2010 Resolution #1

I'm not sure exactly when or how this happened. Maybe it started during my Maternity leave with Brendan, perhaps it has been slowly increasing since I got married. Anyway it happened, I have come to the conclusion that I have too many magazines!

I have been slowly accumulating magazine subscriptions, I guess from the time I got married and we got our own apartment. It began with Real Simple. I loved the magazine, which introduced me to Martha Stewart Living. Although her recipes and ideas are usually a little complex (or time consuming) for me, it did provide some great ideas and reading material. I also received a subscription to Better Homes and Garden for a two year subscription the kept getting renewed. One year, for my Mother-in-laws birthday, I got her a subscription to Everyday with Rachel Ray, and bought a year for myself as well. After I had Brendan, I was subscribed to Parents as well as Family Fun. Finally, one of my favorite magazines to receive is Kraft Foods.

While I love all of these magazines (with the exception of Parents which isn't really my favorite) it became overwhelming after a while. I never really thought about cancelling them because I would eventually read them. Some would automatically renew because they had my credit card number, others would send me notices and I would send them back renewal notices without realizing that I still had months left of my current subscription. Finally, my husband said ENOUGH!

I had stopped reading them, lack of time mostly. How often do I get a chance to sit down with a magazine and just read? Usually on a plane, which is almost impossible when flying with a child, or sitting poolside on vacation, and when was the last time that happened?

Currently, I have a stack of 32 magazines in my storage ottoman waiting to be read.

All these magazines are "new" and yet to be opened. Some still in the plastic wrap.

My Resolution for 2010:

Cut back on the junk mail (or mail in general)! This is mostly unneeded magazines. But also includes cancelling other junk mail that we get in our mailbox. Receiving bills electronically when possible. Cleaning out my e-mail box and unsubscribe to the hundreds of junk e-mails sent monthly.

Finally, part of my resolution is to cancel all magazine subscriptions. Read the magazines that I already have stacked up, and then if I desire, I can subscribe to one magazine a year. Except Kraft Foods, we are keeping that one!

So although it may not sound like a very exciting resolution like getting fit, losing weight, changing a major life habit of mine, it is enough to get me started.

Anyone have a need/use for a bunch of old magazines I can unload??

Presents!

Do you ever start to write a blog, get halfway through and realize, this is a really boring post! Well, it just happened to me. So instead of boring you through the series of Illness Drama in my family the past couple months, I thought I would instead post a light-hearted video of Christmas that I didn't post after Christmas as I intended to do. Hopefully this is slightly more interesting than the plagues of my family!

as an introduction, we taught Brendan the sign language word for "Please" in order to begin teaching him manners (rubbing your hand in a circular motion on your chest). He is very good at saying please, and it cracked me up on Christmas morning. For every present he opened, he wanted it REALLY opened so he could play with it right now! I had to capture it on film. Sorry it is late, and not really Christmas anymore, but enjoy!

P.S. you can see that Daddy is a little impatient as well and is "helping" Brendan open his presents. I would have let him take his time, but that is just me.

Caleb Joseph

I realized that I had not yet posted the name that we have picked out for our new little one. As you saw in my earlier post, our baby is defiantly a little boy! :) We have told most of you the name but it had not yet been posted. You may remember back in November when we thought we narrowed it down to to names. And then again in December when we had the results of the voting, but decided not to go with either. The name we have chosen together, and both very much agree upon, is:

Caleb Joseph

I'm not sure how we came across the name, we threw names back and forth at each other, every day, after working all day with student files I would bring Scott a new list of names. Finally we came across Caleb. We both enjoyed the name but I continued to look for other options. Finally we decided to just stop looking, that Caleb was still our favorite. It was a week before Christmas when I got an e-mail from BabyCenter.com with the top 100 baby names for 2010. I was very upset to see Caleb listed at number 14. One of the reasons we chose Brendan was because it was not very common when I chose the name, although it too is gaining in popularity. I came home that evening with a list of names not on the list to try and sway my husbands decision and to go with a less popular name. Much to my constant..well..nagging, my efforts fell flat. Caleb it was. To be perfectly honest, I think I may have been very disappointed if Scott had given into my request, I have grown quite fond of the name Caleb.

We went with his Middle name of Joseph after Scott's grandfather. I have always liked the name Joseph, and I think that it fits well with Caleb.

Caleb is Hebrew, from the Old Testament meaning Faithful. The name Joseph is also Hebrew, meaning "God will increase".

Having a name picked out makes the coming of our new baby that much more anticipated, we can not wait to hold our little Caleb in our arms. A little more than 3 months away.

Toddler Discipline

The other night we had our friends over to visit and have the toddler boys play together. I watched my friend as she tried to discipline her 17-month-old with the limited logical and understanding skills they posses. As she is sternly correcting him for hitting, very upset with him, he walks over to his mom with a big smile on his face and kisses her. She turns to me with defeat on her face.

"It's hard to be mad at him when he just wants to give kisses."

Discipline for a toddler is tough, especially when they don't really understand what is going on. It just takes time, until then, I'll take the kisses!

The Green Popscicle

While Brendan was sick with his bad cold, I knew his throat was hurting badly (because my throat hurt badly). So on one trip to the grocery store, I was looking at the Popsicles and found a box called "Mighty Minis" with slow melt formula. Hoping these would be okay for Brendan to try and eat, and help sooth his core throat I picked them up. They are wonderful for him! Each Popsicle is about 3 inches tall, and they are made with gelatin which makes them a slightly different consistency and slower to melt - therefore, less mess! The box says that a serving size is actually 3 Popsicles if that gives you any idea of the size. Just perfect for a toddler!

Brendan just loved his Popsicle. You can be sure I will be purchasing these again! They serving size is perfect and there is no huge mess to clean up when he is done!

For Christina, the collage was made through Costco's photo center.

25 weeks

So I know I haven't given a real progress report on my pregnancy lately. I am now 25 weeks along. 15 more weeks to go! I can not believe I am almost in my final trimester, it feels as though I just found out I was pregnant.

Here are some recent ultrasound pics that I forgot to post with my last pregnancy update. Sorry they aren't the best quality, I have been carrying them around in my purse since Christmas Eve!

The ever classic profile:
The innapropriate gender shot:
The creepy "face" view

Finally, another head shot, profile with an arm "waving"

Overall I am feeling pretty good. When I walk too quickly I get sharp pains in my side, luckily they are bearable. My doctor tells me it is my ligaments holding up my uterus being pulled and stretched. I am still getting Braxton-Hicks contractions, my doctor says they are normal and not worry about them. It's hard not to "worry" about them when they make me uncomfortable! Not that I am really worried, more annoyed. I was secretly hoping for some more sympathy, or better yet, a temporary handicap parking slip so I wouln't have to walk to far since it tends to be the walks that cause the contrations and side aches. No such luck.

I just had a check-up last Monday with my doctor, actually I saw the PA. It was pretty uneventful, just check my weight, my urine, and schedule more blood work. She listened to the heartbeat again, still nice and strong, and measured my belly. I did ask about my weight gain. I haven't been as careful this time, and since I feel so much bigger with this pregnancy than my last, I was afraid I was gaining too much weight. I also started heavier with this pregnancy than the last. Since I don't have a scale at home, I haven't been keeping track of my weight gain. She looked at my record, and verified that I am still on track for weight gain. I lost some weight between my first appointment and my second, so total, I have only gained 10 pounds so far. She did tell me that I need to gain at least 15 more pounds before the end. Don't worry, that is not a problem! :)

I am now completely in maternity clothes. Yesterday I wore a non-maternity dress and realized that was the last time I could wear that dress. I really need to go shopping for a few more maternity items, specifically, black work pants. It is difficult to still dress nicely for work right now, I feel as though I look frumpy in my maternity clothes and...well...not so professional in my regular clothes.

Although physically I feel pretty good, mentally I don't feel all there. I am very forgetful and it takes me longer to process things at work than it used to. Blame it on lack of sleep, or baby brain, either way, it is frustrating.

Jelly Belly Factory

After Christmas, Scott, Brendan and I drove up to Sacramento to spend some time with my family. One day while there we visiting, we all took a trip to the Jelly Belly factory. This was Brendan's first taste of Jelly Bellys. The first picture is of Brendan trying the candy. I must say, it was a big hit with the 1-year-old!