Thanks Nanna!

I have to give a big shout out to my mother who came by on Monday and Tuesday to hang out with Joseph. On Monday she arrived at 9 a.m. and took him to the park to play for nearly 3 hours. He came back covered head to toe in dirt and sand. He had so much fun. He came in the house with this expression on his face...

Not actually Joseph

His excitement stimulated a similar feeling in me. It looked something like this:

I am a germaphobe

I haven't taken Joseph out much in the past few weeks; at least, not to "play" (via Parks, climbing things, things inevitably resulting in my somehow getting kicked or stepped on.) It was nice to see him come in from having such a great time. He went for a nap after lunch and slept 4 hours. I went out and got some Christmas Shopping done which I do appreciate, but I was up all night, since he woke around 6pm and stayed up until past midnight...

Looks innocent enough eh?

On Tuesday morning she took him out again after his teacher left. This time they went to a different park and then went to her house. I had planned to be productive, but instead I went to sleep. That was good too though, because I needed it (after staying up with him all night lmao). I had a second wind when I went to get him. He was exhausted and fell asleep on the way home. I ended up detouring for more shopping.

What?! I bought presents for other people, I swear *crosses fingers*

Today is a rainy Wesnesday. He woke up this morning RIPPING AND READY TO GO. Me on the other hand, I had planned to go to the mall and took one trip out to the corner store only to turn back around. Lol. Yeah, um, not.

Still, I'm super-grateful he got those 2 days to have fun. He was so calm today and didn't even have a meltdown when I told him the new plan for the day was staying in and watching movies. The mall will have to wait. I think tonight we'll also make Nanna some cookies to say thank you for all the help.

Update: 20 Weeks: Half Baked! Happy Thanksgiving

  20 WEEKS ~ HALF WAY POINT 

• Baby is around 10 inches long (head to foot) and weighs about 10 1/2 ounces.
• She can hear sound now and will become startled and cover ears with hands if a loud or abrupt sound is made. She can dislike whack Hip Hop.
• She should already know familiar voices and sounds and will start to memorize and become familiar other sounds like music. Now when people talk to the belly, she can actually hear the conversation. People who talk to the belly are no longer crazy at this point.
• She's starting to remember things and understand herself and surroundings, like her own hands and feet and may have a special place and position to sleep or play, suck her thumb on purpose or pick her nose.
• Her hands and toes are growing nails and her hair is growing rapidly. Mini eyelashes are done forming. Knowing my genetics, vanity is starting to form.
• At this point the baby is in accurate proporation and by the end of the week will look like a real minature infant.

Preemie born around 20 weeks.

Today is Thanksgiving and I just wanted to give a warm hug and show love to those who have been following my progress, have offerred support and made time for me. I'd also like to thank those of you who visit this blog, leave comments and have contacted me. It's all so meaningful to me, right now especially. I'm deeply thankful for the people who care, my children included and this opportunity and journey.

Happy Thanksgiving

140 days to go!

Thank You Viki: Home Made TV Dinners

Rice & Pigeon Peas, Mixed Vegetables, Stewed Chicken;
my half eaten apple;
Ignore the AIRWALK BOX in the background (sorting coupons)

Yesterday my sister Victoria came by and cooked a bunch of home made TV dinners for me. She made about 20 of them from things already in my pantry. This saves me a bundle ($$$) and although may be highter in calories than say, Smart Ones; at least most ingredients are organic, low-gmo and happy (chicken). Less pesticides and preservatives are important to promoting fetal growth right now. So although frozen dinners may be one of the only ways to get a hot meal for awhile, the quality of those meals makes a difference if you have a choice.

Raw foods are my foods of choice right now and what I'm craving, but frequent trips to the grocer for fresh produce plus prep time are a no go this week. I try to pick up a few things when I do go out. A few days ago it was apples. *drool* I never thought I'd say this but I would kill for some celery and cashew butter... literally. Watch your back. ;)

The trays for the TV dinners came from an ongoing multi-household collection of hoarding recyclables. For anyone who criticizes us for saving things like that, na na na boo boo. Saving things like that just saved me 20 x $3.00 in TV dinner costs. Tin foil sheets were $2 for 50 count and can definately be reused. While she was here, her and my older son also managed to put together 20 burritos and a half gallon of basmati rice (now in the freezer). The TV dinners are mostly variations of chicken and rice: yellow rice & peas, white rice and beans with either BBQ or stewed chicken. But that's what I eat. I'm suprised I'm even eating chicken but I'm trying to get my protien intake up. This assortment in addition to expectent Thanksgiving leftovers from my parents should help suppliment meals selections for the next couple of weeks.

At Least I Got The Damn Turkey

Today was INSANITY.

Yesterday was crazy too, but I was so eager to get out of the house and get some fresh air that I didn't notice it was pouring rain and freezing. I did too much walking yesterday. I did too much of everything yesterday. But I felt euphoric. Today I had a simple plan. I had to get a Turkey for my mother, buy some toilet paper and head home. But just as I was waiting for my sister to come meet me, I got severe cramping and BH contractions.

Not what I'm talking about.

My appointment was supposed to be at 2, I didn't get out of there until past 4. I ended up getting over to my parents house nearby, which took me 30 minutes to walk 6 blocks. Luckily, my sisters Godmother drove me home a few hours later because no way was I walking anywhere. I spent the rest of the wait feeling betrayed by my body and guilty about not getting home on time.

How I feel

It seems like I didn't have these issues just 2 weeks ago. Why am I all of a sudden symptomatic? Speaking to my father helped a lot though. I did have symptoms all along. But since I didn't know what was causing them and listening to ER doctors telling me it's normal and everything looked fine; I sort of "walked it off." Now that I know what's wrong, there is anxiety behind every ache and pain. Needless to say, I'm not going out until Tuesday. I need to somehow convince myself that my anxiety right now is rational. At least I know what's actually going on. But I was unprepared, and that makes me feel like this:

This can't be good.