Everything smells FUNNY

So, I know that things smelled funny to me when I was pregnant with Brett. I just can't remember very clearly right now which ones they were.

But now that I'm in the thick of the first trimester again, man, are some smells hitting me the WRONG way.

First of all, to start it off, my body chemistry has totally changed, which means that I constantly think I smell funny and am perpetually wanting to take a shower. But when I take a shower, that's when I have another problem.... soaps and body washes make me so queasy. Their smell overpowers me...so I am always going from feeling sick to feeling sick depending on whether I'm about ready to take a shower or stepping out of it.

And, on the note of clean... laundry detergent, perfumes, air fresheners, all of it... I can't handle. I actually made Steve pick up different laundry detergent and soap today at the store, hoping their scents wouldn't bother me as badly as the ones currently being used.

And then we have the complete opposite end of the spectrum... I have a 21 month old...who has NOT been potty trained. Now, I am usually fine with wet diapers, but dirty diapers are too much right now. I am thankful for my husband and family who are willing to pitch in here...but the days where I am home alone with Brett can be very trying and I only imagine all of the shades of green that I turn.

Foods for the most part don't bother me too much just by smell, surprisingly, unless it is something I DON'T want. Like, the other day we had chicken and noodles. Steve had bought the stuff to make it when I was craving it, and then suddenly it sounded disgusting so it sat in our refrigerator. Finally, the celery was getting wilty so we HAD to make it. That was a tough meal to stomach. I've given up on knowing what we are going to eat from day to day... I just try to keep a stocked fridge and HOPE that something we have on hand happens to sound good. Unfortunately, we've eaten out alot because what sounds good at the time is something bizzare that we'd never have at home (on a side note, I remember this happening when I was pregnant with Brett and it finally went away sometime during the 2nd trimester).

And, finally, I CANNOT STAND the smell of my dogs right now. That makes me a horrible doggie parent, I know... but their smell makes me want to toss my cookies. Anyone want a couple of dogs for a couple of months?

Hopefully things get better. I know that when I was pregnant with Brett, things continued to smell weird throughout pregnancy but didn't affect my tummy as much. Here's hoping anyway!

Tired, tired and more tired

Wow. I sure don't remember feeling this wiped out when I was pregnant with Brett. Since about week 6 or so, fatigue has taken over my body. I am taking my vitamins and (especially) since I stepped on the scale at the doctor's office last week and realized that I was just beginning this pregnancy as a hippo, I've been trying to eat better...more fruits and veggies and water. But I still feel horrible. I mean to try to get on the treadmill, as they say that will give you energy, but I can't do it. The only real time I can is either a. when Brett is napping, or b. as soon as Steve gets home from work before dinner, but a. I try to take a nap (if and when Brett sleeps) and b. when Steve gets home from work, I'm so tired from my day that I can't fathom it.

I know that things get better during the second trimester, right? They HAVE to. I can't continue to feel this way forever with a toddler around. I am so behind on housework, and Steve has stepped up to make dinner and do laundry.

Anyway, that's my rant for today. I think I feel worse right now because Brett decided NOT to nap, and I was counting on it.

Sigh.

Proof Positive (x3)

You may or may not have read my blog back in October where I had the horrible misfortune of taking a false pregnancy test. In that post, I said to take 3 positive pregnancy tests BEFORE you decided to share that you were pregnant with the world.

Well, this top picture shows the first two tests I took... the one on top was taken at night and had a super faint line so I was pretty sure I was pregnant, but I wasn't 100% convinced.

Right below that is the test that shows the darker blue line taken the next morning which PRETTY much solidified in my head that we were indeed pregnant.


Finally, since I had made up my mind to take 3, I still had one of those darn tests left over from my "false positive". Anyway, it showed up positive...so I counted it!


And, just because I was super paranoid about the results, I kept the darn things until I got my ultrasound. Now, I've got even better PROOF that there is a BABY in my belly :)

Winter Wonderland

Back a couple of weeks ago we had 5 inches of snow. Luckily Steve was able to work from home that day. We got out Brett's sled and he had sooo much fun!

Cute photo op!

Exciting News!!! :)

Okay, so I have good reason to be a slacker between my last post and this one right here.

We are pregnant! I've known for quite some time now and we FINALLY got to see the doc today. I'm 8 weeks and 2 days pregnant according to the ultrasound. I actually got my first positive pregnancy test on December 19th...right before fellow blogger, Amy P.'s Christmas party. It was SO HARD to not tell anyone that night.

Since then we had the business of the holiday season and Steve's birthday and then the day after his birthday, wham! I was NOT FEELING WELL. I've had fatigue and sickness much worse than I ever did while pregnant with Brett. But that means things look good, right? Crossing our fingers!

Anyway, we are not "out of the woods" to speak yet as we still have 4 weeks until the dreaded first trimester is over, but we got to see the heartbeat and the arms and legs moving and everything on the ultrasound which made MY HEART feel sooo much better!


I'll do my best to update as I feel okay. I have some pretty darn cute pics of Brett on his sled, and heck I never even uploaded Christmas - ha! Okay, I've got A LOT of catching up to do!!!

Merry Christmas!

Here's a sampling of our Christmas cookies this year. Soon to be enjoyed with family. Wherever you are, have a very Merry Christmas this year!!!

Post Nap Hair

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Cute!

So Brett's friend Evan decided to leave him a video message. It is super cute and Brett has enjoyed watching it over and over again. This is my first attempt at mobile blogging, so I haven't figured out how to post the link, but click on the "Oh, The Places We'll Go" link on my sidebar and you should see it. Thanks, Evan for the nice hello! :)

Happy Holidays

So, we've been super busy this holiday season. Between construction on our house, which took a big chunk of time in late November (and it looks great, by the way... we enclosed the loft and made it a third bedroom, all with lots of help from dear ole dad... thanks dad!) and general holiday stuff, December has flown by so far.

Brett has enjoyed the holidays thus far. We decorated the house (along with finishing construction) over Thanksgiving weekend. I showed him how ornaments went on the tree, and he enjoyed "helping" place them (although it was setting them in the branches instead of hanging them, but still super cute!). He even decided that he loved a few ornaments that we put near the bottom of the tree so much that he has continuously taken them off and carried them around the house. These, of course, are all of the non breakable ornaments that he can "play with" anyway.

He also got a small amount of eggnog that weekend in a sippy cup as well, and it was so funny because at first he thought it was just milk and didn't do much with it... but when he picked it up and tasted it, he sucked it down all at once.

We also completed our monster cookie baking weekend this past weekend. We tried some new recipes and had a decent amount of success with all of the different varieties of cookies. Chris came up and between the three of us (while Brett watched Wonderpets) we were baking fools all weekend.

So, really, I just have to wrap presents, but otherwise we are all set for the holidays.

Below is a picture of Brett from our Christmas card this year...

Mommy's Little Helper

Recently, Brett has discovered that he can be a great helper, and it's so darn cute!

Over the summer, he started "helping" as soon as he could walk. When he saw us grab the swiffer or the broom, he was all over it. He'd grab it and "sweep" the floor as best as he could. He even knew to sweep toward the dust pan (smart kid!).

Then, last week he about melted my heart. I was doing the mundane, aka laundry, and he was kind of wandering around, but then he saw that after I folded the clothes I put them in the laundry basket, well HE had to do the same. So, as soon as I turned around from folding a piece of laundry I noticed that like he'd randomly thrown like 5 pieces of unfolded laundry in the basket to help me. Yes, it did create extra work, but it was so sweet!

The best yet happened this past weekend. As we never sold our house, we are converting our loft into a 3rd bedroom with my dad's help (thanks, dad) and so we are rearranging the furniture in our house to accommodate it. So, we moved our t.v. and other furniture downstairs on Saturday, and had to set the room up slightly differently, which meant I had to move the coffee table. I started to pull it, and suddenly I felt a push on the other end. Brett was right there helping me push it in to place. Sooo cute and sooo sweet.

I love him more and more every day.