Jewel-8

38 weeks today!

OB did say he was very confident I'd go to my due date, though.

I don't mind too much - been feeling pretty good lately (tiredness is really my only symptom) and I could use the extra money working.

WOW! You've made it farther than I did with my kids! I only got to 36.5 and 37.5 weeks. I can't believe you're being so patient and feel so well. Seriously - get as much rest now and enjoy quiet time with your husband if you are able. We are at 9 months post partum and our kiddo loves waking up at night.

Today is Roslyn's 9 month birthday!! I took her in to the doctor for an ear infection last week and sure enough she has her second one ever(and within a month)! They weighed her and it turns out she had only gained 3 ounces since this office saw her 2 months before.

Previously she was at 50th percentile for height and 10th for weight, now she has dropped completely off the chart for weight. We are recording how many ounces of formula plus how many calories from solids she gets everyday. Nursing has almost completely stopped since it appears it isn't working anyways. So now when she wakes up twice a night I get up and make her a bottle instead of trying to nurse her. We had a while where she would sleep for 6 hours straight and that has stopped. Since she is only 14 pounds I'm not going to even attempt to sleep train or try to get her to have longer stretchs. Her night time feedings are usually 160-240 calories and she does need them.

No sleep for us right now!!! We were thinking of having the next one with only a two year space and right now this is the best birth control ever.

My husband got his NOA, but now I dont remember what date it was mailed or when it came. I will have to check into that. Biometrics was done on Monday 3/19. One step closer!

Congrats on being so close to the end you two!!

Tracy, that sucks about the job and the gallbladder.

Tomorrow I finish my last scheduled fulltime shift. I will be working evenings 20 hours a week. Not sure how it will be, but I have barely seen my husband except for during the weekends for the last 5 weeks. It has been so hard I can barely handle it. Tonight was the first night I came home at 10 pm and everyone was already in bed. Very sad day as this is what I have to look forward to 5 days a week starting next Tuesday.

Rozzie is 8 months old and close to crawling. Tomorrow will be the last day she is in daycare and I am so happy. So excited to be home with my kids during the day and only gone at night while Dave (or my mom if he is out of town) is taking care of them.

Dave is leaving for a work guy's trip to Vegas for a couple days next week and I'm not looking forward to it for a lot of reasons. Mostly because the baby wakes up 4 times a night and I'm sleep deprived. Not happy that he gets a 2 night break from it and I don't.

Ok, time to stop venting/ranting. Life is good in a new house in a new city just south of where we use to live. After tomorrow I get a 3 day weekend. YAY!

I didn't bother sending much. I put in the baby's birth certificate, a copy of the contract to buy the house we're closing on next week, some joint bank statements, and some utility bills with both of our names on it. I figure they already have all of the pictures and whatever I sent in with the original application and this will just be additional proof that our relationship is as legit as ever. If that's not enough we'd be happy to meet with them anytime for an interview. In fact, I kind of want to so I can show off the baby.

Our check was cashed today. YAY!

Tracy, that sucks!! I know what it is like to be stuck in a s@#$@ job and I'm glad to hear you are already exploring your options rather than sticking around for years. The stress isn't good if you're having ulcer/gallbladder symptoms. Luckily you can remind yourself that in a year everything will probably be different.

I got ours in the mail to CSC yesterday. Priority with delivery confirmation. Woohoo!! Can't wait to get confirmation that we'll be waiting months!

I quit my FT job today and took the PT job I've been wanting. YAY!!!!!

We are mailing ours on Sunday. I can't wait!

Our six month photos just came in. My husband demanded that we put her in her Halloween costume for some of them. It is just too funny to not share.

Do they let you buy the items online with that discount? I want the Coccaro carseat, but they don't sell it in stores.

On the job front, I am hoping to hear about a PT night position soon. We move in 2 weeks and I will have quite the commute. We did the math and it might not make sense to pay daycare for both kids, plus gas, plus being away from the house 50+ hours a week for the same I can make working nights close to home. Plus this PT job also offers tuition reimbursement. One step closer to finishing those last few courses for my degree. Crossing my fingers that I get it!!

Tracy, BENN THERE!! I hope there will be a reorg in that department within the next few months and if you stick it out without letting it get to you too bad things will be great for you.

As far as babywearing gear, I have 2 Mobys and a Babyhawk and we really haven't used any of them. I need to start selling things off, especially the baby gear we don't need, as we will be moving in 3 weeks. It's hard to part with things because we are planning to have one more within the next 3 years, but at the same time I am sooooo close to paying off my last major bill and it will be nice to be rid of things to achieve that goal.

Removal of conditions on the 12th, new job on the 20th(I HOPE!), moving begins the 24th and our 2 year anniversary on the 1st of March. Hope things are going well for everyone else as well.

Tracy, It's the weekend! I hope things have gone smoother this week. If not, well at least you still have a couple more weeks to get use to your job before you have to decide anything.

Hope everyone else is doing well!!!

mmmm, Irn Bru.. Now I need to stop by for some on the way home.

Thanks Tracy! I am so relieved to hear people like the name.

I told my mother and the twins (my dad wishes to be kept in the dark, so I'll have to remember to use gender-neutral pronouns around him!) the gender and name, and they love the name, too! I think they prefer just Anna, though - which is fine, as that'll most likely be her nickname - that or Anya, which they really love.

The twins (they're 13!) are very excited, and asked if they could tell all their friends at school.

Unfortunately Skype was acting up and I had to have a text conversation with them - couldn't phone them. So I didn't get my mother's full reaction - the twins were typing on her behalf!

Oh yes, ultrasound pic; it's a little large so I'll just link it:

http://images.rebelsanctuary.com/galleries/baby/baby_01.png

Aw, she's cute!! I love the tiny little nose and lips.

I love that name! I had a cousin named Annelie and it was pronounced like I think you are planning your daughter's name. She was loved and adored by everyone that met her - including all the students at the school she taught junior high science.

I think it's smart to wait until after the baby is born before doing shopping. People LOVE to buy clothes and it would be tough to get too many and then have her grow out of them before she gets a chance to wear them.

YAY I'm so excited for you guys, Rachel!!! What was Alex's reaction - did he care one way or the other? Any names floating around or? (I shouldn't even ask because we didn't agree on a name until I was about 7 months along, LOL)

Now you can start buying pink stuff. :D

YAY for pink stuff!! I loved having my boy first, but the girl is so much more fun to dress. Even though I still put her in gender neutral onesies that I bought before I knew we were having a girl.

Tracy, YAY! I'm so excited you got a new job. It's about time, especially after that maternity leave scandel.

I'd definitely wait to get the offer in the mail. You can probably give your notice on Friday though - so exciting!

Rachel, did you find out the gender?

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

We had that problem as well and the food isn't much different!! I talked to a coworker who is American married to an American woman and he said it took him nearly TWO years to get accustomed to his wife's cooking. That leads me to believe it's part of EVERY marriage.

Don't worry too much!! All you can do it keep trying new recipes to figure out what you both like. I'm currently still doing this. It's hard, but you both need to learn to cook and experiment.

Ohh, that sucks Rachel! I remember times like that, but not as severe as you are describing. Thanks for helping convince me not to have another anytime soon.

I just got an e-mail telling me they aren't bothering to call me back in for a second interview. Which is good because their organization doesn't offer what I need right now. I want a large corporation where I can move up the ranks and learn a lot. I also want somewhere with a mother's room so I don't have to express milk for the baby in my car during the dead of winter or the extreme heat of summer.

Plus they weren't paying enough. I need MORE money, not less money then I'm making now. Time to CLEP out of a couple more classes and get my degree done by the end of summer.

I'm able to change my Filed for: by clicking on Settings along the top under my username, then going to the Profile tab and changing it there.

That seems silly to me. We would say I love you soon after we met.

That sounds great! My husband participates in interviews like that and it weeds out the people they think wouldn't be able to handle the craziness of the team. One of the questions he likes to ask is, "Can you handle nerf balls whizzing past your head while you're trying to put a report together?"

As for my job, We went over our finances and I cannot take that job if it is going to be a $5k decrease in salary. Who knows, maybe my work will give me a raise in December. If not there are other jobs out there.

Give them hell, Tracy!

Rachel, when do you get your anatomy scan? I had mine around week 19 I think. It was great, even though we didn't find out the gender!