Happy 5th of July

Lol! I started a blog entry yesterday titled "Happy 4th of July & a Q" but the title is all the further I got! Oops!
I was going to wish you all a happy & safe 4th. Hope it turned out that way for everyone! How did you celebrate?
This year, we went to our friends' house for a cookout, which was happily, indoors! It's been way too hot to spend time outside, though I was prepared. I'd scrounged around & found the only pair of shorts I'm willing to go in public in that still fit over my slightly bulging belly... barely. I'm thinking I'm going to have to head to Goodwill soon & see if I can find any that fit better. I also was covered in sunblock. Oh well. :P
We had a great time, ate lots of (too much!) good food & watched the kiddos run around wearing each other out. amber laid down way late for her nap. I usually try to lay her down between noon & 1, and usually, if it's after 3 when she goes down, she's cranky the rest of the evening regardless. It was after 3, but she did pretty well last night. We had a good discussion about fireworks & how she didn't need to be scared of them, even though they're loud & amazingly enough, she went right to sleep & we didn't hear a peep from her despite the whole fireworks show!

Now, the question I was thinking about...
So, I have a huge family on my dad's side. He was the oldest of six & only one of those six didn't have kids, and my dad's the only one who only had one. So, I have well over a dozen cousins, especially if you count the step-cousins & such... now, the majority of us are married (or in a stable relationship) and having kids of our own. It's a lot of people to keep track of!
We aren't all particularly close. Dad's siblings & now some of their kids & my grandpa, too, are constantly getting in fights with one another. I've mostly removed myself from the drama. It wasn't conscious at first; I just knew I dreaded most of the visits Dad said we needed to make to maintain the relationship bank (as he termed it.) Once I was an adult & working on college & so forth, I didn't make as much effort. When he died suddenly in 2007, they all came together for me & were very supportive. It wasn't completely drama-free, but they were respectful & helpful.
Don't get me wrong, I love my family.... just not the drama. So, in the 5 years since his passing, I've been more conscious in distancing myself. I'll talk to any of my family members, regardless of whichever other family members they may or may not be talking with, but I don't make much effort to put myself out there. There are some I've made more effort to keep in touch with because I've been closer to them through the years (&/or they use facebook more!) and others I've been particularly frustrated with and made less effort towards contacting them.
I didn't mean to make this such a long thing, but felt that a little more background would be in order.
So, the situation I'm wondering about... I have three step-cousins. I'm not really related to them by blood at all, but they're close to my age & the middle of the three was a good friend in HS as we found we were rather kindred spirits. We've lost touch & come back together a few times in the following decade, and now she actually lives almost walking distance (if the weather were nicer!!) from me. We've tried to plan a get-together quite a few times & she just tends to be too busy. I was about to lose hope, but my aunt says she's not blowing me off, that she really is that busy & they don't even get to see her that often either.
She just had her first baby a little over a week ago. I'm trying to retain my optimism that she wants to have a relationship with me and I messaged her asking her to let me know when she feels up to having visitors. I haven't heard back yet. I decided to make a gift for her new daughter. Another one of the pillows with the birth stats. I've seen pics of the nursery, so I picked colors based on that.
My question comes to this... her little sister had a daughter close to two years ago (or three?) and I can't remember if I got her a gift, but I know I didn't do anything handmade. What do you think? Should I make her one as well & just try to ignore the awkwardness of it being years late? Should I just go with making the one I've already started & say that I'd be happy to make another if her sister (or any other family members, for that matter) wants one?

Inspired, but exhausted

I talked in my last post about how I was starting to feel inspired to do stuff again. I was looking forward to Amber's naptime to get stuff done! Then her naptime rolled around. I got her laid down & came back downstairs, ate some soup since I was still hungry after the salad I had for lunch... and sat down for a minute... laid down... slept her entire naptime. -_-Zzzzz Guess I needed it!
I did get to do a little bit of scrapbooking while my hubby took her w/him for grocery shopping. :)

Still here

I've been suffering with the symptoms of my pregnancy & the progesterone supplements they put me on. I haven't felt up to a whole lot with the fatigue and morning sickness. Just ten more days of the supplement and no exercise rule!
Amber & I went to the OB today & heard the baby's heartbeat. Took a bit to find it, but it was a good 170bpm. :) Everything was looking pretty good, so I don't have to go back in for four weeks.
I've been wanting to update a few things though. One was that I finished the other birth stats pillow! Here it is:

We've had a lot of other adventures. I'm still recovering from a sunburn I acquired last Thursday. So glad we finally went out & enjoyed the company pool, though! If the weather gets back down in the double digits (instead of triple!) I'll be sure to take kiddo back out. This preggo mama can't handle that much heat. It doesn't bother me that much when I'm not pregnant, and luckily she didn't burn at all despite a lower spf sunblock (50... mine was 70 & 100, she did not inherit my skin or red hair!)
We've been to a bunch of birthday parties. I fell bad that I haven't been up to my usual gift-giving, I didn't even get a card made for the last one!
I've been on Pinterest again the last few days & starting to feel inspired again & ready to get making again. I have been working on kiddo's scrapbooks some. So far behind!!

I live!

Yes, I'm still around... tried to start a blog post a couple times, but just didn't know where to start... And here I am wandering off after I barely wrote a sentence. I'm feeling better about the pregnancy, especially since I got my sonogram & saw the heart beating & then read that having seen that means I have a 97% chance of not miscarrying. :)
Also, my dr. says morning sickness is a good sign that things are going as they should & I've had such bad morning sickness I had to call back & get a new Rx for a stronger anti-nausea than what they'd given me before. I'm doing better now, except for the fatigue.
I'm so darn exhausted all the time, from a zillion different sources... the pregnancy itself, the progesterone supplement, depression, my Zyrtec usually doesn't make me drowsy, but it can cause drowsiness... plus I have my restrictions of no exercising & such, so I've been less active & that's adding to my fatigue. Gah!
I'm trying to make a point of walking more, but it's bloody hot out, and that doesn't help the fatigue or the morning sickness!
Otherwise, we had a nice trip to PA, been to a couple B-day parties for 4yos, getting a fence installed... Lots of fun. :) Hope you're all doing well!

Too much to do!!

We're leaving Saturday morning to drive out to PA. I have so much to do, packing, cleaning, preparing for our house-sitters & a couple other projects and I have to be careful not to overexert myself w/the pregnancy. I have no idea how much I'll actually accomplish in the next two days! I asked my mom if she could come help, but my sister came home from college to visit, so she stayed to visit. :/
I'm looking forward to our trip, but also worried about everything, too. Trying to potty train, long car rides, pregnancy issues, scheduling, staying in hotels, hoping Amber gets along with her cousins, etc. etc. etc...

Edit: What'd I've gotten done:
Breakfast
Fold & pack most of Amber's clothes for next week
Wash & dry towels & bibs
Lunch
Pick up main floor (floors anyway, all the tables have stuff on them)
Wash guest bedding (about to go put it in the dryer)
Take meds

Things I need to do:
Make sure house sitters are all set for the week.
Fold & put away towels & bibs
Make guest bed
Wash, dry, fold & pack or put away the rest of Amber's clothes.
Pack my stuff (may require some more laundry)
Finish, wrap & pack gifts & such for family
Finish pillow & get it to Jenny
Pack things to keep us occupied, snacks, toiletries, etc.
A zillion other things I'm forgetting or ignoring at the moment (like the fact that EVERYTHING in the house needs cleaned!)

Big news!

So, yes, I do have a legitimate excuse as to why I've completely fallen off the bandwagon & let my house become a kid-sty... It's because we have another one on the way! Yay! :D
We're very excited, but I've been very exhausted & having a hard time just keeping up with kiddo & ingesting enough calories to grow a whole 'nother human! ;)
I saw my OB today, so we're all official now. My due date is January 25th. My mom's already requesting I hold it in two more days so I can have the baby on her birthday. :P I told her that's up to the kiddo.
Well, I also had blood work done to check on the pregnancy stuff & my progesterone levels are low, which explains some of the symptoms I've been having that didn't seem to fit with the pregnancy & it has me worried now, since it puts me at a heightened risk of miscarriage. It gives me an extra reason not to push myself too much. My OB has banned me from exercise & intercourse for the time being. She wants me to go in next week for an ultrasound, but we'll be in Philly next week visiting Paul's bro & meeting our new (as of last Nov) nephew along w/the rest of the fam. I missed her call & got all this via voicemail & called the very minute they closed & missed them! Argh! So, I'll have to call tomorrow & see what she wants me to do. She called in an Rx for me, so hopefully with that all will right itself and be fine.
A tiny part of me has secretly been paranoid about this pregnancy from the start. I'm not sure what it is. I haven't felt all that excited yet. I'm just exhausted & worried about keeping up with my toddler & dreading morning sickness & giving birth again. Now I'm extra worried that I'm going to miscarry. I'd be so heart-broken. I can't imagine what it must be like for those who have.
Spoiler alert: I saw What to Expect when You're Expecting & when the young girl miscarried, I cried for her & any woman who has had to go through that. Especially those who were trying &/or have had multiple miscarriages. My heart goes out to them/you (if applicable).
So, trying to convince myself that all will be well. The exam went very well & dr. said I felt pregnant from her exam. *ahem* I almost got sick this morning & she said morning sickness is a good sign that things are progressing normally. So, here's my brave face. :]

Assignment #2 Update

Finally got the fridge cleaned out Tuesday per the 2nd assignment from the Money Saving Mom's "4 Weeks to a More Organized Home" blog series.
Here's my messy kitchen before & the dishes after I already started:

Here's the fridge before:

Here's the moldy rice I found! Ew! Thankfully this was about as bad as it got.

I think the pickles are from my pregnancy but the ice cream/milkshake isn't that old! [Get it? Pickles & ice cream? Sorry.] It was pretty gross looking though! They were both lost in the back of the fridge.

And then there was this... not sure what it was, some sort of tomato-based sauce?

We had this container of coffee my step-dad bought either at Thanksgiving or right after my daughter was born on some visit. We didn't have a coffee machine, just french presses, so we couldn't brew it properly & it sat for years.

I went one or two shelves/drawers at a time: [I am SO annoyed that this picture rotated!! I don't know how to fix it! The file isn't rotated like that!]

[Gah! They're all going to rotate aren't they?? GRrrr!!]

The middle drawer before, I had to vacuum out all the little grapes stems & what-not. It's "after" is included with the bottom shelf's "after"

The orange arrow is pointing to the great Jell-O spill of a few weeks ago. I didn't realize it sloshed when I put it in & so it set up between the glass & the frame, thus that piece of glass had to be scrubbed in the sink!

I didn't take Before & after pics of the top drawer, or an empty after pic of the door... here's its "before:"

And the total AFTER for the fridge:

And the kitchen AFTER, isn't totally cleaned up, but it's better. Note the messy-looking pile that the arrow is pointing to is composed of CLEAN dishes in the drying rack. :D