i got newberied!

It happened again!

The 2012 Newbery winner was announced yesterday. One more Newbery added to my list! And I thought I was doing so awesome. I only have 2 1/2 more books to go... well, now 3 1/2: The High King by Lloyd Alexander (half way through), Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt (on hold at the library), and Lincoln: A Photobiography (checked out today.) And now Dead End in Norvelt.

My plan is to have them all read before the baby is born in about a month...I can totally do that, right? Assuming I get the new one before then. I am number six on the hold list, so we'll see. As for the reviews, I am woefully behind but I vow to catch up even if I have type one-handed with a baby in the other.

To those of you who are familiar with Dicey's Song, how important is it that I read Homecoming first? I know it's technically the second book in the series, but I am on a tight time schedule here, people! I read all five Lloyd Alexanders to get to The High King but I think that was kind of necessary. Also, I just can't get enough of names I can't pronounce! I'm looking at you, Eilonwy.

Totally unrelated, but I want to give a shout out to the nice employee at Dairy Queen who tried to give me a free Dilly Bar when I bought some for the kids today. After I politely refused and explained why, he came out a few minutes later with a sugar-free orange creamsicle that had clearly spent a lot of time in the back of the freezer. I like him. He's so much nicer than the lady at Target who told me I was huge.

breakfast of champions

I need help. I met with my diabetes counselor today and she said I was doing great... which is fantastic news! Except it means I have to keep doing what I'm doing for another 6 weeks. And when you are pregnant and encountering pictures like the following on pinterest, it is easy to feel like the world is conspiring against you:

Cake batter pancakes? Sopapilla cheesecake? Cookie dough brownies?! Seriously, people. Where are you even finding these alleged recipes?

So my dilemma is breakfast. Let's say you can have no carbs for breakfast. Zero. Because morning is the worst time of day for my insulin-resisting body to process carbs. Also, no fruit... because they have sugar, too. That leaves eggs. Let's say that you have eaten eggs every morning for the past few weeks and you are finding that you want to cry yourself back to sleep every morning at the thought of eating another egg for breakfast. You can also have bacon and sausage, but I just can't make a whole meal out of bacon. I think that might be worse than eating carbs.

So what else is out there?? I know there must be something that I am just not thinking of. Any great ideas? Anyone? I am open to suggestions, with or without eggs.

In other news, my growth ultrasound last week was pretty good, but they still want me to come in weekly so they can keep an eye on things. It's going to be a long six weeks.

the lighter side

On the bright side of being diagnosed with diabetes and eating nothing fun, there's a whole new world of jokes out there for me. Or "jokes", I should say. Really, it's not all that funny and all I want to do is eat pancakes. But I do think of this little funny I found on pinterest everytime I stab my own finger:

One way to get that drop of blood for the test strip!

Thanks for all the sympathetic and encouraging words. I met with my doctor yesterday and she was impressed at how good my numbers were looking. Also, I was measuring the same as I was two weeks ago, which is a good sign. And I had even lost a pound. Which is a sign that I ate waaaaaay too much junk over Christmas and maybe this is good for me after all.

Anyway, she said if I keep up the good numbers and the baby's growth looks stable, she won't push for a C-section. Hooray! I have a special "growth ultrasound" scheduled for Thursday - not sure how they are different from regular, old ultrasounds - so hopefully that will give us some more information to work with. And keep me from fretting too much. The anxiety eating lacks a certain satisfaction when you are limited to veggies and almonds.

please accept an invite to my pity party

FEEL SORRY FOR ME! I am 33 weeks pregnant and, despite all tests to the contrary, I was told today that I have gestational diabetes. I am sure this diagnosis was driven largely (ha, ha - largely!) due to the fact that Sam was a ginormous baby. And I appreciate that my doctor is so concerned and invested in my health and the health of my baby. And I appreciate that many other women have much more difficult and scary things asked of them during their pregnancies. But still... feel sorry for me!

I have been testing my blood sugar four times a day with my handy little kit for the last week and, apparently, my numbers were just not awesome enough. Hence today's diagnosis. I am kind of in the depths of despair about it. If last week's numbers were off despite having given up almost all carbs and having eaten no treats (okay, I had three gummy worms on Tuesday night - I admit it!), then I don't know what to do.

For the next few weeks, I will pretty much eat very little and be kind of hungry, all while stabbing my finger and bleeding onto a strip of test paper four times a day. And if this weekend doesn't prove to have better numbers, they will put me on insulin starting next week. So add a huge shot in the tummy several times a day to that list. Hooray!

I think of my awesome sister-in-law who bravely gave up dairy, eggs, and other deliciousness for a year while nursing her baby, just to avoid giving her the food allergies her oldest has. She is amazing! A year! I can do a month or so without carbs and treats. But, really, what is there to eat other than carbs and treats?! My doctor suggested "meat" as a good snack today. Mmmmmm....meat! Have you met pregnant ladies before? We don't like to snack on meat. We like to snack on cold cereal, chips and salsa, fruit and other non-threatening but now forbidden items. (We also like brownies, donuts, and ice cream but that list makes me sound less unjustly injured.)

They sure scare you with all the stories of things that can happen to babies of gestational diabetic mothers. And they sure make you feel guilty. "His little pancreas is working over time to correct your poor eating choices!" But I know in the end it will all be worth it to have a healthy and hopefully not gigantic little boy, and a non-traumatic delivery.

This really has been my healthiest pregnancy yet. I had very little morning sickness, I've gained the least amount of weight of all my pregnancies (so far), my skin hasn't broken out, I still have ankles... a lot to be grateful for and a lot of good signs. This is also the only pregnancy where I have also been Young Women's president and that is causing me no small amount of stress, but I am confident that there a lot of blessings coming to our family because of that.

Thanks for coming to my pity party. I will accept your kind words of sympathy as well as any recipes or survival techniques you may know. Or any ideas on how to appropriately prepare meat as a snack!

eve, champion of the world

Hooray! Geography!

Eve had a big week last week - she was one of ten kids in her school to make it to the Geography Bee finals at her school. AND... the only 4th grader! To her credit, Eve was cheerful and laid back about the whole thing. We really emphasized we just wanted her to have fun (though we didn't disclose how difficult that might actually turn out to be while giving answers into a mic in front of all the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades in the school.) So we did a few online quizzes, played some Carmen Sandiego, and called it good.

Me, Jared, Sam, and even Eleanor - we pulled her out of 1st grade for a little bit - all came to the gym to watch. Is there anything more terrifying than seeing your kid nervously swinging her little feet on a folding chair, surrounded by giant 5th and 6th graders, in front of a gym full of parents, teachers, students, the principal, AND the voice of local news radio station KSRG?! (He was the question-reader... in a suit... with a pocket square. This thing was big, I tell you!)

Hard to get a good picture in the gym, but it gives you an idea. Eve is the tiny, nervous looking one in the stripey sweater.

I about had a heart attack every time Eve went to the mic. Which, incidentally, was about a foot above her head because it was sized for the older and taller kids. I thought I was going to pass out watching her get on her tip toes to breathlessly whisper into the microphone, "...New Hampshire." There was a collective sigh of relief from the audience on that one!

And it turns out she really did have fun, so mission accomplished. And she also didn't place that shabbily either - she made it to the final elimination round before the top three winners were determined. When she did finally sit down, she got the biggest cheers from the audience, and high-fives all the way down the aisle from the classes watching. And she just beamed. *phew* That was exactly the reaction I was hoping for.

We celebrated by hitting Sonic for some happy hour beverages on the way home and waited for Jared to get home from work so we could do something bigger (he didn't want to miss out.) Eve selected going out for pie and happily munched her way through an enormous piece of blueberry sour cream pie while we showered her with praise. It was super fun and so great to see her feeling so confident and good about herself - we are so, so proud of her.

Eve is still quirky (it's part of her charm, I tell myself) but she is growing up so fast. I love watching this sweet, funny, and charmingly nerdy - I mean that in only the best way! - grown-up girl emerge.

Eve, in her natural habitat: reading at the library

Also her natural habitat: behaving crazy in public

Love you, Eve!

christmas!

Ah, Christmas! We had a super Christmas month around here, one of the best Decembers ever. Mostly because I said no to a lot of things this year, like Christmas cards and goodie plates for every single person we know and elaborate homemade gifts. And blogging, too, apparently. I said yes to a whole lot of amazon shopping and saved my gigantic self the bother of actually leaving the house. It was great!

I did this in part because I am enormous at 7 months pregnant and mostly because I couldn't say "no" to the ward Christmas party that I was responsible for this year. You know, because Young Womens presidents who are 7 months pregnant have a lot of time on their hands... and that's all the whining I will do about that. It is over and it was reasonably successful and hopefully I will be in charge of a different activity next year. Like no activity whatsoever. Just kidding! Sort of...

So here are a few highlights from our magical laid back December:

We got our tree from a tree farm this year. Talk about the best of both worlds! We have tried to both ways - tree lots and BLM-style - with varying degrees of success. Tree farms are 100% guarantee! Everywhere you look there are gorgeous trees, just waiting to be cut. All you do is wave your little flag, and a nice man with a tractor and a chainsaw shows up, and there you go! Sam really loved the tractor and the chainsaw.

We made our annual gingerbread house, courtesy of Costco.

On Christmas day, we opened presents galore, went to church, opened a few more presents, and spent the rest of the day relaxing in our sweats, eating delicious food (like cheese! Thanks, Dad and Miranda!), and wishing the day wouldn't end.

Eve's favorite gift: a box full of Warriors books.

One of Sam's favorites: his new robe, courtesy of Grandma, that just happens to look a Jedi robe. Especially when paired with the light saber lollipop that came in his stocking.

Eleanor's hands-down, no-doubt-about-it favorite: the life-sized cheetah stuffed animal that she has yearned after for almost two years. Like Eve said, "This HAS to be from Santa because there is no way Mom and Dad would spend that much on a stuffed animal!" True story. Santa is very savvy with the amazon Black Friday deals.

To prolong the fun, we surprised the kids with a day-after-Christmas overnight trip to see the magnificent Christmas lights at Shore Acres State Park in Coos Bay, Oregon. All the awesome pictures of the lights are on Jared's camera, but I think the highlight for the kids was spending hours in the hotel pool.

I am a little sad to see this December end, especially since I did such a poor job of documenting it in pictures and blog entries. But it's nice to think this is the last Christmas I will spend pregnant and that just one year from now our little guy will be bopping around and joining in all the festivities with us. Makes me excited for 2012! Merry belated Christmas, everyone!

sick day

We are having one of many sick days around here today. Thanksgiving was perfectly lovely - we had several good friends over and ate way more than we should - but then got hammered with an unpleasant bug about two days later. Nothing too nasty (or stomach-y, thankfully!) - just enough to give everyone a fever and make us want to lay around and watch TV. So kind of what most people did last weekend, just with a fever.

I thought we had kicked it, but Sam woke up this morning with a terrible croupy cough and nose running like a faucet. And I woke up at 4:45 with a nightmare and couldn't get back to sleep, mostly just because I am too big to sleep like a normal person (yay, pregnancy sleep!) So we are definitely having a stay-at-home day today.

It's actually been pretty great. Fun to hang out with Sam, especially. We spent a blissful morning drinking cocoa and playing many many rounds of Candyland. I hardly ever get to do that kind of stuff with him because we are always running around like crazy things. It was nice to put all that stuff on hold today and pretend that I am not responsible for the ward Christmas party next Saturday (la, la, la - I can't hear you!)

Before I get back to said paperwork,I wanted to answer a few questions you had about our impending addition. We are told to expect a boy, which is awesome. Two of each - I couldn't have planned it better. And I am due March 1. But because of the size (enormity?) of Sam, I seriously doubt I will be permitted to reach my due date. So I optimistically tell everyone I am due in February. Also, it is a Leap Year next year, so I would like to stay far away from delivering anywhere near March 1...or, rather, Feb. 29. I would prefer not to be on the local news right after delivering a baby. One of many reasons.

To prove that I have no pride and that this blog is not about pretending that my house is always clean or that I am always showered, here is a picture of me I found on our camera a few days ago:

See? I really am pregnant! Only pregnant ladies look this radiant in the morning.