Size of Baby: About 2.25 lbs, or the size of a small head of cabbage.




Big Sister Cameryn:  She asks, everyday, when her baby sister is coming.  She also tells me, everyday, that I have a "big 'ol belly."

Total Weight Gain/Loss:  +12 Which is, apparently, a lot.  The nurse looked at the scale and then at my chart and said, WOW, you had quite a jump this week (4 whole pounds!)  I explained to her that this was my first 4-wk visit in 13 weeks, so I expected a jump, and she said, well, you've gained quite a bit.  Really, grumpy old nurse lady, really 12 pounds at 28 weeks is a lot?   I told my doctor what the nurse said and she just laughed and said, "Oh, she's definitely having a bad day (at 9am!) but she shouldn't take it out on a pregnant woman."  No kidding.  I might sit on her.

I passed my glucose test (106/140).  And yes, I ate 18 regular sized, non-licorice (you cannot eat the black jelly beans) jelly beans.

I vowed not to do anything this weekend, other than the normal cleaning, since we have been so busy for the past several weeks and have a busy April ahead.  I succeeded. 

Saturday, I told Cameryn that it was a special day with Mommy (this may or may not have been a bribe to get her to run errands with me!)  I purchased some shoes for her on Friday that were too small so we took those back to the store and then I let Cameryn choose where she wanted to go to lunch.  She chose Olive Garden.  She's never been there before and she didn't eat a thing, except for the chocolate at the end.  She said that she wanted spaghetti but ended up ordering mac and cheese, which was really bland so I don't blame her for not eating it!  She likes ordering two drinks when we go out to eat, {white} milk and apple juice, always.  I blame it on my mom who always orders two drinks as well.   We talked about everything and nothing.  She liked talking to the waitress too.  I enjoyed my lunch date with her.  She then asked to go to Target.  Is my three year old the only one who asks to go to Target?  She says that it's her favorite store!  We spent about an hour in the store.  Cameryn saw a lady with a baby in a carseat and insisted that we go look at the baby.  Luckily, the woman was really nice and let Cameryn talk to the baby for five minutes.  Our Target trip didn't end well because someone was getting tired (Me?  Cam?)  Cameryn fell asleep on the way home and she didn't even budge when I carried her from the car to her bed and she slept for a much needed two hours.  I did a little cleaning that afternoon since it was raining.  I did most of the cleaning in Cameryn's room because she told me that she didn't want her Little People in her room anymore.  Sounds crazy, but it made me sad to move them over to her sister's room.  Cameryn loved her Little People and would play with them for hours on end.  Saturday night the thunderstorms rolled through and we had a bad hail storm that lasted for about 25 minutes.  There was no storm damage, but it was still loud and slightly scary!

Sunday the sky was blue but it was a little cooler (62 degrees?!) than we have been used to.  Cameryn has been asking to plant flowers so we headed to Lowe's to purchase the pink, purple, yellow and orange (ew.  I'm so not down with the orange.) flowers that Cameryn wanted.  Thanks to more rain, we had to wait to plant them until later that afternoon.  Cameryn grew tired of planting them about twenty minutes in because she said it was hard work and decided to play in the hose and jump in puddles instead.  She was freezing after puddle jumping so she played in the bathtub for about an hour.  She had a late lunch/early dinner and then fell asleep on the couch at 4pm.  I let her sleep for about an hour and then attempted to keep her awake until Chris came home about 7.  They spent the next hour on Skype with his family.  We decided that Skype is like a virtual babysitter.  Seriously.  Cameryn could have sat there for hours talking to her cousins and grandparents!

And that was our weekend.  Nothing exciting for sure, but it was nice to have a weekend at home and be able to get a few things done around the house (laundry! cleaning!) before all of the madness begins, again.... 

My husband watches some weeeeeird stuff on TV sometimes.  Thanks to our new subscription to DirectTV he has found some really high class programs.  He's usually into Animal Plant, Discovery, and anything about "bugs and shit."  He's also a movie watcher and we probably have more movies recorded that I have watched my entire life.  I have the attention span of a toddler and I have trouble watching a program that lasts for more than an hour.  However, he recorded a Penn & Teller:BULLSHIT! show on Showtime and I was somewhat sucked into this one. 

Penn & Teller's show, "Cheerleaders,  argues that high school cheerleading should be classified as a sport to increase required safety measures due to its risks. Also discusses how the majority of competitions and cheerleading goods are managed by Varsity Brands Inc. and if cheerleading were to be declared a sport Varsity would have to forfeit managing competitions to an independent body creating significant conflicts of interest. " {source}

Cheerleading is something that both Chris and I are familiar with. Chris cheered in college (for in-state tuition!) and later coached at a very successful elite program and I was a gymnast, but never a cheerleader, though I coached both gymnasts and cheerleaders at the gym that I worked at.  We're familiar with cheer competitions, the Varsity brand, and the multiple entities that Varsity Brands Inc. owned (there are over 30 of them, one of them is UCA, for example) so the show was pretty entertaining.  I believe that cheerleaders are athletes.  Sure, they dance around in cute little uniforms with gigantic bows on their heads, but they train just as hard as any other athlete and I can guarantee you that most of them are stronger than your average baseball player.

Penn brought up some extremely valid points, the first being that cheerleading is the most high risk "sport" there is.  The injury level is higher than any other men's or women's activity including football, gymnastics, and ice hockey.  Cheerleading isn't classified as a sport in many school districts (Title IX) and therefore has no governing safety courses, except for those offered by Varisty Brands, Inc., so the participants must rely on the basic safety training of their coach.  Problem?  I think so.  I was a gymnastics coach at a competitive level and I had to undergo multiple yearly safety tests given by USA Gymnastics in order to walk into a competition and declare myself a coach.  The cheerleading safety course offered by Varsity Brands Inc is approximately three hours long and once you've completed it, you're done.  Now, this doesn't mean that private clubs don't require more safety training, but if the three hour course is all that is offered and required for safety certification in cheerleading, how many of the private clubs are going above and beyond?  I think that something should be done.

Secondly, Title IX is the leading cause as to why cheerleading is not considered a "sport" in our schools.  Why?  Because the cheerleaders are not participating in a competition, they're not trying to win anything while cheering on the athletic teams and therefore receives no funding.  Since cheerleading is not considered a sport, it is also the reason why cheerleaders have no athletic trainers to assist them with injuries the way the football players do.  (Silly if you ask me!)

I agreed with the entire show until this point.

There's no doubt that Varsity Brands Inc. is the mack daddy of the cheerleading world.  They own and sell everything from uniforms, shoes, and makeup and sponsor or run almost every competition out there.  Now, the argument that Varisty Brands Inc. brings up is that if Title IX and the government were to declare cheerleading a sport, Varisty Brands Inc would have to give up managing competitions to another body, creating conflicts of interest, but most of all, lose their stake in the cheerleading world.

I call BULLSHIT.

How would Varsity Brands Inc. have a conflict of interest?  Most states have a "State Cheerleading Competition."  Are they funded by Varsity Brands Inc.?  Maybe?  I honestly don't know.  However, I have a difficult time believing that Varisty Brands Inc. would lose a lot of money if it had to give up 50 cheerleading state cheerleading competitions.  The number of private clubs practicing elite cheerleading, most with more than 5 levels of cheerleading teams at ~20 kids per team, would by far fund the Varsity brand.  Uniforms are $200 or more.  Competition fees, for the cheerleader, range from $70-150 per competition (and that doesn't include the cost of admittance for their families.)  Add in the monthly cost of training, coaches fees, expenses... We're talking about thousands of dollars per person per season.  Have you ever been to a private (not school affiliated) cheerleading event?  Insanity.

I'm not an expert on cheerleading.  I didn't cheer.  I've been around it enough to know that this isn't right - I don't understand why Varsity Brands Inc. wouldn't want their 'sport' to be declared a 'sport' for the people that they represent.  Why wouldn't they want it to be as safe as possible?  Do they really think that declaring it a sport would make that big of a difference to their income?  I think that it's disgusting that they wouldn't want their athletes to have the best and safest experience possible every time they take the mat.  But, I guess they've found a way to make money, and that's really what the world is all about these days, right? 



(But, as a former gymnast [and any former gymnast will say the same thing] I also believe that my girls should be a gymnast first!  Just because.) 

{source}

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained*

1 cup water

2 roma tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped

1/2 cup shredded fresh spinach

1/3 cup finely chopped red onion (1 small)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

Spinach leaves

2 ripe avocados, halved, seeded, peeled, and sliced**

1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

1. In a 1-1/2-quart saucepan combine quinoa and water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
2. Transfer quinoa to a medium bowl. Add tomato, spinach, and onion; stir to combine. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, oil, and salt. Add to quinoa mixture; toss to coat.
3. Place spinach leaves on 4 salad plates. Arrange avocado slices on spinach leaves. Spoon quinoa mixture over avocado slices. Sprinkle with some of the feta. Makes 4 main-dish servings.
4. Note: Rinse quinoa thoroughly before cooking to remove a bitter substance called saponin that coats the seeds.
5. Note: If using, brush avocado slices with additional lemon juice to prevent browning.

I traveled to Greenville again over the weekend.  That makes three weekends in a row that I have been out of town. (You can catch up here and here.)  I went to help my mom buy a new computer, we did, but she was slightly disappointed that it wouldn't be available for pick up until Tuesday morning.  She had hoped that I would be able to set it up for her, but it looks like she's just going to have to do it on her own! 

***

Allergy season has arrived in Columbia.  Poor Cameryn is really having a difficult time this year.  Cameryn was up most of the night on Saturday night thanks to a persistent cough.  She cougehd so much that she finally threw up (all over me!)  I think that I was up, for the day on Sunday, at 3:30am.  I hoped that she would nap on the drive back to Columbia (it's about an hour and fifteen minutes), but no luck.  We were both exhausted by the time that we got home, but she was excited to see her daddy, so a nap was out of the question.  Chris took her to run errands with him for about an hour and I napped and was able to regain some sanity.  Cameryn went to bed at 8pm and was up screaming at 9 because she had coughed until she threw up, in her bed.  Sigh.  Chris gave her a bath while I changed her sheets.  Chris sat with her on the couch for about an hour (so she didn't cough and cough and cough and throw up, again) and she literally passed out mid-sentence. There's not a whole lot that we can do for her other than giving her OTC allergy meds, so she's just going to have to deal with it for now.  Poor thing!

***

Saturday morning I stopped for gas and ran in to grab a cup of coffee and some juice for Cameryn.  As Cameryn and I were walking out of the store, a woman stopped her car, rolled down her window and said, "You are the prettiest pregnant woman that I have seen in awhile!"  Isn't that sweet?!  I was flabbergasted!  It may have been total BS on her part, but it was still a lovely thing to hear.

***

I ran on Friday night with a friend.  I went slow and I actually hated going downhill (it just wasn't comfortable!) and it felt so great to run that I went again last night.  I definitely got my fair share of looks, but it's not like I'm starting a running program from scratch!  I averaged about a 13:30 min mile last night, so it's not like I am running fast.  At all.

Her husband joked that she should have been running behind me, acting like my trainer or something, screaming at me to pick up the pace and to move my fat butt!  So funny.  I totally would have played along.

***

I finally finished going through the boxes and boxes of baby clothes that my SIL gave me, plus all of Cameryn's old clothes.  This child will definitely have her choice of clothing for quite some time!  I also broke down and bought these clothing dividers for her closet.  I hate folding things and I also hate going a million onsies trying to figure out what size is everything is! 

***

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning.  I almost 28 weeks, which means that I will start going bi-weekly after this appointment.  I also have to have the dreaded glucose test at my 30 weeks appointment.  I'm not worried about passing it, but I do need to remember to ask if I can eat 20 jelly beans instead of drinking that nasty orange drink!

***

Dear god.  I am 28 weeks pregnant.  12 weeks to go and other than washing some clothes, we've done nothing.  One minute I think that I seriously need to slap some paint on the walls.  Something.  And in the next minute I think, nah!  The baby can sleep in the bassinet in our room for awhile.

***

I'm worried that Cameryn is going to go through an extreme jealous phase when the baby comes.  Lately, she has been acting out if we are not paying her attention 100% of the time - especially when I am on the phone.  I'm not sure if I should even attempt to curtail her behavior more than I already am before the baby comes or just work through it when it happens.  Advice?

I know she's going to be a sweet big sister.  She loved helping Stephanie get William (who is almost 2!) out of the bath and dressed for bed the other night.  I just worry that she's going to be a green eyed monster, that she's not going to feel loved, that she'll hate me forever.  Which, deep down, I know won't happen, but my little mommy heart worries. 

***

Has anyone ever tried Baby Led Weaning?  I've read a lot about it over the past year or so and am seriously considering it for baby. 

I'm stuck inside staring out the window of my office today... but Chris and Cameryn were able to enjoy the beautiful day and went to the zoo .  Chris called me on their way back and said that they would like to stop by the office to show me something.

I never, never, never talk about politics because I don't feel as if I really know what the hell I am talking about most of the time.  And, I find people who 'talk politics' all the time can be more than slightly annoying.  I prefer for people to keep their politics out of my Facebook feed, too.

However, today I feel inclined to have a little PSA here because this is my little space on the internet, and simply put, I can.  I'm not backing one candidate or the other here.  I won't tell you who to vote for or who I will be voting for.  I do read everything that I can get my hands on when it comes to standing behind a candidate.  When it is my turn to step into the voting booth, I won't choose by saying eeny-meeny-miny-moe.

First, let me clarify that I understand that the media and the general public make certain issues more relevant than others, that they deliberately use women as a campaign strategy.  I also understand that all of the candidates have personal beliefs that may or may not actually be pushed into law. 

However, women's issues are at the forefront of this election and women's rights are in serious jeopardy [depending on which candidate you listen to.]  I, for one, do not believe that women [today] should have to fight for the same rights that my grandmother once shouted for.  I, for one, do not want my children to have to grow up feeling inadequate and second rate because someone else decided what was best for them. 

Don't get me wrong - nationally, the unemployment rate is still high while graduation rates are at an all time low, and our ongoing conflicts with other countries are maddening.  These statistics alone are absolutely mind numbing and important to our country.  But, if they're going to use women and their rights as a topic of discussion for votes, I have every right, as a woman, to educate myself in order to make the best decision. I encourage you to do the same.

Educate yourselves. Please. Don't vote just to vote. Don't vote for a candidate because they are affiliated with a particular party. Listen, really listen, to what each candidate is saying, figure out what they believe in, see if their beliefs align with yours. If they don't, find another candidate who does.

Cameryn and I spent the weekend in Greenville to celebrate my niece's second birthday.  Cameryn and Quinn are so different, yet so alike.  Quinn is so tall and petite (thanks to both her mom and dad!) while Cameryn is a bit more stocky.  Both have strong, fiery personalities.  They both love their baby dolls but also love motorcycles!  I just love seeing them together!

Quinn was excited about the balloons and her wagon!

The Bitty Baby and stroller was a big hit!  She didn't let it out of her sight!

Cameryn loved Quinn's drum set.

Cameryn is actually pretty good and can hold a beat.

Cameryn loves her Uncle Zach and his toys...

She wasn't thrilled about the mini-four wheeler though!

Showing Aunt Tina her necklace.

Birthday princess!

My mom gave Quinn this outfit and Quinn immediately took off her dress and put this on.  She is such a girly girl!

Cameryn played in Quinn's room by herself for about an hour.

Zach called Quinn "Bozo the Clown" when she came out with this outfit on!

Cameryn cleaned the swing so that she could put the stuffed rhino in.

Happy Birthday, Quinn!

Sweet girl.  She carried her plate over to the couch and sat to eat her cake like this, all by herself, while everyone else was playing.

I traveled this weekend weekend, alone, with a child who packed only their cranky pants.  The last thing that I wanted to do was come home to a dirty house and then cook dinner.  But, I did, because it's what had to be done and by 7:30pm, I was downright exhausted.  My husband was also tired after working 6 days straight and he, like me, hoped for a nice quiet evening.

However, when it comes down to food and bedtime, my husband and I have different opinions.  I'm pretty old school - if I offer food and you don't eat it, that's your problem, not mine.  The kitchen is closed after dinner and a snack.  When it's bedtime, it's bedtime - GO TO SLEEP.  My husband doesn't feel the same way.   He tends to give in to the demands of the little blonde person who lives in our house and pulls at his heart strings. (Which means that I'm in serious trouble with another little blonde person on the way.)

Last night, we had dinner and Cameryn chose not to eat.  I reminded her that if she didn't eat she would be hungry at bedtime.  She acknowledged that and said that she wasn't hungry (and it was definitely a meal that she liked!)  One hour later, bedtime rolls around, I tuck her in, say goodnight, and ten minutes later she is crying because she is hungry.  I go to her room, remind her of her decision not to eat dinner, and tell her that she can eat in the morning.  Did it hurt my heart to see her sitting there crying?  Sure.  But I also feel that she has to learn that when food is offered you should eat, especially dinner.  I also feel as if she just didn't want to go to bed and was thinking of every possible thing to stay awake.  She cried for a few more minutes and when she started screaming I went back into her room.  She told me that she made a bad decision by not eating her dinner and that now she was hungry.  I told her, again, that she could eat in the morning.  Did she like my answer?  No, of course not.   She was hungry, starving, and definitely didn't want to go to bed.

My husband didn't like my answer either.  He said that letting her go to bed hungry was just downright mean, and less than two minutes later my child was sitting at the table eating a banana and a fruit bar.   Personally, I would have rather given her brussel sprouts and a jelly sandwich, both of which she does not like, because if she was that hungry she would have eaten it anyway.

I was annoyed, threw up my hands, rolled my eyes, and walked away.  What lesson did she learn exactly?  That whatever Mommy says is total bullshit and that she should just ask Daddy next time?  Or that midnight snacks are acceptable?  What's next - cake for breakfast?!   My husband and I agree on most things, definitely not everything because we're adults, with opinions about how to raise our children.  While we're a parenting team 95% of the time, food and bedtime definitely fall into that other 5%.

Sometimes this parenting thing totally blows and I just want to lock myself in a closet with a bottle of vodka and a couple of limes.  Especially when you're parenting cute little blonde girls with big blue eyes...

I love weekends that leave you smiling long after they are over and that's exactly how I feel after this past weekend.  Little moments sneak back into my mind and I am laughing all over again.  We headed up to Charlotte to see our dear friends Janette and Kyle.   Who, by the way, are so ridiculously good looking that standing next to them makes me squirm.  I think its the hair.  They are also so, gooey happy in love (you can read that story here and here). I mean, he bought her roses on Sunday just because.  Sigh.  Newlyweds.

 
Anyway.  Back to our weekend.

Thankfully, after a Saturday morning of storms, the sun came out and we headed up to the Lazy 5 Ranch.  We had the best time!  We opted to drive through in our truck instead of taking the wagon ride, and of course, my camera battery died first thing.  (Note to self:  CHARGE THE BATTERY BEFORE A TRIP!)  But that didn't stop us from playing paparazzi with the animals who are absoutely the biggest camera hams and so much fun!  They would come right up to the windows for feed and stick their heads in your lap if they thought it would get them some extra grub.  Even the ginormous bull wasn't afraid.. but we were.  There was no way in hell that we were feeding the bull or allowing it to stick its head in our window.  See that bull in the picture below?  Its entire head was in the window of the car in front of us.  Whoa.

Size of Baby: About a pound and a half. 


Big Sister Cameryn:  She's said multiple times, "I'm so 'cited to see baby J!"  She has also asked multiple times when her baby sister is coming and if it will be soon.  Cam's decided that she would like to give her a rose from our rose bush and a birthday cake when she sees her.  She's going to be such a good big sister and a very big helper - her number one wish?  To help dress her baby sister in jammies.  (It's really important that everyone be in jammies at our house when we are at home.)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +7-10. I didn't go to the doctor this week, so I don't have an exact number.  I don't step on our scale at home.  At this point, I'm going to gain no matter what!  Let me explain it to you in picture form.

Please excuse my 3 day unwashed hair.

The weather has been so beautiful this week - mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 70s. Yes, we have had some storms but we've been really lucky that they have mostly been at night.  Cameryn and I took advantage of the balmy afternoon and had a picnic dinner yesterday!  I let her choose our meal - macaroni and cheese, pineapple, and yogurt, complete with frosted animal cookies for dessert.  I threw some towels down in the backyard and we really enjoyed our little mini-date night.