Weekend lost...

Friday I decided to take it easy around the house. Sweet Betsy went to bed early (6:30ish) and I worked on laundry and laid in bed. Ben came home late and I talked to him for a few minutes. His team won their football game and it was a close game so he had lots of adrenaline to work off!

Saturday morning I woke up and got dressed to head to Round Rock to meet with some friends of mine, all of whom have young babies or are expecting themselves! I stopped at the outlet but only shopped at Carters as I was trying to limit my walking. After Carters I met the girls at Chilis, and after a long lunch I headed home. The end.

No, not really. That gets us to about 2:30 on Saturday after which Ben and I were sick ALL WEEKEND. Ben is still home sick today and I'm a little under the weather but I hate missing work this close to my maternity leave so I sucked it up and headed to the office.

If you have a spare prayer or two, please include Ben and I in your thoughts as he still has a fever and upset stomach, and I can't breathe well, and I have some sort of random rash (mostly on my hands and wrists) that makes me generally miserable.

I am so grateful however that my sister in law Mary picked up Betsy yesterday morning, and Bets spent all day with the Bralleys. She must have had plenty of fun because when she made it home at 5:30 she ate a light snack and went strait to bed.

It's Monday again, but considering we slept through 85% of the weekend I don't remember getting here.

Pregnancy Countdown...

I'm so excited to meet our Ella. I'm also excited to not be pregnant anymore. It's bittersweet; this is more than likely the last time I'll be pregnant. I don't enjoy the symptoms of pregnancy, but I do enjoy the anticipation, the bond that develops over 40 weeks of being attached to another being. And I love having children more than I ever realized I would. I think I'll be a little sad when it's over, but at the same time thankful and relieved if Ella and I can just make it through this healthy and whole. And I'll keep my fingers crossed that my sister one day will have a baby or two so I can play the role of 'doting Aunt'.

Pregnancy by the numbers:

• 0 days of work missed due to morning sickness
• 24.2 pounds gained
• 4.5 pounds, Ella's approximate weight currently
• 116/78 my blood pressure last night
• 14 vitamins, supplements, and antacid pills I take per day
• 6 more scheduled doctors appointments (though I could deliver early and miss half of them!)
• 16 average times per day that Betsy says 'Ella!'
• 48 days until my due date
• 31 work days until my due date
• 27 days until Ella is full term (the point at which I delivered Betsy)
• 20 days until I'm 36 weeks pregnant. This is the point I was put on bed rest with Betsy and has been my goal this pregnancy, to work at least up to this point.

I love looking at the numbers. Last pregnancy I didn't realize how unpredictable the end of pregnancy could be, so knowing that in a couple more weeks things can change rapidly from one week to the next fills me with excitement!

It's Friday!

It is Friday! Betsy told me so on the way to school this morning.

www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/football_2010/

Before I forget, vote TODAY for Sean for the Lowe's Senior CLASS award. You can vote DAILY and he's in third place at the moment. Here's the link and it just takes about 10 seconds to vote.

I'm happy the weekend is right around the corner, and even happier to realize Ben will be home all weekend!! I thought he had a cross country meet Saturday morning but it was yesterday afternoon, so he has a local football game tonight, and he should be home at a decent hour (that means before midnight).

I have plans to meet some friends in Round Rock for lunch and shopping tomorrow. We're all either mothers, or expecting a baby, or BOTH! The outlet mall has a Carters store and I'm thrilled to go by, it's my favorite place to find baby clothes.

Anyways I thought I would bring Betsy with me, but knowing that Ben will be home I think I'll leave her with Daddy. It's much easier on me at this point in the pregnancy to not take care of Bets on my own. She really is a good girl, but needing to pick her up, bed over to put her in the stroller and change her diapers is more taxing than usual. So she and Ben will likely spend a low-key few hours at home tomorrow while I meet up with my friends.

We'll watch some sports (Rangers play tonight) plus we're smack dab in the middle of football season, and we get to celebrate Jane and Jim's birthdays this weekend!

Have a great weekend!

Lowes Senior CLASS Award

Little Lauren's boyfriend Super Sean is a finalist for the Lowes Senior CLASS award. I think he is a fantastic guy, and a deserving candidate. If you have a moment, please vote for Sean, and you can vote DAILY between now and December 6th. Thanks for your time!



http://www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/football_2010/

Bralley's law of pukability

With regard to having a sick child: No matter how creative and thorough you are covering the bed with towels and having a bucket handy, said child will always find a method of kicking the towels off the bed to throw up on the sheets, and her mother.

a(v)S+T+(CBM)=L

Where

B is baby
M is for mother
A rate of sickness
V is vomit
S is sheets
V is towels
C is for articles of clothing
L is loads of laundry




I should have majored in math.

Abby (and her parents) visit Betsy (and her parents)

This weekend was lots of fun. Friday night Ben's school beat their rival in their homecoming game (yeah!). Saturday morning his Cross Country teams placed first (girls) and third (boys) in their meet.

Saturday morning Ben's cousin Jonathan, his wife Christi and their 11 month daughter Abigail visited to attend our church's fall carnival, and to attend a birthday party for another family member (Jonathan's second cousin on the other side of his family).

Anyways, we had lots of fun. At the carnival the girls played the duck catching game, Betsy tried the moon bounce (huge hit, now her Daddy wants one for our playroom), Abby sat still for a couple of pictures with pumpkins, Betsy did not, and both the girls liked the petting zoo. Ben and Jonathan had a funnel cake and Betsy learned about funnel cake which Ben (surprisingly) shared.

Here are the better pictures from Saturday!












After the petting zoo, a bath was in order!





Betsy and Abby are now friends. Betsy woke up Sunday morning talking about Abby and ran into the guest room to find her. I think they enjoyed playing together this weekend, and I can't wait to get them together again!

A must read!

This blog post really touched my heart and reminded me so much of Ben. I can't say enough about what a wonderful dad he is. I thought Ben would be a good dad, but I couldn't imagine how good he would be. He's paitent and giving with his time and energy, the best part of his day is running in the house to sweep Betsy off her feet. He will teach his girls to act like ladies, he will indulge them in what they enjoy, and he will guide them to become independent thinkers. There is no one in the world I would rather share the journey of parenthood with more than Ben.

Pass along this blog post if it touches you as much as it touched me.

http://www.danoah.com/2010/09/you-just-broke-your-child.html