29 November 2020

 Work was very quiet this week as most everybody had taken the week off for the Thanksgiving holiday.  It meant I could catch up on some maintenance tasks.  On Monday my morning started early with dropping Felicity off at seminary, taking Helen and Arlo to the bus stop, and then back to the church to pick up Felicity and take her to school.  Phil worked at Pima teaching paramedic class and I met him mid day for lunch.  I enjoy it when we can make that happen, today especially since he also worked teaching Fire Academy in the evening until ten.

Phil was at the fire station on Tuesday and I had an early morning OB appointment.  It was a follow up ultrasound to check on the status of my placenta previa.  Unfortunately not only has it not moved away from my cervix as my uterus has expanded, it actually repositioned in the wrong direction and is now completely covering my cervix.  The doctor is concerned and reemphasized taking it easy and warned me to call right away if I had any bleeding or contractions.   She also said we may move the c-section date up to January 4th from the 11th which is three weeks earlier than my due date.  I'm not too worried as I haven't had any problems or symptoms of problems yet and we are well past the point of fetal viability.  The good news? Baby's measurements put him at 3 pounds 4 ounces, which is exactly what is expected for his gestational age, again, its looking like we'll have a nice normal-sized baby this time around. 

We celebrated our Thanksgiving on Wednesday since Phil was going to be working on Thursday.  I took the day off from work and started cooking early.  Phil came home around 8:30 and surprised me with a new haircut.  He cuts his own hair, usually while he's at work, this time he shaved it all off, and quite honestly, I really like it!

I had this idea this spring when I bought chicks that I would like to buy a breeding pair of turkeys to keep on the ranch (and produce chicks for us) and then to raise one for our Thanksgiving dinner and have one to sell as a "Thanksgiving Experience".  Basically I thought there might be folks out there who would be interested in harvesting their own fresh turkey, but maybe wouldn't know how or wouldn't have the space to raise their own.  Well now that our turkeys are grown, we decided which two we were keeping, which we were eating, and which one we were going to sell.  I mentioned my idea to a few people and had an interested friend, so she and her family came out to the ranch Wednesday morning and Phil walked them through the culling and cleaning process and when we were done we both had fresh, farm-raised turkeys to put on our tables.  I am hoping that we get several turkey chicks next spring because this trial run of our "Thanksgiving Experience" was so successful, I'd like to try it on a bigger scale next year.  Making Two Jack Ranch as self-sustainable as possible is my goal, so I love to come up with ways to make it pay for itself: selling pork, eggs, honey, and now farm experiences!  

Felicity helped me a lot in the kitchen this year.  She wanted to take on the pie crusts, so I taught her how I do mine.  The crusts and subsequent pies turned out great. Our dinner, fresh fried turkey included, was ready around 2 PM.  It was just our little family this year.  Although we had a missing family member at the table, Arlo had taken off at some point during the morning (probably escaping from any clean up the kitchen related chores) and didn't respond to the triangle I have mounted to the back porch; we started without him.  We had a very nice meal and everyone ate until they were satisfied.  In the evening we watched a movie together (and Arlo finally ate his meal when he resurfaced on his bike), enjoyed pie, and then Phil and the kids cleaned the kitchen for me.  

Phil started packing for his hunt since he had to work on Thursday.  When he's hunting for himself he usually backpacks in, so it was interesting to see him pack all of his light-weight, necessity only items in his pack.  It still ended up looking really heavy, I don't know how he does it!  He's really excited to go, he's hunting with his brother, his nephew, his brother's brother-in-law, and his brother's brother-in-law's son (did you catch all that?).

Thursday was nice, I got up for a little while with Phil before he left for work and then lazed around the house for a couple of hours and had pie for breakfast.  About mid-morning Helen found me to tell me that Arlo had chipped his tooth.  When I asked him to see it I was appalled to see that he had broken off a very large piece of his front, permanent I might add, tooth.  When I asked how it happened assuming he'd say he'd fallen off his bike or ran into something, he told me he was playing with magnets in his mouth.  Really?!  You are almost nine years old, why on earth would you put magnets in your mouth.  Ugh!  He said it wasn't hurting so I guess we'll just have it looked at when he has his upcoming dentist appointment next Friday.

On Friday I officially picked up my last Christmas gift and I am done!  My goal was to complete all of the Christmas crafting, gift buying, decorating, and baking in November so that I could focus on getting ready for the baby in December, well I've finished the crafting and gift buying, hopefully I can finish most of the decorating on Monday.  I went grocery shopping on Friday morning and picked up everything I needed to make my holiday treats and cookies and in the afternoon I started baking.  Felicity and I made 32 mini loaves of banana bread and 16 loaves of pumpkin bread.  Helen had a virtual appointment with the counselor and I think that went well.

 Maggie has started her anti-fungal medication and is responding well.  She doesn't seem to be in near as much pain, I think she's starting to think peanut butter has magical properties since that's what she gets her pill in twice a day.   I picked up a paper copy of her prescription from the vet (with only a little push back) so we are hoping to explore some alternative options for getting in filled since she's going to be on it for a long time.

Saturday was more chores and Christmas baking.  I'm struggling to keep up with the "have-to" normal weekly chores (like laundry and dishes) in addition to the extras that I like to do this time of year.  We're starting to move a lot of the extra stuff out to the temporary shed and I think when that is done and we can set up the baby's room it will be easier to clean.  Phil got home from hunting around 7:30 and brought deer home!  He got a nice buck on his second morning and came home dirty and tired.  I had picked up take-out and the kids and I were watching a Christmas movie when he got home.  He sat to watch with us, but after having his dinner promptly fell asleep on the couch.  The cat, who was very interested in all the exotic smells that must have been emanating from his hunting clothes, curled up on top of him and dozed off too...they were a funny sight.

 We had a great Sunday.  Phil had a meeting in the morning and then we were all at church for Sacrament meeting.  When we were done we came home and I worked on some more baking, knocking out my haystacks, some ready-bake cookies, and a pound of fudge (which actually turned out pretty good the first time, surprising since I'm a notorious fudge failure).  Phil and Arlo worked on hanging the outside Christmas lights and Felicity helped me in the kitchen and also set up the artificial tree in the living room.  In the afternoon we went to my mom and dad's house for dinner and visiting.  We had a very nice visit and got home in time for scriptures, prayer, and bed.  Phil is heading back out hunting on Monday morning, helping the other guys since he filled his tag.  Its going to be a busy week ahead of us!

22 November 2020

 This time of year always just flies by and I have so much to do that I'm finding myself wishing things would slow down a bit.  The kids went to school and seminary on Monday and Phil was teaching at the college which left me all on my own during the day.  I worked from home and also had the opportunity to make progress on my last few remaining Christmas gifts.  I finished three hats for the kids on Monday before it was time to run around picking everyone up and dropping off eggs and lots of other errands.  

 Our dog Maggie has not been feeling well lately.  It started several weeks ago when she developed a cough, but I didn't think much of it because she only coughed after running hard or getting excited.  A few weeks after that she started limping on one leg and when we couldn't find any cactus assumed it was a sprain or torn muscle.  Well last week she stopped walking all together, she had no appetite, was depressed, and drug her bottom along the ground to get to her food and water.  She was able to get up on occasion, but you could tell it hurt.  I was able to squeeze her in on Tuesday for a vet appointment as we were thinking she probably had Valley Fever.  Sure enough, her test results came back positive.  The vet said the cases have skyrocketed this year since we didn't get any rain and thus there was more dust blowing around.  She gave us a pain medication and started Maggie on an anti-fungal medication, a medication that she will have to take every day, twice a day, for 2-3 years.  Ugh!  She's worth it though because I wouldn't want to have to try and train another dog to do all the things Maggie does on the ranch, that and we're kinda fond of her!

 On Wednesday evening Phil and I went into Vail to look at a bunk bed that Phil found on FaceBook Market Place for Arlo's room.  I had intentions to build Arlo a bed, but it still hasn't happened and I'm sure he's tired of sleeping on a mattress on the floor.  The bed was nice enough, so we bought it and Phil put it together when we got home.  It takes up a lot of room so we had to rearrange some things, but I'm happy with how it turned out and I think Arlo is too.

Felicity and Phil went back out for a final day of hunting on Thursday morning.  They saw lots of animals, but didn't get close enough to get a shot, so at the end of the day, they didn't bring any meat home.  Phil has his own hunt coming up after Thanksgiving and then our family will be done with deer season.  I am now 31 weeks into my pregnancy and I'm feeling really well.  I've gained altogether too much weight and I get tired and achy pretty quickly after trying to work around the house, but I am so grateful and excited.  I can't believe we're only 7 weeks away from meeting our newest addition.

Helen and Arlo went to visit their dad this weekend and on Friday Phil and Felicity and I went to Costco and a few other places before enjoying a nice evening in.  Phil worked at Pima on Saturday as his paramedic class is practicing for their final exams.  Felicity helped me with some chores around the house, I'm currently trying to pack up my office/craft room so we can tear down the built-ins, paint, and actually set up our new baby furniture.  I did carve out some time to finish the kids' PJs for the year (I always make them a set of PJs for Christmas) and another gift I'm excited about, but I won't share it with you just yet as I really want to keep this buttoned up until Christmas.  

 There were a couple more baby projects sprinkled in, I love this little wipe container I made that matches the clothing tote labels and closet hanger labels.

When Phil got home from work, he set to fixing the dryer which hadn't been working all week.  He ordered a part on Amazon and within an hour or so he had us up and running again.  I'm so grateful for him.  It's not that I couldn't have done it, but the fact that I don't have to is wonderful.

 Our Sunday was lovely, we had biscuits and gravy for breakfast and watched Stake Conference from home.  In the afternoon Phil and I went to a drive-by baby shower for one of his co-workers which was nice.  We picked up the kids in the evening and were grateful to have everyone safe under one roof on Sunday night, ready for the upcoming short holiday week.  (Can I mention that I only have 4 more Mondays of work before my maternity leave!?)

15 November 2020

 I'm actually feeling pretty confident that I'll be able to get everything ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year with plenty of time to spare to get ready for the baby's arrival in January.  That's due in part to all the time I spent this week finishing up projects and presents.  Even though I'm feeling confident, if I'm not scrambling until the very end (like last year when I delivered my cookie plates on Christmas Eve) it will be a Christmas miracle!

 Monday was my birthday, and it was a significant one, I turned 40.  FORTY!? I'm not sure how that happened, but it did and here I am, a 40 year old.  Evidently telling people in the preceding weeks that I wouldn't be celebrating my birthday this year did not prevent it from happening anyway.  Oh, well!  I worked during the day and in the evening Phil took me out to dinner at Texas Road House and we had steak and ribs and really enjoyed ourselves.  I got lots of birthday wishes and felt loved, it was a good day after all. 

We wandered Target before dinner on Monday and got ideas for baby items we want to get.  We were so blessed by so many generous people.  We had several gift cards to use on top of the nursery furniture money.  We got some good ideas and started buying things off our baby list this week.  I've been getting boxes from Target and Amazon all week!  Phil worked at the fire station on Tuesday and I had a check up in the morning.  It was just a standard blood pressure, sugar, measurement exam and I was in and out fairly quickly.  Everything is good, my fundal measurements are right on target.  I keep thinking how crazy it would be to have a normal-sized baby.    For reference Felicity was born at 42 weeks and was 10 pounds, 2 oz, Helen was born at 38 weeks at 10 pounds, 0 oz, and Arlo was born at 37 weeks at 10 pounds, 4 oz.  I don't know what I would do with a 7 pound baby, I might lose baby Jude in the blankets or something.  

All three kids had in-person youth activities at the church on Tuesday evening, which they really enjoyed.  They were home from school on Wednesday for Veteran's Day and Phil didn't have to work either.  I worked from home, but mid day I took a break and Phil and I drove over to the north side of Tucson.  We had picked a set of nursery furniture online and wanted to see it in person and see which pieces were available.  We really went back and forth on buying new furniture versus used furniture.  We looked on Craig's List and Facebook Marketplace, but people rarely sell whole sets of furniture, they get rid of the cribs, but not the dressers/change tables, etc.  We reasoned that if we bought nicer furniture it would last longer and Jude could use it for longer.  Anyway, we went into the store and walked out with a crib and change table, which they had in stock, and ordered a bookshelf and dresser, which will be delivered in a few weeks.  I'm happy with the decision and look forward to emptying out my office/craft room, painting, and setting up the baby's room.  Thank you to everyone who donated toward our nursery furniture fund, it covered more than 1/3 of the cost of the entire set and we are so appreciative.  

 We unloaded what we brought home with us and then Phil went to teach Fire Academy.  They're wrapping up their academy and were prepping for their family night which means they were practicing putting out fires, so he came home all smoky. 

 Thursday morning I got up early and went down to the church to be the hall monitor for seminary.  It was a little strange seeing as Felicity doesn't have seminary on Thursday, but I was happy to help and I got to crochet for an hour while sitting in the quiet hallway.  Phil was up early on Friday morning with Felicity and the two of them went deer hunting in the Catalinas.  They hiked back a ways and were able to see several bucks, Felicity had a shot in the afternoon, but missed.  They ended up coming home instead of camping out and went back out on Saturday morning, this time into the Rincons.  They saw several more bucks and she shot and missed.  Since it was a muzzel-loader hunt, they didn't get a second shot and after test firing the gun a couple times Phil determined that the gun was at fault.  Helen lost her opportunity to go since she can't afford to miss school because her grades have been so poor.  

 My girlfriends and I met for dinner in Tucson in the evening on Friday.  We went to Postino on Grant and it was really different, but really good.  We enjoyed time together and even had cake to celebrate my and Aly's birthdays which are both this month.

I worked on laundry, cleaning house, and some Christmas projects on Saturday.  I have been trying to get ahead on gift buying and making so that I can focus on getting ready for baby in December.  I wasn't successful at completing the house cleaning or the laundry, but I was able to make a set of onsies for one of Phil's co-workers who is also having a baby around the same time as us.  I also added monograms to our family's Christmas stockings and made some custom onsies for our baby as well. 

Helen had a meeting with the other youth leaders on Sunday morning, so I dropped her off first, came home and got the rest of the family ready for church, and then we joined Helen at 10:30 for Sacrament meeting.  When we were done we stopped over at my mom's house to visit and have lunch.  The kids and I enjoyed the rest of our Sabbath together and are ready for another week.

08 November 2020

 My Monday was busier than normal it seems.  I managed to oversleep and wake up only in time to throw something on and rush Felicity to seminary and then drop Helen and Arlo off at the bus stop.  That left me a few minutes to shower and dress as I needed to be in Tucson for my three hour glucose test at eight.  I failed my one hour test last week (just barely) so they wanted me to take the more extensive test.  It was basically a blood draw at 7:50 followed by downing a sugary drink then I had to be back at 8:50, 9:50, and 10:50 for subsequent blood draws.  Needless to say by eleven my arms were bruised and tender.  I did pass, however, so no worries about gestational diabetes.  I had several meeting in the afternoon at work and was excited to see Phil when he got home from teaching in the evening.

 I thought it would be fun to have a themed Family Home Evening this week.  We had a lesson about the importance of family both those with us now and those who have gone on before us, we had rolled tacos and beans for dinner, fried cinnamon bread in churro flavored ice cream as our treat while we watched the movie "Coco".  It was a great night and I think the kids really enjoyed it.  Sometimes I manage to put thought and effort into FHE and sometimes we call it a win if come up with something fun to do together.

 Phil taught on Tuesday and I worked, I find I feel a lot more busy at work with my new project.  I'm grateful for that, its almost easier to be busy than to not be.  Only six more Mondays until I get to take my maternity leave...I'm really looking forward to that!

 The kids were back in school on Wednesday and Phil spent his morning fixing the lights on the trailer.  Between a new light kit and some fuses for the truck, he had it working pretty quickly.  Arlo had piano in the afternoon and I ran some errands while he had his class.  Thursday I had a hair appointment in the morning.  I hadn't been in quite some time and I finally told the gal that does my hair that I was ready for a change.  In the spirit on honesty, I hadn't intended for those words to leave my lips, I was planning to have her trim it, touch up my color, and maybe do some side-swept bangs, but the words "I think I'm finally ready to have you cut it" came out of my mouth.  My stylist was practically giddy and she literally took a chunk of waist-length hair and cut it right then and there so I couldn't change my mind.   The color came out beautifully and I was really happy with the cut when we were done.  It is different for sure!  I haven't washed it yet, but I hope that I still love it after I wash it.

 Phil went out to sight in his muzzle-loader rifle since the girls will be using it to hunt next week.  We all got dressed up in the afternoon and met a friend in Madera Canyon who had agreed to do family photos for us.  The fall colors were beautiful in the canyon and the kids were mostly cooperative.  Arlo struggled to smile in any sort of genuine way and I don't know what he has against looking at the camera?  I have several photos of his smirk or creepy forced smile, or outright grimace, but there were a few of him naturally smiling.  As for me, I know that my pregnancy weight is outrageous, but nothing quite drives it home until you see it in a photograph, sheesh!  

 We dropped Helen off at piano after we were done with photos and Phil treated the kids to Taco Bell and a soda from Circle K; it doesn't take much to make them happy.

 I had my day off on Friday and Phil had to work at the fire station.  The kids were all home from school and I was pleasantly surprised when I logged into Arlo's school account and found that he had already finished his "at-home work", hes doing really well and adjusting nicely to the strange hybrid schedule.  Helen is still struggling, I checked her grades and found several missing assignments including a make up test that her ELA teacher had graciously set up for her to take again after not showing up to take it last week, she told me she had taken it, she hadn't.  Its frustrating.  I'm frustrated as a worried mom, shes frustrated that she's being checked up on.  I'm praying we find a happy balance and the tools we both need to be successful.  I had an appointment at the bank in the morning to have them change my name on my accounts.  It has taken forever to get things sorted out making sure we have the right names on everything, the current climate has made that more challenging too.  

 On Saturday Felicity and Phil and I loaded up our ice cream machine and headed to the far north side of Tucson where my wonderful friends were throwing us a baby shower.   It was really windy and threatened to rain so most everything was set up inside.  I loved visiting with everyone that came and everyone colored a page in an ABC book for little Jude and decorated onsies.  Aren't they cute?

We had the ice cream, a soda bar (my favorite), and tons of yummy food.  We were able to live stream some of the more interesting parts on Facebook so that those who were not comfortable coming in person could still participate.  

My girlfriends set up a diaper raffle and a fund for nursery furniture and Phil and I were overwhelmed by how many boxes of diapers and wipes we brought home and how much money was donated towards our nursery fund, we feel so incredibly blessed.

We got some adorable little outfits, a personalized blanket and hooded towel, and so much more that I couldn't name it all.  Phil's mom gave us a photo album of his baby and school pictures and the precious little outfit she brought him home in along with the crocheted blanket he was blessed in. We are just so appreciative of everyone's love and support.

Phil worked at the fire station on Sunday and Felicity and I enjoyed a quiet Sabbath. 

01 November 2020

 I'm tired.  That seems to be the phrase that leaves my lips the most often these days.  This time of year is always busy and I have less energy than normal, but that's OK because I'm looking forward to the holidays.  I reached 28 weeks in my pregnancy this week with ten left to go.  I have a lot to do in those ten weeks!  On Monday the kids were back to school and Phil taught at Pima college, his paramedic class is winding down as they are preparing to take their final exams, I'm looking forward to having more of his time when he's not on duty.  We had Family Home Evening when he got home and carved pumpkins as our activity along with enjoying some apple cider and caramel apples for our treat.  We all had a great time and I love how the pumpkins turned out.  We set them out on porch steps, hopefully no critters drag them off!

 Tuesday I was out of the house early for my eight week follow up ultrasound.  I also had to take my one hour glucose test and get my RhoGAM injection (unlike the smiling woman in the picture on the link...those shots don't go in your arm).  We were disappointed to find that the placenta previa that was discovered in my twenty week exam did not resolve itself and the baby's placenta is still covering the posterior half of my cervix.  She reemphasized the need to take it easy although I haven't had any bleeding at all during my pregnancy and since I already have a cesarean scheduled I'm optimistic this won't give us any problems.  Baby Jude was only measuring a little big (less than a week bigger than expected) so I'm still hopeful he'll be a nice normal size unlike his gigantic siblings.  The bonus was that the doctor caught a cute 3D image of the baby's face.  He's so adorable.  I've been toying with the idea of paying to have an elective non-diagnostic keepsake ultra sound session just so Phil has the opportunity to come in with me and actually see his baby since the doctor's office hasn't (and likely won't) allowed him to come to any of my appointments.  I'm going to be moving to biweekly appointments and will be starting weekly non-stress tests.  I met Phil for lunch in Tucson when my appointment was over since he was on his lunch break at the college.

Considering the outcome of my OB appointment was that I need to be cautious, Phil and I decided that finishing my deer hunt was not a good idea.  We did A LOT of bouncing around on rough roads last weekend and even though I hiked probably less than 1/2 a mile I was pretty beat.  I'm disappointed I didn't get a deer this year, but there's always next year.  Phil left Wednesday morning to go back out hunting with a neighbor who he had said he would help.  He was gone until Thursday night.  Thursday evening I had a stake training after taking Helen to piano lesson.

 Our flock has been laying like crazy and the eggs are finally large enough to start selling again.  I had seven dozen to go out this week and very quickly found a number of families who wanted to be put on our weekly delivery schedule.  At this rate, we'll not only be able to make enough to pay for their feed, but we'll be able to fund our new coop.  I love it when I can make strides towards the ranch being self-sustaining.

 As if my glucose test, which included a blood draw, and my RhoGAM injection wasn't enough poking for the week, the doctor wanted me to get a Tdap booster and a flu shot, so on Wednesday I took a trip down to Walgreens and got two more pokes.   One of the joys of pre-motherhood, pincushion status!

Phil was back at the fire station on Friday and I went into work and worked in the office most of the morning. I got a call from the doctor's office that I didn't pass my glucose test, so I have to go back in on Monday morning and do the more extensive three hour test...I'm not looking forward to that (read four pokes in a three hour period)! I spent my Friday evening working on the kids' Halloween costumes.  I got yet another email from Helen's English teacher that she hadn't turned in any work this week.  How is that possible?!  She physically went to school two of the five days this week. I'm so frustrated.  She can't provide me with a satisfactory explanation and I don't know what to do.  I thought very seriously about telling her she wasn't going to be able to Trick-or-Treat on Saturday.  Looking back I probably should have.  I didn't because I spent so much time making a costume and she had invited (without checking with me first by the way) a friend to go with us, parenting dilemmas, ugh!

I had Helen's costume finished and Felicity's started before going to bed Friday night only to get up again and work pretty much all day on Saturday wrapping up Felicity's.  My mom picked up the kids and took them to lunch in the afternoon so I could sew in peace.  I ran out of time and material to finish the girls' skirts, but they seemed pretty happy with their steam punk costumes just the same.  Felicity made Arlo's costume for me to free up my time to work on hers.  I honestly have no idea what Arlo was supposed to be...some character from a show they've been watching on Disney+, but he was so tickled by it.

On Saturday evening the kiddos put on their costumes and we picked up Helen's friend before stopping at the Baptist church across from the middle school where they were doing a Trunk-or-Treat.  Then we turned the kids loose in my mom's neighborhood while Phil and I hung out with my parents.  They were out for a little more than an hour and came home with their buckets full of candy.  They sat on the floor for a bit and traded candy before we headed home.  

 Phil worked at the fire station on Sunday and I quite literally slept most of the day.  I don't know why I was so tired, but I took the opportunity to rest and get caught up on my sleep.  Phil and I talked on the phone in the evening and he was saying how quiet his day was which usually means that they'll be up all night and sure enough he got a structure fire call late in the evening. Their engine went to back up Drexel Heights which meant for a pretty late night.  Seeing as he has to go straight from work to teaching on Monday morning I'm predicting he's going to be dragging a bit.  I sure am grateful for him and how hard he works to provide for us.