EVICTION NOTICE - Round 2

Dear Fielden Crosby Long,

I am issuing you a 30 day notice for EVICTION. You will have 30 days from today in which you may either gather your belongings and promptly vacate the premises, or wait until the final day. After which, you will be physically removed from the property.

You are being evicted due to breach of contract and destruction of property. Expansions only to the FRONT of the house, within reasonable limits, were discussed. Not only have these limits been exceeded, but additions to the back of the house were also made! Remodeling and gutting of the home was never approved, nor was changing the initial layout and base structure. And due to property damage, there are now leaks in both the upper AND lower levels of the home. On top of which, the landlord has received numerous complaints about nightly disturbances.

Therefore, in the event that you do not comply with this notice within 30 days from this day, it will result in your immediate and forceful removal at my discretion.

Sincerely,
Your Mother

35 Weeks

Back from my uber-fast appointment with my OB this morning, with good news to report. This was the week I started having issues with Franklin, and luckily I seem to have avoided those for the moment. My BP was 120/82 (up a mere 2 points from last time) and I only gained 2 pounds. Hooray for me! Crosby is measuring about 2 weeks ahead, same as last time, and at this point weighs over 5 pounds (if not more). They will call to officially schedule the C-section sometime in the next week, so if I make it all the way to the end this time looks as though September 26 will be the day. I'd be ok he if decided to come a wee bit earlier than that, but if it means avoiding the mag drip and complications from last time I'll happily accept making it to 39 weeks.

The light at the end of the tunnel is rapidly approaching... thankfully!

Monday, Monday....

Remember this post from back in September 2009? Flash forward one year and eleven months almost to the day, and you have today. Last night I made my go-to "someone just had a baby" meal for one of the guys I work with (who is bringing his new son home from the hospital today), consisting of chicken pot pie, salad, and dessert. This time around, I am not sick and not swollen, and actually made the chicken pot pie myself instead of purchasing it from Super Suppers (which is now, sadly, closed). I pop in to work at my usual time (can you tell I'm proud of myself that I'm in week 35 and am working normal hours still? I'm very proud) carrying a lovely paper bag with the whole meal inside. I manage to make it all the way into the building this time without spilling anything, and prep the bag with co-worker's name and baking instructions on it. Bag is successfully placed into the office fridge to wait on him to take it home with him tonight.

I'm clearly feeling very proud of myself, and am remembering what a MESS I was while pregnant with Franklin, all clumsy, and unable to control my movements, and swollen up like a stuck pig/ staypuff marshmellow woman, etc., and am thinking how awesome I am at pregnancy the second time around. Go me.

2.5 seconds later I'd managed to spill an ENTIRE cup of coffee ALL. OVER. MY. DESK. Coffee has dripped all over settlement checks, paperwork, caselaw, loan files, my laptop, blackberry, and onto the floor below... I ran back to the kitchen to grab papertowels, etc. to control the mess, and while I am cleaning up the ick that is an entire cup of milky-way latte flavored coffee I manage to spill HALF A CAN OF MOUNTAIN DEW ONTO MY DESK AS WELL. So now I'm cleaning up milky way latte /mountain dew sticky ick from a pile of paperwork that REALLY didn't need to have milky way latte/ mountain dew sticky ick on it. Oh Monday, you are so totally NOT my favorite day.

Pregnancy FAIL.

Franklin and "Woawuh"

Franklin calls Lola this past weekend....

Where's Lola? from Frank Long on Vimeo.

Week 34

This week is a big week for Crosby, as hitting the 34 week milestone means that (in the event something goes awry in the next three weeks) he is considered "pre-term" instead of premature and would likely have no permanent issues if he was born early. With Franklin, week 34 meant that I was no longer required to take brethine to stop contractions and avoided the nasty side-effects related to taking that drug as a result. This time, while I've had lots of braxton hicks contractions, they generally go away and aren't nearly as regular or intense as those with Franklin. I am extremely happy that I've made it this far without any serious complications (fingers crossed that continues!) and am holding my breath for the next three weeks or so, until Crosby is term. This week, baby boy #2 is the size of an average cantaloupe, weighing in at 4.75 pounds and is almost 18 inches long. I suspect Crosby may be on the larger side, and is probably at least 5 pounds by now.

Last time: awful swelling that never went away, never-ending weight gain despite eating healthy (probably due to all of the gatorade and water I was drinking to try and control heartburn and contractions), and heartburn so bad I couldn't lie down at night. Frank had retreated to sleeping in the nursery. I woke up multiple times a night, when I could sleep, and generally felt pretty miserable. These last 3 1/2 weeks with Franklin were pure agony, from the pregnancy-related carpal tunnel (due to swelling) to my inability to wear shoes. It was downright mean.

This time: I LOST a pound last week. That's right. Shocker there. I also have avoided heartburn altogether thanks to a single tiny pill taken at night before bed by the name "prevacid." What on earth was I thinking last time not taking that?? I also sleep pretty well thanks to another helpful medicinal assistant known as Unisom. 1/2 a unsisom + pregnant lady = decent sleep. Sanctioned by my doc, they actually prescribe unisom + B12 to women in their first trimster as an anti-nausea aid, and I am quite thankful for it at this point. Bonus: I can wear shoes! Bonus #2: I am still within the recommended weight gain with the end in sight! I really must do things better the second time around, seriously.

While my end goal with this pregnancy is the same (healthy baby!) I am really, really hoping to avoid delivering with a mag drip and a pre-birth stay in the hospital the night before he arrives. I think after a 6 day stay in the hospital, BP issues, and uncontrollable swelling I'm due the birth I planned all along: Clean hair, freshly manicured nails and toes and the ability to remember most of the day (that mag drip is bad, lemme tell ya).

So here's to the beginning of the end of this miraculous journey called pregnancy...

Franklin and Crosby

A little update on both of my boys.... Franklin is quite the ladies man these days. On two mornings over the past week, he's met a little friend from school and held her hand all the way into their classroom. In other news, my child is a total ham. He gets funnier by the minute and Frank and I are thoroughly entertained. These days, when he isn't asking you for food (which is a lot of the time) he's alternating between giving you kisses (yes, with the actual kissing sound) and throwing a WWE-style elbow on you mid-bodyslam. He also enjoys heading face-first off of our upholstered ottoman and singing along with The Wiggles on Sprout. Favorite words include: Mine, Mama (!), Dada, Back, and Baad (often while pointing at one of the dogs). A new game he's currently playing: Hide my snack trap underneath everything from a pillow to mommy's shirt and hold my hands up while I make the sounds to "Where Did it Go?" (although he doesn't actually say, "Where did it go?"). And then say "There!" When he "finds" it. Like I said- total ham. Wonder who he gets that from.

In other news, Crosby is on-track and not hurting his mommy nearly as much as his older brother did. At my appointment yesterday, I was up a mere 2 pounds (right on track) and my BP is 118/80 - so still well within normal ranges. I also have not had hardly any swelling, and none compared to what it was with Franklin -- despite having accomplished quite a bit over the last weekend. While Frank was at the lake, Franklin and I hung out inside (mostly) to avoid the overwhelming heat, and only ventured out to head to Lowe's for a few items and Old Navy for fall clothes for my little man. I also washed the crib bedding, cradle bedding, swing cover, bouncy seat cover, car seat cover, some baby clothing, all of our own laundry and hand-stitched red ball-fringe to new navy panels that we put on the windows in Franklin's big boy room. Once Frank returned on Sunday, we hung drapes, re-assembled baby items, and worked on putting the nursery back together too. I felt productive for the first time in awhile. This weekend I've got another big list planned... Closet clean-outs, drawer liners, baby clothes washing, bottle sterilizing, etc. are all on the menu. Nesting, maybe? By this time with Franklin, I was already having serious swelling issues and had most of this done. I'm looking forward to feeling a tad more prepared for Crosby's arrival, although it's looking more like he may be a "term" baby instead of an early arrival like his brother. One similarity they both share -- measuring big. I'm still 2 weeks ahead, measuring in at 34 weeks. Reading back on my postings with Franklin, at 34 weeks I measured 39 weeks (YIKES). So not quite as big, but who knows where we'll be in 2 weeks time.

Promise that once a few more things are completed in Franklin's big boy room and in the nursery I'll post pics of the finished product (before and after-style). We're in the home stretch! 6 weeks (at the most!) and counting down....

Four Years...

Outside my office window today it's a nasty, ugly, hot summer day... Four years ago, however, the weather was absolutely beautiful. Still hot, yes, but a perfect day otherwise. Here's to four years and two babies, dear! Perhaps we can revisit our honeymoon destination next year to celebrate? A little reminder of how great it was....