school and irritable as well! We've both noticed how hard the other is trying to keep things "cool" and in control, and life has been so much more enjoyable!

Another Girl!

Things are going really well. I'm a complete hormonal mess, very weepy and irritable, but it doesn't seem to be related to anything real, except for the obvious pregnant reasons! I'm not even feeling anything bad, just suddenly feel the urge to cry for no reason. It's not a big deal, but I think it's pretty funny!

We found out we're having another girl. I'm okay with that (3 girls and 1 boy), but I'm upset that my son won't have a brother. Personally I think girls are great! And it's not like we're raising girly princesses around here, so he should have plenty of wrestling and video game partners, and a mom and older sister who can karate-woop him anytime!

Work is getting away from me. I'm trying to get back into my other hobbies like sewing, and being more vigilant about teaching my oldest daughter piano and sewing, so I have less time for scrapbooking and writing classes. I need to manage my computer time more efficiently so I have time to write as well as scrap personally. Perhaps I'm just in a bit of a rut there. I figure as long as everyone is happy and the house is running smoothly, everything else is just bonus. Whatever I can fit in makes me grateful.

I just got back from Las Vegas for the CHA trade show where I met many of my online coworkers. Vegas is definitely an interesting and different place, a lot of fun even without gambling. So many shows and attractions and gaudy architecture to gawk at. The show is in Anaheim next year, and I've never been there either, but with a new baby I'll probably skip it. Though turning it into an extended Disneyland trip might be fun with the family!

House is Clean with my new baby, Roomba!

Christmas was a blast in Phoenix, and when I got home we had a new baby: delivered in a box that said "Roomba" on it!
It's amazing, but having that timer on it so I KNOW it's coming out at 9pm every night really motivates me to pick up a room to be ready for it. I guess I didn't realize how often I go to bed not picking up at least one room, and doing that everyday makes a huge difference!

So the thing has infected the rest of the house, the kitchen is clean, the bathrooms are clean, the beds are made, the laundry is done. I got some larger baskets, and having it organized has been really helpful. I haven't yet decided if I prefer to do a load a day, or spend one day doing it all, and then fold and put away one person's basket a day. Having each person have his own basket is really helpful as well, keeps the job smaller when I do it in portions.

So I'm doing pretty well with my goals!

Have yet to really get back into working out, but I go to the aerobics class at church twice a week now. Need to get back into lifting my dumb bells at home and using the community gym. I didn't gain any weight over the holidays, but I am starting to now. My goal is to stay under 170 by the end of June at delivery.

I DID get my next karate belt last November, advanced brown. After some "morning sick" leave, we're back at it twice a week. Taya's little friend wants to sign up and ride with us, so yet more motivation to get there! I am unable to set a goal for my next belt test: April is out, October may be wishful thinking with such a small baby. Certainly by April 2007 I will be ready to test again: seems so far away. But I will likely be able to do a triathlon in August or September, those take less time to train for.

The sewing room is close to being organized, Troy finished my new cutting table just before Christmas. I love it! I am really tired, and just trying to find the energy to work and exercise and keep the house, the "extras" seem really huge right now. I am sure I will be back at the cutting table soon.

For work, I've been doing much better since I set days to comment on students' work and allowed times for the computer. I don't scrap every Sunday, but I do it more often than I had been. Sometimes I just don't feel like it! I've decided to cram through writing these two new classes so we can buy a new car in a hurry. I found a c0-teacher for one class, so that'll be a huge help. Still working on the 15 minutes at a time for writing and commenting on members' work.
I was offered a job teaching English for 6 weeks, but I can make more money for my time teaching online classes at DSU.

I am writing new routines, or trying to. We went over mine when Taya and I were planning her routines, and I realized just how out of date they are! So far so good, so I'm not in a big hurry to get that done. I also am going to spend at least 15 minutes a day doing some school activity with Levi, and making at least 15 minutes to read to both little ones in the evenings.

Aside from feeling lazy due to baby fatigue, I'm doing really well. Writing things down help me realize just how much I get done, even with all the inactivity and resting!