Life with baby E

I loved having my parents visit! Both my mom and dad came to visit for a week, I was so glad they could come. It was so nice to have some support and help with everything. They definitely spoiled me. I have to admit it was nice. :) Now I am the adjusting to being home with E, just me and her. It took a bit of adjusting, the house seemed so empty once my parents left. We are getting settled into a routine and I adore her more every day!

Our little one

Our little girl was born Monday October 22nd 2012 7 lbs 10 oz, 20.5 inches, and with lots of hair. We are completely in love with her.

The countdown...

Well this week our baby E is at 37 weeks, and considered full term, so now its just a matter of waiting until she is ready to come, or else long enough after my due date that she will be nudged along :).

Waiting for something so big (well in this case someone) makes it very hard to be patient. I go back and forth between being delightfully happy, to terrified... :)

Chicken update

Our chickens are almost full grown!

They have lived in a small chicken tractor in our yard for quiet a while now, but have started to out grow it.  Joey has started building them a beautiful set up but when you are only home briefly on the weekends it makes it hard to get everything done.

Enjoying today

Today I have off from work. 

These days of complete freedom to choose whatever I want to do are very limited I know, so I try to enjoy them to the fullest of my ability. Balancing relaxation with the endless list of neglected cleaning and organizing of the house. 

I have many projects I would like to complete before the arrival of our little one. It gets very overwhelming trying to decide how best to spend my time that I end up wasting time trying to decide. 

Today I choose to enjoy today for what it is. Get done what I can, but to enjoy today and to be open to what the day brings, in every moment.

Pregnancy and Heartburn

I have been having such bad heart burn / acid reflux that it has started making me throw up. I have decided to do an experiment to see what works (at least for me...) from this list of  "9 Natural Remedies for Heart Burn in Pregnancy" from the Baby Center website http://blogs.babycenter.com/life_and_home/6192012-9-natural-remedies-for-heartburn-in-pregnancy/  Its funny because sometimes certain things work, and other times they make it worse...

Here is the first remedy I tried:

Fennel seed

2 tsp seeped in boiling water for 10 min, strain and sweeten, then drink

I lost track of long it seeped, and it ended up pretty strong, but with enough agave nectar it was tasty.

It seemed to help the two days I tried it. Then my chronic heart burn went away... so I haven't tried the others.  I am now prepared though :)

8 weeks to go...

Joey has been working like crazy, (he had his first day off in two weeks yesterday) so both last weekend and this weekend I drove to Charlotte to see him. This past weekend I took the kids. It was fun to get out of Asheville, and explore a new city. We found a nice Nature Preserve, called RibbonWalk which has a pond dammed up by beavers, which the kids were ecstatic about, especially Layke. There were lots of frogs, turtles, birds, dragonflies and lots of signs of beaver. Great climbing trees and open field to run around in, and lots of trails to explore. We mainly explored the wetland/pond area but I would love to go back and hike the entire trail.

At one point we found a very intriguing animal poo, and we were studying it trying to figure out what it ate, and what animal it could be. The kids were using sticks to see how far they would sink in the muck if they stepped in it.  Ocean said the funniest thing... Some families right now are spending time together watching football or going out to the movies, but our family is playing in the muck, catching frogs, and looking at poo...

As far as a pregnancy update my belly is starting to get uncomfortable and get in the way. I am happy that I still have felt good, other that the occasional heart burn. And if I get a nap and lots of snacks my energy level has stayed decent. I do enjoy mornings or afternoons of "working on projects" which consists of sewing or other projects that I can do in a reclined position while watching netflix... :D

I am trying to get our small house organized and decluttered to make room for baby's clothes, bed, and other "stuff".  Its been driving me crazy. Basically our 700 sq ft. house already feels at capacity. Eventually we would like to expand the house but for now space is fairly limited. So I have tried to acquire only the baby essentials. But there are still the "where does everything go" details...  I have been having to get creative. I have tried not to increase our furniture much, so I have only gotten a dresser and a pack and play.    I am still working out where to stash the baby bath (it was so cute! it looks like a whale and it will be very nice to have... But where to stash it???)

I am very glad for a nice big garage, with a little room off of it that we call the "craft room" where I have been putting all my things from my room that will no longer fit...  my desk, all my supplies and paper work for my business, my sewing, knitting, and drawing supplies, all family memorabilia.. Its been a real life version of playing Tetris. Its been a frustrating process, and it has made me re-examine and re-simplify, but simplicity by choice is much funner...

I have been appreciating work slowing down so I have some days off to get some of these details figured out. I"m trying to get the house in decent order by this weekend so that Joey's first weekend home in a month the house is at somewhat organized...  Any suggestions are very welcome! I should really post pictures of our cozy house so you get an idea...

Hope you have a great day!