It's A Girl!

Do I have any medical proof to back up this claim? Well, not actually. But the Vietnamese lady who does my nails, told me so last night. She did the "ring" test on me. You take your wedding band (or anyone's wedding band...doesn't have to be yours) and put a string through the opening to suspend it in the air. Gently tap your palm with the band 9 times and then hold the string up with the band hanging over your palm. If the ring starts to move in and a back-and-forth movement, it's a boy. If the ring moves in a circular motion, it's a girl.

You have to follow those steps for each child you have or are having, including miscarriages. So since I already have 2 children and one on the way, we did the process 3 times.

First the ring moved in a back-and-forth motions....a boy for Ayden. After 9 more taps on my palm it moved in a back-and-forth motion again...a boy for Jameson. After 9 more taps on my palm it moved in a CIRCULAR motion...a girl!!!

Okay, so you may have your doubts as to how reliable this all is. I did too. Judy has had 3 children (girl, girl & boy) so I asked if I could do it to her. First the ring moved in a circular motion, then again in a circular motion and then finally back-and-forth. Weird!!!

So after this medical breakthrough while getting my nails done last night, I'm convinced I'm having a girl. Don't rain on my parade people. But just to prove to you that this is quite a reliable way to determine your baby's sex, I'll prove it to you after my ultrasound on 6/16 when they are unable to find a penis on the baby growing in my tummy.

Ground Beef 'n' Biscuits

This one's for you mom:)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 cans (8oz each) tomato sauce
1 10oz package frozen peas
1 tube refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (I used the flaky layers biscuits)
4oz shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. In a skillet over medium heat cook beef, celery and onion until meat is no longer pink and celery is tender; drain.
2. Stir in the flour, salt, oregano and pepper until blended
3. Add tomato sauce and peas; simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer to a greased 13x9x2 baking dish.
4. Seperate biscuits; arrange over beef mixture and sprinkle with cheese.
5. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes for until biscuits are golden and cheese is melted.

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

You've all been so patient...thank you. Now, run out and buy all the ingredients and make this sinful side dish this weekend. I could make an entire meal out of it!!!

Ingredients:
6 medium unpeeled potatoes, baked (I cheated and cooked mine in the microwave to save time)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1lb sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled
3 cups (24oz) sour cream (I only used 2 cups and it turned out perfect)
8oz shredded mozzarella cheese
8oz shredded cheddar cheese
2 green onions, chopped

Directions:
Cut baked potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Place half in a greased 13x9x2 baking dish. Sprinkle with half of the salt, pepper and bacon. top with half of the sour cream and cheeses. Repeat layers. Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with green onion and serve.

Lots of Stuff

1. No, I haven't downloaded my photos yet. I know...pathetic. I'm actually scared to download my photos at this point. I've got about 1 1/2 months worth on my camera and I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed. I'm not making any promises, but I'm going to try and get to it this weekend. Maybe Saturday while the boys are napping.

2. You can tell all of our family is back in Wisconsin. Jason began his crazy 15 hour days again yesterday. Out the door at 6:30am and not home until 9:30pm. Poor guy. I've been warned that the next month will be like this. Oh joy.

3. It's officially summer. At least in my book it is. When I'm on my way to work at 6:45am and it's already 75 degrees outside, it's summer. With Jason's work schedule I see the the boys and I spending lots of time at my parent's house...in the pool. Look out mom!

4. Jameson can spell. Well, not technically...but pretty darn close. I woke up Monday morning to him pointing at my chest and saying a bunch of gibberish. I tried to get him to lay back down but he was being very persistent. After realizing that he wasn't going to let me go back to sleep, I started to pay attention to what he was saying. I had on a "HELP, I'm addicted to scrapbooking" t-shirt on and he was saying the letters. H....E....L....P. I almost died of shock! My two year old baby that can barely talk, was rattling off the letters on my shirt. Where did he learn to do that? So I asked Marguerite yesterday if they've been working with flash cards or something and she said yes. In fact, both Ayden and Jameson can identify all of the letters in the alphabet, colors, shapes and numbers. I knew that Ayden had already learned most of this stuff through school, but I was very surprised to hear about Jameson.

5. The beauty is being sucked out of me. While pregnant with the boys everyone would say that I had that "glow" about me. My skin was so clear and my hair was nice and shiny. Now everyone says that I look tired. They ask me how I'm doing with sympathy in their voice. I now have these two dry patches on my eye lids. I keep trying to moisturize them, but they remain flaky. I do great during the morning and then sometime after noon, the nausea kicks in. So, I heard from a reliable source that there's this old wives tale that if one is pregnant with a girl, the beauty gets sucked out of them. This is my story and I'm sticking to it.

6. I haven't had Diet Pepsi in about 3 weeks. Not by choice. I just can't stomach anything carbonated right now, especially dark sodas. So I've been living off of water and lemonade with the random Freska thrown in every once in a while.

7. This Sunday is Scrap Club. I'm pretty excited about it since I had to bale early last month due to my bad back. I managed to get one layout done and then I had to have Jason pick me up. Serious bummer. But I'm back in the groove and ready to tackle a fun project this weekend...an acrylic album that we cut out using my mom's AccuCut dies. Fun stuff!

8. I'm back at the gym. I had to. After a one month hiatus, I realized that there's no way I'm going to gain minimal weight during this pregnancy by sitting on my butt all of the time. So yesterday I went over with my boss and another co-worker for the Body Blast class. Holy shit! I don't think I've EVER done that many squats and lunges. I couldn't even stay for the arms because my legs were turning to mush. This morning I woke up and practically collapsed when my legs hit the floor. I was planning on hitting the treadmill today for a little cardio, but I think I'd fall right off. Tomorrow is Body Blast again, but with a different trainer. Apparently Peter works your abs and arms more than Brian so I think I stand a good chance of making it through the class. And for all of you who are concerned about working out while pregnant...I okay'd it with my OBGYN. It's healthier for me and baby if not tooooooo much weight is gained and it's also good for my SI joint.

Okay, that's enough for now. I'm sure I bored you all enough for one day:)

Working my way back to "normal"

Whatever "normal" is. I actually don't think Jason and I have experienced normal since Ayden's birth almost 4 years ago. Normal for us used to be coming home from work, plopping my butt on the couch to wait for Jason to get home from work, when he would then slam open the door and yell out "Bitch, make me a chicken potpie". Okay, so he never actually said that...unless he was joking.

I guess normal for me is getting up at 4:45am to get ready for the day. Get the kids dressed and drive them to Marguerite's. Make my way through morning rush hour to the Chamber and put in a nice 8 hour day. Pick up the kids, make dinner, sing the ABC's throughout bath time and then finally plop my butt on the couch for snuggle time before tucking them into bed. And if there's some time in there to load the dishwasher and fold a load of laundry, then it's a even more successful day! Believe it or not, I'm looking forward to getting back to that type of normal after the past couple of months of feeling sick and overly tired. I feel like I've been standing still watching life zoom by me. We'll, I'm ready to jump back into life and normal as I know it.

Part of getting back to normal is resuming my ferocious appetite. Now that the nausea is making an exit, I'm starting to enjoy food again. What made all of my hard work in preparing for our conference all worth is was the fabulous catered meals I got to enjoy. Yesterday topped the charts. Jason's Deli catered breakfast with a beautiful fruit tray, pastries and breakfast sandwiches. By the time I digested breakfast it was on to lunch. We had this sinful shrimp/wild rice dish, grilled chicken in a marsala sauce, a potato casserole thing and green beans. I was in heaven! I was even more thrilled when I found out the caterers brought to-go boxes with them for leftovers. I packed mine to the brim so Debbie and the boys would have a yummy lunch today. In the refrigerator, I found left over Jason's Deli breakfast sandwiches so I loaded a zip lock baggie with 3 sandwiches for them to have for breakfast today as well.

As I was walking to the parking garage with my arms loaded down with food (I forgot to mention the tub of mini-brownies I confiscated), I ran into a homeless man. Now, under normal circumstances...not pregnant, not exhausted from the conference and not as crabby...I may have given him all of the leftovers (except the brownies) and felt like a caring person. But I am pregnant, and I was exhausted and crabby and not feeling very generous. So I walked past him with my loot and proceeded to the elevators. And you know what? I still don't feel guilty. Debbie and the kids will be eating well today and that's all that matters.

Back to the whole getting back to normal thing...I'm really going to try hard to download/edit all my photos this weekend. I'm still trying to scan in the ultrasound pictures but I think half the problem is that there isn't much to scan. Seriously! It's like a black void with this little white bean that's only 2.5 inches long. Not a whole lot to look at. But don't fret my beloved readers. I have another ultrasound scheduled for 6/16 and I bet there will be more to look at then.

Okay, enough chatter. I'm off to process payroll. Have a great Memorial Day weekend!!!

Woo Hoo!

As of 2:30pm, the Epicor Conference was OVER! You have no idea how happy that makes me!!

5,488 copies made
5 hours spent assembling the event bags
41 bound books
10 hours spent binding the books
41 circulations around a table to assemble the 990 package
4 hours spent running errands (most of it sitting in traffic)
2 1/2 hours spent sitting in the hallway after they sprayed my office for ants
0 alcohol consumption

Seriously so excited it's all over. It wasn't easy last night watching everyone enjoy glass after glass of wine. The closest I got was when Paul spilled a bit on my napkin. I almost stuck it in my mouth to suck it off!

I'll be back to regular blogging tomorrow. I've got over a month's worth of pictures to download and edit. I'm trying to get my ultrasound pictures scanned in, but they're not looking so hot. I'll try again from home.

Always in a rush!

Edited: Ayden is a huge faker! I called Debbie to check up on him while driving to my appointment. He had a miraculous recovery and wanted to resume normal activity at Marguerite's. Too bad little man! So he's spending the rest of the day at home with Mima and mommy canceled his appointment. My appointment went well. I don't care how many times you do it, to hear your baby's heartbeat for the first time is an absolute miracle! I've got my next 3 appointments scheduled and now I need to make an appointment with Dr. Korotkin (perinatologist). Oh, and they changed my due date to 12/26 after the ultrasound. Dr. McSwain just laughed and said due dates don't mean a thing to me...I'm always early. She's got a point:)

leaving in 20 minutes for my first OB appointment at 11am

excited to see baby whozit for the first time

then have to rush home to a sick Ayden

his appointment is at 1:45

really hoping it's nothing serious

tomorrow is his last day of school

really hoping that he doesn't have to miss out on "Bike Day"

There really is such a thing as too much of a good thing

Oh yes there is. And I'm suffering right now because I've EATEN too much of a good thing. I made dinner last night for us mommies (Deb, Debbie and yours truly). Stuffed tenderloin, twice baked potato casserole, grilled green beans and homemade cheesecake. It was the first time I made the twice baked potato casserole and it was super yummy. I was so excited about all of the leftovers! So I brought the entire container of said leftovers to work with me today. I simply couldn't wait for lunch so I heated up about half the contents for breakfast this morning. Yum, Yum. It was even better the second day! So for lunch I thought...why the heck not? There's nothing wrong with devouring such a high caloric dish for 3 meals in a row!

I'm dying folks! I stupidly shunned my maternity pants today and decided to wear "normal" work clothes. Stupid! My pants are now cutting off the circulation to the poor little baby trying to develop in my tummy. And speaking of maternity pants...I'm in complete shock that I should even be wearing them at this early stage! I know that as you have more and more and more children, your body just knows what to do and jumps right into second trimester mode after taking the pregnancy test but I'm just not ready yet. No, having to dig out the maternity clothes at 8 weeks is not exactly giving me the time to accept that I may very likely have THREE little boys running around my house. Do you know the two that I have now??? Then you can totally understand why the thought of three of them makes me want to go hide in the closet.

Okay, enough about crazy little boys that get into everything...including fire ants and the pan of scalding hot fluff for our stuffed tenderloin. Let's go back to the twice baked potato casserole. Do you like potatoes? Do you like cheese and sour cream? Do you faint over an entire pound of bacon cooking on the griddle? If so, come back tomorrow for this dreamy recipe. I'd post it today but I left the cookbook at home and quite honestly...if I had to write down the ingredients and go over the directions in detail right now, I may hurl in my newly carpeted office. I also think my CFO would frown upon the hurling part. So tomorrow it will go up...while I'm wearing some loose maternity pants and eating fruit and a salad for lunch.

News, news and more news

So as the idea that we're actually going to have 3 babies in our house sinks in, I received a lovely email from my sister. She's very encouraging...especially since she has 3 children of her own. Or should I say 4? Oh yes, my sister and brother-in-law are expecting their 4th child at Thanksgiving! This came as fantastic news since I've always wanted to be pregnant at the same time as my sister, but it never worked out that way. Now we're due just one month apart from each other!!! The only thing that could make this more crazy is if my brother and his wife happened to get pregnant soon too. I think I heard a rumor somewhere that they're working on it.

In other news, today is Jameson's birthday. When did my goober decide he could turn 2 on me? Jason and I woke him up this morning to a very off-key version of the happy birthday song. Ayden wanted to know where the cake was. Jameson is completely oblivious. I think we'll take him out for dinner tonight (any excuse for mommy not to make dinner right now) and we'll celebrate this weekend with cake and ice cream. We sort of learned our lesson with Ayden that a big birthday party at the age of 2 isn't exactly necessary.

Yesterday I had an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon about my back. About 3-4 times a year, my back acts up. I'd been seeing a chiropractor for my pain, but after dishing out thousands of dollars to them over the past couple of years, I decided to get a second opinion. So I had xrays done on my lower back and hips (while I was pregnant but didn't know that I was pregnant so it's really not my fault) and got a referral to see a specialist. Good thing I made that appointment because on Sunday I experienced the most painful back spasm ever while picking up the vacuum cleaner that Jameson had tipped over. I spent most of Sunday and all of Monday in bed. I seriously couldn't move. Dr Perry was nice enough to inform me that all of my disks look normal, it isn't nerve damage and no, I don't need hip replacement. Apparently I have right SI joint inflammation. The SI joint is what connects your hip to your pelvis. Um, ouch. So this joint is extremely inflamed right now and because I'm pregnant the only option for me is physical therapy. If I don't get this under control soon, I'm going to be in big trouble as the baby gets larger. I don't do well with pain so I'll be starting my physical therapy asap.

Ayden is officially a super cool bunk bed dude. My absolutely adorable and loving friend Chere, donated her son's bunk bed to us. I don't think he'll miss it too much since he's now 21, but it was still extremely generous of her. With a new baby joining the household, we have no choice but to put the boys together in Ayden's room. We are apparently missing few pieces to the bed, but managed to get it put together well enough that Ayden slept in the top bunk last night. Both of the boys love going up and down the ladder. I was a little worried that Ayden would wake up in the middle of the night and not know how to get out of bed, but I never heard a peep. He got some serious high fives and hugs from mommy this morning for being such a big boy.

Other than that, all is going well. Jason is tied up with Tyler Perry's new studio for the next year so that pretty much guarantees that there won't be any out of town work for a while. I'm trying to get settled in my new (much smaller) office but am moving slowly because of my back. I feel the urge the throw up ALL OF THE TIME, but haven't actually thrown up. I managed to make dinner last night to my family's surprise and I had enough energy to help Jason completely rearrange the boys' bedroom. Now if only I could finish the mounds of laundry, clean the kitchen and do the ironing. Jason's mom flies in this Friday for a 2 week visit and my dad/Mary Joy fly in next Friday for 4 days. It's going to be a packed house but we're looking forward to having everyone here.

Back to unpacking for me. Now that I'm sitting across from the CFO my "personal" time at work may be cut down some. He's already hinted that I could put the can of Pledge on my desk to use in his office. Someone needs to tell him that I'm already the payroll accountant/HR assistant....I don't have room in my day to take care of him too. Yeah, right!

Fresh Start

I feel like today is a fresh start for me. I haven't been feeling well for the past 2 weeks so I haven't gotten a lot done at home. The laundry is piling up, the sink is full of dirty sippy cups, I haven't cooked a real meal in over a week and I'm starting to feel pathetic. I can't feed my babies turkey or peanut butter sandwiches for one more meal.

So today is my fresh start. While my office is being relocated, I'm going to clean my house, do all of the laundry and plan meals for the next week. Our refrigerator is going to hold more than bread, milk, juice and eggs. My kids are not going to have to make the decision between chicken nuggets or a cheeseburger for at least 2 weeks (nail night equals McDonalds). I'm getting out of my slump and back in the game!

Come tomorrow, I'm going to be able to enjoy my day with my family because mommy won't feel overwhelmed with a huge to-do list.

Have a great weekend everyone! I sure plan on it:)

Where does he come up with this stuff?

First of all, thanks for all of the well wishes. Reality is starting to sink in for me as I battle a queasy sensation all day. Funny, just 2 weeks ago I thought this queasiness was from drinking too much Diet Coke at the Scrap Etc. Event! I had no idea that it was because I was actually pregnant. I never really got morning sickness with Ayden or Jameson so this is all new for me.

Okay, enough of that. I just had to tell ya'll something funny that Ayden said last night. I have no idea where he gets this stuff from but it had me practically rolling on the floor after their bath.

Me: Ayden, time to get your pull up and PJ's on.
Ayden: Okay mommy.
Me: Don't forget Lightning McQueen goes on the front. This is how he knows which way his pull up goes on.
Ayden: Putting his hand out in the "stop" gesture he says Hold on ladies...this is man's work.

I couldn't help but bust out laughing. When Jason got home I was trying to tell him what Ayden had said as we were putting the boys to bed. Ayden whipped it out again and it was Jason's turn to laugh hysterically. Kids pick up the weirdest things!

I totally slacked on posting pictures of Jameson for his birthday countdown. Next time, I think I'll only commit to a week instead of an entire month. Way too much pressure for me otherwise.

Tomorrow we have the day off because of the big move. I still have a ton to pack up today. It's sure going to be weird walking into a new office on Monday but it's also going to be exciting. A new office with a new view of the park. I'm not sure how I feel about sitting across from the CFO though. Maybe it won't be as bad as I think it'll be...he's really not in the office that much with all of his meetings and long lunches:)

Okay, time to get my butt in gear!