Teddy had his 2 year check up last week. He measured at 34 pounds and 35 inches. 95% for weight and 75% for height. I might try measuring him again, he didn't stand still the best. The doctor thought he was going to be in a higher percentile just from looking at him. I can never remember the head but it was 75% as well. He is on track for everything and even ahead in a lot of places. He hated the shots and I asked for them to a blood draw to check his iron level. He hated that big time. His iron came back fine. I was just worried because for several weeks he was sleeping 12-13 hours at night and then sleeping 2-2.5 hours during the day but would still ask to sleep a lot and had dark circles under his eyes. He didn't have any nasal symptoms so we ruled out allergies. But all is well. He had a bad cold this weekend and was super grumpy but is much better today.
Baby's check up was today! Heartbeat measured at 150. Teddy measured around 130 at this point and according to old wive's tales boys measure below 140 and girls measure above. We'll see, I'm still about 2 months away from finding out the gender. I have decided I do want to find out the gender. We will be thrilled either way. On one hand I would like to experience a girl eventually. We want 3 or 4 kids, if everything goes well with my future pregnancies and deliveries and I can get pregnant so easily again. Of course if I never have a girl that's ok. Doug really thinks this one is a girl and says he really wants another boy too. He claims he will go until we have 10 kids to get another boy. Yeah, good luck convincing the person who has to grow them of that, buddy!! Anyway, a boy now would be great too because we already have all the clothes!
They didn't measure my fundal height today. I was hoping they would because when I do it at the house (pretty sure I'm doing it right) I'm measuring 14 cm. I was hoping that would be enough for them to think "hmm...let's do another ultrasound" and then baby would have caught up to my expected due date. I was told we'd do one at 10 weeks for dating purposes, that they like that time the best. But at the 8 week one to check for heartbeat they never mentioned it. Teddy measured 10 days behind and then caught up at the 8 week one. This one measured 12 days behind and didn't catch up. But I wonder if it would be different after just another week or two. When there's more things to measure than just a blob.
Not that it really matters. Honestly, the later date would probably be better in terms of us getting things together. It would just be a matter of pride that my date was correct, that I knew what was going on with my body. I don't know, I guess I might have ovulated while I was puking my guts out, I wasn't exactly checking for signs during those 3-4 days. It's just all so weird. That I ovulated on my own at all. And then that it would have been after I thought it had been? What was what I experienced earlier then?
I think we've decided to stay with FIL for another year and probably remodel the unfinished part of the basement. Right now we moved our bed out of the big open room in the basement to what was the furnace/storage room. Except it's burning me up at night and since there isn't any partition between the furnace and us (aside from junk hidden behind a curtain) it's kind of noisy too. Just noisy enough to keep me from falling back to sleep if I wake up to pee or am dealing with insomnia (which is happening a lot!) This would get us out of that room and we could put in a finished bathroom instead of hiking upstairs. We're just in the planning stage, we probably wouldn't start until February after Doug gets his first bonus. And that will allow me some time to be sure it's what I want. FIL has been gone hunting for weeks now (comes back for a day or two and goes again) so it's been really nice but I might have forgotten what a pain it is when he's here.
Financially it makes the most sense. I just need to hold on another year or two-- or get a full time job that can somehow pay for two kids in full time childcare and have money leftover. Not going to hold my breath for that to happen. And honestly, I don't want it to. If we didn't have this option, we would have done something for us to be able to afford our own place to live, even if it was tiny. But I am fully aware that I am choosing this lifestyle. It comes with a price. If I want to be home with my kids then even if Doug were making $100,000 a year I wouldn't be spending it on a bunch of luxuries. But even on his current salary we can make ends meet if I lower my expectations of my lifestyle. It means renting or living with family (again, NOT for free, but still a little cheaper). It means frugal meals (but still healthy!) It means very few presents. It means older vehicles. Less or no eating out. No times out with friends, but times in can be nice. Very few or no product parties. No manicures, no massages, no fancy phones, no photo sessions, no camera, no new clothes or shoes and if so definitely clearance or second hand and only if truly a need. We down graded from our iphones. If we had our own place we definitely wouldn't have cable and probably would cut out internet too but FIL wants them and he pays for them. We're mindful of our trips to town and to friend's houses to save on gas. And you won't hear me complain about this lifestyle that I'm choosing to live. I just wish others that do live outside their means wouldn't then complain when they think they still don't have enough and think that they deserve to have that before other people have basic needs met and that them living outside their means is someone else's (namely the government's) fault. And they certainly don't need to loudly proclaim how "bad" they have it on facebook and then throw a giant fit when someone shows them how blessed they are.
But if all goes well in about a year Doug will be general manager of his store and will be making a lot (to us) more. And I'm still thinking about finishing my master's. I definitely want to do it eventually. It's just a matter of, should I do it when the kids are little or should I wait until my youngest is a bit more independent? If I can teach even a few classes online a year I can pay off what I owe in loans and put some aside for kids college and retirement. But all those are 'maybes' and we have certainly learned that maybes don't always work out and to not put much faith in them. Living for today, we are blessed. We have plenty of food, shelter, clothes and love. We are blessed beyond measure.
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