Wednesday, December 12, 2012

An Update

James is almost 4 months old! The past few months have been...well....overwhelming to say the least. Overwhelming, exhausting, wonderful months. Life as I knew it is no more and as hard as I though raising one son was, I was no where near prepared for how hard 2 is.  To make it even harder, Michael has been out of town probably about half the time since James has been born. Some days, I'm just hanging by a string.

James is an easy going baby over all. He eats good and weighs 18 lbs now. Big brother only weigh 26. He likes chillin in the kitchen with me when im cooking/cleaning. He also likes laying on his play mat. He doesn't sleep that good yet. Just when I think he's getting consistent at only waking once at night, he starts waking 2 or 3 times. And it's not like he wants to eat, he just wants to hang out. He absolutely hates car rides. It doesn't matter how short....if he's awake, he's crying.

Joseph is a better big brother than I thought he would be. He's still pretty jealous and it seems like anytime I sit down to nurse James, he suddenly need juice or something to eat or wants to watch a movie,...something that requires me getting up. But he has learned to sleep through a lot. He can sleep through some of the worst crying. His naps are pretty much gone though.  Should they be? Probably not. He takes about one every 3 days. Most days, I get tied up with James and miss the nap window. And to be honest, I get tired of the wailing and gnashing of teeth that is involved in nap taking.

You would think that with James gaining weight like a champ, I would be losing it like crazy, but I'm not. I'm starving all the time and aside from hauling James around and chasing Joseph, I don't work out. I'm trying not to get too bogged down in it though and give myself some time. I think I did too much too early with Joseph and my milk production went to crap. I keep telling myself that I'm not having any more kids so I've got time to get the weight off for good. That's right...no more kiddos for me. I'm done. Michael thinks i will want to try for a girl  in a few years but I don't think so.

I would like to get back to blogging some. I don't know how that will go. I'm still cooking lots of blog worthy food. I'm not that comfortable blogging on the iPad yet...I don't know how to put pics on here with it but I'm going to work on that. I will try to get some pics up soon. I just wanted to give a life update to those who give a hoot.


Tuesday, August 28, 2012

James Covey is here!

Well, James finally graced us with his presence last Thursday. He didn't want to....it took getting induced to bring him here, but I'm glad I did because at 4 days late he was 11 lbs 6 oz! No, friends, that is not a typo....and no I didn't have a c section. So much for all those cute newborn  outfits! I have to say that being induced is WAY more painful and I was seriously screaming for my epidural because my contractions were so bad. But after my epidural, I was a pussy cat again.

Joseph started getting sick while we were in the hospital so he has gone to my parents house until he gets well. What little he was around his little brother, I really think he's going to be really good about it. I can't wait for him to get home even though I know that it will makes things even harder.

James is a really good baby though. He has a broken clavicle from delivery but you would never know it. He also came out very bruised but it doesn't seem to bother him. He is a little night owl right now and keeps me up most of the night. I try to take a nap in the morning with him. I just hate sleeping during the day. Otherwise I'm trying to take it easy. I take my pain meds religiously and that has really helped. Well, the little guy is stirring. We will be heading to the orthopedic doctor this afternoon to see about his clavicle. I will try to keep you updated!

Oh and for you who are wondering where the name came from: Covey is my mom's maiden name. I wanted to name a child after my grandfather on moms side but his name was Ralph..and let's face it, not the most modern name for a boy. So I went with the last name instead. James was just a name I liked. It turns out that it was michaels great grandfathers name but I had no idea of that until the other day.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Fun Day

 We had a pretty fun day today. I had a doctor's appointment this morning...which was not part of the fun. Joseph was pretty good though so after we were done there, we headed to the Newport Aquarium. I figure that it was probably the last outing we will have with just the 2 of us for a while. He had a blast and mostly just wanted to look at the sharks over and over and over and over....you get the picture.
 

Other than that, my doctor did tell me that my induction date will probably be the 23rd if I haven't had James by then. It's always good to have an end date. 

Anyway, time to watch some Olympics. I love watching them, but I do get irritated by how many commercial breaks there are....and I stay up way too late.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

James' Room - The Frankfort Edition

 Hi long lost friends!! It has been A WHILE! So sorry, but don't get your hopes up....I don't know that I am back fully yet, but I REALLY wanted to show y'all James' room that we fixed up here at the house. I painted the mural and stuff at my parents' house which is soon to be our house. When we will fully move, I don't know, but I wasn't going to paint a mural here when we would probably be moving in the next year (or 2 years). I repainted this room last year anyway when it was our office/fitness room and it still went with the bedding, etc that I wanted. So, here is a little tour of the newest nursery.

The bookshelf. I got the idea off Pinterest of course. I bought a cheapo $15 bookshelf and mod podged fabric to the back of it and then Michael spray painted it yellow.


 The name plate. I painted the letters and attached them to a small board. I found the ornaments at Hobby Lobby and they were pre painted. I attached them with ribbon to the back of the board with hot glue (of all things). I used eyelet screws to attach the hanging ribbon and hung it on a nail.

 I am proudest of the mobile. I think all total, I have maybe $2.50 in supplies in it. The main structure is an embrodery hoop that my mom got at a yardsale. Michael cut it in half which left me with 4 arcs. I only needed 3. The balls are just wooden 1 1/4 and 1 1/2 inch balls that I got at Michael's. The ornaments are made out of felt. I just kind of cut my own pattern. There is a moon, a saturn like planet, a space ship, a star, a sun, and an alien in a space ship. They are filled with some poly fill and hand stitched closed. I started working on this quite a while ago!! Everything is connected with good old fishing line and it is hung from a hook on the ceiling. It will be easy to move it up as James starts being able to pull up and sit up.

Another view of the bookshelf

We got the swing out of the storage building and next thing we knew, Joseph was in it swinging for all he was worth! Luckily, he still isn't over the weight limit. 

Other than that, I finally pre registered for the hospital and got my bag packed. The due date is 2 weeks from Sunday and as miserable as I am, he can wait until then. I'm in no hurry.

I will try to post pics of the mural I painted in what I am calling the "official nursery" soon.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Just a quick post

It's another boy! We had the big 20 week ultrasound this morning and we will be welcoming another male into the family. I won't lie....I wanted a girl really bad. I'm ok though....I guess it wasn't meant to be.... And please no comments on how I can just try again. As of now, I have no plans to try again. I don't like pregnancy enough to try again just in hopes that that time it will be a girl.

Anyway, we fly to Montana tomorrow. I didn't think today's preparations would be that bad since Michael was going to take the rest of the day off after the doctor appointment, but then he got called to West Virginia. So I'm left doing massive laundry and packing for all of us. UGH! On top of that, I have to get the house cleaned! I'm taking about 30 minutes to myself and then I guess I'm going to get back at it.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Joseph's Super Fun Birthday Week-Part 1

 I love birthdays!! They are very important to me and I think every one should be special. I also think it should be celebrated for an entire week. Last year Joseph had RSV and he was only turning one, therefore doing fun stuff was pretty limited. This year is quite different....and the weather has been fantastic. We started off on Monday at the Louisville Zoo. I had never been, but it turned out to be a pretty nice zoo. We were there for 3 hours and didn't even see everything. Here's some pics from that trip:


 Tuesday, we had a MOPS meeting and then stopped at the park on the way home.
 Once we got home, I let him get his new fire truck and play outside for a while.


After his nap yesterday, we went to Petco to see the fish...Joseph loves the fish. I even got a betta to bring home. Joseph named him Dory. I did get him all set up until after Joseph went to bed and I was so excited to see his face this morning when he saw a fish in the bowl, but poor Dory was dead. So, we will get another one and try again this afternoon. I've got the water warming up now. I've never had a betta die that quick. 

Today, Spice had a farrier appointment so we started our morning off at the barn. Joseph liked picking the dandelions.


 Spice enjoyed getting to go out to pasture after her pedicure.

After a change of clothes, we headed to the Salato Wildlife Center.






After checking out the wildlife, we headed to Sonic for a slush and then home for lunch. It's been a good week so far!

Friday, March 9, 2012

Angry Pregnant Woman

Snow Day

I haven't blogged in a month. 

I haven't wanted to blog in a month.

I don't really want to blog now.

However, I feel I owe my reader(s) an explanation. 

You see, I am not one of those glowing, happy pregnant women who bask in the idea of growing a new being in their belly. I wish I was...I want to be one of those people.

Instead, I am a moody, VERY easily irritated, bloated-feeling, uncomfortable, blah, angry pregnant woman. I was the same with Joseph. And in much the same was as my first pregnancy, there are certain people/things that I was perfectly happy with before and now can't stand. This blog has become one of those things. I think it's because it has started to feel like an obligation. I'm obligated to give my followers something to read. The last thing I need in another obligation. I started this blog because it was fun and I wanted to write. I really didn't care if anyone read it. It's not fun for me right now. I'm not ending the blog by any means, because I know this feeling is temporary. However, don't look for a lot of posting over the next 5 months. I will try to put some up here and there, but only when I feel like it. 
 

We do have a pretty exciting Spring ahead of us. On April 3rd, we find out the sex of the baby. The very next day we board a plane to Billings, MT. Wow...I know, right?! Michael is being sent up there for work for pretty much the whole month of April and J and I are going up for a week. I'm pretty excited. I've always wanted to go to Montana. Then in May, we are going to Myrtle Beach, SC. I've never seen the ocean before! Crazy, I know. I've traveled all over, but never to the coast. Very cool stuff.

Anyway, now you know what's going on with me. I hope you are having a wonderful March.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Breaking News....

Well, if you are friends with Michael on facebook, it's not quite so breaking...

Joseph is going to be a big brother!

Yep, another Riddell is joining the family. I had my 12 week visit today and heard the heartbeat. I'm due August 19th. The doctor predicted it would be a girl when he heard the heartbeat. I asked how sure he was....he said 50%. :) I am seeing a different doctor this time. The last one stressed me out about my weight too much. He only wanted me to gain 10-15lbs total..and well, I am an over achiever and did that in the first month or so. After that, he was on my back for every one of those nearly 70 lbs that I gained with Joseph. I AM trying to be better about my weight gain this time around.....but dang, I just crave the most unhealthy things. However, this doctor doesn't care...so I think we'll be good friends.

So now maybe all of ya'll who got so whatever about me not posting much in January will understand why.....I wasn't really feeling like it. I was zapped and after chasing Joseph around all day, the last thing I wanted to do when I got a chance to sit down was upload pics and write blogs.

To be perfectly honest, I've really had to come to terms with this new pregnancy. It was not planned. We were going to wait until this coming fall to start trying again, but I guess the man upstairs had other plans. I had big aspirations this year. I was going to run the KY Parks Race Series which consists of 5 or so 5K races at state parks across the state. I could still do some of them, but I wouldn't be able to guarantee that I would be able to do all of them since the last one is right around my due date halfway across the state. Probably not smart to "run" (more like waddle probably) a 5K in AUGUST while 9 months pregnant....esp being so far from home. I was also planning on running my first ever half marathon in October (inspired by my marathon running blog friend), but sadly, I will only be 8 weeks post partum (at the most) at that point and you have to maintain 13 minute miles or better or they disqualify you and make you stop the race. I would struggle with that time now. I was also going to do a lot more riding and I was going to do my best to get down to my college weight before we starting trying to get pregnant again. So, MY plans were shot to heck. I was/am pretty sad about it.

I also had the worries of how I'm going to handle a new baby when Joseph is SUCH a handful. I don't know why I said "had"...I still worry about how I'm going to handle it.

Anyway, I hope you are all having a good week. I hope to blog as much as I feel like, but PLEASE be patient with me. I do still plan to complete my Shaw family cooking challenge...just in case you were worried.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

My Book Report - January

I didn't really do much as far as new year's resolutions go. I did decide that I wanted to read more this year. I thought 30 books in a year sounded resonable and also would be a vast improvement to what I normally read. I love books. I buy them all the time....I prefer used paperbacks. I will spend hours in a used bookstore in the bargain section snatching up books for one or two bucks. I have had to rein myself in though, since my books are taking up more than my allotted three shelves. I unloaded quite a few at a yard sale last year....and I've been going to the library more now instead of buying books. But anyway, I thought I would share my progress for the month of January. I didn't do too bad...I read 6 books. One of them was really short though. Here they are (and for good measure, I am sharing some of my thoughts on each book):

1) In the Presence of Horses by Barbara Dimmick
         I only borderline liked it. I didn't like the main character. She really just got on my nerves....always thinking that she should be unfeeling when it came to horses. I never quite understood or cared about where her issues came from. She also had a comment about western riders (she rode english)...that if they needed that much leather to stay on a horse then they really weren't good horsemen. Bleh. And, in the end, it was like the author got bored and just wrapped it up in a chapter....at least that was how I felt.

2) War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
         I just had to read this after I saw the movie. The book is for children and lets just say that it's a lot more toned down than the movie. I really liked it though....even if it is just another telling of Black Beauty...it's like Black Beauty in war time. 

3) Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris
         I love all the Sookie Stackhouse novels. I love True Blood on HBO...at least I did before we stopped getting HBO. This is I think the 6th in the series. They have all been good quick reads.
 
4) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 
         I seriously couldn't put this book down. Any time Joseph was entertaining himself, I would pick this book up. I think I read it in like 2 days...and for a mom with a toddler, that's saying something. I CAN NOT WAIT for the movie to come out in March. I had heard of this book before, but with the premise being a televised fight to the death, I didn't think it was up my alley....I was wrong. So good. Best book I've read in a LONG time...... 


5) All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris
        7th in the Sookie Stackhouse series.....Just as good as any before it. 


6) The Confession by John Grisham
        I love John Grisham. We went to the same college. I think his books are amazing and they really make you think....sometimes about things you don't necessarily want to think about. This book is not of my favorites, though. It was good, but I found myself skimming at times....just wanting to know what was going to happen....not necessarily caring how it happened. It made me cry a couple of times though. Unlike the last Grisham book I read that was about a wrongly accused man, I really wanted this one to regain his freedom. 


I've already read one book this month. Wow..I know. I also picked up another Grisham and another Sookie book today at the library. They are on the same isle of books and Joseph doesn't usually give me much time to look before he spontaneously combusts. Lets just say that you get some pretty dirty looks when you have a crying kid in the library. I want the next book in the Hunger Games series so bad but it's NEVER in...and the list is soooo long. I will probably end up buying it. Also on my want to read list are The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Help....those are also ALWAYS out. Woe is me...

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Not quite heavenly...


The house smells like perfume.

I don't know if Joseph thought that the house stunk tonight...
it wouldn't be beyond possibility.

Maybe he thought I stunk.....
I hadn't had my shower yet.

Maybe he wanted to smell all womanly....
his father would love that.

But whatever the reason, while I was fixing his pre-bedtime snack, Joseph snatched up a bottle of perfume and started squirting. I started smelling something that smelled nice at first...then I realized what it was and ran to grab my bottle of Victoria's Secret Heavenly from Joseph and took him to the sink to rinse him off. To add insult to injury, he has JUST gotten out of the bath. How he got the perfume, I don't know. He's a little Houdini when it comes to stuff like that....he seems to make it materialize. But let's just say, it doesn't smell so Heavenly....

This child is a mess a minute. Earlier he had a piece of sidewalk chalk (his art instrument of choice) and decided to try it out on the wall...for one, it's just chalk, and for two, it's about the same color as the wall, so I didn't freak out. But I didn't want him to try out eyeliner or something on the wall, so I told him "No, not on the wall." So he went to another wall and made a little mark and looked at me. Again, "No, not on the wall." He went to another section of wall and looked at me...."No, not on the wall." On and on...Then he tried to color the dog with it. I told him if he could work with a moving canvas, more power to him. I asked him if he wanted paper. He said, "no." Thankfully chalk is easy to get off of pretty much everything. I was talking to another mom at gymnastics today and her daughter has just started coloring on the walls and I was helping her out with cleaning solutions. She was having trouble with eyeliner. Been there....that's one of J's weapons...err art supplies...of choice. Baby oil will take that off pretty much any hard surface. I am quickly becoming a cleaning expert.

Well, I've got a movie to watch and laundry to fold. Later!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Yes, I've been AWOL....

"You've got to pucker your lips, like this...."
 
It's been a while, I know. I haven't been in much of an internet mood lately. Aside from checking facebook occasionally and reading the blogs that I follow, I just haven't done much on the computer. I've been reading a lot of books, watching a lot of movies, and doing a lot of yoga....and getting behind on lots of housework.  But I'm back now.....and I have lots of interesting and delicious posts in the works.....starting probably tomorrow. Unless something weird happens.....which is not beyond the realm of possibility.

My MOPS group went to Monkey Joe's on Tuesday. It's kinda like Chuckie Cheese except with more bouncy houses and less games. Joseph loved it.
Riding the merry go round is very serious stuff...

So, I'm glad those of you reading this have stuck with me. I will try my best to do better. But for now, it's getting late and we've got a big morning of gymnastics tomorrow. There are 5 kids in the class this session....which means Joseph has to take turns....something he is not used to and he doesn't like it AT ALL! It can make for a LONG 30 minutes. Check back soon!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year

It was a wild and crazy year for my family. We started off 2011 with one of the worst cold/flu/sickness seasons that I can remember. I think it had something to do with having a germ incubator living with me. We survived that, luckily. We also survived the worry that came with Joseph not growing.

Joseph turned one and started walking then running (seemingly the day after he started walking!). He can almost sit on a horse without assistance and ride around the arena which amazes me. He loves to ride just about anything and has developed an obsession with all things tractor and horse. It seems that every day he learns a new word. He learned to give kisses and say "bye" and "HEY!" He knows the name of just about every animal and what they say, but still not so hot at ABCs.  We went on a roller coaster with naps and night sleep. Finally got everything straightened out just to have him climb out of his crib. Now he prefers to sleep in the glider. I can go in and move him back to his bed but it's not long before I hear the pitter patter of little feet heading toward the chair.


As far as I go, I ran some races....not as many as I had hoped. I did some riding...not as much as I had hoped. And I lost some weight....but not as much as I had hoped. I see a trend here.... I did a lot of cooking (probably has something to do with not losing as much weight as I had hoped). I did quite a bit of crafting. We adopted a dog. I discovered that "How I Met Your Mother" is a fantastic show and I can't believe it's taken me so long to watch it. The funny thing is that I started watching it last year during a New Year's Eve marathon. This year I discovered a new (old) show right around the end of 2011 (it was actually Dec 29th)..Big Bang Theory. Where have you been??? A show about a bunch of science geeks? As a closet science geek, myself, I was in love. There was an episode where Sheldon was making scrambled eggs and his roommate asked if he was cooking breakfast and he said it wasn't cooking...it was an experiment. I was hooked. You can see how geeky I am by the type of pajamas I put my kid in. You have no idea how excited I was to find those at Oldnavy.com. Then a friend of mine pointed me toward iheartguts.com and now all I want are plush organs. I just wish they had a ruminant division because I would love a lifesize plush rumen (cow stomach). Now that's a pillow pet!!! In case you needed any other proof, here's a tshirt I made a few years ago when we had an "I heart tshirt party":
 
Ahh...those were the days...back when I had friends. But we won't go there tonight...that's a whole 'nother can of worms.

So, anyway, I don't have any plans for 2012. I plan to be the best mom that I can be and enjoy every moment that I have with my family. I hope you all have had a great Holiday season and are ready to get back to the non-holiday season which is Jan 2- Nov. I will be recharging and getting lots of tasty food blogs ready for your enjoyment!!