Life is like champagne......

Pregnancy 2.0 Party

2011-12-19T17:16:00.000-05:00

Lucky me I am about to have my second child, a boy. This is like a whole new experience again, even though I have a daughter whom just turned 5, going back to diapers, bottles and new things I did not have before is very exciting. I do not have that many hand me downs and would have purchase a few of the bigger ticket items such as a car seat and a stroller. As I just started to look at all of the new design strollers available, along came an invitation to participate in the Pregnancy 2.0 opportunity, hosting MommyParties. This was a wonderful chance to see what was new and narrow then some of the products, not to mention sharing them with some of my mom friends.

The first thing I did was set a date with 8 of my friends, a theme of "Fun-Do" breakfast fondue party letting them know they will be about to look at some new products, test out and take away a goodie bag. The goodie bags had Spry Gum, Kids Xclear Saline Nasal Spray with Xylitol, KID'S Spry Tooth Gel, and Xclear coupons with brochures, Britax brochures of the B-Agile Stroller/B-Safe Infant Car Seat & B-Safe Baby Carrier. Rashti & Rashti Snuggle Buddy gave me two very cute plush toys, one for a give away and the other for me to keep. Baby Plus Prenatal Educational System sent me their product to try out while I am pregnant, cannot wait to test drive that! I also received a Britax B-Agile Stroller, B-Safe Infant Car seat and B-Safe Infant Carrier. All were going to be test run at my party.

I was excited to receive the new Britax B-Safe Stroller and Car seat as I know the quality of Britax products are made with excellen. standards. When putting the stroller together, I was surprised how easy it was to put the wheels on and attaching the canopy, thankful also since I was worried I would not be able to do this myself. I was ready to test them out at the party.

Guests arriving to the party immediately migrated over to the Britax B-Agile Stroller, all commenting on how it looked very easy to manuver, wheels looked sturdy and the design was very stylish. I also pointed out how light the stroller was, my old one seemed to have weighed twice as much! We were lucky to have a few small children to test it out, buckled them in, "test drove" them around the house and one child even fell asleep in! Could it have been that comfortable or was it just nap time? I would say the comfort of it was more of the of the case. The B-Safe Infant Car seat was easy to attach and work with, no complaints there. The next test product was the Britax B-Safe Baby Carrier, we all had experience with having baby carriers and shared stories of use. The one point that seemed to stand out was the support of the carrier with the back straps, much more advanced than what we had. It was padded, comfortable and soft. Britax has done it again, superior products for babies beyond just the car seat.

We all thought the Rashti & Rashti Snuggle Buddies were so cute soft and appealing, one of the gals walked away with one for their infant, a very happy person. I handed out all of the goodie bags which were much appreciated and could not wait to have their try at the Xylitol products and everyone did a survey on the Britax products. Over all it was a successful party and many walked away thinking that they would now consider some new products for future use. Thank you to Pregnancy 2.0 and MommyParties for giving me this opportunity to host a party and have some new items to use. Britax was the surprise to all for their superior products of the B-Agile Stroller, B-Safe Car Seat and Baby Carrier. They are not just thought of for car seats any more, but a whole safety system with ease of use, comfort and the quality we all know the company stands for.

Muddy River

2011-09-07T08:36:00.001-04:00

At first glance, one would think you are standing on the banks of the Mississippi River. This river is above the Mason-Dixon line, the Connecticut River right after Hurrican Irene. I have never seen it so brown, muddy and swirling like chocolate milk not mixed thoroughly. The speed was incredible with so much water rushing down from up north. We saw huge trees, logs and docks floating by.

Hurrican Irene

2011-08-31T11:43:00.002-04:00

I just received cable, internet, phone, cell phone and power access as of this morning. We have been without since Sunday night 7pm. I am pretty sure they turned us off at that time since the storm had already passed. We were very lucky in that we had a generator to run the water pump and lights. We have had it for about 10 years now and this was the first time we fired it up.
The damage was very minimal to our property, small sticks down and that was about it. I did not get out about town until Tuesday where I saw more damage around us. Our Town Hall has only one phone line and no internet access. The river is very high, very muddy and a lot of debris floating down very fast(I will post a picture later). Most of our town still does not have power. What surprised me the most is that lack of commuication. After the storm, we had nothing. Mail still came which amazed me but cell towers were out. Did we learn anything from Katrina when it comes to communication? It does now seem like it. How did everyone else fare?

2011-08-25T13:53:00.001-04:00

Hi to everyone who have stayed posted to my blog. It has been a while since I have posted and many things have happened. I wanted to give an update in that I am going to be back as of this week posting on a daily basis. I miss everything about the blog and find I am ready to take it back on. Thanks for sticking around.

Glucose Results

2011-02-23T07:54:00.002-05:00

Well my results came in exactly what I thought it would be, failed the test, not even a border line. I am officially with Gestational Diabetes and now I get to go to the nutrionalist for a lecture on keeping my sugar levels under control, check my blood three times a day and keep a log. When does the fun begin?

Next test....

2011-02-22T20:54:00.000-05:00

I had the next round of testing which was the Glucose test. This is the test that I was not looking forward to as you have to drink a sweet drink, sit for an hour and have blood drawn. I was given a choice of fruit punch or orange, took the orange since the fruit punch is absolutely disgusting, not that the orange is any better. I just think of tang versus Hawaiian Punch, the tang is something you generally have not mixed with alcohol in some point of your life time.
The results should be in very quickly, I am keeping my fingers crossed as I have already had gestation diabetes in my previous pregnancy, but the odds are against me.

Yankee Stadium in the winter

2011-02-17T00:09:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago, we were invited as season ticket holders to an open house and look to maybe upgrade our seats. Yankee Stadium in the winter? Why not! We got there and parked in the VIP garage, directed into one of the suites and got to walk around the stadium when our time came to look at other seating options. We did not end up upgrading but we got to take pictures of the World Series Trophy up close and enjoyed the time there.

Maternity Clothes

2011-02-11T01:13:00.002-05:00

I am struggling with fitting into clothes right now. None of my shirts fit, too small, and the maternity pants I had from my first child are two sizes too big. I do not want to go out and buy brand new clothes because I feel it is a complete waste of money for such a short period of time. I went through all of my previous maternity clothes I had saved and sorted them on what I was going to wear and what could be brought to a consignment store. When I had my first daughter, I was working in a corporate job so my clothes were a little more expensive and well maintained. I ended up bringing about 8 pairs of pants to be consigned and kept all of my shirts and two dresses.
The hardest part of the maternity clothing for me has been finding pants. It is pretty limited out there, even though it seems many more stores carry the clothing such as Gap and Target. I have been living in the same pair of jeans now and ready to move on to some that are more comfortable. I have had some success with ebay, finding the clothes at more than half the retail price. I did find a black gap dress at the consignment shop for $10 and a spring/summer floral dress on ebay for $12. You can't beat those prices! I am also trying to prepare for a trip to Florida in March with appropriate clothing. It should not be this difficult.

Too much even for a dog

2011-02-07T00:16:00.001-05:00

Hana loves the snow but she can barely move in this amount of snow. In fact, she got stuck and we had to pull her out.

Say it aint so Andy

2011-02-06T00:22:00.000-05:00

On Friday February 4th, Andy Pettitte announced he will not be returning to baseball this year. He had been toiling over this decision since last fall and it seemed he just did not have it in him to try one more year. Probably a good thing since if he did return and have a bad year, not so sure the NYY fans would be able to accept it and give him a pass. He is loved by many and I think it is his personality which seems sincere. He is one of my favorite players and when the Yankees let him go to Texas, I was crushed, could not understand why they did it. They even had many pitchers, whom made no mark with the team, wear his number. When he came back, it was like he never left. Andy could power through a tough pitching game and you could be confident he was going to give over 100%. He was a warrior, part of the "Core Four" and even though he was part of the Steroid era, I think that did not taint him. Now I am waiting to see who will get his number or will the Yankees retire it.
When telling my four year old daughter about his retirement, he comment to me was "how sad". It is sad to not feel you can do what you so loved doing.

Rediculous Wait Time

2011-02-05T15:52:00.000-05:00

Took my daughter to the doctor this morning for checking on one issue she was complaining about, walked out of the office learning she had a double ear infection. I would have never known since she did not say anything about them hurting until sitting in the exam room. That was the quick part of the visit. I had them fax the script in to my CVS, only a minute down the road. Gave them 15 minutes from when we left the office to time when we walked in. Spoke to the pharmacy and they had received it, stated 15 minutes which was not a problem. After 20 minutes I heard one of the pharmacy workers stated my daughter's name and I walked up to the counter thinking it was ready. She then stated it had not been done yet. This was not good. I complained to one of the cashiers when it was at 30 minutes, she checked and it was not done. After 40 minutes waiting with a four year old who was not feeling good, hungry, tired and no patience left, I finally got the prescription! They were not short staffed nor super busy. Just incredible poor customer service and I do not plan to go there again! I also plan on making a phone call to the corporate office.

This weather...doesn't help me.

2011-02-04T04:23:00.024-05:00

I have to say it was much easier having my daughter during a time of year when I was able to go out walking every day. The weekly snow storms(over 42 inches here right now) and record cold weather is not helping me this time. I am at a loss and need to do something to give me more energy and strength. The Farmer's Almanac sates that February is going to be harder than January......not quite sure what to expect there! The doctor states 30 minutes a day of exercise, not happening right now. I am looking at a few alternatives until the Spring thaw occurs.....when ever that may be! One is Yoga, I can do this at home, my daughter loves the idea also of doing it with me. The other is looking at the Wii Fit, another way both me and my daughter can get some activity in daily. I just may do both to get some variety. I am going to consult my doctor on both of these this week.

Ice damn...........

2011-02-03T22:38:00.000-05:00

Another fun day on the ice ranch........found myself thawing out three windows today using a hair dryer. The water is dripping down from the ice jammed gutters of the house and in to the window sills. This was the morning project.
I then went out to the garage to get some tools and on my first attempt to lift the door it does not budge, tweaked my back. Decided to try the other door....no deal. Had to call in my father-in-law to come over and chip/salt me out. I have a feeling this is going to be a regular occurrence.

The questions keep coming

2011-02-03T04:15:00.002-05:00

My four year old daughter has had questions since we told her she was going to be a big sister. Here are some of the questions and I will be posting them as they come day by day.

1. How did you get the baby in your stomach?
2. When is it coming?
3. Can I play with him or her?
4. Does it eat what you eat?
5. How does it go to the bathroom?
6. Does the baby like juice?
7. What will we name him or her?

One of my favorite statements though was "Daddy opened up your belly and put the baby in you?". I told her it was a little more technical than that but we did not need to go into that right now.

What a weather day....

2011-02-02T21:05:00.000-05:00

Sleet over night, turning into freezing rain and heavy rain all morning, it was disgusting! I found myself outside in the rain chipping ice away from the cellar door creating a drainage ditch away from the house since it was starting to come in the cellar. Then shop vacuuming the cellar every couple of hours, still coming in after the rain stopped with temps dropping to the teens. Also the other fun find was a flooded window sill in the upstairs bedroom, ice on the window and iced up inside the sill. The gutters are so ice jammed up that the water was dripping into the window. I had to hang out the window and get rid of the giant icicles and push the ice on the lower roof away from the house.
My driveway is one long piece of ice with water underneath, a big mess. The good news for today was the ground hog "Chuckles" and "Punxatonie Phil" both stated an early spring. Although I cannot imagine all of this snow melting until end of April.

The first round of tests

2011-02-02T04:03:00.001-05:00

I knew the blood work testing was going to come, no big deal. Even my daughter had been going with me on all of the weekly blood work prior to becoming pregnant, surprised it did not seem to bother her. this first test was new to me. It was a 24 urine collection test. What fun, never had to do this before. I had to time it on a day that I was not going anywhere since you have to collect EVERY drop for 24 hours. The lab gave me the equipment to do the collection and I thought to my self "I am never going to fill this 3000ml container".......well I was wrong. It shocked me to see I filled it without any problem. This test was done to use as a baseline for the gestational diabetes which the test will be in a couple of weeks. That test is the one I am hoping does not come out like my first pregnancy.

Back on the blog!

2011-02-01T21:03:00.000-05:00

Gone for over four months, I decided to come back on February 1st, 2011. Let me say first Happy New Year to all. I needed a break and today was the first day I wanted to get back on and start posting.

What's new? My big news is I am 14 weeks pregnant. This is definitley going to be good blogging material since I have some challenges. My age is the biggest factor since I am 41 and will be having this baby at age 42. I knew I would be getting the lectures from all of the OBGYN's on the risks of my age, was willing to take it. The other issues involved are prior history with being pregnant with my daughter. I had gestational diabetes, pre-clampsia and also had her a month early and her genetic testing had come in pretyt high for down syndrome(which turned out to be negative). This is going to all be watched even closer on this pregnancy. A little older, a little wiser, a little easier listening to all of the negative information from the doctors.
Follow me on this interesting journey of day by day experiences.

Front garden

2010-09-27T00:37:00.001-04:00

I am still tweaking my front garden after the addition of my Peegee hydrangea. I split some of my sedum from the back and moved some blooming grasses. I still have to plant a few more plants and some grass and decide how I will edges the garden.

Rock wall addition

2010-09-26T00:34:00.002-04:00

I recently went to one of my favorite garden shops, Acer's, they had 20% off all perennials. This garden center is the Target of flowers...I cannot go here without buying something! I loved this sedum which droops over my rock wall, and has a late bloom which is always hard to find.

So blue

2010-09-25T00:33:00.000-04:00

One of the few flowers blooming this time of year, thank goodness!

Limited diet

2010-09-24T00:31:00.000-04:00

This turtle only seems to eat hotdogs, very picky eater!

I see a sweater...

2010-09-23T00:30:00.000-04:00

All I can see with this goat is a nice sweater!

Peaking

2010-09-22T00:28:00.002-04:00

Looking for handouts.

Reflection

2010-09-21T00:24:00.002-04:00

My daughter went on a field trip with her school to a local nature center. She loved the tee pee and we also saw a wigwam. What I liked was the reflection off the pond, beautiful.

Shoe Find

2010-09-20T08:24:00.000-04:00

Oh I wish I could have squeezed my feet into these shoes! These were a find at Marshals originally $700 pair of shoes and I found them on the discount shelf for $24.99! I only knew one person they could fit and would appreciate them as much as I do and that is my mom. So I bought them for her and they fit. I never seem to find that deal in a size 8 1/2!