In case you missed it…
…watch it NOW.
Barack Obama’s DNC Speech in full.
In Belly News…
…we had another ultrasound today. Everything appears to be just fine inside, so the spotting may or may not continue but will do what it does unexplained. I may just be one of those women who bleeds throughout a pregnancy.
So things in there look good, and we might have an idea about gender!!
And more
More death in the family. A cousin a few days ago (sudden illness, I think), and a not-yet-3-month-old cousin on Tuesday (most likely SIDS, I’m told).
I’m having trouble keeping track, but I’m pretty sure this brings the count to 10, starting with my mother. So 10 deaths in 3 months.
It’s all overwhelming.
I woke up upset anyway, too. I had a dream about my mom, and I was fighting with her. I woke up feeling guilty about it, and all I wanted to do was call her.
I do sometimes talk to her, but it’s so hard to do that because I start to completely break down. And when that happens, it really scares JR. I don’t want to scare him, so I talk to her more when I’m alone. He’ll come up to me, put his hand on my head, and say “No cry.” That just breaks my heart, and makes him incredibly upset when I cry, so I try not to in front of him.
I think I was fighting with her in my dream because I’m angry that she’s not here. And that makes me feel guilty too because I feel so selfish for wanting her here with ME when she was ready to go.
I’m really worried about my aunt. She’s having a hard time with all of the deaths, and I don’t want to see her lose her light, her will to stay. And as much as she loves talking to me, I know that it hurts her too in ways I can’t describe.
I’ve just been railing at god, and I just want to know why. Why all of this. Why now. And I know I won’t get any answers.
The Bestest Sippy
We’ve been using this sippy with JR for a few weeks now, and I can’t praise it enough! We got so sick of the plastic ones that inevitably always ended up smelling like leached chemicals, so we threw all of them out and got a few of these. Now I can’t wait to have a few of these for water bottles for me!
Clean up on these sippies is seriously easy, and JR loves them so much. I can’t believe that it took us so long to switch to these.
Here they are:
Next up, more Sigg water bottles — we need enough for JR, Sprout, John, and me. Oh, and a big thank you to Jenn for giving JR his very first Sigg! He loves it too! (JR has the yellow one with the alligator on it.)
Homemade Vegetable Soup
Also known as — what’s in the fridge and cupboards that I can throw together into a yummy meal? Here’s what I threw in:
1 cup chopped green onion (like 5 of them, whites included)
1 cup chopped carrots (about 2 large)
1 cup chopped celery (about 3 long stalks)
1 can diced tomatoes, with liquid
3 cloves minced garlic
1 can black beans, drained
1 can great northern beans, drained
4-1/2 cups water
1 to 1-1/2 tbsp salt (I eyeball it in my palm)
2 tsp black pepper
1 capful Mrs. Dash
1 palmful of dried parsley (about 1 tbsp)
1/3 palmful of dried oregano (about 1 tsp)
1/3 palmful of dried basil (about 1 tsp)
~~~
1 can corn
1 can green beans
1 can baby sweet peas
1 to 1-1/2 cup uncooked cavatappi (or any other small-ish pasta)
additional water to suit preferenceI combined all of the first portion of ingredients in a big pot, brought to a boil, then simmered until the carrots were tender — about 20 minutes. I then added the rest of the ingredients, brought back to a boil, then simmered until the pasta is al dente — about 10-15 minutes.
It smells and tastes so great!!!!
Bleeding Update
Ok, here’s the update!
I went to see my OB yesterday — what he said is that I’ve still got BV, and it may have aggravated the cervix enough to (insert medical jargon I can’t remember here) that caused the bleeding. He also can’t find any other good reason why I bled. So I’m back on more antibiotics, and I got to hear the heartbeat yesterday again. My fundal height is still growing, baby’s heartrate is great, so aside from some seemingly random bleeding, everything seems to be okay.
Phew.
Moved
Yep, we’ve moved. We’re (mostly) in our new place, and John has some more stuff to bring over next weekend, but we’re here full-time now! I got the phone and DSL connected late this afternoon, and boy oh boy am I happy about that! We were concerned that we weren’t going to have DSL here. Phew!
In other news, I had to go to the ER Saturday. Friday night I had some really heavy bleeding and cramping. I knew that they wouldn’t call in an ultrasound tech in the middle of the night for me, so we waited until Saturday to go in. Good news, they saw the baby’s heartbeat, we saw it move, and I’ve felt a few flutters. They said the placenta is intact, and that there weren’t any other obvious reasons for the bleeding. Bad news, I’m still spotting. I left a message for my OB’s office to call me tomorrow, and we’ll likely go in Friday for a follow-up. If you’re so inclined, say a prayer for us.
Phone hassles
Good god damn, I’m getting frustrated about our phone. All week long, I’ve been getting calls for a John Lewis who is supposedly selling property… IN FLORIDA. I might not mind so much if they didn’t start calling at 4 IN THE MORNING.
If you know me, you know good and well that I am not a morning person. I hate being woken before I have to be up. And I really hate being woken by the phone. A wrong number adds insult to injury, but 4 AM is just freakin’ ridiculous. I’ve been several shades of uncouth talking to these freaks that call me at that hour.
Today, I think I found the Lewis they’re looking for — he’s from Florida, same county as most of the calls I’m getting, but his wife swears they don’t have anything for sale. Oh, and in the local phonebook, he’s listed UNDER MY NUMBER. No, he’s never had my number. No, they didn’t mean to list my husband. I talked to the phone company today and they admitted that they just f*cked up.
So I got a $10 credit on my account. Wowwee. Let me tell you, that in no way makes up for being woken at 4 AM all week long, and a dozen or so calls a day.
I might have to change my number.
Yummy Goodness!
Here’s an amazing recipe for some homemade granola! (Thank you, Teresa G.!) My comments are emphasized.
Teresa’s Organic Granola
3 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup coconut flakes, unsweetened
3 tablespoons flax seeds (I ground all 3 tbsp)
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/4 cup sunflower or pumpkin seeds (I used raw pumpkin seeds)
1/2 cup toasted mixed nuts, chopped (I used toasted almonds, though next time I’ll leave them raw)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil (I used veggie)
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups mixed dried fruit (I used a mix of dried cherries, cranberries, and blueberries)
I also added 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast flakes.Preheat the oven to 375. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients, except the dried fruit. Stir well to incorporate.
Spread the mixture on the prepared baking sheet, spreading it out into an even layer. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes (depending on the depth of browning you’re looking for — I baked for just 20 minutes), stirring every 10 minutes.
Remove the granola from the oven and cool completely, in its pan, on a wire rack. Once the granola is cool, you then mix in the dried fruit.
Special Day
Last Friday, August 8th, was a special day in our household — it was our second anniversary! Yay!
We woke up insanely early because we had to go to town for appointments and whatnot. Given that the traditional second anniversary gift is cotton, I was working on a couple of things for John. I started a blanket, but wasn’t able to finish it in time. I also made him a business card holder since he hadn’t been able to find one he liked. He got us 800 thread count sheets!
We had a great day together, and look forward to many many more such celebrations.
