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Snippets

I'm not sure how Claire ended up as cute as she is, because Justin and I...we're not that cute. But Claire is adorable. She's other things too, like smart...and funny...and stubborn...and fearless. But she was just being particularly cute this day.

On Tuesday, we had another OB appointment and an ultrasound. The baby boy is definitely a baby BOY. I'm measure big again. I have 22 cm of amniotic fluid. The normal range is 5-25 cm, so while I'm still in the normal range, I'm in the upper normal range which means they want to keep an eye on it. I had extra amniotic fluid with Claire too, so I'm pretty sure it's just the way I am when pregnant.

In addition to the freezer cooking extravaganza that I did last weekend, I also have 3 crockpot meals, 4 dozen homemade cookie dough balls, a quart of chili, and 4 other casseroles from times where I split a casserole (frozen half, ate half for dinner) in my freezer. Perhaps I should stop freezing so much food? That's 27 main dishes that I already have frozen to eat sometime between now and March. But I still wanted to freeze a couple of soups (to have for lunches) and waffles (as an easy breakfast) and cinnamon rolls (just because they are delicious).

For reasons that I can't quite explain, I have been watching The OC again. It isn't available on Netflix which is really sad, but The WB has seasons 1 & 5 available to stream. Season 1 was the best season anyways. But their commercials are really obnoxious.

We've finally started painting the kids' rooms in preparation for moving everyone around to make room for the baby. We also ordered carpet, although we haven't set up an installation date yet. But soon, very soon, we will hopefully have all the kids in their new rooms and a nursery yet up for the baby boy. Anaya gets to have a pink & purple room the next time she is here since we painted it Claire's colors, but we're not moving furniture until after the carpet...I'm sure she'll LOVE it...

A New Water Heater

It is amazing the difference a new water heater makes. We knew ours was old - original to the house - so about 18 yrs old. And that we were slowly getting less hot water and the water we did get wasn't as hot, but you know, it was gradual and so we didn't notice how bad it had gotten until it had gotten REALLY bad. Plus we have extremely hard water, so we figured a portion of our tank was full of sediment build up.

As my mom and I started talking about Christmas presents for this year, she asked if we wanted her to get us a hot water heater, which I kind of agreed to and then thought about and then said sure and then thought about, because we needed one but with a new baby coming there are lots of things we need (like a car seat) that are important too. But then I started paying more attention to how much hot water we really got from our hot water heater. First it was the showers in the morning that rapidly cooled off even though ideally it would be full of hot water since none had been used since the night before. Then it was not having enough hot water to fill the tub for Claire's bath.

So, we decided that a hot water heater was necessary. Mom was researching how to get Home Depot to install it but we weren't in a huge hurry because it was only October. Then last night, I was washing dishes and had to heat water in the microwave to get the water HOT instead of half a sink of lukewarm water. After which I called my mom and asked if we could please have our hot water heater NOW.


The installation company had an opening today (Friday), and now we have hot water. Lots of hot water. Lovely awesome amazing hot water. And actual HOT water...not just lukewarm water.

So the lesson is, hot water heaters are not really meant to last 18 years. And when you notice that you can no longer fill the tub before the water gets cold, it's time to replace that thing because it much such a difference!

Around Here...

Working on getting caught up on Project Life. Last week I did was August 12-18, I have pictures picked for the weeks since then, but I still need to plan the layouts, resize pictures and order them.

Planning for the new baby in January and EVERYTHING that needs to be done before then.

Getting into a routine for Claire's school year.

Calling Justin on the phone from upstairs to the basement because I don't want to walk that far.

Missing carbs! My doctor told me to cut back on my carbs and I miss them so much.

Watching Burn Notice on NetFlix. Or at least I was until Justin started watching it without me. Now I've lost all desire to watch it.

Feeling the little man starting to kick...or hit...or something.

And...I'm Back...

That was a little break...for (most of June and) the entire month of July (and half of August)!

Summer has been all about being lazy this year. I haven't worked on Project Life since the middle of June. My summer fun list didn't really happen.

Claire took four weeks worth of swimming lessons. She might have learned something. She didn't drown. And I didn't go insane.

We took a 10 day vacation to Colorado. It ended up including a lovely visit to an ER because Claire came down with a cold AND two ear infections AND a little bit of altitude sickness. Actually, by the end of the trip, we had all come down with the cold. My brother & dad started it though.

We did not use our swim pass nearly enough. But it also wasn't in the upper 90s most days. Compared to last summer, this summer has been lovely.

We found out we're going to have another baby. I thought I'd just slide that in real quick like you wouldn't notice. Due in January a whole 6 days after Claire's birthday. Let's just hope they don't have the same birthday.

Apparently being pregnant makes me tired. And makes any cold that I get turn into a nasty multiple week cough. It is great fun.

Both kiddos have started school. Claire is in Pre-K again. Anaya is in 8th grade! Seriously, when did she get so old?!?

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School is almost out for the year! Less than a week for Claire and two more weeks for Anaya. I'm really looking forward to summer. We've already signed Claire up for swim lessons and we got a family swim pass so that we can go to the pool, without having to stay long enough to make it worth the daily price. The Ice Cream man already knows our cul-de-sace and the one across from ours will buy Ice Cream and makes at least one trip through Friday, Saturday & Sunday.

We actually planted our vegetable garden this year. I ended up buying two tomato plants at the Farmer's Market but everything else is from seed. I'm so excited to see what will actually grow. I still need to plant the garden beans, but I'll probably get that done this weekend.



Anaya got Claire hooked on the Scooby-Doo, Mystery Incorporated cartoon, possibly not the most appropriate cartoon for a 4 year old, but not terrible. Then I checked out Seasons 1 & 2 of the original Scooby Doo from the library.

I joined a gym in April and have been faithfully going 4 times per week. Sometimes after my workout I treat myself to a Candy Bar Craving Smoothie, so yummy and it will fill me up until 3 or 4 in the afternoon!

Anaya is playing softball again. She has games twice a week in the evening, but we haven't gone to any yet. Once Claire is out of school so we don't have to worry as much about getting her to bed on time, we'll probably make the trek out there to see at least a couple of games.

around here...

We've been playing in the snow...a lot. We experienced Blizzard of Oz and got about 10 inches of snow - it's been almost 2 yrs since we've truly had a snow storm. This lead to a four day weekend! Which was nice, but I'm ready to get back to real life and Blizzard of Oz part 2 is on the way tomorrow!

I'm working on catching up with Project Life. Posting 2 weeks & Ordering 3 weeks worth of pictures.

We're looking into some different programs for Claire to be involved in with the school next year.

I'm reading lots of silly chick-lit. Currently reading Friendship Bread, and just finished I've Got Your Number (it's was predictable and unrealistic, but cute).

After hearing so many people talk about them, I watched Season 1 of Downton Abbey and Season 1 & 2 of Arrested Development. I really liked Season 1 of Downton Abbey, but I haven't been able to get into Season 2, I've watched the first 2 episodes and I just don't care that much. Arrested Development is funny, love that it is all on Netflix, so I just watch 3 or so episodes before bed. Thanks to our lovely public library, Justin has been catching up on all the episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Claire is obsessed with LaLaLoopsy's and I think they are taking over my house.

Of the 9 fish and two dwarf frogs that I bought for our new fish tank, 6 fish and 1 frog are still alive AND they have been for over two weeks!!! I didn't know it, and the pet store people didn't tell me, but Neon Tetras are good "starter" fish, so the three fish that died were all Neon Tetras, although two of them are still with us. Then I had two frogs, one was bigger than the other and the smaller one just died. Not sure why... but now whenever I don't see the big one move for a day I start freaking out that he is dead.