We are the Millers

As Baby Day approaches, I am thinking about packing my hospital bag. I got the most adorable black and pink polka dotted bag to take with that is big enough to hold vacation clothes for a week! In researching what to pack, this is the list I have come up with: Birth Plan Health Insurance Information Driver's License Money for parking and vending machines Robe Slippers PJ's Underwear Pillow or blanket Lip Balm Shampoo/Conditioner Soap Razor Hair ties and clips Brush Make up Deodorant Toothbrush and toothpaste Cell phone and charger Book or magazine Notepad and pen Empty duffel bag (for all of the free goodies and gifts) Maternity outfit to go home in Baby going home outfit Mittens, booties, hat Receiving blanket Diaper bag with diapers wipe cloths blanket Camera Car seat iPod Snacks So, all you moms out there, I ask you, what do you think of this list? Too little? Too much? What else will I need to make my hospital stay more comfortable? Is there anything on here that I'...

How far along: 33 weeks, 49 days to go! Size of baby: The size of a honeydew! Maternity Clothes: Nothing new recently! Gender: Baby Girl! Movement: Lots and lots! What I miss: My energy! Cravings: I'm not really craving much of anything. Symptoms: A lot of aches and pains going on but nothing serious! UGH! Where has all of my energy gone?! I was feeling pretty good for a while. The mixture of cooler weather and my Little Miss kickboxing really lifted my moods. But now I feel like all of my energy has just been zapped out of me! It doesn't help that I have been sick with a cold for 2 weeks but still. I have been getting PLENTY of sleep and have been drinking a ton of water. I just have NO ENERGY! I'm also getting more and more nervous as the days pass on. My husband said to me last night, "I just don't think you're going to make it to December. Actually, I don't think you're going to make it to the baby shower!" WHAT?! He says he has a feeling that ...

How far along: 31 weeks 6 days, 57 days to go! Size of baby: Still the size of a squash but I feel like the size of a honeydew!Maternity Clothes: So far I love all of the Fall stuff I just got! Gender: Baby Girl! Movement: Lots and lots! What I miss: My energy! Cravings: I'm not really craving much of anything. Symptoms: A lot of aches and pains going on but nothing serious! I'm disappointed because I thought I was getting an ultrasound today but I didn't. I was looking forward to seeing how big my little monster is! My husband asked if we missed one because he thought it was today too and the receptionist said no. She said she would put us in for one so we will see if she does. I go back in 2 weeks! Looks like everything is measuring properly and I only gained 2 pounds! Her heart rate was 145 today. The only thing I have to do is take 2 iron pills instead of one. I think I can handle that! I'm still feeling pretty good, aside from being tired and aside from being sick....

How far along: 30 weeks, 70 days to go! Size of baby: The size of a squash Maternity Clothes: Just ordered a bunch of Fall stuff...can't wait to get it! Gender: Baby Girl! Movement: Lots and lots! What I miss: My energy! My more stable moods! Cravings: I'm not really craving much of anything. Symptoms: I'm still very tired all of the time, no headaches, ankles swell occasionally, heartburn and backaches are the worst! I realized today that I'm actually due on a Tuesday so I will be doing my updates on Tuesdays from now on! I haven't had too much going on in the past week so there isn't much to update. I've been feeling pretty good which is a nice change from how I was a few weeks ago. Little Miss is kicking pretty much all of the time now! I'm realizing more and more every day that this due date is getting closer and closer and I think my nesting is going to kick in soon! I'm getting nervous because our house isn't even close to being finished a...

17 Tips for a Healthy Pregnancy - #3 Write a Brith Plan Determined to have a doula? Counting on that epidural? Write down your wishes and give a copy to everyone involved with the delivery. According to the American Pregnancy Association, here are some things to consider when writing your birth plan: - Who you want present, including children or siblings of the baby - Procedures you want to avoid - What positions you prefer for labor and delivery - Special clothing you'd like to wear - Whether you want music or a special focal point - Whether you want pain medications, and what kind - What to do if complications arise I haven't thought about this yet because it kind of freaks me out. Writing down everything that I want during delivery just makes it all the more real, and just reiterates the fact that it's only 2 1/2 months away! My doctor hasn't asked me about this yet so I will wait until she does to really worry about it but I know have to start thinking about it. I f...

How far along: 28 weeks 5 days...79 days to go! Size of baby: Almost the size of a squash Maternity Clothes: Nothing new in the past week Gender: Baby Girl! Movement: Lots and lots! What I miss: My energy! My more stable moods! Cravings: I'm not really craving much of anything. Symptoms: I'm still very tired all of the time, no headaches, ankles swell occasionally, heartburn and backaches are the worst! Today's check up went well. Little Miss must have been moving around a lot this morning because her heartbeat was 156! But the doctor said everything looks good. I'm measuring well, my weight is on track, no crazy symptoms to report. It's all good! I go back on October 17th for my next ultrasound and after that, I have to go every two weeks! I didn't realize how close it was until she she said every two weeks! Little Miss is moving around quite a bit. I still notice it mostly when I'm hungry and after I've eaten. So she is telling me to give her some food...

How far along: 24 weeks 5 days Size of baby: Almost the size of an eggplant. Maternity Clothes: I haven't bought anything new in a while. Gender: Baby Girl! Movement: I'm still not able to definitely say that I'm feeling movement. I should be feeling her by now but I'm not and I'm getting antsy! What I miss: My energy! I am still so very tired. Cravings: Mostly carbs like potatoes, cheese fries, pasta, cheddar gold fish and still sweets! Symptoms: I'm still very tired all of the time, no headaches, ankles swell all of the time, heartburn and backaches are the worst! I'm very grouchy today so this will probably be short. Today's appointment was just a regular check up. Heart rate was 142. On paper, the doctor is still measuring me at 23 weeks 5 days, even though my last ultrasound put me a week ahead. So I'm sticking with the week ahead! As far as symptoms go, still tired all of the time. The backaches are probably the worst sympto...

I just realized I haven't blogged an update since my last ultrasound!! How far along: 22 weeks 3 days Size of baby: Size of a papaya and weighs at least 1 pound by now! Maternity Clothes: I bought one new shirt at Target, which already has a stain on it! I bought some items from JC Penny online too so I can't wait to see how that fits! Gender: Baby Girl! Movement: I'm still not able to definitely say that I'm feeling movement. I should be feeling her by now but I'm not. What I miss: My energy! I am still so very tired. Cravings: Mostly carbs like potatoes, cheese fries, pasta, cheddar gold fish and still sweets! Symptoms: I'm still very tired all of the time but I haven't been having too much trouble with headaches. I am still very moody and my ankles swell up at the drop of a hat. The abdominal pain is gone (Yay!) and now I'm dealing with an aching back. I am counting down the weeks until I can meet my little baby girl! We are getting so...

This article was actually sent to my husband via email. It's good and bad that my husband receives emails such as these. It's good because it keeps him in the loop as to what is going on with this baby girl. He gets the week to week emails to tell him what size she is, how she is growing and how I am feeling. I think they help him to realize what is happening to me during this time and I think it helps him cope with me a little better. It's bad for the same reasons! He now knows that what I eat, little Miss eats, so I should eat more salads! He knows that she can hear us and so Mommy has to watch her language. It's sweet, though, when he rubs my belly and talks to her and calls her by name. We are still trying to keep that a secret, although I did tell my Grandmother. She was persistent! She loves the name! Anyway, this article is all about what I should and shouldn't be eating. Now that I feel like a small tank, I think I need to really think about what's...

Ok I love this article! Pregnancy Etiquette 101 I have had so many rude people asking me so many irritating questions throughout this pregnancy so far. I feel like a jerk because I get so irritated by these people! But I see now that I am not the only one! The article was provided by Red Pen Mama via Wordpress. 1. I, myself, cannot stop the question “How do you feel?” from popping out of my mouth. Now, I don’t ask strangers that (I don’t ask pregnant strangers anything; I am an anomaly. I am a very private, quiet, introverted person who feels uncomfortable talking with strangers about my own pregnancies and/or labors, so I just don’t go there with people I don’t know.) I’ve asked my SILs this question; and my pregnant coworkers; and pregnant friends. I ask because I genuinely care, and they can tell me as much or as little as they want. But don’t ask if you don’t want to know, and don’t ask just so you can talk about your own pregnancies. --I am asked this question ALL OF THE TIME! I k...

How far along: 20 weeks 6 days Size of baby: Almost the size of a banana Maternity Clothes: I bought one new shirt at Target. Gender: It's a...........see below Movement: Although the baby is moving around in there, I still can't feel a thing as far as I know. They tell me I should start to feel movement within the next week or two. YAY! What I miss: My energy! I am still so very tired. Cravings: Mostly carbs like potatoes, cheese fries, pasta, cheddar gold fish and still sweets! Symptoms: I'm still very tired all of the time but I haven't been having too much trouble with headaches. I am still very moody and my ankles swell up at the drop of a hat. I've also got quite a bit of lower abdominal pain, which the doctor says is just my ovaries stretching. Boo! Today is the day that we have been waiting so patiently for! The ultrasound looked great! We could see all kinds of baby anatomy on this one. Go figure the baby is breach right now. So to answer the question that ...

"The desire has to be there before any action is likely to follow. The good news is, you've already got this one covered. After all, you're reading an article on Parents.com telling you how to be an awesome dad. Chances are, you're already a self-sacrificing, actively involved dad who loves to show off his kid's snapshots on Facebook, even if they're only sonograms." No problem with this one at all!!! My husband can't wait to be a daddy! And I know that once this little monster comes into our world, Daddy is going to be taking the poor thing everywhere with him! He couldn't wait to show everyone the first sonogram picture, I can't imagine what he'll actually do with a baby! That's the end of the "7 Ways to be an Awesome New Dad" blog series. I hope you enjoyed it. I will be posting a few random blogs in the next few days that aren't baby related but they are very interesting. I'll keep an eye out for another blog serie...

"You won't be able to enforce your expectations until your child is older, but the process will likely become one of the most enduring rules in parenting over time. One of your jobs as a dad is to protect and train your child, and even if it never really seems like it, kids crave structure. As your baby grows old enough to understand "yes" and "no," make sure those words have meaning. Let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no. Let your "I will" become "I did." You're not perfect, but now you've got a little adult watching you to see if the rules even matter." I'm not sure what to think about this one. I can guarantee that the word 'no' is going to be hard for my husband to use. He never uses it now! He just doesn't know how to say no to people. Anytime anyone asks his for help, he is always right there. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad trait, but sometimes you just have to say ...

"Always keep your digital camera handy and snap a few shots of the baby every couple of days. Make it your job to create and be responsible for the baby's photo database on the family computer or your laptop. Don't worry about being a pro -- there's a reason they're called snapshots. Every picture tells a story, so just imagine what a gifted storyteller you can easily become!" My husband has an iPhone so he is always snapping pictures. We are both addicted to taking random photos for no reason. If one of the pugs has a really cute face, we snap a photo. If one of the cats is curled up all cute-like on a blanket, we snap a photo. My husband also takes a lot of pictures of any jobs that he might be working on. We never seem to have any issues with taking pictures. The problem we have is taking pictures of ourselves! Whenever we go on vacation, we have tons of photos of the scenery or the place we are staying but never any of us. We have to break that! The only i...

"One of my biggest pet peeves is when I see a child complimented by a stranger in front of one of that child's parents, and then I hear the parent sarcastically reply, "You want him? You can take him home with you if you want..." Guard your attitude toward parenting. Sure, there are annoying things, but being the kind of dad your kids will be proud to call their own means building up, not tearing down." This is yet another area where my husband will have no issues at all. My husband has always been a positive person. He's almost always smiling and laughing and joking around and he generally carries a positive energy with him wherever he goes. His business has made him a little more bitter over the past few months but overall he is still a positive guy. He will have no problems praising our children at all. He likes to help people. He likes to make people feel better. He likes knowing that he can make a difference in in another person's life. He will be t...

"You are a guy. Therefore, you are funny, or at least you probably think you are. Your sense of humor may even be one of the reasons your wife was attracted to you in the first place. Now it's time to start using your comic talent to entertain the little squirt. Find the fun in goofing around with your baby. Because, honestly, what else do you do with babies besides change their diapers and feed them? Your instincts will guide you to treat your baby like the only person at an amusement park or the only member in the audience of your own late-night show." Ok, first of all, I love that they refer to the baby as 'little squirt' in this article, especially since I call our baby little monster. Second, my husband has a great sense of humor. He loves to joke around. I always say I will be raising two children because he is just such a kid at heart. This is why I see no issue with this at all. He sometimes gets uncomfortable with children because he doesn't always kn...

"Having a baby adds a whole new list of to-dos to your wife's day and to yours. But don't just sit back and wait for things to get checked off the list. Jump right in and be the first one to figure out the best way to soothe your little one at night, or the easiest way to clean the baby bottles. And even though you can't breast feed your baby, you can take over for some daddy-baby bonding time afterwards. Soon enough you'll be doing other great proactive dad stuff like reading bedtime stories and signing up to coach Little League." I don't think my husband will have any issues with this at all. My husband is a jump-in-and-get-your-hands-dirty kind of guy. He loves to be involved in anything he possibly can be. Our church has game nights every Friday night and you can always find him playing volleyball with the adults or kickball with the kids. He always has to be moving. That's one of the reasons I think being a stay at home daddy will work for him...

How far along: 19 weeks Size of baby: The size of a mango Maternity Clothes: I haven't bought anything new since my last online shopping spree but I am loving my maternity clothes. Gender: Still unknown!! Find out August 1st! 11 days! Movement: Although the baby is moving around in there, I still can't feel a thing as far as I know. I should start to feel her moving soon. What I miss: My energy! I am still so very tired. Cravings: Mostly carbs like potatoes, cheese fries, pasta, cheddar gold fish and still sweets! Symptoms: I'm still very tired all of the time but I haven't been having too much trouble with headaches. I am still very moody and my ankles swell up at the drop of a hat. We are still waiting to feel this baby move!! I have not felt any movement yet, that I'm aware of. I think we are both overly excited for that. No baby movement = me more anxious to get to my next appointment and make sure everything is ok in there! Aside from the terrible mood swings a...

"Giving up a few (or many) things is perhaps the most obvious, fundamental rule in being an awesome dad. Without sacrificing your time, you wouldn't be able to pull off all of the other keys to becoming great. You trade in your relaxing after-work "zone-out time" for "zone-in time" with your wife and baby, but the key to giving up your time isn't as simple as just being there-- it's a matter of making yourself as involved as possible while you are there." This is going to be a tough one for my husband. Now we have already established that he is planning to be a stay at home daddy but he is also still planning to run his business from home. While he may be able to spend more time at home, I don't know how easy it will be for him to shut his brain off and actually BE at home. He has such a hard time doing that now. I think that if he is able to be at home mentally, he will enjoy his life much more. I think that he will have a great time tendi...

At this point, my husband and I have decided that he is going to be a stay at home daddy. There were many reasons we came to this conclusion: 1. He owns his own business: It is easier for him to run things from home. His whole goal this summer was to try to find a reliable enough employee to handle being the job manager so that he could run things from home. While this is proving to be a little more complicated than we had originally thought, we are still hoping to make this happen. 2. I love my job: I found a job that I actually enjoy and I want to keep it! My boss is also very flexible and will probably allow me to work from home a few days a weeks so I still get to enjoy my new baby. 3. Health Insurance: I have health insurance through my job and he doesn't. I know that we could get private insurance but that's going to cost way more than what I'm paying now. 4. Security: I have a job with a stable income and he doesn't, especially during the Winter months. He has th...