Feeling a bit better

Saturday, for the first time in over a week, I woke up without a headache. Two days back on the Zyrtec and I'm feeling much better. I have had 2 caffeinated beverages and no pain relief, as opposed to the lovely Coke/Tylenol cocktails I've been having all week. I think going back to the Zyrtec was the right decision. I can breathe, my sinuses don't feel terribly swollen. I don't feel sluggish.

In fact, I felt so good, that I prepped freezer meals for the week. We had a ton of frozen chicken that we needed to do something with so I looked up some crock pot recipes and plan on trying those out. This weeks menu consists of teriyaki chicken, sweet and tangy meatballs, lasagna, fajitas, and sausage and peppers. On Sunday, I continued my preparations and made a lasagna for later in the week. If all goes as planned, I won't actually have to cook, nor will we have to actually eat out. 

We are slooowly getting things done and prepared. Every weekend, we tackle something else. This weekend, it was washing and constructing. We put together the new double stroller. That was easy. We made a run to the storage unit and removed some baby essentials. We're leaving the swing parts there until the baby comes, but I grabbed the fabric seat part for washing. I washed the swing, bouncy seat, and car seat covers. I also washed the fuzzy for the car seat (fuzzy is JJ Cole Bundle Me, which I haven't 100% settled on reusing what with the warranty voiding risks), the mattress pad, and Jack's crib skirt (which will be stored with his other pirate bedding stuff, possibly to be made into something useful later on down the line).

I am feeling a bit unmotivated lately. I think I've been doing too much in terms of preparation. I mean, we've got a solid 12 weeks until Nina comes. I still feel like things are incomplete though. If we were to bring her home tomorrow, we'd be okay. But, I still want to get together something with her name on it (thinking a giant wall decal that matches the bedding), we want a new light for the kids' room, we have to hang curtains in our room, we have to get new curtain rods for the main windows. I have a pretty decent sized list of stuff that still needs to be done.

We finally got an okay to close on our refinance. Despite receiving numerous documents saying we owe a crap ton of money in closing costs, our broker is now estimating that we may get money back. Nothing substantial, certainly not the equivalent of what we could have paid them, but still it's nice to know that we're not being completely ripped off. We've waited over 2 months for this process to complete itself. 

Jack has been more communicative lately. I do find that I can tell what he wants better than anyone else, including Todd, but I assume that's simply because I can finally decipher his cues. His vocabulary is definitely expanding and he is now putting some words together. His tantrums...well, let's just say that we've been lucky. I don't want to jinx myself and have a terrible twoer again next week. 

Our biggest problem with him in the last few weeks or so has been meal time. He is a grazer. I've never withheld food from him, but it's starting to look like I'm having to. He's just not eating anything beyond the occasional snack. Now, he can have a pack of fruit snacks after he eats the majority of his meal. In the last few days, he's eating lunch and dinner without a fight. He is enjoying food again. I don't do breakfast, Todd does, and Jack knows that he can play daddy like a fiddle. If Jack won't eat his breakfast, Todd will eventually breakdown and give him a snack. I do not do this. Jack knows this and has been known to take advantage of Todd's determination to make him eat something. Now, I'm not depriving Jack of between meal snacks. I'm just limiting them. He is no longer allowed to graze on dry cereal at will or enjoy package after package of fruit snacks. His snacks are limited to a more formal snack time, with a handful of cereal and a cup of milk, or a package of graham crackers and a cheese stick.

So yeah, 12 weeks until the baby comes. My belly button is officially gone. I'd post a picture, but the scar(s) from my ectopic and gallbladder surgeries is weird looking and my belly button piercing has never closed up. It looks a bit like a long faced alien now. Note to anyone with a belly piercing that plans on becoming pregnant: I wore a ring until I lost my belly button with Jack. I wore my ring after he was born but took it out eventually because the holes got too stretched and I didn't really want to gauge up. Your holes will stretch a bit and remain open. They don't create nasty "V" shaped scars, but they do look a bit wonky post baby. 

My biweekly updates are rounded UP to the c-section and not to the ultrasound measuring due date. Although, even now, she's a week ahead of where they say she's due. I am convinced she's going to come early. Only time will tell on this one. I am preparing myself for a full term baby though, and if we judge Nina by Jack's 3.5 week prematurity, I'm looking at an 8-9lb baby. Blah blah blah, every baby different, blah blah blah aside, I'm still not expecting to bring home a tiny baby. I keep having to remind people to limit the amount of newborn size clothing. Even a month early, Jack had 2-3 newborn outfits and was out of them within a week. 0-3 month outfits are perfectly acceptable. If she comes super early, we'll have time to reevaluate her wardrobe.

Oh dear lord. 12 weeks...