Back on the rollercoaster...

Another crazy week - should I really expect anything less??!!! However, the on call portion of it adds significantly - only 2 more weeks of call left until maternity leave - woohoo!!!!

33 weeks pregnant as of yesterday and still managing to keep my weight gain on the low side (compared to last time). 30 lbs vs. 42 lbs., so not bad... Blood pressure staying nice and low (somehow!!!) but have developed some of the other joys of pregnancy I did not experience last time, ie. heart murmur, occasional urinary incontinence, and heartburn. What fun!!! I did discuss the possibility of a VBAC with my midwife and managed to squeak out a letter which I'll be sending this week to the CEO and others of Olympic Medical Center requesting permission to attempt a VBAC. I seriously doubt anything will come of it, but it's worth a shot at least.

Today:

33 Weeks with A:

So... interesting thing. We got a call Thursday from the VP at one of our local banks wanting to see if we wanted to make something happen on our loan. This is the same person that only a week ago said they were only loaning 50% for jumbo construction loans and now she said they wanted to make some sort of deal since we were "good candidates". Hmmm... a little strange, but I brought the plans over Friday, so we'll see what comes of it. Right now we're both so pessimistic about the whole thing, we're thinking definately not. Plus, we have kind of got used to the idea of having more time to plan everything and not having to make lots of trips to Seattle right now. Hopefully we'll find something out this week.

My parents (GranBear & Grandpa) just got into town today and are here for 4 whole months - yay!!! We're looking forward to seeing them and spending the day together on Tuesday.

Ainsley's doing great - I feel like I've barely seen her this week. Luckily, the three of us were able to spend the whole day together today - we did some shopping, playing at the park, out to lunch at the Oak Table, and then a nice nap and dinner at home. Overall, a much needed, relaxed day with only one call that required a little time at the clinic. A few pics from this week...

A witnessed Mommy placing an IV catheter in a cat this week and so she was fixing Morrison up...

Hiding for Hide 'n Go Seek...

Favorite Foods (spinach pasta, corn, and cookies!)

Potty Time

So, Ainsley's been all of a sudden interested in the potty again. We had a few false starts months ago, but now she's started showing her babies and George how to potty. Sunday evening she asked to go herself and pooed in the potty. And again tonight!!! Woo Hoo!!! This may go easier than we thought! We also discussed how if she can learn to poo and pee in the potty only then she doesn't have to wear diapers anymore and she can wear her "pretty big girl underwear with Elmo on it" (a little bribery never hurt!!!). She proceeded to want to try on every pair she has at once (luckily we had only taken out 4 pairs instead of all 16!!!). We'll see if this stalls out again or progresses. Maybe we'll be wearing training pants this weekend...

Few new videos...

A loves jumping on her bed and she's gotten into the cheesy smile for the camera now too!

She's also very chatty all the time, even though we can't always understand her!

Ainsley = Ansel Adams?!

Ainsley's really taken to photography lately (or maybe just likes playing with the digital camera!). We think she has potential!!!!

Mother's Day In Review

So Mother's Day (over a week ago) basically sucked for me thanks to being on call. I left the house at 7am before Ainsley even woke up, and didn't get home until after 3:30 and she was napping!!! Nevertheless, Dean was super wonderful (as always) by getting me facial & massage gift certificates and taking lots of pictures of Ainsley painting. And luckily, we were able to spend all evening together.

Another week

After multiple 12 - 15 hour days at work over the last week, Dean & I have decided to "do something" tomorrow that is not work. Don't know what that will be, but the weather has been gorgeous the last couple days (low 70s and sunny) and I have literally only seen it briefly through the window of my office! Unfortunately, as my pregnancy nears completion and I am supposed to be slowing down, my office is ramping up and I am literally doing the work of 2 doctors every day! At least my relief vet is dependable and people are really taking to her. So much so that we are actually investigating having her come more and then possibly relocate out here on the peninsula- we'll see...

Enough work... Dean taught Ainsley some "new" dance moves when he spent Thursday morning with her. I'll have to video it next time - too funny watching a 2 year old "raise the roof"! "I do it" is a very popular phrase right now and it is difficult to help her do anything once she decides she wants to do it by herself! Another phase we're in is being "nudie". We used to let her run around naked after a bath (stopped after a couple pee/poop incidents - thank goodness for tile floors!!!) and we would call her "nudie bootie". Now she has gotten to the point where she wants to be nudie all the time and lately keeps asking to be "nudie outside" - a combination of her 2 favorite things!!! This evening when we were playing outside she kept referring to herself as "big boy" and no matter how many times I corrected her (No, Ainsley, you're a big girl like Mommy and Mrs. Kelli) she kept telling me that she was in fact a big boy (No, Mommy, I big BOY!). Obviously some rub-off from the Phipps boys she's around every day!!! She has really taken to monkeys lately, no doubt inspired by her bed companion - Curious George. Funny considering that was my nickname when I was little...



My parents noticed in the last entry how it seemed she was a righty, and now watching her more closely, I'll have to agree. For once, I'm in the majority of handedness!!!!

32 weeks tomorrow and really starting the countdown. I'm getting tons of comments now (no nasty ones like last time... yet, at least!) and no one believes it when I tell them July is my due date. Dean thinks he's nesting - he's been in a cleaning frenzy lately and we both want to get some more things organized, ie. closets, garage, since we are now staying in this place for longer than originally anticipated. We've been reading books and talking a lot about the new baby, little brother/big sister scenerio and she has seemed very receptive to it... that is, until earlier in the week when she informed me "I don't want a baby brother". Hmmm... a little late for that! Then tonight the only books she wanted to read were the baby ones - we'll see how it goes!

Dean may be suffering from withdrawal here shortly as his beloved Premier League has ended and the World Cup is still over a month away. Tottenham Hotspurs (his team) managed to finish in 4th, which is exceptionally well (especially for them!!!) and allows them to qualify for all sorts of European tourneys next year. It was a little tense around here for a few days, but luckily all ended well! For Pete's Father's Day gift this year, Dean bought him 3 months of Fox Soccer Channel which has allowed him to watch the end of the season too. It's stimulated many phone calls back and forth about different games and a good deal of sarcasm from Hazel as to the endless amounts of soccer she is now subjected to thanks to Dean!!!

Irrigation Festival

We had gorgeous weather today - mid 60's, sunny, and beautiful! Perfect day for the Irrigation Festival (115th anniversary) parade and a brief foray to the carnival. Brief because A was at least 6 inches too short to ride even the smallest rides, so it was in & out and off to the slides at the playground!

Concentrating...




"Too loud"

Also, 31 weeks today and feeling good! Compared to last time, my belly seems much more pronounced but last time I had cankles and sausage toes and none now!!!

Ah, the ole basketball under the shirt look...
Someone needs to be in every picture...

31 Weeks with Ainsley
(Same pants! MUCH fuller last time! Only 27 lbs weight gain so far this time!)

Bad week

So, we're done, at least for the rest of the year, in our attempt to build. Every mortgage broker we've talked to has basically laughed at the idea of obtaining a jumbo construction loan right now - no one is doing it. We're hoping to have enough paid off and saved up by the beginning of next year to start as soon as the ground thaws. We are considering getting the septic system moved and finished this summer so that's one less thing to do later and then we could start prepping the area where we want the circular part of the driveway to be. We keep coming up with new reasons as to why this is a good thing, however, I think we're just trying to rationalize in a poor attempt to conceal our disappointment. I had really wanted a house prior to having one baby, let alone two! And all of us in the one bedroom - yikes!

I keep thinking work cannot get busier and I am continually wrong. This week has been beyond stressful, I've had major trouble sleeping (thus this post at 3:45am) and I actually worked for 15 hours today. If things don't improve, I may need to hire my relief vet for 2 days a week instead of just one. Especially since these last 2 months of pregnancy I'm supposed to be taking it easier - I'm sure I'll get a lecture next dr. visit. At least on that front, everything is ticking along well. No excessive weight gain (yeah!!) and my blood pressure has managed to stay low normal throughout.

Ainsley has definately hit the two year old mark. It's only one week after her birthday and it's almost like we traded in our sweet little girl for a belligerent one! Yelling no about everything, wanting the opposite of what you say (ie. "Would you like some water, Ainsley?" "NOOOO!!!" take the glass away and then she screams "Water!!!" and has a melt down), and the biggie - not listening AT ALL. Dean was about at his wits end tonight trying to take her to the mexican restaurant by himself - looks like our eating out days are over. She has been spending more time in the corner lately, although we've really started to see the counting work at home. We get to one or two a lot of times and she says "ok" and then redirects herself which is great. The hard part is in public, ie. melt down in the bank over leaving when I'm trying to chase her down - embarassing!!!! The count doesn't seem to work in public - I'll have to re-read that section of the book again.

All in all, pretty horrific week, and not even over yet since I'm on call until Monday. I also have TONS of work left to do and Dean needs to help me assemble my office's new filing shelves and set up our new computers. We tried Tuesday night to get some work done with Ainsley around and it ended in Dean getting a small amount done and me chasing A around keeping her out of the sharps containers, pill bottles, dog food, cat litter, laundry powdered soap, etc. I even tried the movie "Annie" - singing, dancing kids should have totally held her attention, right? Briefly, then she was off. With Irrigation Festival this weekend, we're hoping to poop her out at the carnival and parade tomorrow am so she'll sleep while we work tomorrow afternoon - probably wishful thinking.

Rollercoaster

Our ride continues... preapproved for our home loan 2 weeks ago, permit approved last week we were flying high and getting ramped up for starting our build when... DENIED! Our loan was denied unless we can come up with an ungodly amount of cash - screeching halt. One last attempt with a mortgage broker is in the works, but unfortunately and heartbreakingly we fear we will be crammed into our tiny house for another year. We've been told the main reason is the extremely cautious nature of the banks right now and their reluctance to provide jumbo loans. I wonder who they are lending to...

Work last week was chaotic and left me frazzled beyond what even a partial weekend off can heal. And off with a bang again today - don't know how much longer I can handle this on my own. Coupled with all three of us fighting chest colds/laryngitis made for much too short of a weekend.

On a major upside - Ainsley turned two last week Wednesday! I can hardly believe it's been 2 whole years! So many little things trigger memories of those first three excruciating weeks and it feels like just yesterday - most recently, the annual bike-to-work week reminded me of all the bikers coming into Children's on Week 2 of our stay there. But then I look at Ainsley and it's like I can hardly remember life without her in it. I don't know if it's pregger hormones or nostalgia but last night when Dean was out playing soccer and A & I were both tired and crabby we started watching "Mamma Mia". We were cuddling on the sofa during the "Slipping through my fingers" song and I started crying just thinking about her growing up. Even now getting a little teary writing about it - could be lack of sleep - it is 2am!

Anyways, we took A to Woodland Park Zoo the Sunday prior to her birthday and spent the day there with Auntie Erika & Uncle Mark as well as some fun time around and around and around on the slide at Green Lake. New fave = slides. We got a catalog in the mail from Toys 'R Us and unfortunately, it is her new favorite reading material! She keeps pointing to the slides and playsets asking "Me slide?" over & over again. Maybe if this build doesn't go through we'll invest in the Taj Mahal-esque playset at Costco. As midweek birthdays go with busy parents, her actual birthday was pretty sedate - chasing her up and down the bleachers at Civic Field while Dean played soccer. Definately got a good stair workout, but after a long day I would have preferred to sit! We gave her her bikes the day before since Dean was off and could play with her and she absolutely LOVES them! She even likes her helmet because she know that means she gets to ride her bike! We thought that would for sure be a struggle given how much she hates hats and her hair being messed with, but luckily not an issue. At least one thing isn't. Definately hit the highly opinionated "I do it" stage. She's also started whispering little secrets to us and making up huge stories about we don't know what half the time. Also, LOVES hide & seek and she's so quiet and will stay in one place so long it's kinda scary - especially when she figures out how to really hide...

On the pregger front - 30+ weeks and definately in countdown mode! As easy as pregnancy is and has been for me both times by this point I'm ready to have the child. Although the internal movement still amazes me - nothing like watching little elbows and a head protruding from your abdomen. Ainsley's interested in the process - we talk a lot about being a big sister and she seems pretty in tune to the baby in mommy's belly. We were taking Week 29 belly shots and when we finished she lined up at the wall and posed with hands on belly so we had to take a few of those too - too funny!!!