Maternity Pics

Here are some more pics Shannon did for me that day -- these are just me and my belly. :) Sorry, I couldn't pick my favorites -- there were so many!

New Pics

Shannon, my cousin, did some pictures for me this last weekend. First, here are some of the family and Addie. She was grumpy and was not cooperating.

Look at that pout.

Refused to look at the camera.

I just love the daddy/daughter pics.

Isn't this dress adorable? Loren's Aunt Michelle got it for her.

Pouty face.

Daddy makes it all better.

There's some of that Addie attitude.

This is later on -- now she's really having fun!

A day at the park

Took advantage of the weather yesterday and hit up the playground for lunch (from delicious West Side) while we were waiting for the oil to be changed in the car. Addie had lots of fun playing with daddy.

This pic would be great without the snotnose.

She's serious about her sliding.

Finally took some pics of a couple projects. Addie is modeling her sucky thumb mitts I made for her months ago. They're still a little big.

Here is Kadie with daughter Emilia modeling her birthday gloves.

Another sweet pic of Emi.

And now are some older projects that I just never posted on my blog (but are already on Facebook and Ravelry). Here is the set I made my mom for her birthday.
Not sure why this is sideways. Set for Katrina and Tony and boys (minus Tanner's -- forgot to take a pic before I wrapped it) for Christmas. Go Steelers and Eagles!

Bloomers for my friend Aryn's daughter, Kiowa.

Hat for my cousin Jenn's son, Finn.

Soaker for our baby boy.

Hat for baby gift.

Babydoll for my friend Amy's daugther, Madi.

Gloves for my dad's girlfriend's daughter, Samantha.

A Quick Update

Hmm, didn't I say in my last blog I'd be better about keeping this up? :) I even have a netbook now so where are my excuses? I think I'm going to have to blame the pregnancy again . . . this poor kid is already getting blamed for stuff! :) He is definitely taking his toll on me more than Addie did. I started feeling pretty rough last week -- I hurt everywhere. Head, neck, back, ribs, abdomen, pelvis, legs . . . I think he doubled in size suddenly and my body didn't know how to handle it. After taking it easy for a few days, sleeping on the heatpad, and a chiropractor appointment, I'm feeling a bit better. Although now I'm super tired again, like I was in the first trimester. I'm now 27 weeks, so we're almost into the third. Everyone keeps blaming it on the fact that he's a boy -- not sure if it's true or it's just what us women tell ourselves. :) He still moves like crazy, which I actually love -- it's just such a neat feeling to feel him flipping around in there. Still 3 months to go, and since this is the last one, I'm trying to enjoy it as much as I can. I'm just taking it as an excuse to be lazy and do a lot of knitting. :) I'll post some project updates when I get pics loaded.

Addie has been sick for the last week (which I'm sure is contributing to my fatigue -- luckily I haven't caught it yet -- crossing my fingers). She's been stuffy with fevers off and on and a nasty cough. But I think she's feeling better -- she's been giving Loren all sorts of trouble the last day or two, so her spunk is back. :) Just some tidbits about her right now -- she LOVES books, she'd let you read to her all day. She doesn't use many words, but she's very vocal and can carry a full conversation. She uses her hands to talk like I do. She seems to like the sound of her voice, especially during a high-pitched scream. She loves to dance -- does it every time she hears a bit of music. Her favorite show is Imagination Movers. She also likes Mickey and Pooh. She's not a super picky eater, but absolutely loves cheese, fruit snacks, pretzels, chips, fries, chicken nuggets . . . depends on the day, but she also likes apples, oranges, bananas, pasta, bread, chocolate milk. Really into candy lately. Junior Mints are our favorite. I've actually begun the bargaining stage already -- "you can have a piece of candy if you . . ." Loves to brush her teeth. Loves to rub body butter on my belly. Likes to kiss "the baby". Really just into giving kisses anytime lately. Total ham -- cracks me up on a regular basis. Sleeping pretty well at night. Still hoards loads of things and loves to sort. A few fave toys include her shopping cart, playhuts, and other random items that change on a daily basis. She sits in the sink when I put on make-up and uses a brush to do her own, or plays with the toothbrushes. The only way I can get dishes done is to have her "help" me (she plays on one side of the sink while I wash in the other -- she usually makes a mess, but it's mostly just water). She is slowly learning how to put things away -- we're trying to get a night time routine of putting toys and books away. Good kid. ;)

Work is crazy. I am giving 2 presentations at our state HIM convention in 2 weeks and am on the board, so helping overall with the convention. Trying to prep those while teaching 4 classes, visiting clinical sites, advising students, working on research and exploring curriculum changes, doing IRB reviews . . . After the convention I get to grade 22 papers and start advising for Fall registration. Eek! :)

Finally figured out our trip to California. Cassie, Addie, and I will be flying down on Cassie's birthday, which is the 29th -- Loren and Ryan will drive down and pick us up in Sacramento and then we'll head to Kenwood. Hoping to hit up Six Flags/Marine World, possibly San Francisco, and possibly the redwoods/beach. And of course getting lots of family visiting in. Leaving Sunday -- we'll fly back and the boys will drive. Kind of a weird set up, but this way we're not stuck in a car with Addie for 11 hours, but we still have a car with a carseat to get around while we're down there. And believe me, I'm not sad about missing that BORING drive! The boys can just go nonstop without dealing with a baby and preggo and can rock out to whatever they want. :) Now we'll just see if Cassie and I can entertain Addie through 2 flights . . .

Off to knit now . . . working on a sweater for baby boy.

I Love You Day

Friday: Making Valentine's with Pappy at the farm

Saturday: Valley Bums Valentine exchange at Carl's Jr

After the playdate

Checking out her goodies

Her special Valentine box Pappy made

Apparently some were good enough to eat!

Another one of my Valentines

Goofy Valentine getting ready for bed

And finally snuggled in with her Bailey Jo

Sunday: Family day having breakfast, going out for sushi (yummmm!), and watching a movie

Addie with her Valentine present (aka my $5 YR find) -- never mind the mess behind them, but check out our Valentine in the top left (a new TV!)

Bedhead loves!

I love my Valentines. :)

Oh blog where have I been?

Yes, it's been since December 1st that I posted last. Neglecting my poor blog. This last 1-2 months has just been a blur. I used to blog when Addie was asleep -- either after she went to bed, or before she got up. But I'm so exhausted in the evenings now that I can rarely stay awake later than her, and if I do, I'm usually pushing through a few rows of a knitting project (they're just so addicting -- I'll post some pics of recent accomplishments soon). That, and Loren has a tendency to be a bit of a computer hog at night. :) I also used to get some time before she woke up in the morning, but she just doesn't seem to sleep much past the time I wake up. So here I am at 5am on a Saturday, blogging. I've actually been up since 4am. Not sure why, just can't go back to sleep. Maybe staring at a computer screen will lull me back into it . . .

SO much to catch up on! This is also my other problem with blogging - I delay so long that once I get to it, I have to write a novel. I think about blogs to write all the time, I just never sit down to do it. Let's see, what has happened since December 1 . . .

Obviously we had Christmas in there at some point. It was a fairly quiet Christmas this year -- not the running around to 20 places like usual. My Grandma Dean didn't have her usual weekend-before get-together, as she just had knee surgery. Christmas Eve we had made early plans with Robin and Hutch (at Thanksgiving), so we spent the evening there -- unfortunately Rick also made his plans on Christmas Eve (unexpectedly), so we missed that part of the family. My mom and Dominic were still in Washington (bummer!), and my Grandma Lola decided not to have the crazy get-together at her house, so we just spent Christmas day at Denise's with my dad. Addie had a great time -- she got so into each gift that it actually took her a few days to open everything. :) Pictures to come.

We also had Christmas "break" in there, but ours wasn't much of a break. BSU started offering a winter intersession this year -- 3-week classes offered between Fall and Spring semesters -- and guess who just had to volunteer??? I decided to teach Medical Terminology, which was the first time I had done it in that short of a time period, and also the first time I had taught it in person. Between squeezing in that (3 hours of teaching everyday, starting at 8:30am -- not including prep time and grading), attempting to finish other work projects that I had saved for "break" (including two articles and IRB apps), Christmas, the GRE, and Loren's work schedule, we had a crazy few weeks. I did take the last week of December off, but that was pretty much just a recovery week (and GRE study cram session) so I could hit it hard again. Now we are back into the Spring semester, and this will reflect on my break -- I was looking forward to the calmness of the regular semester! :) I do think I'll teach during the intersession again, just not while I'm pregnant (or have a newborn -- I've already declined for next year).

On the pregnancy front, everything is going great and we found out we're having a boy!! Super excited! I think I get a little more excited everyday as I see other little boys and start looking at boy clothes. I think there is an obnoxious amount of unnecessary junk that we insist on buying for babies (a lesson I've learned with Addie), and yes, clothes are included, but I just can't help it! They're so darn cute! I really haven't done much shopping, just one short day of thrift store hunting, but with my newfound network of moms, the hand-me-downs are coming in. :) He is definitely a Sand boy -- he is moving constantly, I could swear he's doing backflips in there! What did we get ourselves into? :) At least it's not FOUR Sand boys (sorry Robin)! I'm not doing a pic update in this blog, but it was requested I show a pic of the belly, so here it is:

I know it's not the best pic -- I've been really bad about taking pics this time. I'll get more, I promise. :)

Addie is doing fantastic. Developmentally, I'm not sure there's a huge change since December (at least in terms of big milestones). She still isn't talking, but she at least nods/shakes yes/no, which is a big help in determining what she wants. She may not be verbalizing what she wants, but she definitely knows! She eats pretty much all day long, but is still a petite little thing (although she is wearing 2T pants now). I actually don't think she's that small -- she's in the age-appropriate clothes and doesn't looked dwarfed by other kids her age, but I'm sure according to the "charts" she's only like the 4th percentile -- who came up with those anyway? And if that's true, why do they size clothes the way they do? I think she's perfect and that's all that matters. :) She finally stopped nursing -- hallelujah! :) Don't get me wrong, I loved breastfeeding, but it was time. My cut-off was the age of 2, and I was really hoping she'd self-wean before that. With the pregnancy it just became so cumbersome and a little painful, so I was definitely ready. I'm slowly getting back a bit more energy (and we're all sleeping better now). She is definitely a toddler now, and we try to do regular playdates -- weeks may include Carl's Jr, Rafiki's, Boise Friends Church (a recently discovered playgroup for only $1.25 and good, cheap snacks), the library, or the park. She's getting much more outgoing. If you didn't catch my lovely Facebook post, a recent story includes her stealing a wallet from a lady's purse at the library, running away with it, tripping, hitting her face on the floor, and sending the contents of the wallet flying (which I then had to gather while holding a screaming toddler and pathetically apologizing to the woman). Nice and embarrassing for mom. :) Okay, I know I said I wasn't doing pics, but I can't not post a pic of her. :)

She smiles for the camera now, which I just love. I can't wait for some nice weather so we can get some pics outside. Oh, and my cousin Shannon is now doing photography, so I can't wait until she's back (from Atlanta) to get Addie pics, belly pics, and newborn pics. :) I love pictures . . .

I FINALLY got my PhD application sent in this week (just squeaking by the deadline). It had been stressing me out for the past couple weeks. I think I just picked a bad time (not that I have any power over the deadline), with the chaos of the winter break. I did okay on the GRE quantitative and verbal sections, but got a 5.5 out of 6 on the analytical, so I was super excited about that! I'm feeling pretty good about it, so all we can do now is wait and see . . .

Unfortunately we haven't had all good news recently. We just found out Loren's Grandpa Sand suffered two strokes and, while in the hospital, was found to have multiple masses in his chest. He is stable and home now, but we're missing him (and Grandma) tremendously and trying to figure out when we can get down to see them. They're in our thoughts constantly . . .

I think that's most of what I needed to update, so I'm going to end there. Pics will be coming soon.