MOVED!

For some people, a move isn't really a big deal. How shall I put this? THIS IS A BIG DEAL!

Here is the history of where Mark and I have lived: The first six months we dated, Mark lived in the dorms at Humboldt state, and I lived with my parents in Chico. After a semester, I rented a small studio on campus at Humboldt, and joined him up there. After that semester, we moved back to Chico, and lived in the small house behind his mom's house. After a year of that, we moved into a wonderful, funky basement of an old Victorian house with 3 of our friends. We got married at the end of that year, and returned to the small house at his mom's. We figured we would be there for a year. We ended up having Maggie at the end of that year, and somehow, two years later, we were still there.

We really, really stretched the time we should have stayed there, but it was just too easy to stay. No rent. No utilities. Free Internet. Free cable with our own DVR. Our pets could stay there. But, oh man, was it small. The one bedroom was small, and it didn't have an actual door. Just a big archway, where we put heavy duty curtains to separate the rooms, and the noise. Maggie slept alone in the bedroom after she turned a year old, and we moved our bed into the living room...which was also our dining room. The kitchen had about three feet of counter space, and no cabinets or storage of any kind. All of our dry goods were housed in a dresser. We had a regular refrigerator, an oven and stove top, and a small sink. The bathroom only had a small shower (and the whole thing was plastic!) and a toilet that could only be flushed once a day. That basically keeps you from having guests over, you know?

We made it work. We made it a home. My mother in law was super generous to basically support us this whole time, but we feel like we are finally on our own. I am so grateful to have had our little, cozy house. It has also made me so much more grateful for what we do have now. Our modest, two bedroom apartment is like a palace to us. My dad recently moved in with his girlfriend, so we totally lucked out and got all his nice furniture. We have spent the last day walking around in a daze, saying how it feels like we're in a hotel.

It is a little bit of an adjustment, though. We live on a busy street, and have neighbors above us. Random loud cars, sirens and dogs barking keep me a little on edge. I'm used to living in the country or in a very, very quiet neighborhood. Also...are all upstairs neighbors really, really loud?! It's not their voices or anything they're doing wrong or rudely, it's just them walking around. It is so squeaky and unbelievably loud. Is that normal? Luckily, they don't seem to be home a lot or they don't walk around very much.

Maggie spent yesterday, last night and all day today until 5:30 with her grandmas so we could move in a set up. Unfortunately, she fell asleep in the car on the way over and napped for about a half an hour on our bed. When she woke up, she was so scared and lonely. It was very sad, and it took her about 3 hours to adjust to being here. She kept going to the door and wanting to go outside. Mark ended up taking her to run an errand, and he spent time in the car telling her that they were going to go back to the new house, and it was so exciting and Mommy would be there. She was much, much happier to be here after that. She also discovered all her toys, and she was so excited when I told her to take them out to the living room to play. Having all the space is wonderful! Closets and storage are amazing things!

It has been a crazy couple of days, and the worst part is that Mark is working this Saturday. Ugh. His vacation is coming up in about 2 weeks, though, so that is keeping me going. We are both so exhausted. In fact, I am too exhausted to think of anything else to say. So, goodnight! I'm off to sleep in my new bedroom!

Lots of Catch Up!

-IT'S A BOY!!! We are so excited to welcome Liam into our family in December!!
-We're moving!! Oh my goodness, we are finally, finally moving out of our 1 bedroom studio into a real 2 bedroom apartment. We love our new place and cannot wait to move next weekend. I will finally have my own bedroom again...well, at least until Liam is born! I haven't even started packing yet...whoops!
-Our apartment complex allows pets, so we will be able to bring Gidget and Chiyo with us. I am so thrilled that we don't have to split up our family!
-Magdalena is turning 2 next month! We are going to celebrate with a swim party that is Dora the Explorer themed. She LOVES Dora. We already bought her birthday present a few months ago (an awesome Sesame Street play kitchen with all the bells and whistles), so I am so happy we don't have to worry about getting her a big present.
-Mark is starting school, and switching to very part time at work, in a month. For the first time in five years, I will actually know when Mark is getting home every night. This is a huge deal...I think his very irregular schedule has created a lot of stress and tension for our family.
-Mark has paid vacation time coming up, on August 12-16. We are planning on going camping in Almanor for a couple of those days, and also just enjoying our new home together.

Lots and lots of changes are in store for us as a family. But, they are ALL positive and exciting! I am trying to not get overwhelmed, and am just taking everything one day at a time. As someone with GD, I have pretty much twice the amount of Dr.'s appointments as the regular pregnant woman, so that adds more to my plate. I am taking my blood sugar 4 times a day, and so far everything looks good. My fasting number is a little high (just like last time) so I am really trying to figure out a bedtime snack that will help keep it down.

I know I will look back at this time and think about all the changes we are going through. I know this year is a big "transition year" for us...new apartment, school for Mark, my pregnancy. I feel like last year was a dark year for me, it was very difficult. As God has healed my heart and brought me into a new season, I am so grateful. I feel so alive, so blessed, and so full of joy. This is such a happy time for us!

Dreams

A little background information: I have always had incredibly realistic, detailed dreams. I almost always remember my dreams, and it usually takes a long time for me to fully describe it. I have considered it quite a blessing, although I also have a set of recurring nightmares that are equally as realistic and detailed. Mark has awoken to me screaming silently, or talking in my sleep. Scary stuff. But, most of my dreams are awesome and pretty much the best entertainment I have every experienced. A Harry Potter dream with a wand and broomstick, anyone? How about a kick butt action scenario where you're a Lara Croft like character who looks really good in black leather and saves the day? Flying over New York City? Realizing that you suddenly have an amazing, perfect body without any work at all and you suddenly have an unlimited budget to clothe said perfect body? Yep, I have dreamed all those dreams...and they rocked.

Last night, I dreamed that I had super powers. I had telekinesis (the ability to move stuff with your mind) and also some sort of blue fireball that I created with my hands. I was just learning to use my powers, but it was pretty awesome. We (I know Mark and Maggie were there, as well as other random people) were running from some Mafia types, and I used this awesome blue fireball to destroy their building. I spent the rest of the dream trying to replicate this, but I could only get pitiful blue sparks to shoot up about a couple inches. The telekinesis part was awesome though and SO REALISTIC! I was moving everything, and it was difficult in a strange way, like I had to concentrate really, really hard. The heavier something was, the harder I had to concentrate.
I have also been dreaming about babies a lot. A couple of days ago, I dreamed that I had boy/girl twins, like my brother and I. Except they were were black. They didn't look anything like us, but they were very, very cute!
I'm sure I will continue to have many wacky dreams throughout this pregnancy. I remember last time there was more than one Angelina Jolie dream, as well as one featuring me breastfeeding my dog. I can't even begin to guess what I'll dream of this time.

Oh my GD!

I have Gestational Diabetes (GD for those in the know) again. It is not a surprise, but still a bummer to get it this early. They don't think I had diabetes before I was pregnant, but we won't know until after I have this baby and the placenta (which causes GD) is gone.
What has been a surprise is how horrible I have been feeling. I think it must be related to the GD...hopefully it's not something else. I am light headed a lot, I can feel my heart racing, and I just feel...terrible. I am nauseous often, and never want to eat. Not eating leads to low blood sugar, which makes me feel like I am dying. It is hard to explain. I feel much, much worse then I did at this point in Maggie's pregnancy. Needless to say, I will be talking about all of this with the midwife and the nutritionist/diabetes specialist I have to see. I will be calling today to see if they want to see me right away. I seriously don't even care if I have to be on insulin...anything to make me feel human again. I JUST found out I have it, and I am relieved, in a way. First step is to change over to the GD diet (bye-bye sugar and carbs!) and start checking my blood sugar levels when I wake up and after meals. Hopefully the diet will make me immediately start feeling better.
I have lost about 5 pounds from the beginning of pregnancy, and I know I am still losing. I can feel it. Unlike most pregnant women, my doctors have never given me a number of pounds to gain. I only gained about 15 pounds over the entire pregnancy with Maggie, and now that I will be on a strict diet and exercise regime (exercise helps GD a lot!) for the next 25 weeks, it is hard for me to imagine gaining any weight. How do you gain weight if you're suddenly on a much healthier diet with no sweets and very few carbs and exercising every day? And don't worry, it is okay for me not to gain weight during pregnancy...because of my weight, doctors are much more concerned with just eating right, managing the diabetes and keeping the baby healthy.
Man, I better get used to seeing my blood A LOT. Nothing like pricking yourself 6 times a day for the next 6 months!!

To Me, From Me

My sister, my brother in law and my niece arrived from Texas on Wednesday. This is the same niece I took care of for 2 weeks when she was 6 weeks old. She is so adorable and hilarious. I'll post pictures and a more detailed story soon!
For now, I wanted to share something a little quirky that I have been doing for a long time. every once in a while, probably once a year, I pay a little extra to get my online purchases gift wrapped. I have done it at a lot of different places...but my favorite was Sephora. Back when I had a lot of extra money for selfish things, I spent about $150.00 on makeup, including things like Versace mascara (LOL). I paid the extra $5.00 to get it gift wrapped, and it came in awesome boxes with huge, pretty bows.
I ordered about 10 different things from Old Navy Maternity today, and on a whim, I paid the $3.00 to get it gift wrapped. I am so looking forward to opening up that brown cardboard box and seeing pretty, wrapped presents to myself. I rarely spend money on myself these days, and when I do, it feels pretty good. It might be a little bit more money, but I think it's worth it.