Shrinking

This past monday I had another doctor appointment. For the second time in two weeks I had actually LOST 2 pounds rather than gain anything. Despite my concern for losing 4 pounds in two weeks, my doctor said it was fine. Too bad I'm on this silly low sugar diet....Its easy to lose weight when they won't let you eat any of the things you like!

The thing that DID concern my doctor was the fact that I was measuring 32 weeks (with that super-scientific tape measure) this time instead of being on track like I had been in weeks past. She ordered an ultrasound to make sure little Joey was growing properly.

Sidebar...
I told her I had been wondering when she would do an ultrasound to see what size it seemed little Joey might be and she said that she normally doesn't do one. So, I guess it was lucky for me that the magic tape measure was having a problematic day.

Today was my ultrasound. The tech told me that at this stage of pregnancy ultrasounds aren't that fun because the baby is usually cramped for space and less visible than previous weeks. Well, Joey is small, so we were able to see really well. She said he was measuring one week small, which is the same as the last ultrasound we had done. So, it looks like he's been growing pretty well. She estimates his size to be 6 pounds, a little smaller than average. She didn't see anything to concern her, but I'll have to wait until my next appointment on Monday to speak to the doctor about what she thinks. A week small wasn't a big deal last time so I'm sure it'll be just fine. And, I'll take a slightly small baby to a giant one any day!

Also note-worthy from the ultrasound, in Matt's exact words, Joey has "the chubbiest cheeks I've ever seen!" And he has quite a round little tummy which assures me that he's not starving. :)

The Nursery!!

Since Matt's mom was having me a shower this weekend at my house, I really wanted to have the nursery completely finished in time for all the shower guests to get to go upstairs and see it. With Matt's help, we completed it last weekend.

So, without further ado, here are some pictures. :)

Glucose Test

As expected, I did NOT pass my last 3-hour glucose test. Boo! Luckily by the time they told me I only have five weeks left to deal with all these rules.

My doctor referred me to a diabetes center to get some meal recommendations as well as a glucose monitor to check my blood sugar levels FOUR TIMES A DAY! :(

They checked my blood sugar while I was at the diabetes center and everything came back very normal, not elevated at all, but they still had concerns.

Since that visit Friday I've had mixed results with the sugar levels. Sometimes its normal, sometimes its way too high. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what works, even when eating what they've recommended.

But, I'm optimistic. Today, the first three readings have all been where they should be. A few more minutes before I test it one last time for the day. Here's hoping for four normal results in one day. That hasn't happened yet!

Three Zero

So today I turned 30. That sounds so old. I don't feel thirty.

In all honesty, I am not the least bit bothered by the fact that I'm thirty, I just find it hard to believe. Not only did I turn 30, but it is my last birthday as a non-parent. That's pretty exciting!!

I had a great day. I woke up to a suprise "Happy Birthday" message written on the bathroom mirror (in lipstick, lol) from my sweet husband. My friend, April, gave me some peanut butter cookies she had baked when I got to work. I also got a POUND of strawberries from the other band director. The aide who comes to my class with the autistic kids brought me a giant piece of chocolate cake. I think they are all secretly plotting to sabatoge my glucose test coming up on monday!! OH, and matt sent me some beautiful star-gazer lillies....my favorites!

Matt and I went out to eat and then bought some NEW FURNITURE. Don't misunderstand, the furniture was not a birthday gift, only a coincidence that we bought it today.

That's an interesting story.... we needed a new couch because our other one (and our nice leather recliner) got damaged. "How?" You ask? Well, a dear (giant) dog that we love so much decided after three years to see how they tasted. She ate the arm off both the couch and the recliner. She has since been relocated back to the kennel while we are at work.

We are super excited about the new couches though. They are actually a sectional that can be customized. But, since a sectional won't fit in our living room due to the way its shaped, we customized ours into two seperate couches. We'll have three recliners, a console with cup holders, and an AMAZING chaise lounger that will be my home! It will be delivered on May 1st, so pictures will have to wait until then!

Single Digits

Its amazing to say (type), but I am now 31 weeks pregnant and only have NINE weeks left. We have reached the single digits! I had a doctor's appointment last week and all is well. Well, all except that I failed the last Glucose test! Dang it! I'll be taking another 3-hour one next week. Pray for me to pass!!!

In honor of the short time left before little Joey gets here, I thought I'd list a few things I will NOT miss about being pregnant. :)

Runny nose
Constant chapped lips
Stupid pants that don't fit
Peeing 17 times a night
Back Aches
Glucose Tests
Giant vitamins
Weighing myself

I guess if my list is that short it really hasn't been that bad! :)

Family Visit

My family came to visit for a couple of days near the end of spring break. I spent the first part of the week cleaning and running errands so that everything would be ready when they got here. My dad had only been to my house once ever, my mom hadn't been in 2 years, and my sister had never been. My nephew, Kendall, was the one who had been the most!
They left Alabama late Wednesday afternoon and began their long drive to Texas. They spent the night somewhere in Louisiana and got up early Thursday morning to finish the trip. My dad is a truck driver, so it was easy for him to follow directions to get here. They made it here just after noon. My mom and I made some spaghetti and we had a nice lunch catching up.
After lunch we decided to take Kendall to Old MacDonald Farm since we were waiting on Matt to get home from work. Kendall has been to Old MacDonald everytime he's visited and he loves that place. My sister, Teresa, is also an animal lover so she had a great time too.
When Matt got home, we went out to dinner at Rico's. My family loves to eat Mexican when they come to Texas.
On Friday, the boys stayed with Matt and my mom, sister, and I went shopping. Our first stop was Babies R Us. My mom bought us a pack and play and I bought some other stuff with money my mom brought from the people she works with.
After that, we went shopping at nearly every store in Humble and Atascocita, or at least it felt that way! It was after five o'clock when we got home and I was exhausted.
Teresa wanted pasta for dinner so we went to Zio's. I love Zio's! I think everyone did.
Saturday everyone slept late because Friday had been such a long day. When everyone was finally up and ready to go, we went to breakfast at Denny's. When we got back home my mom and sister raided my freebie closet for goodies and everyone packed up to go home. They were on the way home by noon.
It was a short visit, but everyone had a great time. They'll be back in a few short weeks.

In non-related news, we have finally decided on a name for baby bean. His name is going to be......






Joseph Matthew Greenfield


....and we will call him Joey.

Birthday Fun

Friday was Matt's 31st birthday. It is also his parents wedding anniversary, so it makes for quite a weekend of celebrations. Unfortunately, Matt was sick all day on his actual birthday with food poisoning! He was feeling better by Saturday, just in time for the celebrations to start.

We drove to Coldspring on Saturday night to a surprise anniversary party for his parents. They had a live (country) band and lots of food. We stayed for a few hours and then headed back to our house. This was the same night that we were "springing forward," so it ended up being a pretty late night.

On Sunday, Matt's dad and grandma came over to take us out to lunch at Saltgrass after church. Then we went back to our house where the rest of his family was coming over for cake. We had a great time visiting with everyone.

By five o'clock when everyone left I was exhausted and so were the dogs! The three of us hit the couch immediately for a nap. Roxanne and Daisy love to take naps just as much as I do!

Its officially spring break now which is a lifesaver because I'm not sure I could do a full day of work after this weekend. I've got a million things to do this week before my mom, dad, sister, and nephew come into town on Thursday. I'm looking forward to that. I've lived in Houston for nearly 8 years and this will be the first time that my sister has been. Plus, my mom wants to do lots of baby shopping so I know that will be fun.

Matt and I ordered our crib and dresser this weekend as well. They should be arriving within 7 to 14 days. A huge thanks to Grandma Annie who is buying the crib for us and Rob who is buying the dresser! I'm excited to get it all set up.

And, speaking of cribs, Matt and his mom got into a little "discussion" on whether its better to have the baby sleep in the parents room or his own bedroom/crib when he comes home. I'm wondering whether you guys had (or plan to have) them sleep in your room or their own room and crib for the first 3 months..... Consider it a poll and please leave comments accordingly.

Latest Events

I have lots of random pieces of information to share, so here goes. :)

About two weeks ago I had a follow-up ultrasound my doctor ordered because the first ultrasound did not get a good look at all she wanted to see. I could tell during the second ultrasound that the technician was not satisfied with what she was seeing. The whole process took much longer than the first one did and she was asking me weird questions. She wanted to know who my doctor was and when I would be following up with her. I could tell when she asked them that she was trying to appear curious rather than concerned, but she was not good at it. Besides, she hadn't been so curious in the first ultrasound. So, then she told me I was finished and I could get ready to go. So, while I'm sitting there waiting on them to finish typing everything up, she says she has decided she wants to look at one more thing. She gets all her equipment out again and does some more looking. At this point, I was totally worried! So, I asked her what the deal was because I could tell something wasn't right. She said, "Well, he's just measuring a little small." I asked how small. She said he was about a week off on his growth but offered me no more information. And, it was two weeks before my next doctor's appointment. Needless to say, I went home a little confused.

So, google here I come. After doing a little reading online, my concerns were lifted. According to the all-knowing google, it really wasn't a big deal. So, I decided I wouldn't worry about it. After all, if it WAS a big deal, wouldn't my doctor be calling me to move my appointment sooner?

Fast forward to this past Monday which was my appointment, finally. I couldn't wait to ask her what her plans were to fix the small baby. :) Would she take me off the metformin? Would she tell me to eat more? So, she comes in, measures me, listens to the heartbeat, and says, "Great. See you in four weeks." She didn't even mention the ultrasound! So, I asked her about it. I explained that the technician made it seem like there was something wrong. She immediately mentioned him being a "week small." She didn't care at all. She said his growth between the two ultrasounds was consistent with what it should be so everything was fine. I guess he was small on the first one too. Besides, who wants a giant baby anyway!?

I am now scheduled to take ANOTHER one-hour glucose test. (completely un-related to the ultrasound. This is the time I would normally have been made to take it.) I sure hope I pass this one or else I'll be taking that stupid 3-hour one again! I'll be doing that this coming monday. It'll be a great start to my Spring Break.

In other baby news: We have the room completely painted. We've purchased the chair rail, but haven't installed it yet. Hopefully that will be happening within the week. So far its looking pretty good. I did take some "before" pictures that I will post along with some "after" pictures when its completely done. Don't look for those anytime soon. :)

No, we don't have a name yet. Well, we have a partial name, but I'm not spilling the beans until there's a complete name. We've gone through about a million names so I'm sure we've narrowed it down quite a bit. At one point we had decided on one but wanted to give it a week or so to be sure before we made any announcements. We didn't make it through the week before we decided we weren't that fond of that name after all. So, we started over. We are sure what the first name will be though. Well, I say we're sure. I spent $6 buying the letters of his name to hang on his wall, so we're either sure or I'm out 6 bucks. LOL

:)

Happy Valentine's Day to Matt

In honor of Valentine's Day, February 14th, here are fourteen (of the countless) reasons I love Matt.





I love:




1. His childlike love of CANDY. Any kind of candy....



2. The silly songs he makes up and sings on a regular basis.



3. The way he wakes me up at midnight when he comes to bed just to tell me that he loves me.



4. The way he does everything 100%. Everything. He never cuts corners. He does it right, or not at all.


5. How he overcame such tough circumstances in life to become the man he is today.



6. How he never complains about what I cook. He'll eat whatever it is.



7. His generosity. He is always available to help someone in need.



8. The way he laughs when something is really funny.



9. How he never lets me drive when we go somewhere. Even if its ten hours to Alabama, he drives all of it.



10. That he calls all babies "beps."



11. His work ethic. He never, ever, calls in sick. He works everyday.



12. His need for the very best things. It makes me feel good that he chose me.



13. The way he won't let me stay mad at him. He always makes me laugh when I'm trying to be mad.



14. When he says "I love Bean."

Happy Valentine's Day!

Bean's Room

From the moment we knew Bean was a boy, we knew we were going to do a puppy-dog themed room. Surprisingly, there weren't tons of different puppy-dog things to choose from. However, we did find one that we liked.

After some consideration, I decided I didn't want to spend the fortune it would cost to get the whole set of bedding and room accessories in the pattern we chose. After all, Bean won't know the difference and that money could buy lots of diapers! LOL So, here's my plan.

We have ordered the musical mobile from the set and I'm going to (try to) make the other things for the room, like the curtains and bumper. (JENNA!?!!) I'm going to use blue/white polka dots and chocolate/white polka dots.

Now, for the best part, here's the mobile. :)

Baby Updates

Well, if you haven't heard yet, baby Greenfield is a BOY!! Yay, our gut instincts were right. We're super excited about it. We've decided we're going to do a puppy nursery, but we haven't picked out the exact stuff yet....

I failed my one-hour glucose test so I took the three-hour one today. It's totally NO FUN. They drew my blood when I first arrived (on an empty stomach at 8am) and then gave me that weird orange sugary drink. Then they took blood every hour for the next three hours. That's right, FOUR different times they stuck a needle in me.

After no breakfast and lots of missing blood, I headed to the mall for some food and shopping. I love looking at baby clothes and buying things on clearance for super cheap.

Later this afternoon I had another doctor appointment. She told me that everything from our ultrasound looked good. Unfortunately, they didn't get a good look at his spine, so I get to have another ultrasound in two weeks. I'm excited about that.

I got "measured" for the first time today. I'm 22 weeks tomorrow and she said I was measuring right on track. I think its kind of weird that they don't have a more advanced way to do that. 2010 and we're still using a tape measure?

I asked her about the results of my one-hour glucose test and she said in order to pass I had to score less than 135. I scored 138, so that makes me feel more positive about the results of the three-hour one.

Bean as we call him still has no name. There are periodic discussions about names, but we haven't agreed on one yet. It'll come...

I have bought a few maternity items, but haven't committed to wearing them yet. They're really still too big, but the amount of my regular clothes that still fit is dwindling.

In conclusion to this random post, I will include pictures from the ultrasound.

And, my personal favorite:

Building from Scratch

Matt never ceases to amaze me. Here is a man that, at best, can make some cheese nachos or a bowl of cereal in the kitchen. But, he can put a computer together from nothing.

After Christmas, Matt decided he needed a new computer. His was five years old and not fast enough to run the new photo editting software for his new camera. He decided to build his own.

He went to the computer store and got all kinds of things that I don't know the names of. Cards, boards, fans, and random other things all the best and fastest he could find. Then he spent his weekend putting it all together. In the empty computer "case" he bought, he screwed in and put together somehow all these random pieces, hooked up a monitor and keyboard, installed Windows 7, and, poof, new computer.

I cannot imagine all the things that one must know to be able to do that. I can't tell you all the random computer hardware and software and even firmware terms I've heard him recite over the past week. But, he knows them all, and what they mean. And, he's got a super-nice computer now, that he built, from scratch.

Diapers

Yes, I know its too early to worry about diapers, but if its a good deal.....

I found a good deal at walgreens that happened to include diapers. So, I bit the bullet and bought our offical first package of diapers for baby greenfield. (Size two....is that good?)

Here's how it worked out:

Huggies diapers $9
3 Tomato sauces 3/$1
2 Lucky Charms $2 each
Cinnamon Toast Crunch $2
Fusion Razor $9

I had coupons for everything as well as $14 in Walgreens Register Rewards. After I had handed all that over, I only owed $2.12!!!! PLUS, I got back $11 in Register Rewards to use next time.

So, basically I paid $2 for some Huggies Diapers and got some free cereal and a razor in the process. :)

Yay for coupons!

More Baby News

Today I had my second doctor's appointment. It lasted a total of five minutes.... But, on the bright side, I got to hear little baby greenfield's heartbeat. The doctor confirmed that I haven't gained any weight (!) and she was okay with that. Hopefully we can stay on that track for a little while longer. I have another appointment in early January and then I am scheduled to find out the sex of the baby on January 25th. Fun times!

Baby Greenfield

That's right, I said Baby Greenfield. After an interesting couple of years and a little medicine, Matt and I are finally pregnant!

I had my first doctor's appointment today and everything looked great. We saw the heart-beat and even a little movement. And, the doctor pointed out the arm and leg "buds."

I am officially 9 weeks now. And, so far, I must brag that its been pretty uneventful. I haven't been sick once. Not once. How lucky is that? I'm hoping it will continue to be easy. My mom informed me that neither she nor my sister ever were sick so it looks like I'm predisposed to NOT being sick.

And, without further ado, here's a picture of the one we affectionately call "Bean."

Bagels

So, lately I have renewed my love for Bagels. Plain, with strawberry cream cheese. I had bought a package and made a plan to have one bagel every morning before work. There were just enough in the package for one week. My plan was working well and I was enjoying eating my bagel each morning while driving to school. All that changed when I came home from work on Wednesday. You see, when I left for work that morning, I had left the two remaining bagels (one for Thursday and one for Friday) on the counter in their little bagel bag. But, when I came in the back door Wednesday afternoon, the bagel bag was not where I had left it. Instead, it was in the middle of the living room...without any bagels in it. I knew right away what had happened to them: Daisy also has a love for bagels. (or anything of the food variety really). I cannot explain how sad my bagel-less drive to work was on Thursday and Friday.



New week: new bagel story:



Of course while at Kroger this past Sunday, I picked up some more bagels. This time, I opted for the mini bagels instead of the regular size ones. (Because the mini ones were free!) There were 12 mini ones in the bag, so I decided to eat one before I went to the gym, knowing that I would still have 11 left. That way, I would have enough to eat 2 (Mini!) on the way to work for the rest of the week. And, there would be one left over to snack on sometime later. What an excellent plan!

Upon returning from the gym, I find an empty bagel bag in the kitchen floor! I screamed at Matt, who had been home the entire time, "Were you not watching Daisy!?!" He asks why and I proceed to tell him that there is an empty bagel bag in the floor and 11 missing bagels. Daisy arrives on the scene before Matt and looks so pitiful. She's always so sorry AFTER the fact. I scolded Matt for not watching her and pointed out that she'd probably be sick after eating 11 bagels. And, reminded him how I already had my bagel-week planned out and now it was ruined!!

Then, he busts out laughing. He had rigged the whole thing!! He emptied the bag of the 11 bagels, re-bagged them, and stuck them in the fridge to hide from me. Then tore the original back and rigged it up in the floor, with some other dog items to make it look like Daisy had eaten the bag. All at my expense.

So, I'm happy to report that my bagels are fine. Well, 9 of them were fine. He had gotten his brilliant idea as he was eating two of them. And, that totally ruins my plan too! :)

Finally, a new post!!!

Things have been pretty uneventful around here lately. And, with going back to work, I've been super lazy. All excuses aside, I have decided to come back to the world of blogging....atleast for today. Hopefully it won't be another two months before my next post, but I can't promise anything.

I haven't been doing a lot of couponing lately, especially at CVS or walgreens. I still get the grocery game list for kroger and go there once every weekend, but I haven't been to CVS much lately and haven't been to walgreens in probably months....UNTIL TODAY. :)

I got the walgreen's ad yesterday when I bought my papers and I was excited to see lots of good deals this week! One I was particularly interested in was the A&W root beer deal. Four 12-packs for $10.92. Matt loves root beer, and that was a great price. They also had lots of FARR (free after register rewards) items that I was interested in. I decided with a little bit of effort I could get the four 12-packs of soda along with all the good FARR stuff for LESS than the $10.92....at least that was my goal. Here's how it turned out:

Walgreen's #1: 1st transaction: Vaseline Lotion $6.99 - $1.50 coupon = $5.89 after tax. Earned $7 register reward.

2nd transaction: Tooth flossers $2, Herbal Essence shampoo $2.99 - $1 coupon, Chapstick $2.99, tomato sauce $.99 (forgot to use the coupon to make it $.39). Paid with $7 RR from previous transaction, $.97 cash. Earned $3 RR, and two $2RR

walgreen's #2: 1st transaction: Gillette fusion razor $8.99 - $4 coupon, two tomato sauces $.39 each. (didn't forget the coupon that time!) Paid with $3RR and $2RR. $.77 cash. Earned $6RR

2nd transaction: Herbal Essence conditioner $2.99 - $1 coupon, Vaseline lotion $6.99 - $1.50 coupon, two tomato sauces $.39 each. Paid with $2RR and $6 RR. $.26 cash. Earned $2RR and $7RR

3rd transaction: Finally, the four 12-packs of root beer. $10.92 plus tax. Paid with $2RR and $7RR and $2.07 cash.

Total spent: $9.96

So, I got the four 12-packs along with two vaseline lotions, five tomato sauces, a gillette fusion razor, tooth flossers, a chapstick, and an herbal essence shampoo and conditioner for LESS than the price of the 12-packs alone.

:)

July 23, 2005

I just wanted to write a quick note to say Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband, Matt. The last four years have been great and I'm looking forward to MANY more!

Almost Free

I had an excellent trip to Kroger today that was blog-worthy so I thought I would share. Starting today, Kroger is doing their mega-event where when you buy any ten participating items, you receive $5 off your order. I bought the following items:

1 Dixie Paper plates 24 pack

2 Softsoap Hand soaps

1 large A1 steak sauce

1 Daisy Sour cream

1 Jif Peanut Butter

4 Sobe Life waters

3 Kleenex

2 Speedstick Deodorants

2 Chex Mix

3 Cat treats (no, I don't have cats, but free is free. I'm sure someone will take them!)

For those twenty items I received $10 off my order. I had coupons for everything except the Jif and the sour cream.

I had my card out all ready to pay when the cashier informed me my total was ONE CENT. So, I put the card back in my wallet, handed over my penny, and walked out with my loot. :)

Happy Shopping!

Vacation

Matt and I went on vacation this year to Orlando and Key Largo, Florida. While in Orlando, we stayed at the Universal Resort just walking distance from Universal Studios.

Our first day there we went to the Islands of Adventure theme park. They had two great rollercoasters, the Hulk and Dueling Dragons, and some other fun rides. We also went to see a movie, "the hangover," and had dinner at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville.

The second day there it RAINED...all day. This was the day we went to Universal Studios, but we had to do it in the rain. Luckily, most of their attractions were in-doors so we did get some reprieve from the rain at times. They had a nice indoor rollercoaster, the Mummy. They also had some cool 4-D attractions based on the Terminator and some animated movied that I can't remember now. We also went through the Jurrasic Park water ride that was fun and I managed to stay mostly dry. (that was before the rain....)

Matt arm-wrestling Captain America!

Our last night in Orlando we had tickets to see Blue Man Group. This was one of the highlights of the trip. They were hysterical! I didn't realize it was going to be a comedy show....I was only expecting the musical stuff. It was a two hour show and Matt and I enjoyed all of it. I even got some light-up drum sticks that I know my kids at school are going to love!

From Orlando, we flew to Miami and drove to Key Largo. The one whole day we had there we spent at "Theatre of the Sea." They had all kids of "shows" to watch as well as informational tours. We first went on the bottomless boat ride where two dolphins came up and performed in the boat. Then we went on a nature tour around the park. They had lots of lagoons full of various types of fish, turtles, and sharks. I got to pet one of the baby sharks. They also had a "Parot Theatre" where they had about 10 trained parots that put on a show. It was interesting to hear that most of the birds were in their twenties in age!

I got to hold one!



Matt and me on the nature trail.

After that we went to the Dolphin show, which was so cool. They had two male dolphins, ages 11 and 12, that did tons of cool tricks.

On a side note, one dolphin trainer's name was Tessa AND one of the child volunteers from the audience was also Tessa....so there were three Tessas there for that show!

After the dolphin show, we headed to the sea lion show. We learned the differences between sea lions and seals (mainly the ears) and Wilbur the four year old sea lion was SO cute! He weighs over 350 pounds and is expected to be around 800 when he's full grown!

Some audience members got to throw rings for him to catch. Look at that face!

Wilbur showing us how strong his front arms were... (If you enlarge this picture you can see his "ear." Only sea lions have the little ear flap. Seals don't have outside ears...)

He loves to slide!

The main attraction was later in they day. I have ALWAYS wanted to get to swim with a dolphin but have always backed out because of the price. I told Matt I was doing it this year, no matter what. So, I got to swim with Nikki, a 25 year old female dolphin. It was worth every penny! I got to do lots of tricks with her including a dance, a hug, a kiss, and a few swimming tricks. I highly recommend it! I can now cross it off my list of things to do in life!!

All in all, this year's vacation was one of my favorites!