Happy Halloween from the Pumpkin Girl

We went with a cute pumpkin costume this year! Miss A sure did a great job saying trick or treat and thank you! Despite the pouring rain, she had a blast and returned home with a full bucket of candy. 

Unbelievable Third Trimester Bathroom Schedule

Today was ridiculous. At 30 weeks and 3 days pregnant, I used the bathroom so many times that it was ridiculous! Seriously.

Take a quick look at my time chart. I was so amazed that I even recorded my fluid intake as well.

• 6:45-9:45am- Peed 5X (The only fluids was a little bit of milk from my cereal bowl.)
• 11:00am- 1X (I drank a very small cup of coffee and juice.)
• 12:00pm- 1X (12 ounce water)
• 2:00pm- 1X
• 3:30pm- 1X (I drank another small cup of coffee and had a couple sips of water.)
• 4:30pm- 1X
• 5:00pm- 1X
• 7:30pm- 1X (8oz orange juice)

That makes a total of 12 trips to the bathroom and the current time is only 9:00pm. I will probably use the bathroom at least two more times before bed, especially since I am so thirsty right now and cannot resist drinking ice water. How crazy is this?! I don't know what made today so different but usually I don't have to use the bathroom this much.

This happened during my first trimester but then the feeling faded after a couple of weeks. I am worried that this will be my new third trimester bathroom schedule. I really can't afford this to be my new routine because I just started back to work for the next 4-5 weeks. I would end up being that pregnant woman who is constantly getting up and going to the bathroom every five seconds. It would just be hilarious because I am the team leader in a large school-like work setting. It would be funny stuff.

Side note: Washing your hands every hour is great for hygiene purposes but awful because it dries your skin out. That is a hidden downside of this frequent urination pregnancy issue!

Wordless Wednesday: Flash Back to Summer 2013 before the Frost Hits

This is for those of you who refuse to acknowledge fall and pretend that summer is still here in 2013. I will allow you a couple more warm thoughts... sunshiny beach days...

Okay all done. Back to reality... because the temperature is supposed to go below freezing tonight!! So kick back, relax, and start enjoying those hot cocoas next to your cozy fire place!

I'll be heading south.

Two Year Old Singing "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen

"Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepson is one of Miss A's favorite songs from the radio! Listen to her short cover version and be amazed. =)

Miss A Sings Old MacDonald Had A Farm

Or maybe the title should have said that Miss A sang her own personal version of Old MacDonald Had A Farm. Either way, this is super cute and you should watch her short video!

Toddler Behaviors I Could Do Without

I have been writing a lot of positive posts about my wonderful daughter because overall she is wonderful! However, it is time that I shine light on her terrible two behaviors because each time she performs them, I grow more and more irritated. I am hoping that with a little self expression through writing, my patience will grow and I will be more forgiving... Ha.

SO COME ON! ENOUGH ALREADY WITH THE...

• Excessive whining! There comes a tipping point when the constant whining has no ending solution and is performed on a daily basis. There is no need to whine about not wanting to drink the water that I simply set next to you (just in case you were thirsty)... There is no need to whine about not being able to put on socks and shoes while refusing for help. I need to do it *whine whine whine* I need help *whine whine whine* I can do it *whine whine whiiiinnnneee*... No need to whine about not wanting to go potty because you're lazy... I gotta gooo...but I don't want to... but *whine whine whine*...  About the door not properly opened exactly to your liking at nap time... About your books, your blocks, your babies, your blankies, your crayons, your hair... *whine whine whine*!!! Trying to reason with a two year old and tell her how obnoxious it is to whine is pointless. Guess I should have known that. Pff!
• Crying after waking up! This is what she has been doing the majority of her life. When she was a tiny baby, okay... no problem. I get it. But she is 2 years and 3 months old now and she simply wakes up and comes crying to me for no apparent reason. I have no peace. Fortunately, I found a solution to this one. I just told her that she should not cry in the mornings and repeated that at bedtime for a few days. Problem solved. She does however continue to be crabby after her nap times. 
• Accidental tongue and finger biting while eating! I did not know it was possible to accidentally bite your tongue and finger at every meal and snack time... every single day. It always ends up in tears and a persistent need for ice and a wash cloth to make it all better! Come on missy... Smaller bites. Slow down your chompers! Heck, there doesn't even have to be food in her mouth for her to bite her tongue or finger. This is definitely something I did not anticipate in parenting. 
• Dropping things into the toilet! I don't even want to know why that purple bracelet ended up in the bottom of the toilet. Or why the entire new roll of toilet paper is now drenched in water. Please, explain this one to me dear Miss A. I guess you need more potty time attention. My bad. 

These are definitely toddler behaviors that I could do without!!! Now I will breathe... and focus on the beautiful picture below... *in*... *out*... What an angel... 

"But look at how cute I am mommy! I'm so adorable that you love me no matter what I do!" 

My Favorite Baby Boy Clothing Brand: Ralph Lauren

To begin with, I must state that I am voluntarily blogging about Ralph Lauren's infant and toddler boy clothing lines because they have the most adorable, preppy boy clothing I have ever seen. I am simply in love with the outfits! [Unfortunately, Ralph Lauren is not allowed to be my favorite brand because I cannot afford the majority of their clothing. I cannot rationalize spending a fortune on clothes that will only be worn for a few months.] REGARDLESS!! Look below at how cute the clothing is and imagine it on a little baby boy!! =)

How could you not find this irresistible?! Ralph Lauren truly makes little man clothing.

So classy!

Even their winter outerwear is cuter than average brands.

Adorable.

I recently discovered that Oshkosh baby clothing has similar baby clothes but at a much more affordable price.

Easiest Way to Remember to do Kegels

If you are a smart woman, you know the value of doing kegels. Kegels strengthen the muscles in your pelvic floor and help reduce the dreaded womanly issue of urinary incontinence as you age. If you are pregnant and want to increase your chances of having a fast and easy delivery sans the dreaded tearing, do your kegels. If you want to be able to control your bladder and not accidentally pee yourself after you sneeze, do your kegels. ;)

What are Kegels? It is a simple exercise that builds your pelvic floor muscles. In the bathroom, if you stop the flow of pee, you can feel the muscles of your pelvic floor that you should exercise. It is recommended that you squeeze those muscles and hold for 10 seconds. Repeat this several times in a row. That exercise is called kegels and it should be repeated three times daily. You can read more about kegels on the Mayo Clinic website. 

There can be so many prenatal health and pre-baby tasks to remember to do when you are pregnant that kegels seem so easy to slip the mind. When your pregnant brain is already overwhelmed and hopped up on hormonal surges, it becomes impossible to remember to do kegels even once a day.

SO--

I figured out the easiest way to remember to do kegels! I am reminded to do them after going to the bathroom, simply because that is where I learned to do the exercise. It is important to do them on an empty bladder in order not to weaken your muscles. After you are done peeing, simply remain on the toilet and do some kegels. And since you have to go to the bathroom a billion times a day when you are pregnant, you have plenty of opportunities.

Kegel away and be healthy! 

Apple Orchard Visit at Ed Dunneback & Girls Farm

Here is a picture tour of our first time picking apples at an apple orchard. Miss A and I went with a dEaReSt friend and had so much fun. We visited Ed Dunneback & Girls Farm.

Interesting pumpkin character at entrance of Ed Dunneback & Girls Farm

My beautiful daughter & myself at 28 weeks pregnant. (YOU CAN'T EVEN TELL HERE!)

Running through the apple orchard!

And for a tad bit of possibly inappropriate humor...

And the actual inappropriate part... The farm even offers boob jobs.

Happy Apple Picking!

Toddler Habit Too Cute to Break

It has been about a full year now since Miss A started waking up and nesting at our bedside. She sleepily drags everything from her bed throughout the home and sets up a new little cove on the floor. Everything includes her bed comforter, the blue down comforter from our couch, her baby (stuffed lamb), two pillows, and two small blankets. This occurs between 5:00 and 8:00 every morning. When I mention this habit of hers to anyone I get a face that resembles a unique combo of disgust, humor, and shock. Yes, I allow my child to do this.

I don't mind her doing this. 

Not one bit. 

This so called bad habit of hers allows me to sleep in an extra 2-3 hours without having to get up. Miss A has mastered a special routine that allows for even further benefits. She enters the room, makes her little bed on the floor, goes to the bathroom, shuts the two doors in our bedroom to prevent light from coming in, and then lies down and falls back to sleep. This is a miracle. I get extra hours of sleep without the fear of her having an accident on the floor nor the sun to wake me. 

I have to admit that she does not always enter our room quietly and most times I have to prompt her to use the bathroom but she still does it. This morning though, she did the whole routine quietly on her own. I can't think of any negative reason for her to stop doing this. She goes to bed for naps and at night time peacefully in her own bedroom. I really have no reason to complain. Soon enough, I will be the one waking her up when I start working full time. She won't even have a chance to sneak into my room in the early mornings. 

Thoughts on Relocating Family out of State

Image courtesy of Nuttakit / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

My family (*hubby*myself*children*) have been discussing the realistic possibility of relocating out of state for better job opportunities and a way to pave our own adventurous path in life. I realize that this is a hard conversation topic for certain family members because it means we will be "leaving them". It is so difficult that it has been silently banned and ignored from discussions. I guess the best method is to spring it upon them after we secure a job out of state? ***Some family will be reading this now... It is important to know that if we do relocate out of state, we will continue all efforts to stay in touch and visit as much as possible. Also, there is always the possibility we will not find a job out of state.

Here are a few reasons we would like to relocate and how we will have the opportunity to do so.

1. My husband needs a new job because the hours are too chaotic and it makes a sleep schedule impossible to regulate. He can rarely participate in family events or social activities because he is too sleep deprived or simply working already. When he gets to have fun he is either beyond exhausted or irritable due to lack of sleep/time. It is not the best situation for his health overall. He works as a 911 Call Taker/ Police Dispatcher so it is high stress without time to relieve it through quality rest or exercise. There is minimal growth opportunities and a low ceiling for pay without working constant overtime hours. Right now he is averaging 60-64 hour work weeks at random time slots throughout the seven day week.  He realizes that he needs to search for a new job in order to maintain his and our family's sanity! 
2. I need to find a full time job as well. While raising my two year old daughter, I have been working part time jobs. We have been living near both of our parents so we have had free babysitting to help save money. Our student loan debt is beyond ridiculous and it is essential that both my husband and I have full time jobs to stay afloat. We are expecting a second child around the beginning of January 2014. My part time job coordinates perfectly with caring for a newborn for the first five or six months of his life. 
3. We no longer have free babysitting so even if we stay in West Michigan, we will have to enroll our children in a daycare center or pay for a nanny to care for them. We will not lose money for daycare by moving out of state since we already have to add it to our budget. 
4. Our home lease ends on May 31, 2014. We pay too much in rent and need to move to something smaller or get further into debt by buying a house to reduce the monthly home payment. We would rather invest our money in a house than throw it away. It would be ideal to find an even cheaper housing market even though there are plenty of decently priced houses in Michigan. 
5. Personally, I want the added adventure and excitement of moving out of state and starting fresh. We could continue searching for jobs in Michigan but it has been difficult for me to find a decent paying job that I want to make into a career. It has always been a dream of mine to move out of state after high school. I stayed in Michigan to be near my husband. He also likes the idea of moving out of state as long as it betters our current financial situation. If we end up not liking it, there is always the option of moving back later. 

The perfect opportunity to move out of state will be next summer (2014) since our lease will be up, we both need new jobs, and our baby will be about six months old. We do not want to move without finding a job first so we will begin searching and applying for new jobs shortly after the new year. 

We already have a mini road trip, tentatively planned in a few weeks, to tour some cities in Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina. It would be ideal to relocate to Kentucky since our commute back to family would only be around seven hours instead of 11-14 hours. We like the idea of a large city in order to have a better job market for both of our careers. My ideal city would be anywhere within an hour or two of the Appalachian Mountains. That would make family vacationing/weekend getaways really exciting with all the hiking, backpacking, and skiing adventures. 

If anyone has written about their experiences relocating family out of state, I would love to read about it. If anyone has any advice or good recommendations for a potential destination, I would also love to hear from you! Thanks. 

*some inspiration to ponder*

"Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now." —Denis Waitley

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." —Mark Twain

"If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try" —Seth Godin

"Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumblebee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams." 

—Ashley Smith

"You leave home to seek your fortune and, when you get it, you go home and share it with your family." —Anita Baker