headaches & rain drops

oh these headaches! If i never had another one, I'd be a happy camper. In my years of headaches, here are some of the "possible" causes:

pressure changes

hormones

mold

yeast

gall bladder issues

lack of sleep

dehydration

pinched nerve

foods such as coffee, chocolate, hotdogs

too much sugar

too much salt

not enough salt

high blood pressure

this is not exhaustive. but it is exhausting. I have an appointment on Friday, again, to try and pursue this.

what a pain in the neck! Yesterday i had a miserable migraine all day. really bad. i tried our insurance's phone nurse number which was NO help, and then i called the local physician which directed me to call the hospital dr's, then I sat on hold after being transferred through the phone system at Mayo Mankato for 17:30. that's ridiculous. i hung up and figured i'd suffer through it. it's back again and i'm frustrated. grr.

it's raining today though, which i would usually like and enjoy, except that it's december!! I'd like some snow for Christmas, but i'm not sure we'll have any this year. I'm still holding on hope, though:)

back into the swing of things!

I'm giving it another go. It's not that I don't want to keep this thing up (it's as fun for me to keep a blog as it is to read them!) but I have really been struggling to find time to keep up with posts. But I think the new little gal is getting scheduled;) she's napping right now, which makes me SO happy because she's napped at the same time each day for about 4 days. She's going on 3 months (December 29th will be.) so i think i can actually start to have things regular again!

I have been knitting and crocheting my little fingers off lately too.

I love making hats, but man it will be nice when i can get creative again and try some new patterns. I have some orders to fill first though. I've also been baking and cooking intentionally, using a strict budget, clipping coupons, & planning the weekly menu. Sounds a little obvious, but I'd never seriously done it before...always just flew by the seat of my pants!

Running has been difficult to get done. It seems to take so much work to get someone to watch the girls (I only have a single jogging stroller so far) and we've had a cold snap here too. When andy gets home from work, it seems so busy until bedtime--hard to tell him he's got the girls while i run. That could be changed, but Corine doesn't take a bottle yet, so the only source of food/comfort she's had SO far is me... But she's getting older! I'm getting [marginally] more sleep at night! I may be able to run with the Dakota in the Dark before too long... We will have to see, but I'm remaining hopeful:) I just need to set realistic goals. Like, regular running starting in January. That's realistic. i think right now anyway!

blech.

It's been awfully hot, and this pregnant lady has NOT been liking it. I don't like the heat to begin with, but add an extra furnace in there and I'm so tired, so sweaty, and moderately grumpy (my husband would say very moody and hormonal and "when can i get my wife back?"). so, needless to say, due to my grouchy attitude, i haven't blogged recently at all. HOWEVER!!

Today it is Gorgeous Outside. Highs in the low-mid 70's. finally!!!! I'm not sweating through my bra & underpants before 9 am. I've never suffered heat stroke, or even heat exhaustion I think due to the fact that my body sweats at any slight discomfort. Which is a blessing and a curse;)

The weather outside really makes me antsy to get out there and run though!! I think i'm going to push the water and go for a good walk tonight with my pal tanya.

In the heat, i've been listening to messages from Granger Community Church in Granger, Indiana. I love this church because it is "modern" in it's music choices (which to me means the worship team plays music and songs that are new--and some old hymns--and not necessarily always on the radio. Songs by Charlie Hall, Matt Redman, and some chart toppers that relate to the messages. Anywho, i like the creativity and the theology of the pastor, Mark Beeson, as well as the other Preachers like professors, authors, and community members. I'd recommend listening to some of them while doing dishes, ironing, and other mundane house tasks that you hate.....:)

The Rogue Chicken.

This morning I saw The Rogue Chicken again. It was wandering across the street into the woods up by the blackberries. Now, I don't live in a really urban area, but it IS a city/town. We live on the edge at the base of a big wooded hill. Apparently a chicken has taken up roost in our neighbors garage, laying eggs in a tarp and hanging out on the front porch. It's just a little weird, however I'd be collecting the eggs if I was my neighbor. Dakota smells its path each time we walk by, and I'm dreading if he ever decides to take off and blast into the woods to "hunt" the chicken. It remains elusive when I head out for a walk with Dakota and my phone, (i.e. camera) but I'm keeping the faith that I will photograph it soon.

Peaches & Cream Pie and cloth diapers

about 2 Sundays ago, the hubs & i were on the way out the door to church and i realized I'd forgotten to refill the diapers in the diaper bag. so i sprinted (haha. fast-shuffled) back into the house and seeing the diaper drawer empty, snagged a cloth diaper. carly was in cloth from about the time she was 3 months old until we moved to minnesota. (my parent's house didn't have a sprayer for the shower. this is important because i do NOT like dunking poop diapers in the toilet and running to the washing machine yelling "get out of my way! NOW!) So. we started up again with BumGenius diapers because it's conducive & money saving. (c'mon people. we're in a recession.)

I really like them. Cute for the summer especially (add a cute dress or tank and no worries about a diaper-cover-booty thingy.)

i think we have about 10 or 11. bunch of colors, but i still do put carly in over night disposables because she'll wake up cold if she pees a ton. here's our partial collection.

Today i also felt like using up some peaches in the fridge that were on sale at Hy-Vee. Peaches & Cream Pie it was:) and it was SO good.............

sliced & ready to go.

baking....

filled the house with good smells:)

ahh... a GOOD dessert!

sitting here I can smell that summer evening smell that's like dew and flowers and cut hay. I'm taking Dakota on a walk just to be in it, and then i'll probably have another piece of pie......

July's first weeks

We have been BUSY! the fam and I went to wisconsin to visit a family friend and made a day trip of it, introduced Carly to the parent's pool and Lake Francis, grilled out with 2 sisters and another day with my brother's family, went to North Morristown's Old Fashioned 4th of July Celebration, and on and on.

With the onset of all this darn heat (which i just hate, by the way) i managed to dehydrate myself pretty well and had barfing and cramping for 2 days. boo. apparently i'm supposed to be drinking close to a gallon of water these pregnant hot days. Needless to say, i haven't made it out to the trail or really around the neighborhood lately. swimming in lakes and pools, though not intentionally exercise, has been movement and keeping me cool.

Carly for loves the water! She's brave and courageous! and it sort of frightens me, so andy and I need to to look into some sort of swimming lessons for that water baby:)

that's my daughter in the water.................

That's my daughter in the water, Every time she fell I caught her
Every time she fell

Every time she blinks, She strikes somebody blind
Every time she thinks, it blows her tiny mind

That's my daughter in the water, Who'd've ever thought her
Who'd've ever thought

That's my daughter in the water, I lost everytime I fought her
Yeah I lost everytime

--from "Daughter" by Loudon Wainwright III

oh these rainy days!

Last Thursday, it just to happened to work out that I could head out for a bike ride on the trail! I haven't gone for a good ride in quite awhile. "People" say pregnant gals aren't supposed to due to balance being off. well, this little gal is stuffed

so far up into my torso that my center of gravity has barely been affected.

(the 29er)

so anyhoo, i biked 10.25 mi

and it was gorgeous. overcast, breezy, and cool:) boy did my butt hurt the next day!! my word!!! if i'm going to do the 5 hours 4 orphans my little butt is going to have to get tough. literally.

Saturday, my little sister alair came over to play, but instead just ran errands with us. we were quite close to lunch time, so we went to McDonalds. we really don't eat fast food that much because it doesn't agree with me, but sometimes a cheeseburger just tastes SO good:) it did saturday....

I was really excited to go for a long hike today, but the sky looks threatening. I don't want to go without carly or dakota because they love it so much, and the jogging stroller has a hole in one of the tires/innertubes.

Thus I will be trying to figure out how to mend that without heading all the way to mankato or faribault, though waseca is a viable option.... and we will head out!

summer on Sakatah State Trail:)

Carly Dakota and I have been trying to hit the trail as often as possible, even if it's just for a quick jaunt. I cannot express how much i love this trail. it smells like lush green undergrowth and black dirt, you can hear the lake and the birds, and so many times i see no people:) solitude is wonderful! But if we head out on a saturday or sunday, or around supper time, there is bound to be bikers, runners, and hikers out which is nice too! folks are friendly and usually holler out their whereabouts and smile a "hi."

This is my view lately:) mostly baby bump with some legs popping out from underneath.

what a good trail buddy! as long as mom remembers the snacks and drinks...

here's an action side view...some indiana pals have been asking about the baby belly. looking at this, i think i need to work on the posture.

here we are after the BEST walk on Tuesday. cool, humid, and moderately sunny.

vets, pets, & dreaming dreams

so since we got back from the boundary waters/Shucks' cabin, Dakota has been itching/biting/gnawing at his hip. its really quite gross. today i called the vet and took him in. some sort of staph infection but they shaved part of his furry hip, cleaned it up good, and sent me home with salve & pills. you know, for as much a pain in the neck as this dog is, i can't believe we spend so much money on him. i do like him, which i guess is the problem:) anyway, he's assumed his lay-on-the-back-legs-splayed-wide position, so i'm guessing he's much more comfortable.

one funny thing that passed through my head while i was driving home (despite the fact that i killed the car 8 or so times in waseca, so that was still freshly embarrassing) was that i was going to go running when i got home. but i'm not. i'm pregnant. it's just funny that i can forget that sometimes! i will go for a walk down the trail later, maybe with dakota, but myself for sure.

runaway dogs & new running skort

today andy, carly, the m-i-l & I went to mankato to shop, which turned out well because m-i-l watched carly while we were able to look at things;) i am still clinging to athletic clothes (you know, "kinda sporty, kinda trendy") so i found a really cute new balance running skort at Scheel's on clearance. I then of course felt quite ambitious and was going to take Dakota for a nice long walk when we got home. the weather was perfect for me: humid, cool, and misty. my fave:) i took the dog out to get his harness on which was in the car. the turd took one look at me and took off. i mean sprinted with ears down and tail straight up in the air. he circled the houses in the neighborhood peeing on peony bushes and blasting through gardens. I saw him twice and snarled his name through gritted teeth. but freedom tastes sweet to this dog. so he ran to the catholic church which just so happened to be letting out its saturday evening services. through the old ladies and hobbling couples, receiving curious looks and glares from younger folks. well, i was getting those looks. next i heard horns honking and he came zooming around a house back up to our yard. i was pretty p-o'd at this point. i went to our house and informed andy that i'd be walking on my own......

it was a gorgeous walk down the trail, and i saw the neighborhood rogue chicken walking into the woods as i got back. i'll have to write about that chicken sometime. the skort worked like a charm and will fit under the baby belly as it grows. i wish there were more options for maternity workout clothing, but it's probably not the highest on manufacturers lists.

giving it another go...

ah. life really gets away from me sometimes! We moved to minnesota in September 2010, to waterville where I grew up. what a change. anyway, we are here now, i'm pregnant and expecting in october, and andy works in faribault. it's a good life, but wonderfully busy! i really hope i can keep the blog going this time:) it's updated and i'd like to have this to keep in touch with family & friends around the states/world! here i go again...