"When You Have To Make A Hard Decision, Flip A Coin. Why? Because When The Coin Is In The Air, You Suddenly Know What Side You Are Hoping For It To Land On."

~Unknown

In an effort to convey how I am feeling today, I will make a list rather than explain my day by paragraph...I apologize ahead of time for those of you who are used to my usual stories, but this feels more like "me" today...

1. Watching Cougar Town on Hulu as I am typing this.
2. Had my normal monthly prenatal doctor's appointment today.
3. Have officially tipped the scales to the "gaining" side portion of the pregnancy...I am now ONE POUND heavier than when I first started being pregnant...I knew this was bound to happen eventually.
4. Didn't have to work until 9am this morning...nice to chill out for a few hours before work.
5. While at home this morning, I helped put together J's birthday present from his baby brother. It's almost finished.
6. While at the doctor's appointment today, J's dad picked him up and took him out to McDonald's for a special man's lunch so that I could concentrate on my appointment and so they could bond-super nice to see and very helpful!
7. Got a tetanus and whooping cough shot today, had blood drawn, AND had a glucose test run...test results in about a week.
8. Scheduled my last two prenatal appointments for December...it is hard to believe we're almost at the end of the pregnancy!
9. Turned in our birth plan paperwork today so that it could be added to my medical profile for when we go into labor.
10. Blood pressure 120/72 and belly measurements by the doctor are right where they should be for the end of 28 weeks.
11. Peyton's heart rate was in the 130s and that is healthy.
12. Sometimes feel like Chris Farley/Bennett Braur during the pregnancy.
13. Got my REAL SIMPLE November issue in the mail today...and am apparently also a finalist in the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes for $1 Million...I won't hold my breath.
14. Made grilled cheese for dinner-Tony was in the mood for tuna and that is a "no-no" on the pregnancy diet, supposedly.
15. Running my weekly laundry through the dryer at the moment and took garbage and green waste out to the street for pickup tomorrow morning.
16. Was asked to start a "kick chart" for monkey now that we are 28 weeks into the pregnancy...to track her activity/movement.
17. Measured my waste tonight...up a inch and 3/4 from last week...Can definitely feel that I'm bigger and waist-related clothes are definitely tight now!

18. Came home to dishes washed by Nikki (her dishes) AND she was vacuuming...I had to take pictures as this was a first for me (and I'm sure her, too)...I KNEW she could do it...so proud of our girl...she's growing up...(she hates that I am doing this, I'm sure...but I feel it needed to be documented).

19. After all this summer of NOT getting that many veggies and treating our little garden to the "royal treatment" (Mikee took such good care of them and watered them every day), now that we have left them alone, not watered them in over 2 months, AND had "cooler" temperatures, they are just unstoppable and growing so well. We actually used some in a salad for dinner tonight-fresh jalapeños and green peppers with spinach, carrots, cucumbers, raisins, and I ALWAYS add cheese to my salads...Yum!
20. Doctor says I should be gaining one to two pounds a week now for the rest of the pregnancy as monkey will be gaining about an ounce a day. Good bye to the "small" side of the pregnancy and hello to the "wide load" phase!
21. This morning I woke up to a lopsided belly. I believe Miss P had her head on my left side and her feet on my right side as it was clearly visible that the left side of my belly was about 3-4 taller than the other side. As soon as I stood up to go to the bathroom, the belly leveled out, as gravity must have kicked in.
22. Definitely can visibly see the effects of monkey's movements in the womb on the outside of the belly. Tried to share with Tony last night, but I could not wake that boy-he was definitely tired.
23. For the first official night of doing the kick chart, it took Peyton 4 minutes to do 10 kicks...so happy I didn't have to stay awake for 2+ hours waiting for her to hit the mark!
24. On a sad note, M's doctor's visit with his Mom today (while I was at MY doctor's appointment) didn't go as well as had hoped and it is now imperative that we watch M's eye movement and head bobbing to determine if it is staying the same, improving, or getting worse. To be honest I didn't think it was that big of a deal and had thought he was just a little behind the curve-I'm hoping I'm right as the doctor's "assumption/worst case scenario" is that it is something that is incurable (it starts with an "s" but I can't remember what it is). Please pray for little Mah-tater-tot to hope he just needs to learn how to gain better control of his eyes.
25. Happy note, J is going to be TWO on Sunday and tomorrow commences birthday party prep...we'll be making gift bags, mozzarella fingers, spider cookies, and mummie hot dogs for Saturday's party at Fog Willow Farms. Wish me luck in the kitchen, please. You know how I usually need a supervisor...hopefully's K's brother (also a chef) will help tomorrow.
26. Where I got my shots today-in the left upper arm-is so incredibly tender...I hope this feeling dissipates soon!
27. Filled out the belly book and took appropriate pictures for the end of week 28 for the pregnancy.
28. Signed up to attend a scrapbooking night with people in the neighborhood in a few weeks-boy do I really need to catch up on that AND meeting other people from the neighborhood will be nice!
29. Got invited to a Passion's Party by evite today...haven't decided if I'll go or if I have enough money to even consider going. Attendance: TBD.
30. You know how I enjoy things in round numbers and multiples of 5...so...I will end with...Good night-what a nice day...and now it's time to hit the hay!