The expanding belly tells me, without words of course, that it is time to buy clothes!  I’m in the midst of my second trimester and what little bit fits, isn’t exactly comfortable. Mini-disclaimer: Right now, I HATE having anything on my belly, so EVERYTHING is uncomfortable, but I digress…

I almost hate to spend a lot of money on maternity wear that I’ll only wear a short time, then not again.  (We’ve decided two children is the perfect number for us, so this. is. it. LOL!)  I guess that is the reason I keep putting off making the purchases. And probably the reason why I am easily distracted ny non-maternity wear.

I was checking out Womens Pajamas and it is pretty easy to get distracted there. Cute stuff! I will need button-ups, etc once baby arrives to make nursing a little easier and in those days and weeks (months?) following delivery, a few cute things in the wardrobe that fit - that are NOT maternity - would be a good thing. 

If you are looking to buy women’s pajamas, give this place a little browse - there’s even cartoon women’s pajamas (I spied Cat In The Hat, Pebbles, Hello Kitty, and Sesame Street.) As I was browsing around, I also spotted a few completely adorable infant rompers & kids PJs - some matching! If our little one on the way is a boy also, how cute would it be to have matching pajamas for them?

I know. I really must buy maternity clothes.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post, but all opinions are 100% my own.

We saw our baby for the first time yesterday.  After the general office visit stuff was out of the way, hubs and Lil Roo were able to come back so we could see him/her together.  Lil Roo is just so adorable about the baby.  We were given the one photo and he announces that he wants it. I had to make a copy when I got home so he would have his own! We’ve explained bits and pieces to him here and there (he’s three, so we try to keep it as understandable and simple as possible).  Now he likes to share snacks “with the baby” and after giving me the bite, he explains (with hand motions) that it goes down, then around and around (cirling his belly indicating the umbilical cord) and into the belly button!  Due to this excitement, I’ve had to start explaining that when baby arrives, he CANNOT share his snacks til baby gets bigger.  It is touching and hysterical at the same time to experience this through the eyes of a 3 year old.

Lying there, looking at the screen and seeing this little being inside of me, it finally felt more real. The yucky part of the pregnancy has been so consuming that I hadn’t consciously felt that connection to my littlest one.  The moment passed quickly, but it was cherished nonetheless. 

And for anyone who is wondering and have been tossing the possibilities of twins about… not happening.  Just one baby in this belly, LOL!! Oh, and that baby IS a boy. Lil Roo says so. Even though we won’t find out for sure for another few weeks. You even mention the possibility of baby being a girl and he’ll straighten you right out. It. is. a. BOY. Not sure how we’ll break the news on that off-chance his wishes weren’t granted.

BTW, I’ve started posting baby freebies over on Savvy Frugalista (I’m trying one a day to start then we’ll see how it goes. 

I found this cute apple lacing craft on Nick Jr’s website.

Thanks LaDonna, for sharing this with me. It cracked. me. up. Seriously.  Too cute & funny!

You know the cry. It says, loud and clear before any words are spoken, that your child is hurt. Bad.  Lil Roo was in his room playing, and suddenly - that cry.  I get to him and oh my, the blood.  Now, this isn’t a sliced an artery, blood spurting everywhere bleed, but there was enough in and around his mouth that I thought for certain he just lost his first tooth. His first three or four teeth.  He was breathing and I was fairly certain he wasn’t going to die on me in the next few moments, so I held him first to calm him down.

Once I got it cleaned up, I found two nice little cuts on his lip where he evidently bit into his lip as he crashed into the dresser.  So, the damage wasn’t bad at all, but I imagine the immediate pain he felt was still pretty bad. And shocking. To go from full on play to full on pain, laying on the floor with a bloody mouth is not one of his top ten favorite feelings.  

 ————-

UPDATE: Evidently, my son isn’t the only one accident prone today. Taking his lunch plate back to the kitchen, I completely overlooked his Play-Doh canister (this huge jalopy of a thing that holds the Play-Doh and a gazillion tools) sitting in the middle of the living room. I ran smack into it, tripped over it, and eased myself to the floor, holding my leg at the place of impact. My sweet boy came over, moved my hand, and kissed my “boo boo”.  Heart. Melt. I asked him to take the canister back to his room, and as he was picking it up, he just said, “poor, sad mommy.” Ha!  Too cute!

So.. I was talking to Steph and she was telling me about these fabric storage cubes that you can. make. yourself.  Awesome.  Except I don’t sew. Or anything even remotely akin to sewing. 

And then I started thinking about the bookcase in Lil Roo’s room. The one that is cubed with little spots for fabric storage boxes EXACTLY like these. The kind of fabric boxes that easily cost $5-8 each. On the low end.  And then I started thinking that I am probably going to get a couple cubed bookcases for our room. AND, because I seriously love the amount of cute + functional storage you get out of them, I’m thinking of getting them for the nursery as well.  So, let’s just say if I purchased some fabric cubes for the cubed bookcases, it wouldn’t be a small expense and unless I opted to spend even more, I would have to settle for very basic solid colors. 

Now, to be perfectly honest with you, I’m still laughing at the mere possibility of me attempting such a thing. Wonder if that ironing / fusing stuff would work for this? Oh, and as I’m mentioning the possibilities of these in the nursery, Steph casually mentions that I could make matching curtains. Let’s see how bad I can screw these cubes up first before I go forth to screw up curtains, LOL!!

I’ll keep you posted on my progress when, and if, I actually attempt these!

The fabric storage cube pictured above is from Crazy Mom Quilts. I wanted y’all to see what one is SUPPOSE to look like because I cannot promise what I end up with would even slightly resemble the desired effect, LOL!

Interested in the soundtrack? You can download the soundtrack ($9.49) now or preorder the soundtrack on CD ($17.98). 

Discovering I was expecting - actually more like the onset of the “morning” sickness and all the joyous stuff that goes along with it - derailed some of our plans this year. I was so excited about getting a great deal at Disney and spending a wonderful week in Lake Buena Vista, but as the time got closer, I knew it just wasn’t realistic. It would have happened a couple of weeks ago, and even now I still don’t think I’d be up to it. 

I also cancelled my trip to BlogHer, which is super depressing (I have a ticket for sale and a couple of people I need to get back to).  I was also SO excited about finally making it to BlogHer, but alas, it isn’t happening. Although I MAY feel more “up to it” by the time it arrives, I’m just not able to properly prepare for it, not combining the way I still feel with other things currently on my plate. We may still take a little trip that way to visit family later in the summer or early fall.

The baby is arriving in November, so it will be a little while after that before we’d be up for a family vacation… so we are looking at Summer 2011!

It IS a ways off, but as possibilities are coming together, it helps soothe the wound of the trips I won’t be taking this year. We have pretty much decided on a CRUISE, which is my absolute FAVORITE way of vacationing. We cruised this past February and as every time before, I was ready to go again as soon as I stepped off the ship!  We are looking at a longer cruise - a full week - and possibly to the Eastern Caribbean.  We all love it, and Lil Roo really loves the children’s activities. 

So, as families around the world make their summer plans for 2010 - we are making ours for 2011, LOL!

In my attempt to geek out my media / TV set up, I am also considering attempting to transfer content from two DirecTV DVRs to a computer hard drive or disk.  The planning for the over-all set up is going to take awhile since I have a lot of things to research, specific purchases to make, and I need to allow time to slowly digest what I am researching and learning so I can do it right.

My current information quest is the possibility of transferring content from two DirecTV DVRs - one is a much older DVR, probably circa 2005 / 2006, and the other is a little newer (DVR Plus?).  Here are some of the resources I’ve come up with, though I still have a bit of reading to do:

Transfer series one DirecTV DVR programs to PC?

 R15-500 Need to Copy Saved Video/Movie Files

How to Network DirecTV Plus DVR

Any Way To Copy or Save DVR Content?

Transfer Data on a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) to DVD

Transfer DVR to Computer

Recording From A TIVO or Cable/Satellite DVR to a DVD Recorder

Lakeshore Learning offers free lesson plans in three grade categories: Pre-K & K; 1st & 2nd; and 3rd - 5th.  These would also be great to have on hand for the summer months, when the school-going kids are home.

… and not exactly by choice, mind you.  Maybe a little early practice for the days of middle of the night feedings that are coming with the birth of the baby this fall? 

 Lil Roo woke up from a bad dream and it took a bit to calm him down. Dreams can be so real, that it is hard to tell whether it really happened or not… and why is it that when things happen in dreams it feels so much more intense than if it DID actually happen in real life? The best I was able to understand was that he was walking, lost his balance and fell in the water. He was upset because he was all wet and at some point it hurt - not sure if the walking hurt his feet or the fall hurt him.  When I asked where it hurt, he touched his shoulder blade, then a little later, saying it hurt (again? still?), this time it was his toes. Both sides (top & bottom). So sad, but kinda cute. It took awhile for the tears to subside and every time he’d talk, it’d get more intense.

There has already been a time or two when he has awakened in pure hysteria and pain with what I can only assume was growing pains. Those times took quite awhile of comforting and leg rubbing before he was able to even settle down remotely, much less drift back to sleep. I remember one incident when I was 8 or 10 that I woke up with those growing pains and to this day I can remember that pain. To imagine my little one in that kind of pain, with him having no real understanding of WHY he hurts so bad, just breaks my heart.

After getting him somewhat calmer, we all sat together and watched a little bit of Go, Diego, Go, and while watching it, he relaxed.  He’s now lying back down, more restfully, watching his Diego DVD. Hopefully he’ll be drifting back to sleep soon.  I think Daddy already is…

UPDATE: 3:55 and the little guy is sleeping soundly once again…

The first part of this pregnancy has been pretty rough for me and I haven’t spent near the time I should have on preschool stuff with Lil Roo.  I know too much screen time is NOT a good thing, but I’ve learned he is a visual learner (and duplicator).  I tried forever to get him to say the ABCs.  He finally would say the last part of the alphabet, but nothing more. Then one day we turned on Super Why and I swear it was no time before he was saying the whole alphabet like it was nothing. As lame as it is, quality programming during screen time has filled in a little bit of the gap for me. 

He really loves worksheets, so my goal is to get back on those as I feel a little better moving toward the middle of the pregnancy.  I need to create 2 different stacks - one of things he can do with no instruction or guidance and another that I need to sit down with him and talk about as he works on it (or at least initially explain the concept of what he is suppose to do).  Those from the first stack I can hand him even when I feel my worst, lol. 

Once I am more up and going, feeling much less sick, and getting some actual energy, I would like to focus on doing more crafts, playing more board games, more interactive stuff. 

Writing is a big thing we need to work on. I’m not sure where 3, almost 4 year olds should be in this regard, and I am sure it varies widely, but I’d like to find some base to go off of. This is the area we’ve worked in the LEAST, so it seems obvious it is now the area we need to work on the MOST. 

I have 3 stackable large plastic drawers in the living room that house his board games and puzzles (but looks like I need to buy a fourth!). Puzzles were once on a lower shelf in his room until I came to realize what. a. very. bad. idea. that was, lol.  I reclaimed a 3 drawer plastic cart from elsewhere in the house (much smaller drawers than the ones the games are in) and I plan to use that for learning materials, etc. I just pulled it out, so I am in the process of gathering the materials I already have.  I just purchased this Letter Of The Week kit w/ lesson plans (found the link on this post, which has other homeschool resources linked also). 

AND A TIME FOR PLAY…..

We are also in the process of moving all the yard toys to the backyard from the side yard and I am discovering we have hit an “in-between” stage.  He is outgrowing some of the play items (slides and whatnot) but “bigger kid” yard stuff seems too big for him. Looks like I am also on a quest to find something that will work for him now, and also grow with him (and oh, yeah, not cost us half what the house is worth, lol). 

I’ve been writing about making the switch from DirecTV a lot just recently, thinking about options and equpment I’d need to make it happen.  At the top of the list is an antenna to pull in the local channels.  I’m considering the DB4 HDTV Antenna from Antennas Direct:

This particular model is avaialble at the site for $69.00 (refurbished for $51.75) and at Amazon for $49.26. Both sites offer free shipping for the item.

Details from the site:

The DB4 has become our most popular model because it is simply the best Mid Range HDTV antenna on the market. With an approximate 13.7 dBi gain, it is one of the strongest multi-directional antennas available and performs consistently across the entire UHF spectrum. It even works well in areas where HD transmitters are in multiple directions.

The bow tie design of the DB4 uses triangular elements instead of rods to greatly increase the bandwidth allowing it to cover the entire UHF band. Additionally, the mesh reflector of the bowtie is more efficient than a rod reflector, is lower in weight, and provides less wind resistance for greater performance and durability.

If you are looking for an antenna that is practically guaranteed to perform, the DB4 is one of your safest choices. It will pull in all UHF frequencies and most higher level VHF frequencies with a range of about 55 miles.

Then there is this one with a 70+ mile range for $119 on the site ($89.25 refurbished) or for $75 on Amazon.

We’d need a medium range at minimum because of our location, but would obviously increase our viewing options with a long range antenna.  One month without DirecTV would easily pay for the 70+mile range antenna so I’m starting to lean a little more that way.  Of course, there is also the mount and cable, which could add $20-$25 each to the total for this setup. 

I’m still feeling my way through this & trying to get more information as I work through the planning process. UHF vs VHF. The 2 above say they work across the UHF spectrum, but do not mention VHF, which a couple of our local stations are. Does this mean they won’t pick them up? Do I need to do something additional to receive those or is there a similar medium / long range antenna that works for both?

What are your thoughts on the antenna in the new digial tv world?  Do you use an antenna for local channels? 

The other day, I wrote about looking for alternatives to DirecTV/cable.  There’s a decent amount of content available online (tv shows, etc) and the more I think about it, the less I feel I need DirecTV.  I figured an antenna, cables to hook the laptop up to the tv, a subscription to Netflix (not mandatory I know, but just additional options), and an internet upgrade would have me ready to say goodbye to DirecTV. And while that is all still true, I keep getting more and more information about the possibilities and I am getting more and more excited about making the switch.

My desktop is still down and in the meantime I ended up buying a laptop.  It may need a new video card or a new hard drive or something completely different. I replaced the memory that went bad, but my knowledge in that arena only goes so far, so when I get around to it, I’ll have it taken care of by someone who knows what they are doing, lol.  Once it is back up and running, I think I am going to hook it up to the TV as the main “brains” behind the whole media center operation.  (Right now I am eyeing a perfect little spot where I can hide it away, too!)

I’m checking out sites & programs for TV shows & movies (like Zinc.tv) and media center programs for the computer. This one will also work as a DVR and I cannot even begin to express how excited that makes me, lol. 

THEN I heard about external hard drives, hooking them up to the computer that is hooked to the TV and loading them up with content - DVDs, TV Shows, music, etc, etc.  And having that content available with a couple of clicks? Awesome. 

I’m still dealing with pregnancy related ickies, so not sure exactly when I’ll start putting this scheme into action, but hopefully soon.