Dace's Tool Belt

Dancing in my PJs

Confessions of a pregnant lady

For the record- I would rather be in labor than deal with nausea.  Yes I am serious.  I would rather be having contractions and prepping to push out a baby than feel this constant yuck feeling and have no appetite.  This is so much worse than childbirth. 

Sometimes I feel like a real slacker.  Like everyone else is a trooper with morning sickness, can just power through it, function normally.  I have NO idea how women still work a full time job through this phase of pregnancy. 

Me- I have barely been off the couch or out of bed since Sunday.  If last week was a 3 or 4, the last few days have been a 8, possibly a 9, especially this morning. 

Last week I could still get up and get things done around the house.  Bit by bit of course and with lots of sit down breaks but this week...hardly anything.  The desire is there but i have just been so incredibly nauseous.  and then that crazy starvation every few hours.  NOTHING has piqued my appetite all week which, when you love food as much as i do, is nothing short of a travesty.  Even water has been a challenge to force myself to chug enough throughout the day. 

My ginger has lost its affect, peppermint only calms me for a few minutes.  The best thing that has helped is the real fruit popsicles.  Zade is officially addicted.  He LOVES helping me eat them.  Dace does too.  At least those will calm things down for 10-15 minutes. 

Today around 1pm I hit an all time low.  I was super nauseous, super starving and could think of nothing that sounded good enough to get up off the couch and force down my throat.  I turned into a pansy.  I almost cried for my mom, wanting her to come and take care of me.  I needed a nurse.  Someone to offer me food suggestions, coddle my whiny, whimpering ways, make me cinnamon buns and offer to go to the ends of the earth for anything that sounded remotely appealing enough for me to eat. 

Finally, as a testiment that miracles do exist, things started to turn around around 2-ish.  The nausea subsided and i began CRAVING this awesome bbq chicken salad from one of our favorite cafes.  Dallin was more than happy to get it for me as I took a quick bath and finally got out of my pjs. 

He dropped the salad off and took the boys to the park.  This salad is huge, like massive.  I thought it would last me the rest of the day.  wrong.  so very wrong.  I pounded it.  I don't know the last time something tasted that good.  I was eating so fast that halfway through, I had to take a break.  Actually having food of some substance hit my system skyrocketed my blood sugar level, leaving me a little shaky and with a mild headache.  After my body calmed down, I slowly devoured the rest of it, amazing Dallin beyond belief.  He thinks it's a 2 pound salad and I have had nothing more than a cup of food at a time since last week. 

So after my happy food coma enveloped me whole, I got off my sorry butt and slowly picked up the living room, did a load of laundry, vacuumed the main floor and dusted.  Then the boys got home.  And for the first time in days, I felt human.

My blessing Sunday night said this nausea would be quick and temporary.  I am hoping and praying that today's intensity was the grand finale.  Or at least the beginning to the end.  Do you know how much I have to do over the next few weeks?!

new house- walls to wash, walls to paint, rooms to clean
our house- the house to wash, everything to pack up
boys to entertain
a husband to feed
a talk to write
lessons to prep
businesses to work on, people to hire
etc etc etc

and that's why i have felt like a pansy.  I feel like everyone I know would have just sucked it up and got on with their to-do list but I caved and took a time out.  Thankfully Dallin has been home off and on this week and has been able to help out when needed.  For that, I am eternally grateful.

On another note, I keep thinking about twins.  Yup, the T word.  The weird thing is that I was thinking about them weeks before I even thought I might be pregnant.  The last few nights I have had to get up TWICE to eat a snack because my stomach was growling so bad, I could not fall asleep without eating.  I never had to do that with the boys.  Does my body need that many extra calories because there are two little ones growing in there?  Maybe it's just another extra- estrogen thing or maybe it's just all in my head.  Time will tell. 

okay, I'm done now.  Thanks for listening.

The Dean Team

is expanding!!!!!

ETA for baby #3 is mid-November 2011.

So.....this was a surprise.  I didn't believe the first test and asked Dallin to go buy a digital one, just to make sure it was correct.  And yes, it was. 

This wasn't planned.  In fact, we had planned on not even talking about another baby until the end of summer.  But somehow it happened anyway and it must be meant to be because Dace and Zade are 21 months apart and Zade and baby3 will be 21 months apart as well. 

We are hoping for a girl but of course we will  be happy with either a happy, healthy, beautiful boy or girl. 

Another sign that it is meant to be is....

We are moving!!!!!!

Back to the island!

Into a house!



Yup, tis true.  Here's the story.

Our lease is up at the end of April.  We were content on staying here as long as our rent didn't go up.  They wanted to increase it $100; Dallin talked them down to $50.  So we were fine with that.....for a day or so.

Then it kind of started bothering Dallin that they would raise it at all.  We've been here 2 years, have never had complaints, do all our repairs etc ourselves.  We're golden renters.  Why would they want to boost our rent?  So he wanted to start looking around.  Plus the boys are starting to get cabin fever in this place, being in the same 1 living room all day.  The patio has been a lifesaver but getting too small for the two of them and playing on the grounds here is not an option because everyone has dogs here and the majority refuse to clean up after them.  You can't walk on the grass around here without a huge risk of stepping in dog scat. 

We had one community on the island that we were really interested in.  Our friends from church live in it and we asked if they had anyone in their townhome, just down the block from their house.  They did but they said they would keep their ears open for us.  Sunday at church, they told us that a renter across the street had been evicted and the house needed a lot of work, so much that the homeowner was thinking about just letting the bank take it.  Knowing that Dallin can pretty much do any home repairs on his own, our friends thought we might be able to work a deal with the owner. 

A few days later, we went and looked at it.  I was bracing myself for the worst after hearing the stories but it wasn't as bad as I imagined.  Mostly cosmetic work.  So we made an offer- if he replaced all the carpets, we would paint the whole interior and Dallin would do some tile work on our own dollar.  He jumped at the deal.  We had two neighbors vouching for us which made him more excited to get decent renters into his property. 

The house has:

4 bedrooms

3 baths

a den

a back yard!!!

garage

huge, spacious kitchen!

over 2500  sq. feet

and a community pool just down the block

We started cleaning three days ago.  we hope to start painting next week and the carpet will be replaced in 3-4 weeks.  Then we will start moving in.  He's not charging us rent until May 1 since we are still on lease here which is another perk and he is willing to give us a deal on the rent in exchange for the work we'll have put into it as well as just having good, trustworthy tenants. 

We are really excited about it.  They boys have a big room to share, we still have a guest room and the fourth smaller room will make a perfect nursery.  The den is also big enough for us to set up another bed in case we have lots of company at the same time. 

So that is our project for the next few weeks.  As well as Dallin having 3 other paint bids to do, plus we are just a couple weeks away from getting our 2 new businesses up and running.  So yeah, why not throw morning sickness on top of all that?!  It makes it even more fun to get it all done.  But we are!

Back to baby for a moment- I don't know if it's true that women tend to have a difference in their pregnancies when carrying a boy or girl but I have noticed a few. 

With the boys, the very thought of seafood made me dry heave at this stage.  But all I crave right now is shrimp and crab.  Even the tuna sandwiches at the store today made my mouth water.  how weird is that?! 

With the boys, I never turned into a sappy, crying-all-the-time pregnant woman but I have been more emotional the last couple weeks (even before I knew) than usual and need more hugs and snuggles from Dallin to get through the day. 

My 'morning' sickness is the same though- mild but almost constant day and night, a wave hitting what feels like every 6 minutes.  Thank goodness for dried ginger and mint mentos.  When I get hungry, which is almost every two hours, I have to eat within 10 minutes or feel likeI am going to morph into the wolfman.  Seriously!  It's intense!  Dallin has learned this from the last 2- feed me without any delay or hesitation or be sorry!

Lastly, there is a girls name in my head that will not leave.  Zade's name popped into my head the moment I found out I was carrying him.  Perhaps this will be the same way.  But I would love some girl middle name options.  We're leaning towards a french origin and I have a few but nothing that I really, really love. 

In all honesty, I am staying completely neutral about the sex until the ultrasound because I don't want to count on a girl then feel let down if its a boy.  Not that I'd be disappointed but you get what I'm saying.  It is fun to look forward to having another sweet pea to join our crew.  These boys will be the best big brothers ever.  But the thought of having 3 kids before Christmas does suck the air out of my lungs- it's easier to think, next year we'll be having a baby.  Nope, it's only months away and before this year is up.  crazy!!!

Okay, I have to go chug 2 glasses of water and pop a mentos now....

Sweets

I was changing Dace into shorts and a tee this afternoon when he turned to look at me and said, "I love your face."   "Awwwww,bubba,"  I said, on the verge of tears.  He continued- "Your face really pretty."

Doesn't he look soooooo cozy and comfy?  This was Sunday morning when he slept in super late.  I don't blame him.  I wanted to crawl in there with him and cuddle in his little nest of snuggly blankets.  Finally, at 9:10, I couldn't wait any longer and had to pull him out to get to church on time.

Lastly, a little clip of Dace's new jig.  He danced this for several minutes before i taped it, hence the stitch.

cupboards

Both boys love this cupboard.  Dace discovered it when he was about Zade's age and loved playing in it.  Now the tradition has been passed on.  Zade had been playing for about 5 minutes like this before I popped up and got a few seconds of it recorded.  Slowly but surely this little boy is starting to entertain himself.  See the mini goose egg on his forehead?  his first one-got it at the park today.  

Brotherly Love

I guess I've been on a bit of a photo shoot kick as of late.  But that's a good thing, right?  More is better when it comes to photos, in my opinion. 

So have I ever mentioned that I love shutterfly?  I love that site and the products you can make on there.  I also love that I can cash in my pampers codes to get free stuff from Shutterfly.  I recently cashed some in for what I thought was getting a credit for thank you cards.  I had this cute idea in my head for making a card with the boys on it.  Friday I did the shoot then spent at least an hour designing and redesigning the card to get it how I wanted it.  Perfect!  Went to order and my credit was NOT for thank you cards but for plain jane stationary sheets.  ugh!  I still want the cards but they are a little pricey and it's not in the budget at the moment. 

If anyone has a code for free thank you cards from shutterfly and would like to trade, please let me know!

Here are the pics.  Without an assistant, it was hard to get the right focus and keep Zade happy and on the stool etc etc etc.  But I love the close bond it captures in these boys.  They are such great brothers. 

Twinners!

I have been waiting for Zade to get a hair cut so I could make twin ties for the boys.  I whipped these up last night.  They need a little tweaking - I used elastic since I was surprisingly out of velcro and prefer the velcro band.  Zade was yanking his out all of church and between that and chewing on it, I pretty much have to revive it and re make it tomorrow.  Then make the neck bands smaller for both. 

I snapped these pretty much while heading out the door this morning.  Zade had been awake for 3 hours and was wanting a nap but not wanting to take one and so his patience for his brother and my photo taking was slim.  This is the best I could do. 

The Cupcake Contest

Our library had their first Cupcake Challenge today and I entered. 

This is my Smore cupcake- graham cracker and chocolate on the bottom, chocolate cake, more crumbs on top then a marshmallow frosting toasted with a kitchen torch, all made from scratch. 

Prizes were awarded to the prettiest cupcake, tastiest and most unique, as well as a kids only contest.  I thought I had a good shot at winning the prettiest because that is what everyone called it when they came by. 

But alas, I came home empty handed. 

But that's okay.  I had fun and got a lot of great compliments from everyone and no complaints from those who ate a sample. 

This would be a great refreshment for a camp organization meeting so if anyone wants the recipe, I will gladly pass it on.  The homemade marshmallow is crazy good!  So is the rest of the cupcake. 

the new look

We've gone from this:

To this: