32 weeks

Also known as 8 months

I've been feeling good! Just getting really stir crazy! But I've been trying to put my time to good use! I made a lamp for Nutterbutter's room. I think it turned out ok for a first attempt at a lamp. It's far from perfect but it's pretty good!

I've got a couple more projects I'm working on. I'll show them off when they are done! :)

Dr. visits have gone well. My fasting blood sugar levels were so good she told me I only need to take those 2 times a week now instead of everyday. Really eating right hasn't been too hard. I've mostly just taken away the leniency I gave myself with being pregnant. So instead of buying a dozen donuts when I think donuts sound good, I've just gone back to the good old days pre pregnancy where I told myself I didn't need them! I do find it ironic that for the first time in my life I am counting carbs, cutting back on certain foods and extremely aware of what I'm eating, and I'm pregnant! Does this seem backwards to anyone else?? Oh well, it will make it much easier to eat good post pregnancy when I want to loose baby weight, if I'm already in "diet" mode! I do miss carbs though! I'd love a baked potato! Or a huge bowl of pasta! I'm going to have everyone who visits me at the hospital bring me a drink from sonic! LOL Not really I'll overload my self with sugar, but that sure sounds nice! Also I've not progressed at all so I'm still fine. Still "threatening preterm labor" But for the moment all is good! Every apt. I go in prepared for the worst and expecting the best, and keep getting the best! In fact things have been so good the past few visits that my Dr. said I could take a little break and come back in 2 weeks instead of just 1 week! How nice of her! LOL

I also wanted to share my ghetto gut! My sister in law loaned me a maternity swim suit, but it's still to big. So I just keep wearing my reg. swim suit.

The result.........

Ghetto gut!

Also since I'm not working and days can go by with out leaving the house I don't really worry to much about clothes, so I've kept on wearing pre pregnancy shirts, and so many times around the house.......

Ghetto gut!

Don't you love it! LOL It makes me laugh!

Only 8 more weeks to go! I can't believe how quickly it's flying by!

The Masterpiece

So we painted and painted all weekend long, and finished Nutterbutters room. I was quite ambitious in what I wanted to do, but I had a vision and stuck to it! I'm so glad to because I think it turned out great! What do you think?

Not to shabby huh?

Some of the opposite wall that is chocolate brown and the side wall that is sage green.

Bad shot, but more of the chocolate brown.

Our three colors. Look at how crisp those lines are! :)



Me being a nerd showing of our work.

A little blurry but the center detail.

Now all we have to do is put in the furniture. I have to finish my projects to put in the room! Then all that's left is to have to have a baby!

Recall on Broken Baby Makers

This is how I feel. Like a broken baby maker that needs to be recalled! I failed the second glucose test, which means I have gestational diabetes (GD). Sad news! My Dr. apt on Monday was not a good one! First I was hit with the GD. I asked some questions about that but was told she'd refer me to a diabetes class. So I didn't worry too much. Then she asked how contractions have been, since I've been having contractions since 17 weeks this is a typical question at visits. For the past couple months they have been very manageable. As long as I don't over exert myself they are fine, maybe a handful a day with some of those just being braxton hicks. The past week or so though they have increased. Not a ton, and not to the amount I was having around 17 weeks but more then it had been. When I said that she says ok well let's check you then. More bad news, I'm dilated 1 cm and 50% effaced. She did a fetal fibronectin (FFN) test which can predict if you will go into labor in the next week or two. Put me on pelvic rest and sent me on my way. I do want to say normally I love my Dr. She is through, answers all my questions, is straightforward and honest. But Monday I felt like she was completely rushed and I left with more questions then when I came! When I got home I was scared to eat, scared of food! Apparently food and I are no longer friends! I didn't know what was safe and good to eat. So I called up my good friend who just had a baby and had GD and got some good guidelines from her. All my Dr. had told me was to keep my blood sugars below 120. So I was very grateful my friend was defective as well! So she could help me out! I have to stab myself 4 times every day to closely monitor my sugar levels. We'll see how my finger tips hold out! The GD I'm not that concerned about. As long as I eat right and monitor it closely baby and I should be fine. Besides that, a good strict diet will be good for Brent too! So not a huge deal! I'm worried about the fact that my body is starting to get ready to have a baby already. I'm only 30 weeks! Too soon! Just this weekend I was thinking how I only have 10 weeks left and how short that seemed! I've loved being pregnant! I love feeling my little Nutterbutter move around, have hiccups, and kick around! It's such a miracle! I love that I get to experience it! I love that I can chat it up with other moms about heart burn and hip pain and all the other miserable parts of being pregnant! I wondered if I'd ever have this experience and so I'm truly cherishing every moment. So 10 more weeks seems like such a short amount of time! Now here I am looking like I've only got a prayer of making it that long! But I'm praying! We're praying to make it to 36 weeks! And to be quite honest I don't really even know how serious it is that I'm dilating and effacing already. My Dr. didn't really say much. I'm not on bed rest so that's a good sign right? Although I have a good feeling that's in my near future if things progress at all! Not that I'm looking forward to that, or asking for that but whatever it takes to keep Nutterbutter in as long as possible! I'm not ready to have this baby yet, and He's not ready to come out yet! Thankfully I passed the FFN so my chances of going into labor in the next week or two are pretty low. That was a huge relief! I was scared before I got the results of that test! I got online and googled survival rates of babies born 31 weeks. That was not good. Although survival rates are very high so is the risk of complications, extended hospital stays, and developmental problems! As I'm reading info my vivid imagination is running wild picturing the worst case scenario. Finally I walked away from the computer and prayed. That is all I could do. Pray. A good prayer and a good cry later I realized that it's in the Lords hands and all I can do is have faith everything will be fine! There is nothing I can do and worrying won't help anything! So deep breaths, everything will be fine!!

So I left the Dr. on Monday with GD and threatening preterm labor. Oh and about that.....I do not like the sound of that.......I'm threatening preterm labor. It sounds like I'm storming the Dr. office with a list of demands, holding my huge pregnant belly in one hand and a vile of Pitocin in the other hand. Like a mad woman insisting that if I don't get what I want I'll put myself into labor! "Believe me I'll do it! Don't make me put myself into labor!!!" Come on! Could we word that a little more patient friendly, like showing signs of preterm labor, not threatening preterm labor! I promise I'm not threatening anything! Maybe my body is, but I am not!

So pretty much I am a defective baby maker (which is not so flattering since that's all I am right now, a baby maker). It takes me two years to get knocked up, and then once I do all I want to do is spit the baby out! Not at all how I had imagined things but guess that's how it goes! If this is what it takes, then it is all worth it! Little Nutterbutter we can't wait to meet you but please just stay put for at least 6 more weeks!!!!

WOW!!!

My husband is awesome! I don't want this to be one of those cheesy gooey posts that goes on and on but there are just some things that deserve acknowledgment. Yesterday Brent and I ran a million errands. Starting with dropping my car off at the shop (I would recommend this shop to anyone! They are honest and do a great job and it is family owned and operated! And the owners are super nice!! If your car needs looking at take it here!!!) to have the ac fixed, yes my ac has been awful! It was quite fun driving around in 100+ weather in ac that didn't work! When I got it back and it blew ice cold air on me I was in heaven!! But this is not what my post is about.......so we dropped off my car and then went to Michael's to get supplies for a project for Nutterbutter's room. Then to the scrapbook store for the same project. Then to Sherwin Williams for paint colors for Nutterbutter's room. Then to the fabric store, to get fabrics for Nutterbutters room. The fabric store took forever!!! At least an hour!! Brent was there helping with it all! Giving input and being excited and supportive! Then we came home and guess what we did, we cleaned! Brent helped in the cleaning out of Nutterbutter's room, so we can paint and get things set up and ready (only 10 weeks left now). Then we went and got a crib! So excited to have it! It's not perfect, it will be when I'm done with it though. Then after dinner, Brent scrubbed the tub! I've been meaning to do this forever but just the thought of it makes my back hurt! Bless this sweet man for scrubbing my tub so I can now take a bath, which I hear helps with things such as hip pain, which I am blessed to experience! All this and only once did he complain! You thought I was going to say he never did, come on he's great but he's still human, and a male human at that!! Then this morning when we woke up I asked him what he wanted to do today thinking, after yesterday, he'd say, hang out, watch a movie, relax. Nope he says let's finish cleaning out Nutterbutters room! So here's to Brent! And here's to another productive day (just as soon as I finish this post!)

Oh just one more thing about Brent. Over the 4th of July my brother and nephew were here visiting and my nephew was doing a great job of helping us figure out how non baby proofed our home is! In the process he was emptying my book shelf. He took one of my old journals over to Brent. Brent was flipping through it and found two lists I had made....What I Want In a Husband & Who I Want To Be As A Wife. It made my heart so happy that as Brent read the lists I had made all the way back in 1998 he was describing himself! Out of the whole list he had all but two of the qualities I had wanted. One was a good dancer and he's already said he'd take a dance class with me sometime! So we can work on that one ;-) The other was an RM, which I had removed from the list in the years after that, after meeting a few too many RMs who did not meet my standards. I had realized what was important was that he loved me, loved the lord, could go to the temple with me, and righteously held the Priesthood! Brent met those requirements! Then as he read the things I had hoped to be as a wife, I felt happy to realize I'm not doing too bad! I need to improve in a few areas (housekeeping) but overall I'm where I wanted to be, and I still have plenty of time to improve! I'm so happy that as I look back I can realize that Brent is what I wanted, what I need. That I have put the time, effort, and energy into becoming the woman I wanted to be! It hasn't been an easy road to get to the person I am but I'm glad I took it! I'm just very happy with life right now! And looking forward to even more happiness and joy!!

Proud Parenting Moment!

How could I have a proud parenting moment when my child is still in utero you may wonder? Well if you were to wonder that you would be forgetting our fur babies! So Rusty the naughty puppy is really improving. He doesn't chew nearly as much as he used to. If I take the time to walk him he is pretty calm. He listens pretty well now. He is honestly the most submissive dog I've ever seen! Really he's improving a lot! The other night I was just so proud of him! Rusty snores like an 80 year old man! You think I'm exaggerating, but trust me I am not. This dog snores when he's awake even! So when he's dead asleep, listen up, he's sawing logs! So he's definitely not allowed to sleep in our bedroom! He's not even allowed to sleep outside our door. He'll nuzzle his nose right under the door and then he might as well be in the room! He will even manage to keep me awake if he sleeps at the end of the hall upstairs. So I make him sleep downstairs. I know so mean of me right. He has to sleep with Bosco, in his nice fluffy bed! The nightly routine used to consist of Brent and I coming up stairs, I'd close the bedroom door. Less then a minute later Rusty would be laying out side the door. I'd chase him down stairs. He did not do this willingly. I'd have to push him the whole way down the hall, then down the stairs, then I'd have to go half way down the stairs to the landing and chase him all the way down. Then I'd go back into our bedroom, get ready for bed and repeat before getting into bed. Occasionally I'd have to repeat again after getting into bed. Then he improved and I'd only have to push him down the stairs because he'd start out at the end of the hall/top of the stairs. Then eventually I wouldn't have to push him, just tell him to go down stairs, and then chase from the landing. Then he improved more to where I only had to open the door and he'd trot down the hall and down the 1st half of the stairs and I'd only have to chase him down the 2nd half of the stairs from the landing. Then he improved even more and would trot all the way down stairs after I opened the door. Then the other day I opened the door and Rusty was not there!!! I went to the end of the hall, no Rusty! Checked the landing NO RUSTY! This has continued! Occasionally he'll sneak up BUT most nights, he stays down stairs! I was so proud, proud of Rusty for finally getting it (We've had him almost a year, it's taken that long!) and proud of myself for being consistent enough and patient enough to teach Rusty, he sleeps down stairs! It gave me a bit of confidence that I'll be able to do a good job with a non fur baby!!! Which by the way, he'll be here 10 weeks and 2 days from now!! :)

While I was looking through pics to post a couple cute ones of my boys I found these and about peed my pants laughing!!

I know it looks pretty awful but it's really funny. One of our attempts to "cure" Rusty's chewing problem was to get a muzzle. It's mesh and he can breath and drink with it on. We thought it would be prefect to solve the mid-night chew fest he was having every night. Well he didn't chew anything but it sure back fired on us! The first morning after we use it we woke up to a living room floor with bloody stripes all over it! He had pawed at the stupid thing so much he cut his nose open and then in further attempts to get it off was running his face all over the floor. I then had to take stain remover to a million bloody stripes on the carpet. Which seemed almost as bad as picking up tiny pieces of what ever he had chewed. So the next night we put socks on his feet to protect his face. That worked. But honestly he was like a broken dog! He just laid on the floor crying! He didn't even move. I felt so bad for him we didn't use it after that! But we do have some funny pic from the growing pains of Rusty!

This was the first pic after we had wrapped him up to protect him. He just laid there like that for the longest time! So sad!

And just because they are so cute here's one of Bosco and Rusty playing together! Such good buddies!

How could I resist posting this little gem! My favorite boys (shhh don't tell Rusty but Bosco wins the favorite dog award hands down!)

28 Weeks

Also know as 7 months!


We had an ultrasound on Fri. It was so cool! We saw Nutterbutter hold his foot with his hand! We also saw him take a big yawn and then stick his fingers in his mouth! We got a DVD of him doing that but it's some weird file type so I have to convert it to another type....blah blah blah. I will try and get it up, because it's pretty cool! We also got some 3D pic. I think it's kind of funny all the 3D pics look pretty much the same to me. But I also think newborns look pretty similar too! The ultrasound tech had a hard time getting a good 3D pic! She said the cord kept getting in the way. It was so weird, on the 2D it looked like it would be a great pic, then she'd switch to 3D and it would not be good at all! It was so cool to get a 3D pic of our little Nutterbutter! Even if it wasn't the best 3D pic ever! And it was so fun to see him moving around and doing different things! We can't wait till he's here!



The check up went well except one thing

I FAILED MY GLUCOSE TEST!!!!

I was so ticked when the Dr told me that! My Dr. and I were both shocked that I failed! I'm not quite sure how I failed! Brent keeps saying I didn't study hard enough! Ha ha funny boy! (eye roll) I didn't fail by much, they want you to be at 130 and I was 138. So she's very optimistic that I'll pass the 3 HOUR test. I'm just irritated I even have to take the 3 hr test! They will draw my blood 4 times in 3 hrs! And I have to sit in a stupid lab for 3 HOURS!!! As you can guess I'm not a happy camper about this! I think I'll eat nothing but meat, peanut butter, cheese and veggies for the next 4 days and then go take the test! Doesn't that sound delicious!?!?! So hopefully I'll go take the test again and everything will be great! That's what we are hoping and praying for.....do you want to say a prayer for me too? Thanks I appreciate it!

Also I was a little apprehensive about taking the test because all I've heard is how awful it is! The drink is nasty, the wait is torturous, etc, etc, etc. Well I just have to say I don't see what the fuss is all about! The drink tasted like a Gatorade. I brought a book so the hour went by quickly. It was no big deal! I was a little shocked when she went to draw my blood and had 5 viles! She just kept sucking the blood out of me!

I'm still feeling great! Massages and chiropractic really help my hip pain. Mostly the massages! Pepcid AC is my new best friend! It takes a minute but works much better then tums for heart burn and doesn't taste nasty! I laughed at my pregnant self the other day. I canned some cherries (post coming about that soon!) and after sitting at our tall dinning room table for hours with my feet dangling my feet had almost double in size! They were so swollen my toes couldn't even touch the floor! I laughed at that and then I laughed at my waddling self! I said to Brent I know now why pregnant women waddle! It's not a big belly, it's the big feet! LOL I really was so entertained by my pregnant self! Lets see if I'm still as amused 2 months from now :-D Also I felt him have hiccups for the first time the other day! Too cool! Although I hear that gets to be not so cool after awhile too! Things are great! Just praying I pass my test!

Workman Creek

We went camping not this past weekend but the weekend before. We had such a blast! It was so beautiful where we went. We planed the trip a while ago to "escape the heat" but the weather here has been really nice! We've barely topped 100 lately! So we weren't leaving excruciating heat but we did go enjoy the beautiful out doors! I think we found the most beautiful spot in all of AZ! Thank you Phil! We went with our good friends Heather and Phil. Our camp site was right next to a creek and it was up in the mountains and looked nothing like a desert! I think it even smelled better up there! We had fun fishing



While we were fishing Heather and I's tp (which was with us at all times seeing how we both have to pee at all times!) fell in the creek! We were both sitting in our chairs with our poles when it just fell and rolled down the rock right into the creek! It was just like a movie playing in slow motion! We both had stuff on our laps and couldn't jump to get it so mid sentence we stopped and just watched to go! SO SAD!!!! Heather went to retrieve it out of the creek, but it was a goner!





We also did some hiking,








as much as our prego bodies could take. Or maybe I should say my prego body! Heather was trucking along with no problems and two babies in her belly! We ate some good food, played some games. The boys did some shooting, or at least attempted to. That didn't work very well so they resorted to throwing rocks at the targets...balloons.




Young was the closest town. It has a booming population of 800 half of which are retirees! On the way we got a flat tire! So the boys fixed the car and Heather and I took pics! What else would we do! LOL


















When we were there we ate at Alice's Restaurant and Cantina.

The restaurant was attached to her house! It was an add on!


Yup that's a restaurant!! It was one of only two restaurants in the town. I think we chose the wrong one to try! We walked in and had to bat away flies to find the table! Then when we were ordering I asked the server what was on the quesadilla and she replied "Oh honey I'm not the person to ask!'' LOL then who is?!?!? So she went and asked Alice! The food was awful! But the view was awesome! And we needed food!! So it worked! Next time though we know to go to the other restaurant and hope it's better!
When we got back to camp from town our awning had blown away into the creek!!



We went down to retrieve it and found our watermelon missing!!! SOMEONE STOLE OUR WATERMELON!!! And you know there is one thing you should never do.....mess with a pregnant woman's food! I was ticked! And literally let out a very loud, moan/howl
"NOOOOOOOO NOT THE WATERMELON!!!!"
In retrospect it was quite melodramatic and over the top! But in the moment I was lamenting the theft of my delicious watermelon I had been waiting days to have! Don't think I got over it quickly either! I was still sad about it later that night!
We also went to two ranger stations at the very tops of two peaks!




The views were breath taking!



What else would you expect from this elevation!?!?!


The rangers are a special breed of man! They live up there for 6 months at a time! How boring and lonely! One of the rangers was smart and had a dog!
There was also a waterfall just up the road from our camp ground. It was so beautiful!







Over all it was just a great weekend!
To see the rest of the beautiful pics from the weekend go to our online photo album

Welcome to the World Cate Olivia

This is.......

Cate Olivia Skiba

Our newest niece! She is perfect and beautiful! She was born June 4th weighing 5 lbs 14.5 oz! So tiny! He big brother and sister just love her! It was so cute as I was visiting at the hospital and Kierstie said to me "I can hold her, want to see!" It was so cute to see them with her! I also cannot verbalize my gratitude in being pregnant! The last time I was at that hospital was when my cousin was born. It was also the exact same day I had gotten yet another negative pregnancy test. As strong as I thought I was going to be when my Uncle asked if I was doing ok I broke down crying in labor and delivery. How grateful I am to not have to repeat that situation! What a sweeter experience it was to know that my turn is coming very soon! I was almost brought to tears as I left the hospital expressing a prayer of gratitude in my heart! I'm so grateful for miracles! And cannot wait for our little miracle to arrive!

Max, Kierstie, and Cate

26 Weeks!

Well the pics were taken at 25 weeks but I'm at 26 now (yeah just a little behind in the blogging) I'm feeling more pregnant now. My feet and hands have started swelling. My hips have started waking me up at night but at least it's only at night and I don't have constant hip pain! I had a Dr. apt yesterday where everything was great! I got a prescription for my itchy rash! Maybe I won't wake myself up scratching my belly anymore! I love that I can feel Nutterbutter moving around all the time. I used to just be able to feel him kick but now I can feel him just moving around! Pretty great. Oh and just a moment of clarification my How Are You Feeling post was not intended as a complaining post. I just honestly think it's funny that there is so much of pregnancy that people never really talk about! Even though a lot of the things are uncomfortable and unpleasant I'm so grateful I get to experience them! There are some people who never do and I'm so glad I get to! And in the end I get a baby!!!!! Can't beat that for ROI!

We've got the garage and other closets in the house cleaned out in efforts to make room for Nutterbutter. Still trying to get everything out of the baby room so we can get everything into the baby room! It was pretty funny the other day at church Brent leans over to me and whispers

"Your 24 weeks now right?"
I respond "Ummm hummm"
"That means your in the 3rd trimester right?"
"Ummm hummm"
"Wow we really need to get that baby room ready!"
"UMMM HUMMMM"
It was really funny because I've been telling him this for quite a while. It was jut funny to see it click in his head! I can't wait to get it all cleared out and start painting and decorating! I have such a clear vision of how I want it to be! Now if I could just sell my piano and wedding dress!!

Small house +
Too much stuff +
Making room
for baby=

FOR SALE

This piano is very old and could be quite valuable if you had the time and money to put into restoring it. It is a numbered piano. It is old player piano, but the player part has been removed. There is no bench with it.
$500 OBO

Beautiful wedding dress

Beautiful, simple, elegant wedding dress. It has simple detailing of a small bow off centered to the left at the waist. Beautiful embroidery on small part of the skirt. Detailed buttons the length of the back of the dress. Size 0

$350 OBO

If you or anyone you know would be interested in either of these items just leave a comment on the post with your preferred contact info (phone, email, etc) and I will contact you. Please let anyone you know who may be interested in these items that I have them ava. We need to get rid of them! Thank you!