*This I WILL NOT miss*

Those of you who have been pregnant know all about this little cup!  I have figured out that a pregnant person pee's in this cup at an average of 14 times in her time of being pregnant~ That is if you don't have the extra visit's because of complications, or just have to go in for some random odd reason~ It's bad enough when you are first pregnant trying to pee in this cup; but, man... once you start to get a belly, it gets to be more and more difficult!  Then, once you hit 32 weeks and you go to the doctor every two weeks, then at 36 weeks when you go every week!!  OH MY... I will speak for myself (even tho it fairly applies to everyone); I can't even see what I'm doing!  I will stop there.... eveyone knows how hard it is to pee in a little inch and a half cup when you are pushing 40 weeks pregnant!

Just to add to this peeing in a cut thing.... Since I have Gestational Diabetes (GD), I had to pee in a cup at the diabetes office as well!  So, I had to do it every week for a few weeks!  Usually, the diabetes people make you come once a week, but I was lucky enough to only have to go twice a week since I had GD last time I was pregnant. 

I counted up that I've had to pee in this little teeny tiny cup about 22 times already (between the OB and the GD).  I could possibly have 2 more times to pee in this little cup!!

As much as I *LOVE* being pregnant, I will NOT miss peeing in this little cup!!

*Pregnant and on a Diet*

My last post all about my 3 hour glucose test; and I never gave a follow up to it!  I'm sorry about that, but I thought about it one day and was excited to post about it, but then got all caught up in life, I didn't post... then, every time since then, I haven't wanted to talk about it!  I know, excited about it one minute and then not excited about it the next minute.

The Monday following my 3 hour test, I never got a phone call from the doctors office.  Which was such a great feeling since my experience with Sylas, was that they called me first thing the following Monday morning with the bad news!  So, since I didn't get a call; I called them in the early afternoon.  The nurse finally called me back late afternoon with the best news I could have heard that day!  She said I passed the test!  I asked her what my numbers were from each hour, and she told me!  It turned out I failed the 2nd hour test, but only by 10 points which she said wasn't that bad at all! 

After a few days, I received another phone call from the doctors office.... here is where the bad news comes in... the nurse on the other end of the line proceeded to tell me my doctor has had a chance to look over my results from my 3 hour glucose test and decided that I needed to go to the Diabetes Center!  I think I said some not nice things to her in the mist of telling her another nurse had called me a few days earlier and said I passed.  She could have cared less what I was saying, and just said that my doctor had looked at the results and said i needed to go to the Diabetes Center!  I hung up the phone and cried!  OH was I ever so mad!!!

So, they proceeded to send my information down to the Diabetes Center and they called me the following day~  and they could care less that the two appointments they had open the following week didn't work very well for me because I had some meetings set up at work.  I ended up having to cancel one meeting so I could go down there for a 2 hour appointment!  It was my 2nd time around with this, so I knew the drill; and knew it wouldn't take 2 hours!  UGH, but they didn't care! 



The Appointment Day!!  This picture is of the shelf in the room the doctor lady and I met in.  It's got just empty boxes and bags and bottles of all different kinds of food, snacks, and drinks to "teach" people like me who have Gestational Diabetes or Diabetes how to pick different foods/snacks to eat.  Pretty much it is all summed up to the fact I can't eat many carbohydrates or sugars!  Which totally bites since I am a total carb fanatic!  I *LOVE* pasta, fries, rice, potatos, milk, pizza, etc..  And now; most of that is out the window!

Other things I can't eat are cooked veggies, chips, salsa, beans, corn, and EVEN FRUITS!!!  Drink wise, they said to drink water, Fuze (the Slinderize kind), crystal light, and Caffeine Free Diet Coke (they don't want me drinking any caffeine at all!).  There are a few veggies I can eat raw like carrots & celery.  It seems all so bad when I talk about it because most of I can't eat, is what I love to eat!  The things I can eat and don't have to look at the carbs or sugars on are Salad Dressing, cheese, peanut butter, & nuts.  Oh yeah, and I'm supposed to eat every two hours!

 My dad was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes a little bit before I got pregnant with Sylas and my mom was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes after I got pregnant with Sylas.  So, they know all about Diabetes and what to eat and what not to eat.  They both have controlled their Diabetes by diet which is a good thing, and now my dad doesn't even really have it any more, and my mom... I think her's is going well, I can't honestly say, because we don't talk her numbers very much.  By Numbers, I mean, I have to prick my finger 4 times a day to take my blood sugar.  Right after I get up in the morning, an hour after breakfast, an hour after lunch and an hour after dinner.  I have done fairly well with my blood sugars and keeping my numbers down; the Diabetes Center wants my numbers under 120.  For my parents, I believe the doctors want their numbers under 140.  Which 20 points is a HUGE DIFFERENCE in my opinion.  For me, that is the difference between just eating half a whole wheat piece of toasted english muffin with peanut butter with water & eating a whole whole wheat piece of toasted english muffin with a glass of milk!  The latter is a pretty filling breakfast~ but once I eat breakfast (half a whole wheat piece of toasted english muffin with peanut butter & water) I am STARVING about an hour later, when I check my blood sugar, but they only want me eating every two hours!  So, I stuck for another hour... drinking water or Slinderize Fuze.

The one positive thing about being on this diet, is that I don't gain any weight!  I am now 33 weeks pregnant and last week at my OB, I was only 6.5lbs over my pre-pregnancy weight!  Needless to say, i am counting down the weeks I have to follow this cheesy diet!!  I am down to less than 7 weeks at this point!  I'm so excited!! 

*Most Looked Forward to Pregnancy Apointment*

Oh my, so when you were pregnant with your first child, you were probaby totally unaware of that apointment you had to have at somepoint between 27-29 weeks! I was in the dark about it. But, no big deal, they said i just had to come in and drink a little gloucose drink and then they'd test my blood afterwards~ nothing at all to be worried about. So, i went, drank this tasty nasty orange gloucose drink~ honestly, it was probably only about 8oz. I sat for an hour, they took blood and i went on my jolly ol' way. Then, 2 days later.... A phone call came frome the doctors office saying i failed the test! They said it was probably a mistake, but that i had to come in for the 3 hour gloucose test!,WHAT, 3 HOURS??? Yes, only done on Friday's. Sure, no problem, thankfully i have a flexiable enough job which allows me to work whenever, just as long as i get my job done~ so, i went in, and had to drink twice as much gloucose! It was more dificult to get down because i was supposed to drink it fairly quick, the problem, i already knew it was difficult and nasty! the following week, I got yet another dreaded phone call from the doctors office....I failed the 3 hour glocose test and i had to go down town to see a Gestational Diabetes doctor. Oh, it was aweful... Okay, aweful for me since i dont like needles! She taught me all about the foods i could and couldn't eat~ i felt like i was in an Elementary classroom having a Health lesson~ but this time, it was serious and all for the healthy sake of my preciouse little one growing inside of my belly!! The just of it all, very little sugars and carbs! If you know me, i am totally a carb girl! Rice, mashed potatos, grains, pasta (of any kind), pizza, etc. If you want me to be happy camper, and had me over for dinner, you'd have something from that list! Well, after this health food lesson, i went on, had to check my blood sugar about 4 times a day, record the numbers and take them in once a week to talk to the nurse about them. Then, when we went on vacation to visit my husbands family, i had to send in my numbers and even had a telephone apointment to talk about my numbers. Anyway, in the end all was good~ me: diabetes free, my precious son: no blood sugar issues.." now we wair for the long haul... I am at a higher risk of having Type 2 Diabetes later in life.

Now, fastforward to today... I am in my 2nd pregnancy~ my doctor said she wanted to test me a little bit early for GD this time, so at 25 weeks and some odd days, i came in to do the 1 hour gloucose test~ and i had to drink 16oz. Of that NASTY Orange gloucose crap! If those people really cared about us pregnant people, they would make something that was a bit easier to go down! Oh well, we only have to do it once during each pregnancy~ i feel bad for all pregnant people who have this apointment coming up.... However, i don't really feel bad for those who have 18/19 kids~ Anyway, i got my results right away this time for the gloucose test~ once again, i failed! I was upset, i was hoping this time would be diffrent~ of course not!! My blood sugar should have been below 135, and it was a dreaded 170!! So, 3 hour glocuose test, here we come!!! Just this time, i had to find get child care for my 2 year old! For the 1 hour test, he stayed with my mom, bless her heart keeping some grandchild at keast 2 or 3 days a week! She's got 9 of them to choose from! But for my 3 hour test, my husband was the chosen one to keep the boy~ his job is a bit differnt too, that he doesn't work the typical Monday thru Friday 8-5 job.

So, here i sit, in the doctors office, for my 3 hour test~ had blood drawn for my fasting blood sugar. Then she gave me a choice of what flavor i wanted!!! WHAT?? A choice? Fruit Punch or Orange? I quickly said Fruit Punch. Although, it was still 'yuckola' (as my friend Jen said), it still went down a bit easier than the Orange stuff did~ and it was a bit sweeter since it was the second test :( Now, i will have my blood drawn every hour for the next 3 hours! The only good thing about this i can think of, is 3 hours of peace and quiet, and no 2 year old to chase around!!

I tried to take pictures of the drink bottles the gloucose stuff was in, but i was too chicken to ask~ if i get the nerve in the next little bit when i go back to get blood drawn, i'll ask, but i don't think that will happen.

*2012*

I feel we were crazy busy the month of December... However, my husband will probably tell you differently~ Maybe I'm just a bit lazy and pregnant!  However it may be, we had a WONDERFUL month and a WONDERFUL Christmas~ I don't have any pictures from Christmas; those are all on my husbands camera, AND of course, I don't EVER get those pictures for my 'personal' use!  (that would be a great blog entry....humm).  Here's several pictures I have taken over the past couple of weeks to catch you up on life around here!!

Sylas LOVES to wear Daddy's hats!

      

'Reading' Dirt Bike Magazines like Daddy!!  I posted this picture on F@cebook and someone commented on it saying that they thought it was funny they both had their "juice" in hand!

One of Sy's most favorite toys!  He's always asking for help for the "Potato"~ he will have eyes put where the hat is supposed to go and an ear where the nose is supposed to go~

We have had BEAUTIFUL weather here the past several weeks~ Sylas spent the night with My brother & Sister-in-law (and their 4 kids) so Brent and I could have a fun night out (well, as much fun as it could be being 23 weeks pregnant).  This is one of the fun activities Sylas got to do while he was there!

Daddy went to ride Dirt Bikes on New Year's Eve, so Sy and I went to the Fireworks store across the way from where we live~ they are illegal in our state, but we live a stone's throw from the state line where they are legal!  So, we just got a couple of different sparkler type of things~ We did get some 'old-school' sparklers and they AREN'T as cool as I remember (or kid friendly)!  But, the 'Morning Glory's' we got were perfect for what we needed~ now before people start giving me crap for the picture below with my child holding the 'morning glory' all by himself, I was holding his hand the whole time, except when I stepped away for just a second to snap a photo!  I have to say, Sylas enjoyed our little 'fire works' session!!

We received our last Christmas card of the season yesterday!!  From my little brother and his wife who live in Northern Ireland!  They mailed the card on December 9th, and we got it on January 5th!!!  CRAZY!  However, Sylas LOVED getting his own card from his uncle in "Nordon Iwand"

Mother of the Year Award!!  Since we had such BEAUTIFUL WEATHER recently, today... 66*, I took my child to an outdoor play place!!  Wearing 2 different socks!  Yes, I knew they were different when we walked out the door!  The problem is, I have SO MANY socks for the kid, but, we've managed to LOSE one of EVERY SOCK we own!

*Well, I'm back*

HEY!!  I'm still alive and well!  I know, I got off track from the blogging thing, my bad!  I had to stay away for a little bit~ I didn't want to spill the beans about the picture to the right!  This time, we wanted to wait a little while before telling people that Sylas would be a big brother!  I know I have a BIG mouth, and would have said something on here~and that wasn't the way I wanted everyone finding out~ even tho, I don't know who all reads this, and I don't know how many people read this; I know my mom does, so I didn't want her to find out this way!

Anyway, I am now 18 weeks along and FINALLY feeling better!  There has been LOTS that has gone on in the past 18 weeks!!

Our little family made a trip out to the west coast to visit my husbands family.






My husband and I took a little trip out to LA to see some friends get married.

Our Little Man turned 2!!!  We had a little party at a local farm... complete with farm animals, hay ride, and a pumpkin patch!! 

And of course, we had Halloween!!!  Little Man couldn't decide what he wanted to be!

And, now... it is onto Christmas Time!  I have to honestly say, I am already MORE EXCITED about Christmas than I have been in a VERY LONG TIME!!  It is completely different now that I have a child~ much more excited to go shopping!!  We also got a visit from one of Santa's special Elf's this year!  He hasn't shared his name with us yet, but hope to know REAL SOON!!! If you have any ideas, let us know!!  We are taking suggestions until December 1st.... Winner gets a prize!

**Old Skool**

Back in 1988, 1989 &1990, I was living in Gwinnett, Ga~ The only 3 years of my life when I lived outside of North Carolina.  There was the all young boy band which all young girls loved "New Kids On The Block"~ Yes, I was one of those crazy little girls who was totally IN LOVE with NKOTB!!  However, in my defense, I did not have all the crazy paraphernalia!  All I had was a Jordan Knight t-shirt, stickers and many posters!!  Although, I had friends who had the whole 9 yards~ the sheets, the buttons, ALL the t-shirts, and I can't even remember what else!!

All I EVER wanted when I was 9 years old was to be able to go to one of their concerts!!  I made a deal with my parents that if I EVER got straight A's, they'd have to take me!!  My sister was in high school at the time, and she was allowed to go to one of their concerts with a few of her friends!

Anyway, I NEVER made straight A's in my life~ BUT, I did FINALLY make it to an NKOTB concert a few years ago!!  Yes, a few years ago!  The dream I had when i was 9 years old had FINALLY COME TRUE!!  My cousin A'me and I had bought tickets up in the nosebleed section!!

A'mes roommates had front row side stage tickets and some way, they worked their girlie magic on this guy ~ and they invited us down to their seats!

NKOTB Oct '08

This is one of my favorite pictures because Jordan looks like he is looking right at me while I am snapping away!!

My friend Jen & me

Once again, I got to see my most favorite childhood band last week!!  This lady's hubby, got her tickets to NKOTB for her birthday!!  They were pretty close up tickets!!  She knew I was a fan so she invited me to make the trip up to Greensboro with her to see them!!  We had a blast and I am just going to post the pictures for you to see~  There is a video below; and it is of Joey (from NKOTB) coming up into the stands, 3 rows in front and across from us!  I know we are probably in the minority of really liking NKOTB, however, it was still exciting 23 years later!

A couple other friends were there too!!

NKOTB July '11

*We Got Mail*

Saturday was a BIG mail day for us!!  Sylas got 2 packages in the mail!!

One package was from Sy's Nana Piggy and Papa (Brent's parents)!!  They just recently took a trip to Alaska and got all the grand children souvenir's!!  In his package were 2 books, a t-shirt and a pair of socks!!  All Alaska themed!  This is such a treat for him to get surprise's like this from them since

they live in Portland, OR.  We miss them soo much!!  We will get to see them in just a few short weeks, we are all getting SOO EXCITED!!!  Sylas is at a great age right now, that this trip is going to be so much fun!!  However, I'm not sure I am looking forward to the plane trip tho!!  Anyone have any advise on traveling on a plane with a 22 month old???  At home, he is into EVERYTHING; i'm just afraid on a plane it will be worse!!  But, the end result will be great!!! 

Our other package came from our friends who live in Korea!  I blogged about her earlier how she has inspired me to blog (and how she is SUCH a great writer)!!  I talked about how she did a "giveaway week" on her blog just because she got 20,000 hits on her blog!!  She posted one Korean item a day, and to win that item all you had to do was comment on her daily post!  At the end of the week (which is today) she will draw a name from each daily post and that person will win that item from that day they posted!  Only rule: you could only comment once a day! And guess what??  I won on one of the giveaways!!!  It was so much fun!!  This is what we won!!  It is really cool!  It is a piece of white silk with Sylas written on it using bright rainbow colors~ Each letter is formed from something from nature, like a bird, bamboo, a tree, a sunset~ I got to choose what I wanted on the banner, so I just decided to get Sy's name put on it.  It's really pretty, I'm not sure where I'm going to put it just yet, but for now, it's hanging on the wall in our den!  THANK YOU MARY!