Ask me if I'm prepared

And the answer would be "no, not really". Now ask me if I am a nervous wreck about it. Again "no, not really". Thats the difference between 1st and 2nd babies, and also? The Olympics are on. The WINTER Olympics. That means I get nothing done that can't be done in front of the TV. I watch it all. I don't do this with the summer Olympics.

Today I did a few more things to prepare that make me feel a bit of relief. I bought 2 nursing bra's after realizing I didn't own one. I don't know what I did when I had Lily?? Tank tops I guess. I bought Lily some new tennis shoes one size bigger than her current ones, because I fear I'll go into labor and the grandma's will be trying to stuff Lily's feet into shoes that are too small. I bought Lily's "big sister gifts", a few things to have on hand to show her she is still special. And I bought her some spring time clothing in 3T. She's always been a bit small for her age, but I've started noticing her 2T clothing is starting to get smaller. The pants are shorter and occasionally I see a belly button. Since this baby is due in the Spring (very early Spring) I bought her a few "warm weather" outfits just in case.

And I bought storage tubs. Which means I can finally start washing the baby clothes stored in old diaper boxes in our basement and get them organized in case peanut here turns out to be a boy.

Things left to do:

Paint trim in kids room (right now its pepto bismol pink)

Wash baby clothes, baby blankets, etc

Put car seat back together

Figure out supplemental STD coverage (that means Short Term Disability)

Stop spending money, start saving money

Buy a baby bathtub, I didn't say I was going to totally stop spending money

Stock up on formula using the $35 worth of Enfamil coupons I have that expire before my due date (that's how they get ya) and the formula is a "justincase" measure, because Lily was supplemented the whole time I BF her.

But first I have to watch some ice skating.

Homemade Salsa ALA Pioneer Woman

My new director at work put me in charge of a team potluck for Valentine's Day, he wanted a Mexican Theme. Well he really didn't chose me to do it, rather he asked someone else and she immediately pointed at me and said "Kristin will do it". Thanks KD. I guess I really shouldn't complain. I've worked there for 6 years now and never had to organize a potluck; whereas at my last job I was the "potluck guru" and was organizing one almost every significant holiday...you know like President's Day. Normally the Administrative Assistants do the organizing but now that we've had so many layoffs each admin has to support more than one director so they just don't have the time, or patience I've learned.

To go with the Mexican theme I decided to make PW's "homemade" salsa. Homemade in quotes because how homemade can you get with canned tomatoes and rotel? To be fair she calls it "retaurant style salsa" not homemade. Here's my picture of the ingredients (minus the spices).

You can get the full recipe here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/restaurant-style-salsa/

I doubled mine because there are 30 people coming to this potluck and I didn't want to run out. Not that there aren't going to be 4 things of queso (I swear no one was reading my email of who was already signed up to bring what). I also did not use the Jalapeno. I was somewhat timid about cutting one and James ran off to the gym while I was doing this (he's the designated chef around here) so instead I used a can of Rotel w/Habanero's. Its not lacking in the spicy-ness.

Here's the finished product:

There are some benefits to making your own salsa. Cost is not one of them. I spent $10 on ingredients for a double batch, about the same price I would have paid for either a giant bottle of salsa at Costco or a couple of Jars at the grocery store. However, I'm super picky about my salsa. This is how I like it; runny! This is more of the consistency of a restaurant salsa than the super chunky stuff you get in the bottles. Also I can control the spicy-ness, or how much onion is in it *yuck*. Overall I like the taste. I think its missing a little something, maybe I should have put more cilantro? or Lime? Or sugar/salt? I just don't know. But I will probably keep making this and tinkering with it, until I get it just right.

Next up: Olive Oil Cakes with Lemon and Thyme. Sounds yummy.

31W4D

How Far Along? 31 weeks 4 days
Labor Signs? Baby is head down now, does that count?
Sleep? getting better, but I can only sleep on the right side of our bed, the left side just doesn't do it for me
Best moment this week? My "sprinkle" on Saturday! Good food, great friends a really good time!
Cravings? Cake and cupcakes are good
What I miss? How about what I won't miss. I won't miss having to walk a mile to the bathroom 10 times a day.
What I am looking forward to? Setting up the crib and re-painting the trim in the kid's room (they will be sharing)
Milestones? James finally, finally! got to feel lots of kicks and tumbles this morning.

Lily and Willy

This is Willis, Willy for short and Lily. Willy is one of our two cats. Our other is his twin brother Wesley, and they are the nephews of my parents cats Zeke and Zoey (Z&Z were my cats, but you try having a baby and 4 cats, one of which needed Prozac. It wasn't easy. Thank goodness Mimi and Papa Dude wanted some cats). Lily and Willy get along just fine. He sleeps at the foot of her bed most nights and lately he's started snuggling up next to her, once she has fallen asleep. She must be warm. Anyways, he was laying on our bed the other night and Lily grabbed a brush and mirror and said she was "cutting" Willy's hair. Then she grabbed an old cell phone and said "here let me take your picture". I guess we must take a lot of pictures of her with our phones!

30W4D

How Far Along? 30 weeks 4 days
Labor Signs? Same as before, only braxton hicks
Sleep? nope, not me, can function without
Best moment this week? James brought me a Campfire Mocha from Caribou Coffee
Cravings? Hummus and Pita Chips and PB&J, and my new discovery Pepsi Throwback
What I miss? being able to bend over at the waist
What I am looking forward to? My "sprinkle" on Saturday!
Milestones? Debilitating Heartburn at night!

28w4d

How Far Along? 28 weeks 4 days
Labor Signs? Just the Braxton Hicks, every night before bed
Sleep? still elusive
Best moment this week? Found out I'm going to be an AUNT!!
Cravings? M&M's, specifically Valentine's M&M's in Dark Chocolate
What I miss? Being able to get off the couch unassisted
What I am looking forward to? My "sprinkle" on Feb 6th
Milestones? I'm in the 3rd trimester now and the heartburn is getting really annoying

Big Sister Training

Saturday we went to the hospital we'll be delivering Baby M (same hospital Lily was born in) and Lily learned all about being a big sister. It was supposed to be a big brother/big sister class but all 9 participants were girls! And the majority of them were getting little brothers, we were the only ones that didn't know gender. Lily did awesome for a 2 1/2 year old. She was the youngest there, but there was a girl who barely looked a day over 3 and her mom is due on Saturday. The kids got to play with baby dolls, practice changing diapers, went up to view the nursery (no babies though, they were all with their moms) and to see a hospital room. That way its not so foreign when she comes to visit me. Not that Lily hasn't see her fair share of the inside of a hospital room. One ER visit, and 3 Children's Mercy urgent care visits, I think she knows what a typical hospital room looks like. That could be why she was a little skittish about being in there! They also got to watch a silly but age appropriate video and make bibs for their siblings. Lily's is a masterpiece. At one point in the video I had to giggle, they were talking about breastfeeding and showing babies BF and the little girl to my right, about 4 years old, very loudly said "ewww". You are in for a rude awakening kids if you think that's gross, just wait. At another point in the class the teacher was asking the kids what do babies do, and got the typical answers "eat, sleep, cry" and my kid says "poop". We may or may not have been encouraging her to say that.