Promise

I need to start editing my posts before I publish them. BIG TIME! I read through some recent ones, and eeekkk! I apologize. Blame my baby brain. Blame a wild little ten month old who demands most of my attention. Any which way, it is not ok, and I am fairly embarrassed. I will do better, I promise.

In the meantime, here is a collage of some of Quinn's Sunday pictures. Look at my big girl! She can now balance against things while standing. Also, if you looking very, very closely, you can see her two bottom teeth.

Week in review

This week has been totally crazy and busy for Dalan and me. I am sad that I am blogging so infrequently, and not recording all the fun things Quinn is doing.

1. Her eye exam went well, and her eyes are slightly improved. Keep the eye vibes coming. They are clearly working. It is amazing what can happen when you put something into the universe and have so many people thinking/praying about it.

2. Her progress with bottle feeding and eating has stalled. She will do it sometimes, and refuse at others. We now need vibes in this area too. Am I being too greedy in my asking of vibes? I hope not. This little girl needs to come home, and she needs to eat well and consistently to come home.

3. She weighs SEVEN pounds now. She is chubby and cute.

4. She is getting so strong. She can almost flip herself from her belly to her back.

5. She loves her mobile so much! (Thanks Nana!) It might have tied with her binkie as her favorite activity. The best thing in the world to Quinn is sucking on her binkie while staring at her mobile.

6. We call her Romulus. As in Romulus and Remus. As in the twins who were raised by wolves. She attacks the breast, bottle, and binkie like a wild, feral child. She will put a nipple in her mouth, and shake her head, like she is going in for the kill. It is hilarious. She and Piper will get along famously!

Now for the pictures.....

Updates and bets

We are still here! Sorry, this work/hospital thing is tough. I fear I will be blogging less and less, but I will try my best to at least post pictures and mini-updates. I am trying to figure out how to post from my phone, but I am not smart enough.

Here is the latest and greatest on Quinn:

1. She is smiley and happy most of the time.
2. She loves her binkie, her Mozart, her mobile, and her bouncy chair.
3. Her eyes were the same this week. We are still keeping our fingers crossed that they improve and mature, so surgery won't be necessary.
4. She loves nursing, but has become ambivalent about the bottle.
5. She pulled my hair for the first time this morning. I loved it. It felt so right as I untangled my hair from her little hands.

Next Friday, Quinn will be 40 weeks gestation! This upcoming date is bittersweet for me. I am excited that we have made it this far, and that she is doing so well. I love that she has gone from a one pound scrawny little thing, to a plump and happy baby.

But, I am mourning the loss of a normal pregnancy. I find myself being insanely jealous of the round pregnant women wobbling into the hospital. I am sad that I could not carry her full term, and she has had to endure so much in her first months of life. I am grateful she is getting excellent medical care, but hating the fact that I will be still be visiting my full term baby at the hospital.

Since, I can't hold a pool for people guessing her date of birth, weight, height, time of birth, etc. I am doing the closest thing possible and going to have you all guess her weight and height on her due date. I will give the winner a special shout out on my blog. Oh and Ah, just what you have always wanted.

I need to blog...

...but until I have time for a proper post (showers, baths, and the boppy...oh my!), this will have to do.

Easy come, easy go

It's back. For most of the the month of March, it was gone. I was witty, and interesting. I had cool things to say and fun things to share. Then I blogged about cutting my hair, and it crept back into my life. It's sad and it's true, but my writer's block is back.

I have narrowed down the causes to two possible things. The before mentioned cutting of the hair, maybe I am a modern day blogging Samson, and my hair was my power to post. Or maybe the baby growing in my womb is stealing all my great ideas and is going to come out a super blogging genius. You decide. I am really not sure.

Speaking of pregnancy, here are two of my pregnancy quirks.....

1. Foods I am currently obsessed with: peanut butter sandwiches, bagels, and chocolate donuts. Also cheese.

2. Favorite smell: beer on Dalan's breath. It is too bad he thinks this is weird, and won't let me just smell it outright. I have to be sneaky.

The normal life

I went to back to work this week. The break was nice. The kids were magically good the first day back from break, like first day of the school year good. They were quiet, hard working, and attentive. Today, some of the magic wore off. They remembered that they could be a little loud, a little lazy, and a little off task, and I would still like them. Hopefully, the stay just like they were today. They say some funny things when they are like they were today, and they don't drive me crazy. It is a good mix. Teaching perfect children is easy, but rarely fun.

Dalan and I managed to not take any of the Christmas stuff down over my beak. He did it yesterday. Told you he was a bad ass. The house is almost back to normal. It feels good, although I do miss the merriment of the holidays.

The house is only almost back to normal, because we have a dishes situation. I admittedly poured way too much soap in the dishwasher on Sunday night. Dalan has rerun the dishwasher twice to get rid of the "cow pie" size of chunks of soap left behind. His words, not mine. Told you he was a bad ass. I am going to have to rinse the remaining soap off by hand tonight, and load all the new dishes.

Also, only almost back to normal, because Ali came over and cleaned the closet out in our bedroom. The girl loves to organize, and I love to take advantage of that fact. It is a win-win situation really. However, now I have a beautifully clean closet, but a monster pile of clothes to take somewhere to donate. But, it is cold and getting dark when I get home from work and I have not gotten around to it yet.

What is right vs. what is convenient?

I am someone who is a planner and like to pride myself on making sound decisions. I like to weigh my options, research and read about my options, think about the consequences, make a decision, and execute said plan. I am rarely impulsive, and have pretty much planned out all my major life events. What can I say? I like it this way. I like to set goals and achieve them.

However, I do sometimes have a hard time make the "right" choice when there is a more convenient option available, even when I have all the information in front of me. I don't consider myself a lazy person, but sometimes I take the easy way out. Let me give some examples.

I will eat fast food, because it is convenient when I know that food prepared at home is generally healthier and more balanced. But, I don't enjoy the time it takes to make a meal, or the clean up that follows.

I will eat something out of the freezer or out of a box, rather than preparing a fresh meal is almost always better for you. Again, if I am going to cook, I want it to be easy.

I will use a paper towel or a Clorox Wipe to clean up a mess, rather than getting a rag or a sponge, even though I know it is more environmental sound to not use products that are one time use.

I will watch hours of a Law and Order marathon because it is easy and mindless, but it takes every fiber of my being to motivate myself to exercise, because it is not enjoyable, and then I am all sweaty and have to shower.

So, how do you make a "good" choice when a more convenient and appealing choice is in front of you?

Should have followed directions

Ali found these instructions on how to make easy cotton skirts forever ago, and we have been meaning to get together and make them, but have never made the time. So, before I go back to work, and Ali goes back to school we decided to just do it already. Ali came over with her sewing machine, and off we went to pick out fabric.

The instructions said to measure your waist and then get double or triple the amount of fabric. We went with double, and after we sewed the back seam together it looked like we could hula hoop in the amount of fabric we had around our middle section. The instructions and the amount of fabric we had just were not making sense to me, so I decided to ditch the instructions and go off on my own, after all, I have made our Halloween costumes for the last several years just from the ideas in my head, why would my visions of my new skirt not work too? So, I reduced my fabric to about 2/3's of what I originally had, and started sewing, all while Ali diligently kept to the plan the instructions laid out.



Then I started having trouble with my sewing machine. It is the problem I have with the bobbin from time to time, and I have always blamed my sewing machine for the errors. However, tonight after getting frustrated with my machine, I went to use Ali's and had the same problem. A problem she has never had. Apparently, it is one hundred percent a user/Jessi error. So, the stitching on my skirt turned out to be super sketchy, and due to my not following the steps in the correct order, next to impossible to stitch up over the elastic. It is does not flow the same way as Ali's due to my fabric reduction. It looks super frumpy.


The moral of the story, follow the directions and you get a cute and wearable product. If you don't follow the directions and sew like a blind little monkey, you get a piece of garbage skirt. Oh well, we did have fun, and bless Ali's heart, she really did try to save my hopeless little skirt. However, after showing Dalan and my parents, it truly is going into the trash.

I did this to myself

I am pretty sure I have the stones again, kidney stones, that is. Last week, I binged a little on caffeinated beverages. I went to a training for two days that included breakfast, and lunch, and figured they would have bottled water as a beverage choice, and did not bring a water bottle. They didn't, so I drank Diet Coke both days. I could have surely brought water with me both days, or at the very least, the second day, but alas, I did not. Later in the week, I went shopping with my mom and Ali, and we stopped and got iced coffees. I could have gotten a non-caffeinated beverage, but alas, I did not. Over these days, I could have doubled up on my water consumption to balance out all the caffeine, but alas, I did not.

Therefore, last Thursday night into Friday morning, I had one of my "attacks" in which I am woken up in the middle of the night from immense pain, and feel toxic. (One sign of the stones.) Then for the entire weekend, I had to pee and pee and pee. (Another sign of the stones.) Last night, I was woken up throughout the night with intense back pain. (Another sign of the stones.) At first, in my sleepy state I thought I had been sleeping wrong, but eventually it became clear, it was that old familiar pain of the stones. Today, I felt just ill and tired, (Yet another sign of the stones.)

I know I did this to myself. I tested the boundaries and lost big time. I have hit the water and lemonade hard today, so here is to hoping I pass the stone with no further pain or misery.

I want my (reality) t.v.

My top picks for reality t.v. shows right now....

1. The Amazing Race- Always one of my favorites. I dream of participating in the race one day. Dalan always blamed my diet coke addiction as a reason I could not be on the show, but now that the monkey is off my back, I see no reason to not go forward with the plan! Plus Phil is so sexy, I would take any opportunity to race back to him and his accent each and every week. This out of all the shows I am about the review, is probably the most legitimate and least trashy, but it is still exciting and worth watching.

2. The Real World: Brooklyn- I used to be the biggest Real World fan ever! I love me some Eric Nies. Then it became lame. It was a bunch of way too skinny people getting drunk and hooking up every week, so I stopped watching. This season, however, when I found out there was a post-op. transsexual and a non-aware gay Mormon from Utah on the show, I was totally all over it. There is still a lot of lame drama, but I love how the transsexual really thought people could not instantly tell she used to be a dude. I also love how Chet, the LDS guy, wears purple pashimas, leggings, and pastel boots, plus makes "just kidding" comments about other guys being cute, but swears up and down that he is not a homosexual. If you have not watched it this season, I suggest doing so.

3. Toddlers and Tiaras- This is a show that features moms and their children that participate in the exciting world of beauty pageants. The show usually showcases two moms that are crazy and obsessive about pageants, and one pretty chill/normal mother. You get to marvel at all the money spent for one pageant, and be shocked at the spray tanning, false eyelashes, and fake teeth that put into their child's mouth, because it is so better that your six year old be tan with a set of an adult teeth than to look like a regular six year old. This is one I would not have thought I would have loved, but it kind of caught me by surprise and I am enjoying it.

4. Rupaul's Drag Race- To be fair, I have only seen this once, but you all know, I love me some drag queens. The make-up, the costumes, and the drama are all fabulous. When I catch this show again, I will watch it fo' sho'.

5. Celebrity Rehab. Sober House- I have learned that when celebrities are trying to get sober that are just as bratty and obnoxious as the kids were at ARTEC, just with access to cooler parties. Just like at ARTEC, there are some people who really want to be sober, and are really trying, and there are some people who want to be sober, but don't have the tools yet. And then there are the people who just don't give an eff and will do what they want when they want, and then expect other people to pick up the pieces and come to the rescue time and time again. I don't know if I would like this so much if I had not worked in a rehab for seven years, but it is something I will watch if I come across it.

6. Jon and Kate plus 8- I started watching it, because who doesn't love six adorable babies, plus the freak show that goes alon with having them all at the same time. I can barely stand to watch it anymore, because Kate is such a controlling and mean person. Yet, I can't look away. I have to watch it every week to have something else to gossip and critique with my peeps who also watch it.

7. The Jessi and Dalan Show- Ok, I obviously made this one up, but I would love to have our own little show. It would be so boring that I think it would work. Plus we have already made up our theme song! The episodes could be things like this week on The Jessi and Dalan Show, Dalan and Jessi go to Chili's for a quesidilla explosion salad. Or this week on The Jessi and Dalan Show, Jessi plans Dalan's 30th birthday party. Or this week on The Jessi and Dalan Show, Jessi thinks she left her flat iron plugged in again, and makes Dalan, get out of the car, go back inside, and make sure it is off. We could even have those very special episodes of The Jessi and Dalan Show in which we teach the kids a lesson, like Jessi teaches why it is important to not put your phone charger on your tongue.

Slacky McSlackerson

Since, we have returned from our mini-moon, I have been in major slacking mode. I just am lacking any serious motivation, in fact, I am choosing to blog about my laziness instead of do something about it. Let me tell you about all the things I need to get done.

1. Sew our Halloween costumes. This is one of my favorite things to do, but yet the thought of going upstairs and getting the sewing machine out is not appealing to me.

2. Write two top notch lesson plans for Wednesday. One I need to teach my class while being observed, and the other I need to present to other teachers in my ESL class. I hate my ESL class, so I am blaming my lack of motivation to do either, solely on my ESL class.

3. Write Thank You notes. This is another of my favorite things to do. I love thanking people, I love handwriting a note, and I love sending it in the mail, but yet I have only gotten about a third of these written.

4. Do all our vacation laundry, and clean the upstairs. This is my least favorite thing to do, so it is no surprise that this is not done, but it is driving me nuts. Plus all my favorite clothes are dirty, and I am reduced to wearing my not so favorite ones. Also, Dalan is totally going the whole 10 yards when it comes to household chores, and I am barely doing anything, but making messes. That is not a good way to make a good wife impression!

So, I guess I am asking for some energy. Maybe somebody just needs to hit my reset button, and move me from wedding/honeymoon mode back into regular life mode. Well, I guess I better be going and find something else to do, hopefully, even one of the four things on my list.