I just have to share my cutey girl on my blog…

Ok, So I will get back to blogging.  But our furnace has been out since Christmas Eve…I’m trying to disassemble Christmas…so the shenanigans at my house are very high at the moment.  I actually have a new blog project…. I will unveil shortly.

McKenna was Two Months old on December 30th….the same day  my Dad turned 47!!!!!!!!!!!!  He’s getting up there, ehe? He’s 47, I’m 26 and McKenna is 9 weeks…I think. She’s either 9 or 10, I don’t have a calender ready…and quite frankly the week thing is annoying to me…How about she will be three months old on January 30th? That’s better.

Ok, so at Two Months Old…McKenna is 24″ long and just shy of 13 lbs. 12lbs. 15.5oz! That is a 4 inch growth and a 4 pound gain. Exactly, like to the tenth of an ounce… (she was 8.15.4 at Birth and 20″).  At her check up she passed with flying colors…Doctor Marilyn said she is at minimum at a 4 month level for all her milestones and growth development.  At two months McKenna can hold her head all day by herself, rolls from belly to back, when placed on tummy she pushes her arms up and locks her elbows so she does “COBRA” move in yoga terminology.  She will hold that for 10 minutes if there is something interesting enough in front of her. She talks back when you have a convo with her. She follows our cat with her eyes ALL DAY LONG.  (Which makes for very hard feeding times now)…She knows her mommy and daddy very well, she smiles, laughs and talks to us all day. She turns her head to a sound or your voice. She does like a snake crawl in which she just pushes with her feet and will slowly inch her way forward. She loves to stand if you hold her arms. She grabs her toys that dangle above her head in the play gym. She gets pissed at those guys really quickly though and starts yelling at them.

The “word” she says most the time is “doo”…not “goo” but “doo”.  She takes her medicine (prilosec for reflux) very easily now…just stick the dropper in her mouth and she closes it and sucks it out. The nurse was quite impressed with that yesterday with the oral vaccine she got..All in all she is super healthy, super smart, and super strong…. And I’m so not saying this becuase she is my kid… I swear I’m not ;o)

She is 81% percentile for weight, 85% for height and 85% for head circumference…what a proportionate little stinker!!

Ok, it’s been 6 weeks….Errr, 7.

I did not die in labor, I promise! I am not writing this blog from heaven.  But phewww….the first few weeks of baby mama-ing is something! Big kudos to all the ladies out there who are single or go back to work before 6 weeks.  You deserve a major award.  So what happended the last almost 7 weeks?

1. I had a baby on October 30th, 2009 at 11:04pm

2. I had a horrible birth. Failed Induction, 30 hours of labor, No progress (only got to 3cm!), Crazy acrobatic Baby putting me in an obscene amount of pain, ended up with a cesarean section….LOL. Didn’t I plan a natural birth? No drugs? Yup…baby and uterus had other plans. But I’m tough. Was up and at’em about 6 hours after delivery, it sucked but I managed.

3. But, I had a perfect, DAUGHTER!! 8lbs, 15.4oz, 20″. We named her McKenna.

4. I managed to intiate breastfeeding…and guess what… were still going! It is hard work. When I say hard , I mean it. Like I would opt to be in labor again and again if it would mean an easy time learning to breastfeed. Everyone tells you it’s hard….nobody tells you it’s so hard that you will HATE IT WITH A PASSION for about 4-5 weeks….and if you managed to stay tough those first weeks, you will make it. I’m finally starting to see the benefit of my hard work.  It’s finally getting easier than harder, more convenient rather than less convenient….and better for me and McKenna. So if you are ever contemplating nursing, definitely do…but make sure you know that it really sucks for awhile….no pun intended.

5. We through a welcome baby party at my parents house!

6. I enjoyed thanksgiving.

7. I decorated for christmas, bought and wrapped christmas presents.

9. I found a few spare minutes to knit! Keyword, few.

10. My hubby has been home since a few days before Thanksgiving. He will continue to be here until the first Monday of January (we think)….when his new job starts.

11. Christmas is very near, we have been going to parties already and have a few more coming up.

12. We booked McKenna’s baptism for Feb. 6th…party afterward at Veasey Memorial Park.

13. I am sewing McKenna Baptismal Gown….get this…out of my wedding dress!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stay tuned for pictures!

14. My chubbalicious baby is outgrowing all of her diapers………so I have to sew an entirely new stash like ASAP.  I’m talking we may have a few days left with out current stash! So stay tuned for pictures!

15. Speaking of cloth diapers. WE LOVE THEM. They are going better than I had ever anticipated. Even Rob, my husband,  loves them.  He was on board from the get go…but I never thought I would hear “these disposables suck, the cloth ones are so much better” come out of his mouth.  But it’s the truth.  We have not had a single accident or explosion in a cloth diaper…the few disposables she’s had…something has come out in every single one! And talk about clean. We do not have a single stain on our cloth diapers even after 6 weeks of use!

Ok, so I hope that updates you on how things are going.  I hope to blog a bit more from here on in. Perhaps keep track of my sewing, knitting and cooking a bit better….and a place to track my weightloss attempts….which BTW, I have lost all the baby weight already. Just need to get started on my regular weight now.

Hope everyone has a spiffy holiday and a new year!

Bad News..

Most of you know who read this blog and or my Facebook updates… but Rob (my husband’s) comapany is closing. They shut down his location without warning on Tuesday.  They offered to let him work in the second location until 11/23/09.  So, what a crappy time for this to happen to us but what can we do?

I’ve e-mailed friends and family to help us keep an eye open for positions that Rob would be qualified for.  A lot of them have responded with well wishes and good leads!

So I thought I’d just make a post about it as well on my blog and upload his resume as well.  He is an Automotive Technician with specialty training through the FORD ASSET program. He has his Associates Degree in Applied Sciences as well. He is an extremely hard worker…almost to a fault.  And I’m not just saying that because he is my husband.  The 1-2 times he has been legitimately sick in the last 10+ years I’ve known him, he goes straight to work. Doesn’t even think about calling in sick… and well some employers don’t really want you dying on the garage floor so they have sent him home those two times….talk about good work ethics, huh?

Anyways, Here is his resume.  I guess Auto Technician’s don’t usually have resumes…or so he tells me.  So to even make this very basic resume up for him was like pulling teeth.  But it can’t hurt.  RobertLawson

Thanks for keeping an eye out for us.

Update

Yeah, I suck at maintaining a blog but, oh well. Things are moving along at The Lawson’s. Baby is due this week. Crazy! Most of the To-Do list is complete. A few things (like quarter round, and some painting…..like husband things) didn’t get done. Oh well, good enough.

We did a big grocery shop on Saturday night and I started prepping meals to put on the freezer today. I will finish tomorrow. Planning on 1 lasagna, 1 meatball w/ sauce, 2 mini meatloaves, 1 columbian potato stew (okay decided this is not going in the freezer…we will eat it for dinner), 2 Campbells Chicken and Rice Casseroles, Breakfast Burritos for Rob, Pizza Packets, couple bags of marinated chicken, 6 Apple Bread Loaves, 6 jars of homemade applesauce, 1 Pork Tenderloin with Glazed Carrots, 1 meal of pork cutlets breaded, 2 trays of spicy baked macaroni, 2 trays of enchiladas….some amazing lactation cookies….. I think that will do. LOL!  Now obviously this is for more than a week….it should hold us over for major grocery shopping for about 3 weeks of dinner (with some easy things thrown into the mix). Of course we will have to go to the store…but not really worry about what is for dinner until Thanksgiving time! And my mom is going to bring over some deli meats and cheese and onion rolls our first day home with baby so that will be helpful for lunch and if we don’t feel like putting something in the oven right out of the hospital.   I love cooking in advance.  I really should do it more often.  I mean how easy is it to go to the supermarket once a weeks for produce, drinks, and snacks??  Easy!!!

Well I had more to type but silly me just realized that my pitting edema is back….like woah…and perhaps I should prop my feet up….before they explode.  I really should pay more attention to things.  Adios!

P.S. Hope to post pictures of the Baby’s Room tommorrow….and I will post pictures of the baby too when it gets here!

Why hello fall! So nice to see you!

Though not officially fall, I feel like my long last pal has returned.  I love fall.  I heart it. I used to write Jenn <3’s Fall on the bathroom stall….not.  Anyways….It’s so crisp and cool and sunny today I thought I’d make a banana bread!  And big thank to my aunt Michelle who turned me on to using RecipeZaar again.  I had used it occasionally a few years ago…but it wasn’t quite what it is now.  So if you haven’t gone back recently, try it again.  One thing is all the “cool” features are for Premium Memberships only….which are 24.95.  I dunno, if I’m willing to send 24.95 for something other sites give for free.

So I tried my hand at this Sour Cream Banana Bread Recipe. It was really quick and easy.  I used 3 bananas, a skosh more flour and I added cinnamon (who doesn’t put cinnamon in banana bread?)…Also before baking I sprinkled the top with oats and brown sugar because I like my food to look fancy.

Can’t wait to do some apple picking and bake some pies!

Things are getting done!

My to-do list is getting shorter! Check it out…bottom right column of my blog. I still have a bunch of things to do but, the majority is done or underway! My goal is to have everything complete by 37 weeks. That is 3 weeks from today. Wish me luck.

While I’m here, check out the baby’s most recent portrait:

Not much to update on the baby front though… I still feel great, my hips are giving me trouble at night though while I sleep try to sleep.  The baby is big… 5 lbs 3 oz at 32 weeks.  Yeah, so if that measurement is correct we are talking somewhere near 9 lbs.

We started packing the hospital bag last night.  Kinda early but, you never know. I just put the things we need but don’t use currently in there… camera, aromatherapy oil, heating pack, chocolates for the nurses, birth plan, nursing cover…toiletry set.  The rest will come when I’m in labor.

Christmas in August…

and no, I’m not talking about my Baby Shower….but man, that certainly felt like Christmas!!  I’m talking about two awesome holiday “plans” featured on organizedchristmas.com (part of organizedhome.com). Anyways, they have to Prep for The Holidays Plan featured on their website right now. Both tackle organizing, decluttering & cleaning your home, gift planning, shopping wrapping, christmas cards, baking and everything…I am def. going to do one of these plans.  Just trying to figure out which one would be best.

Holiday Houseworks

Holiday Grand Plan

Which ever one I choose I will more than likely add some baby prep steps in the calendar as well as some freezer meal prep…..and I’d probaly tackle more than scheduled at first so I can have a week or two off at delivery…Anyone game??  Starts August 30th!

31 week update!

I am doing soooooooooooo good. A little too good. Someone knock on some wood. LOL. My bout of eczema is gone thanks to the high dose of clobetasol they put me on on Wednesday. I am very, very grateful for that. That was incredibly annoying.

My baby shower was on Saturday! It was really nice. I hope all the guests had a good time and it wasn’t one of those dreaded boring showers…I really hope it was fun! It was a cupcake theme, with pink and green colors. I got almost every single thing I needed. Rob and I have a very short shopping list thanks to everyone for being soooo generous. It really is appreciated. I did manage to get 27 onesie type short sleeve shirts in size 0-3 though (8 of them were gifted to me before the shower). Soooo, if no one minds I may switch those out for some long sleeves or a larger size. LOL! Here are a few pictures from the shower:

Sooooo…what else.  I’m still measuring 6 weeks ahead(???)…I was spot on until 24 weeks. Then at 24 weeks I jumped to 6 weeks to big….got an ultrasound.  Everything was fine, still 6 weeks to big so they have me scheduled for another ultrasound on Sept. 3rd.  So technically I measure “Ready to deliver” already. LOL.  Even though my baby bump is not quite huge, it apparently will get ginormous from now until then.  If it stays like this…at delivery I will measure 46 weeks. LOL.

I’ve been working on sorting and prepping the baby gear since Saturday.  I have about 50% of my to-do list complete.  I’d like to make an effort to get some of the harder tasks done quickly…before I’m uncomfy.  So look for more stuff to be finished in the next 2 weeks.

I just had an amazing idea…..really my mind goes  a mile a minute.  I want to make freezer meals for after baby….and I don’t have enough freezer room…but my IN LAWS HAVE A DEEP FREEZE.  HEHEHEHEHE. EVIL LAUGH.

TTFN!

My mom’s “Chop Suey” Recipe

Ok, this is what we had sometimes when I was growing up.  My mom called it Chop Suey.  But once I got to about 12 years old I realized that a) it is not chop suey and b) it wasn’t even American Chop Suey….so I was confused.  When I would eat at peoples houses and they were serving “Chop Suey” I was expecting a hamburger/asian type of soup…instead I was served basically spaghetti with macaroni noodles……Which still boggles my mind that spaghetti with meat sauce….made with a different shape macaroni is called American Chop Suey. We call it spaghetti no matter what shape the damn noodle is at my house.

So, recap…

“Real” Chop Suey

“American” Chop Suey

“Veronica’s a.k.a. Jenn’s Mom’s” Chop Suey

Recipe

In a large soup pot brown 1 package of lean ground beef, drain any fats if neccessary.  Add to pot 10celery stalks chopped, 1 8oz. can of water chestnuts, 1 8oz. can of bamboo shoots, 1 14 oz. can of bean sprouts.  Stir to combine. Add water to top of pot.  More or less depending how much broth you like with your soup.  I like more broth so I fill it to the top.  Use soy sauce to turn your “broth” a lightshade of brown.  This will flavor the water as well as season/salt your soup.  Don’t use to much.  Better to use less and add more as needed.

Bring to a boil. And simmer for 15, 20, 30 whatever minutes you want.  I’d suggest at least 15. Serve in a bowl and top with La Choy Chow Mein Noodles (They are like little crunchy toppings).

So, as strange as it looks. It is actually quite appetizing.  Rob like’s it. I liked it my whole life.  Give it a whirl.  I’m not sure what you should call it though. If you know what this dish is called….feel free to enlighten me.

More Finished Projects

I made a hat to match the gray longies:

I made a crib bumper:

I made a second pair of pants:

I’m working on crib skirt, dishcloths for mom, finishing my newborn diaper stash, a hat to match the second pair of pants, maybe a few wool soakers with the leftover yarn scraps.