Chapter 1- Playing the Waiting Game, You Win

Dear Katelyn,
I have been so excited to meet you. My belly just kept on getting bigger and bigger and I wasn’t sure how much bigger you could get.  Here we are at 41 weeks pregnant the day before I had you.

I found out that I was pregnant with you on Christmas Morning, 2009. I took a pregnancy test right after we opened presents with my family. I don’t remember what I got for Christmas anymore because I can only remember finding out about you. I told your dad about you and we were so happy. We laughed and smiled and hugged and kissed each other. I cried because I was so excited and happy. I was going to be a mom and we were going to have our own little family. Dad might have cried a little bit, but he usually doesn’t and I couldn’t tell because my eyes were all blurry with tears. He was really happy and we couldn’t have had a better Christmas present.
Being pregnant with you was not that bad. At the beginning, I didn’t ever feel sick like a lot of people do. I did have a hard time when I brushed my teeth . . . well mostly when I brushed my tongue because it would make me gag. So that was annoying, but I was okay after I was done. It was weird for me to be gaining so much weight. I knew that it was going to happen, but I was always in shape from playing sports so I have never had very much extra weight. The last month of being pregnant with you was tough because you were getting so big and making my back hurt. My back just wasn’t used to you and it hurt a lot. Dad would rub my back and hold a heat pad on it to make it feel better.
I had fun telling all your aunts and uncles and my parents that you were coming. They were all so excited for me and you and they all hoped that you would grow strong and healthy while you were in my belly. Your Uncle Ben said it was a little crazy that his little sister was really going to have a baby. I am just growing up too fast for everyone I guess. When I called home to tell Mom and Dad, Dad wasn’t there. So I first just told Mom and Abby. Mom was so excited and started thinking about sewing you a blessing dress right away. I guess she knew that you were a girl! She loves making those dresses and I will pass it down to you so that one of your daughters can wear it. She does everything by hand and then sews it all together to make a very beautiful dress.
I told Mom to have Dad give me a call when he got home. He called and asked me what was going on with my car. I guess that Mom tricked him and told him I was having car problems and needed his advice on something. I told him that I have never thought of myself as a car, but this “car” of mine is going to have a baby. He was really excited to hear this too. He asks each time I call home if we are calling to let him know we are having a baby. He didn’t want to be tricked though, so he asked me very seriously, “Now you really are pregnant right?” I told him yes and since it was the middle of winter he then asked, “What’s the weather supposed to be like in the winters of Boise?” I was a little thrown off by the change of the subject and just said, “It doesn’t snow much here.” He then replied with “Well it would be a wise decision to get yourself a pair of golf shoes for some good traction so you don’t slip and fall and injure yourself or the little one you are carrying.” I laughed a little thinking how silly Papa was thinking I would buy some golf shoes. He was very excited and we talked about how lucky we are to get to be parents soon.
I got lots of phone calls from all my brothers and sisters wondering how we were doing. They were all hoping that everything went well and that it would go by fast so they could meet you. I got some good tips from your Aunts, Tricia and Tracie. They had great advice on what to wear for maternity clothes and some of their favorite things for their babies.
I was really busy for the first six months of pregnancy. I was student teaching in a first grade class. These kids were great and they would ask me all the time how you were doing. I got letters from some of my students and they wanted to meet you when you came. The boys in the class wanted you to be a boy, and the girls wanted you to be a girl. I guess the girls won!
After student teaching in first grade, I finished the last two months of the school year as a long term substitute for a teacher that went and had her baby. After Spring Break my belly was a little bigger and you were growing a lot. My first grade class was confused. They thought you would come over the break, but I told them that you weren’t done growing. They liked to give us hugs and try to feel you moving around. They would sometimes pretend that you kicked them when they hugged us, but you were always very nice. One day you did kick one boy’s hand, and he was very shocked and didn’t give me any more hugs. I think he was scared of you. He said that you know karate. Sometimes when you kicked, I thought that boy was right.
The kids all loved you and wanted to know what you looked like. They also wanted to know what I was going to name you. I wasn’t sure yet, so they tried to help me think of names at recess. They came up with lots of Disney princess names, names of their pets, and some kids thought I should name you after them. Your dad and I both liked the name Katelyn. Dad also liked the name Sarah, but I knew too many girls named Sarah when I was little, so I wanted a different name. I liked the names Kira, Kiya, and Kaylin but Dad thought those sounded strange. He thought Kaylin sounded a lot like Katelyn and he liked that name. I liked it too so that’s what we decided to call you. Your Uncle Nick thought it would be fun if we mixed David and Lorry and called you Dory. Dad liked that, but I didn’t because I thought people would tease you and call you the fish from Finding Nemo. She is a funny fish, but she is very forgetful and that characteristic already runs in my family so I thought we should stay away from that name and give your brain a good start. Your middle name, Eleanor, is David’s grandma’s name. She is a very nice woman. I hope you get to meet her soon. She is very smart and has a lot of fun stories to tell about when she was little and also about when she would go sailing with her family.
The other teachers at school always let me sit in the nice comfy chairs while everyone else had to sit on the floor. They didn’t let me ever lift anything either so that I didn’t hurt either one of us. They took very good care of me each day. They also fed me lots. I think I gained a lot of weight because everyone always gave me have extra snacks because they said, “Take an extra one for the baby.” The snacks were yummy, but I shouldn’t have had that many extra for you.
When school got out, I had a lot of time to myself. Your dad was working each day and I stayed home. I had lots of time to get everything ready for you. I spent a lot of the hot sunny summer days out at the pool. Grandma Gigi got me a cute swim suit that goes all the way around my belly and covers you up. It was very nice and relaxing to sit by the pool. I would take a popsicle out there and after I put on my sunscreen, I would sit there and enjoy the popsicle. I would chat with people about being pregnant. Lots of people have advice and are curious how you are doing and they don’t even know us very well. They have just seen us around the apartment complex. I would spend time reading children’s novels out by the pool and swimming in the nice water. You didn’t help me float any better like everyone thought you would. I needed you to hold up my legs because they still sink in the water.
As my belly got bigger, it started to get harder to do the simple things. Laundry, sleeping, painting my toes, and finding clothes that fit got a little bit tougher each week. I liked to wear dresses all the time. They were very comfortable. When I wore pants or shorts, I was always trying to keep them up because with you in my belly, they didn’t want to stay up as well. Every time we had an ultrasound, it showed that you were upside down in my belly. I didn’t like wearing pants and shorts because I didn’t want to squish your head. This is another reason why I liked dresses so much.
Aunt Christine threw a baby shower for me and you in Rexburg. It was fun to see friends and family again. We played some games and had some treats. They gave us some cute clothes, homemade blankets, toys, and books. Dad and I are excited to read stories to you each night.
My best friend, Brooke, threw another baby shower in Kennewick. Grandma Gigi and Aunt Abby helped out too. There were lots of ladies from church there. Most of them knew me when I was just a baby or a little girl. My aunts and Nana came too. Everyone gave us lots of pink clothes, soft blankets, toys, diapers, lots of fun stuff and more books. Everyone was so nice to be so helpful in getting you things for when you came. Some people made you blankets and quilts. They did a really good job and the blankets are so cute.
Grandma Gigi is working hard on making your blessing dress so beautiful. I am really excited to see all the details of it. She has made one for your girl cousins and I love them. Yours will be so beautiful I am sure. Grandma Gigi is here to help me take care of you right after you are born. She will be very helpful to make sure I am a good mom for you. She was a really good mom, so she will have lots of things to teach me so I can be as good of a mom as her.
Papa Bare is very excited to meet you. He thought Grandma Gigi should fly here to Boise, so that he had would have to drive over and pick her up. It is only a 4 hour drive, so it would be silly to fly. He will see you when you are blessed by Dad at church. He cries when he is really happy sometimes, and I think he will cry when he sees you with me for your first time. He loves his family so much and is so excited to be a grandpa again. He is very proud of his big family.
Grandpa Ken asks about you all the time too. He makes sure I am going to see the doctor and taking my vitamins. He wants you to be very healthy. He sometimes sends some tiny baby clothes for you. He sees them at the store and thinks of you. He walks through stores and fills up his cart with lots of things for you, but then has to remind himself that he shouldn’t buy it all and just picks one thing to buy for you . You will be dressed very cute in Grandpa Ken’s clothes that he sent you. You will have fun talking with him. He likes to talk a lot and share things that he has learned. He is also very curious about you and wants you to be very happy.
Grandma Rudd is excited for you to come. You will be her first granddaughter. She wants to see lots of pictures of you as you grow up since she lives so far away in Texas and we probably won’t see her very often.
You didn’t come on time. It was hard to wait the extra week for you to come. Each day seemed so long and I would get 4-5 phone calls, emails, or text messages from family and friends asking if you had arrived. Everyone wanted to see you! You would move around in my belly all the time and I just wanted to hold you in my arms. All your aunts and uncles and Grandma Gigi and Papa Bare would ask about you and if you were coming. They all made guesses as to when they thought you would come. The person who guessed right gets 25 cents and a blizzard from Dairy Queen. You made all of them lose since you came a week late. They thought they would start a new one, but you made them all wrong on that one as well. Grandma Gigi thought you would come the 24th because it was the night of the full moon. It sounded silly to me, and she was just hoping it would work but you didn’t seem to listen. Here is everyone’s guesses:
Brooks - Mon, Aug 23 5-10am
Dad - Tues, 24 2-7am
Mom - Wed 25, 3am-8am
Elder Bare- Wed 25 7am-noon
Chad - Wed. August 25 9-1
Tracie - Wed, 25th noon-5pm
John - Wed 5-8pm
Elizabeth - Wed 25 8pm-2am
John - Thurs 2-3am
Ben - Thurs, 26 3-8am
John - Thurs 9:36am-10:36am
Tricia - Thurs, 26 1-6pm
Chris - Fri, 27 3-8am
Julia – Fri, 27 10am-3pm
Chad – Sat 28 9:43:52pm-2:43:52am
Mom – Sun, 29 12-5 pm
Everyone was so excited for you to come and your cousins Edison and Emilia were so excited to help me hold you. They also want to teach you how to do my hair and how to walk. They will be very fun cousins.

Chapter 2-Nice to Meet You

On Saturday morning, we all went to the hospital.  They inserted a balloon type thing inside of me that would help me dilate.  It wasn’t very comfortable, but it helped get my body ready for being induced the next day, so I was glad it worked.

On Sunday morning your Dad and I woke up early.  We didn’t sleep hardly at all because we were excited about you coming.  Dad held me close to him and felt you squirm and kick for the last time before you were born.  It was a very happy night as we held each other and talked about how lucky we are to get to be a Mom and a Dad.  When we got up, we showered and got ready for the big day ahead.  Dad ate a big breakfast and I just ate a little one so I wouldn’t get sick.  We checked into the hospital and they took us to the room where you would be delivered.  They hooked me up to my IV and put monitors around my belly to watch your heart beat and my contractions.  You sounded very healthy.  They started giving me pitocin which made my contractions come.  After 3 hours, the contractions were still manageable.  Then they started getting stronger.  My back started hurting every time I had a contraction, and we learned that it was because you were turned the wrong way.  You were facing the front of me, but you were supposed to be facing the back.  I told my nurse that my contractions hurt and she asked me, “On a scale from 1-10, how bad is your pain?”  I said, “What number do I need to be at to get an epidural, because I am at that number now.”  She called in the doctor that would give me the epidural.  I heard that it was pretty painful to get the epidural, but I was having a contraction when he did the whole thing, so I wasn’t able to pay attention to the pain of it. 

Within 10 minutes, my contractions seemed to fade away, but they weren’t really.  The epidural made my body numb from my ribs down so that I didn’t feel any pain the rest of the day.  People that don’t get an epidural are pretty tough. I experienced enough of the pain for my liking and felt much happier with the wonderful companionship of the epidural.  This is how I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening, happy for the epidural and that I brought my own pillow.

My contractions kept on coming and I was progressing really well.  By 4:00 pm I had dilated to an 8.  They decided to break my water and they expected that you would be coming pretty soon after that.  I got really shaky like I was freeing cold, but I wasn’t cold.  The nurse said it was probably just all the adrenaline in my system preparing to give birth to you.  Dad and I got really excited when we heard that.  I thought I would have you by 5:00 pm or so.  We kept on waiting and hoping we wouldn’t have to wait much longer.  We were both getting really hungry.  Dad was going to go down to the car to get his homework to read while he was waiting and to grab something to eat at the cafeteria.  The food was expensive at the cafeteria, so he ran as fast as he could to Carls Jr. across the street.  He came back with a bag of burgers and he was sweating a lot.  He didn’t want to miss your birth even though we were told that my progress had slowed down a lot.  He enjoyed his food and we both took naps hoping that time would pass faster. 

At 9:00, the doctor and nurse did an ultrasound.  They checked on you to see what position you were.  You were face up, and that wasn’t good. It is really hard if not impossible to push a baby out that is face up.  It was looking like we might have had to do an c-section to get you out unless you flipped over to be face down.  I didn’t want to have a c-section, so I prayed a lot and hoped that you would turn over somehow.  I was lying on my side and one nurse told my nurse of a trick that might work.  They piled as many pillows as they could between my legs as I lay on my side.  Then they would roll me over to my other side every 15 minutes.  Dad had to help because my legs were too numb to move them on my own.  They felt like they had cinderblocks strapped to them and they felt so heavy.  It looked strange how I was laying there, but with the epidural making most of my body numb, I couldn’t feel if I was uncomfortable or not. 

At 11:00 I called the nurse in.  I felt really shaky again and I felt some pressure on my hips.  I wasn’t sure if the epidural was wearing off and I wanted to make sure it didn’t.  I told her how I was feeling, and she got really excited.  She called in my doctor and some other nurses and told me that this baby of mine was ready to come out!  David and I got really excited and were very relieved that it was finally time. 

I worked for 45 minutes to push you out.  I got really nauseous and started to throw up at the very end of it all.  That seemed to be the final touch because it seemed as if you just jumped right out.  I couldn’t believe what I just did and it was great to have David there with me the whole time.  He was great at encouraging me and he kept telling me that he was so proud of his wife.  He got in trouble with the nurses.  When they told me to hold my breath and push, your dad also held his breath.  They told him that he needed to breathe the whole time or else he might pass out and then they would have to take him off to the ER and he might miss the baby coming.  He had to focus on breathing really hard since he wanted to see you really bad. 

The NICU team was there in the delivery room.  They needed to suck out the fluids from your nose and mouth so you didn’t swallow it and get sick because you pooped before you came out of my belly.  They didn’t let Dad cut the cord, but he was happy about that.  I was watching you as you were weighed and getting the fluids cleared out.  You were crying and your arms and legs were flailing everywhere.

Then they handed you to me.  I couldn’t believe I was holding my very own little baby.  You stopped crying and just looked at me.  You had very soft black hair and your head was a little cone like.  By the next morning your head was nice and round already.  Your cheeks were very round and your eyes were very squinty.  You had little tiny black hairs on your shoulders and back.  You weren’t too hairy, but just little tiny hairs that we found.  I loved looking at you and talking to you. I was able to feed you for the first time and it went well.  Dad was standing there next to us and he was rubbing your back as he talked to you.  We couldn’t stop smiling and we were so happy to meet you.  We gave you lots of kisses and you didn’t seem to mind.

My recovery went really well.  I got some food right away and it was so good.  Dad got an oreo shake and was happy too.  While I ate my food, they assessed you and made sure you were healthy.  By 1:30, the epidural had worn off and I was able to go to the bathroom with some help walking there.  We were all moved to our recovery room and that was where we stayed for the next two nights.  I felt great after I got some sleep.  I was fed well and the nurses came in to check on me to make sure my body was healing properly.

The night you were born, you had a fever of 102.? degrees.  They took a sample of your blood and found that you had a high white blood cell count.  This meant that you had an infection.  The doctors took you to the NICU so that they could help you.  They monitored you for the next 3 days and gave you some anti-biotics.  They did some tests to find out more about the infection.  The tests showed that the infection was all cleared up and that you were healthy.  It was hard to stay in the hospital the extra days.  

Dad and I would visit you all the time if we weren’t eating or sleeping. Dad gave you a blessing that you would be strong and healthy.  I would come and sit with you and feed you any time you were hungry.  Dad liked reading fairy tales to you, but you almost always fell asleep.  You were a really big eater and you always let me know when you were hungry.  The nurses were sad to see you go.  They really liked having you there.  You were one of the only full term babies there.  The others were born early and needed to be left alone to finish growing.  The nurses loved to hold you and fix your hair while I was gone.  You got lots of attention while you stayed in the NICU and I think you liked it.  I was just glad when we were finally able to go home on Thursday.

We love being home with you.  Grandma Gigi is here helping and you like to take naps with her.  She doesn't want this picture on here, but you look so relaxed.

Here is a video of you so far.  You have a very cute cry that sounds a little bit like a dinosaur, but it makes us smile.  Dad loves to rock you in the rocking chair, and sometimes I think he is going to take off.  He really uses the full motion of the rocking.  I will have to get a video of that another day.  You seem to like it though!

You are such a precious blessing in our lives.  You are adorable and make silly faces. Don't worry, Dad makes silly faces all the time.

 We feel so peaceful when we are holding you.  You only cry when you are hungry, but only sometimes.  You make lots of silly faces.  Sometimes you look grumpy, like you are trying to whistle, like you are confused, or like you are happy.  Sometimes we just sit and watch you make all your silly faces.  We absolutely love you and can’t believe you are so cute!  We can hold and kiss you for hours.  It is so much fun having you here and we feel so lucky to be your parents.

She's here!

We are thrilled!  She finally made it!  She made us all wait an extra week and she made David and I wait a whole day in labor!

We went in Sunday morning at 7 to be induced and everything was looking great!  We thought she would be out in 8 hours or so, but she had her own plan.  I will be writing he birth story in more detail later.  But after 16 hours of labor (I got the epidural after 4 hours of it so we were just mostly just waiting it out with no pain, don't worry) she finally decided to make her entrance.  She wanted to make it before the day was over I guess.

Here is our sweet little girl:
Katelyn Eleanor Rudd

Born at 11:45 pm weighing 8 pounds 10 ounces (I know David told some of you 9 oz, but I am positive she was 10 and I will fight for every ounce I worked for)  :)

She has a full head of dark brown/black hair, all ten fingers and toes, and cute wrinkly hands and feet.  We are both doing great and adjusting well.  She is being monitored and tested for an infection and they want to be sure she will be fine at home so she has an IV in her hand in the first picture.  We are thrilled to have her here and David and I love to snuggle her up and hold her and kiss her like crazy!  She is too cute for us and we couldn't be happier.  We have been able to rest as they keep a close watch on her every once in a while for the infection she might have.  We aren't worried about her as they are just being extra cautious with our little girl to be sure she is fine.  We love her and can't get enough of her.  David is great at calming her down when she starts crying.  He was great the whole labor and delivery and helped out a ton.  I am so glad he was there with me because I would have been so bored on my own.  It was a long time to wait, I won't lie.  We both made it through and are now proud parents of an adorable little girl.

Progress. . . Hooray!

Not yet!

We are trying to stay busy so we don't just sit around and wait for this little girl.  We had a doctor's appointment yesterday and I am thrilled to say that I am finally making progress!  Not much, but more than ever before.  I am having contractions each day but they are about an hour apart so they aren't close enough to go in and have her. I am starting to dilate and half way effaced.  Like I said, not much progress, but it is better than nothing!  The "lifesaver effect" has started!  The contractions are kind of strange and I wasn't sure if they were contractions or not, but my doctor said they were so I will trust him.  They aren't too painful yet and with being so anxious to get labor going I want more of them.  Never in my life have I wanted to be in pain or to be in the hospital, but knowing what is at the end of it is what is so exciting.  This is what we have been waiting all this time for!

I am pretty sure that I have dropped or at least started to drop.  This bowling ball of a baby is resting more and more on my legs, which has its perks.  I can really breathe now, which I didn't realize how much pressure she put on my lungs, but it is so nice now!  I also don't get heart burn like I used to as my food has a little more space to settle. . . very nice as well.  With this dropping, I feel like I am perfecting the giant pregnant woman walk.  I sometimes feel like I am trying to walk with a bowling ball between my legs.  I have also noticed that my hair is swaying a little out of control from side to side more and more and not in a ditsy blonde sort of way :)  In case anyone was wondering, I have spotted some of those "beautiful" pink markings/stripes. . . .not too many, but when the light hits them just right, they really shine!  And I now understand why giant pregnant ladies are portrayed as waddling with one hand on their lower back.  My bowling ball child is doing a wonderful job at pulling my back out of line.  With her dropping, she has pulled my spine with her, or so it feels.  Laying on my back seemed logical in trying to get her to push my spine back in place, but that is just about as far from comfortable as could be.  David is now in the routine of giving back rubs each night, which I look forward to each night.  I love them!  

Lately, if I don't answer the door right away, or my phone, or my email, or if I am not home when David gets home, then everyone assumes that I must be at the hospital.  It is a valid idea, but I'm not sure who is more involved in this waiting game.  I think that I am not the only one anxiously waiting and wondering :)  

It has been fun with everyone so excited for me. . . from family, to friends, apartment managers, mail men, grocery store clerks, neighbors, ward members, or anyone else that I even remotely have a conversation with.  It is definitely on my mind and it is obvious that I am ready to pop.  I think so many people have experienced how great children can be whether they have been parents themselves or not, and with us being so close to being a new mom and dad, they can't help but be excited for us.  My doctor seems very excited for us too which was fun yesterday!  He too can't wait to see what kind of baby has been so nice to me all along.

It seems that this little girl is not taking requests as I have had a lot of family stop through on their way to their vacations hoping to meet her.  She seems to have her own timing and doesn't care to rush anything.  David is very excited to start teaching her everything and so I think she is holding off just like everyone else that is dreading summer coming to an end and school starting up.  She must like our dates relaxing at the pool a little too much!

BOX TOP$ Collector

This last week, David discovered Box Tops.  I don't know if he had never heard about them or noticed them or what, but he is in love with them.  With our coupon adventures, we have been buying General Mills products and  I think they all have a box top on them whether or not the product comes in a box or not.  For each box top that is cut from the packaging, 10 cents is donated to the school of our choice.  We can just mail them an envelope with all of our collected box tops and they can cash them in.
Albertson's gave away 50 extra box tops for each 10 GM products we bought.  They printed out a coupon that had a code on it that we entered online.  David is addicted.  We have our very own account set up for redeeming these online codes.  Not only does it show how much we have contributed to a certain school, but it shows how much other schools in the country have earned.  He loves to check our school's progress and likes to make sure that each and every box top is accounted for.  David is so set on making our school the winning school this coming school year.  He thinks this is the best thing ever.
When we were buying cereal, he chose which flavor of cereal he wanted based on how many box tops he could find on the box.  They were all the same price so it didn't really matter to me which ones we got, but I had it all wrong.
David will also rather eat something that has more box tops on it.  Apparently the more box tops a product has, the better it tastes.
I have noticed that some of the box tops get collected by a certain someone before the food is gone out of the box.  There is a nice hole out of the side of the box and I have a good idea of what used to be there.  Here are a few of the boxes that have had the mark left on them.  They don't quite stay closed with the chunk missing from the top, but we will survive.  Reese's Puffs have been his favorite lately as they have an extra two.

We will have to see if we are able to make our school the winner this year.  I will be sure to give the credit to David for his ambition and enthusiasm when the school wants to congratulate us and give us a big box top champion medal.

My Very Own Bowling Ball

No baby yet!  We are still "patiently" waiting.  We really aren't having as much fun as our baby must be playing this waiting game.  A guy at the grocery store mentioned that I had a basketball growing on me.  I was able to quickly assure him that it feels more like a bowling ball.  No problem at all right?!  Through this pregnancy, I have had plenty of opportunities to perfect my squat as I would probably tip over if I bent over any other way.  I   have been so lucky with this pregnancy since I didn't ever get sick and I haven't been swollen.  I had a few instances of heart burn and lately my spine is being bent out of shape, but learning to not eat late at night and David's daily massages have made it manageable.  With everything going so well, it all must be too good to be true and end that way right?  This little girl has been so nice to me so she will want to come a little early right?!  We are hoping for the best, but patiently. . . I guess.

We have dug into the whole coupon thing.  We are having fun with it and we enjoy coming home with a shopping cart full worth of food and only paying a fourth of the price we would have for it.  We are stocking up on foods and we are finding that we don't have much room for all of it.  Each week there is usually a really good sale on something and we can stock up on that item and hopefully not have to buy it again until it goes on sale again.  We have been so surprised to also find out how much we can get for free.  By combining a good sale with a coupon can get us all sorts of name brand things for free or we can even make money off of it!  It is very fun and we have had to hold ourselves back from clearing the shelves and leaving nothing for the other shoppers and coupon-ers.  It takes some time, and I follow a couple blogs that help me to know where to find the best deals, but it is definitely worth it for us.  I don't know if I will ever be able to buy things full price again other than milk and eggs and bread since we can't stock up on those things and they usually don't have coupons.  It is too fun, and it has made us organize our shelves and cupboards to see how we can make it all fit. . . I know, rough life we have here!  We got more this week than we usually will, but we enjoyed our start.

This is more for my record, but this week we got. . . 

• 20 boxes of cereal
• 8 boxes of potatoes
• 6 boxes of fruit snacks
• 5 boxes of granola bars
• 20 personal pizzas
• 6 cake mixes
• 6 cans of frosting
• 5 bottles of Life water
• 4 ravioli
• 10 canned vegetables
• 6 Deoderants
• 2 boxes Ziploc Bags
• 4 Pilot pens
• 20 BIC ballpoint pens
• 2 bottles of shampoo
• 1 razor
• 1 can shaving cream
• 1 bottle of body wash
• 2 packs of gum
• 2 boxes of feminine products

Total spent this week: $45.00 and more than $10.00 coming back in mail-in-rebates

Next week we will see what we can get for less than $15 unless I am in the hospital, which I am kind of hoping for. . . that isn't usually what someone wants, but in my case, it is welcomed and I can't wait!

C'mon Girl! You can do it!

Lately anyone and everyone is wondering when this baby is going to come.  I have never been asked so many times.  I went to 2 stores yesterday and anyone that had to pass by me in the aisle while I was figuring out what to get, or that I had to pass by or have any sort of interaction with asked the question that I wish I had a better answer for.  I really do wish I knew when this little girl would come, and all I know is that my doctor assured me that this baby would definitely be out by the end of the month whether she liked it or not.  I am due in a week and a half and each day could not be going any slower.  Honestly!  I am about ready to sign up for a marathon, rock climbing, weight lifting, sky diving, roller coasters, jump roping, anything.  All through pregnancy I have had to be careful to not do anything that could possibly pop this little baby out, and now I am feeling quite the opposite :)
I went to cub scouts yesterday and we did a little service project along the river where we put chicken wire around the base of the trees so the beavers wouldn't gnaw them down.  We had 5 adults and 10 cub scouts.  All the adults were very careful to make sure I didn't do anything but supervise the boys.  I offered to get down and dirty and to haul stuff around along the river bank so maybe this baby would start doing her thing in there to come out. . . just maybe.  All I got was some sympathy laughs, "Nice try!", and a "Yeah right, I am not delivering!  I'll stick with the chicken wire!"
David finished his class yesterday with a presentation that went well, so now we really are ready for her.  I was worried she would decide to come right before that presentation, but she was very thoughtful and held on.  But we have told her many times now that she is free to come. . . pretty please!
I have also been told multiple times that I don't look miserable enough to be having a baby yet.  No I'm not miserable, just too excited.  For the last two or three weeks we have been told "She could come any day!"  So we got really excited and tried to mentally prepare ourselves two or three weeks ago, and we are still waiting.  No fair that everyone gets our hopes up!  So now it is more of "She better come any day now!"  or "I don't want to be pregnant at my next week's doctor's appointment!"
We are just a little anxious and I know that she will come when she's ready, but can't someone just tell us when that is so each day is not a waiting game that she keeps winning?
Today is supposed to be rainy and stormy all day.  I was wanting to go swimming. . . hmm maybe a good zap would get her going.. . . I promise I am kidding and will not try to get zapped by lightning.. . promise!  I will stay indoors today and try to learn how to be as miserable as possible so I can have this baby sooner! We will get the word out as quick as we can once she comes. . . wish us luck as I know there is no skill that I have that will pop her and her regular baby sized (please not too big) body out!