No baby

"There is no baby yet." I don't know how many times I've said this in the last 3 days but it is still true. There is no baby yet. And if you're standing in front of me it's quite obvious. Anyway, if Jillian doesn't come by Friday the doctor is going to induce me. My mom is flying in on Friday as well, so it'll be a busy day. I'm hoping she comes on her own (Jillian, not my mom) before Friday but you never know with these things. So I'm trying to be patient but it is oh, so hard!!!

40 weeks, almost

"Tomorrow, tomorrow, my due date's tomorrow we're only a day away..." (sung to the tune of "Tomorrow" from the musical "Annie"). And while yes, we're only a day away I am quite sure there will be no baby tomorrow. Went to the doctor again. I'm really starting to dread these appointments. She told me what I already knew, no progress from the last 4 weeks. *Sigh* We talked about induction after I'm one week overdue. I guess there are lots of women that go to my doctor that are in the same predicament as I am. Due date is here but there is no progress. Maybe she's going to have one big day where she induces us all...

Merry Christmas!!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas. Sean and I had a good morning. We got up and made breakfast, waffles, hashbrowns, and bacon (YUM!). And of course the traditional chocolate milk and egg nog (although we didn't actually drink the egg nog. I did however, put it in the waffles so they were egg nog waffles). Then we opened gifts. Sean was excited to get a Bob Ross Master Painter set and I was pretty excited to open a set of diamond earrings! And we were both excited to open a new camera from my parents. We'll have to make sure to take lots of pictures, just as soon as we figure out how to work it! We're still awaiting our most anticipated Christmas gift, our daughter. She ought to be coming one of these days....

Christmas Eve

My sister, Heather, and her boys, Stephen, Vance, and Tanner came over for the afternoon today. It was good to see some family this Christmas season as I'm pretty much home bound until I make a trip to the hospital to deliver this baby. We had a good time with my nephews, they are two years old and three months old. I don't think I've seen cuter kids in my life but then again I don't have my own. I keep being assured that my own will be the cutest kids ever. But for now, Heather, you have the cutest kids! And you can continue to have the cutest boys I know because I'm having a girl!!!

Disappointed...again

Ok, I know tomorrow is technically 39 weeks (not today) but my doctor's appointment was today. She said that I'm not dilated at all (still) and that in fact, my cervix is still firm (which is bad, at least when you're hoping a baby is coming in the near future). Also she mentioned that she didn't think this baby was going to come in the next week. So all of you preparing to visit the new baby please put your plans on hold. It's going to be awhile yet. Here's another picture of me getting even bigger. Funny how I am wearing the same outfit as last week (when you're this big, you've got an extremely limited wardrobe).

Recipe

A couple people have asked about the recipe for the Puffed Rice Wheels. So here it is...


Grandma Spatig’s Puffed Rice Wheels

Ingredients
6 cups puffed rice
½ cup butter
½ lb marshmallow
1 pkg chocolate chips

Instructions
Melt butter and marshmallows in big bowl in microwave. Add puffed rice when marshmallows are melted. Cool slightly. Spread mixture on cookie sheet and sprinkle chocolate chips over. Bake in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes*. Spread chocolate evenly then roll up. Cool then cut into slices.

*This is where the accident happened. If you want to just melt the chocolate chips in the microwave and then spread them on the puffed rice it works out much better...

Penguin Tree

We decorated our apartment for Christmas a couple weeks ago but haven't put any pictures up. This is our pretty penguin tree. We didn't have room to put up our 6 footer in our living room now that we moved the computer desk into the living room so this 2 footer resides on our kitchen table with some of the penguins. The rest of the penguins are not too far away on a chair. Did I mention Sean loves penguins and that's why we have so many? You may notice we only have two presents under the tree...Thanks Heather and Stephen!

Grandma Spatig's Pinwheels

I was supposed to make my favorite Christmas treat for a get together. I had watched my mom make these and probably helped her out at some point so I figured, "No problem, I can handle this." Well, the chocolate chips are supposed to melt nicely on top of the puffed rice after being in the oven for a few minutes. Mine didn't. The chocolate sunk right on into the creation and the edges of the puffed rice burned (I cut out some in the middle to taste it, and it was not good like it was supposed to be). So I called my mom in a panic because I followed the recipe perfectly and it was her grandmother's recipe. She wasn't home so I told my brother to have her call me back as soon as possible. She called back in just a minute or two and asked if I had gone into labor! Oops, I forgot you can't call your mom in a panic at nine months pregnant or she's going to think you're having a baby! Anyway, I assured her it was only a kitchen emergency and we figured out what had happened. Apparently my oven cooks a little hot. Luckily I had bought enough ingredients to make two batches (just in case I botched the first) so we went for take two and they turned out looking like this (which, by the way is what they are supposed to look like). And they're tasty too.

38 Weeks

Ok, time for the weekly pregnancy update. The doctor was sad to report that there are no changes from the last two weeks. Looks like this little girl is staying put for awhile. I am looking quite large though. Not miserable, just large. Guess it's good I'm not too miserable since Jillian isn't in any rush to come into this world. I don't know if I would be either. It's cold out here!

Movie night

We finally got to see The Golden Compass! I've been battling a nasty cold (which is even nastier when you're pregnant as I was limited in what drugs I could take to fight it off) so when it came out on Friday we had to put a hold on our plans to go see it. But I've been feeling better today and so we went. Turns out that babies in utero don't really like loud movies. At least mine doesn't. When the movie got to really loud parts all she would do is squirm and move around so much that it made me have to get up and pee. And we weren't very smart because we sat near the top of the theater so I had to climb up and down a lot of stairs to get to and from the bathroom. I thought I was going to put myself in labor just by climbing all the stairs. I figure that this is our last movie theater experience for awhile as you can't just get up and go on a whim once you've got a baby so I enjoyed for what it was and prayed that the kid stayed put at least until we got our $12 worth (we went to a matinee, that's why it was so cheap). Anyway, the movie was good but the book is so much better. You know, the normal book made into movie senario.

Baby Shower Take Three

It's funny, when you're pregnant with your first baby everyone wants to throw you a shower. The ladies from my church decided that they wanted in on the baby shower action as well. So here we are at baby shower number three. And look at the adorable quilt with the bugs on it. My mom made that! Everyone thought it was so beautiful and laughed when I told them that she apologized for not hand quilting it! My mom is the best! I have a lot of nice women at my church and they all got Jillian such fun gifts! I got lots of blankets and cute clothes.

37 Weeks

Went to the doctor. She said everything looked about the same as last week. Although, I did notice that she marked that I was 50% effaced which I suppose is better than 0% effaced. Anyway, I'm sure Jillian is staying put for the time being. I however seemed to balloon over the last week. Maybe it's just the shirt...

36 weeks

I had a doctor's appointment today with my OB. She said I am not dilated at all (which is good, I have four weeks until my due date!) and we did a quick ultrasound to make sure that Jillian's head is in the right spot (it is). She said I was measuring right on so expect an announcement from the Galland Family around December 28th. This was my first of my every week appointments with the doctor. We're getting close!!! This picture is for my mom. She wanted to see my big belly. Here you go, Mom...

Sweatpants

It's official. I'm at that stage of pregnancy where nothing fits. I am currently wearing my husband's sweat pants (mind you, my husband is a big boy) and a shirt that my sister gave to me that her sister-in-law gave to her that was too big (my sister is a size small/medium, the shirt is an XXL, apparently it was such a good price her sister-in-law couldn't resist buying it even though it was 3 or 4 sizes too large for my tiny sister. Good thing I'm closer to an XXL). No, I am not posting pictures of me in my husband's sweats and a giant t-shirt. I just thought everyone should know how uncomfortable I am.

Our First Thanksgiving

Ok, that's technically wrong. This year marks the 5th Thanksgiving that Sean and I have had together. Although the last two years both of us have been working and before that we lived in Washington so went over to our parents' homes to eat there. This year was the first that we made our own Thanksgiving dinner. I even made pie and although I butchered the pie crust it still tasted pretty good. We are thankful for so many things in our life. Good family and friends come pretty close to the top. Thanks for all you do!

The Golden Compass

A series of books that I love are His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. The first book in the trilogy is coming out as a movie next month. I'm pretty excited to go see it. The book is set in a parellel universe where people's souls are manifested in animal shapes called daemons. There is much more to the books and I highly recommend them. If you take a questionaire about yourself you can see what your daemon looks like. This is mine.



Find yours at www.goldencompassmovie.com

Baby Shower Take Two

My work threw me a baby shower today. I've included a picture of just a few of the items I received. If you can tell, I have two bathtubs, two baby monitor sets, and two of the exact same flowered blanket. These were all items from my registry. The funny part about the whole thing is two different people bought the same three things to give to me at the exact same time at two different Targets. That's why they didn't get taken off the registry in time to show up that they had already been purchased. I guess we will be taking one of the sets of doubles back and buying something else. Thank goodness for gift receipts!

Mommy Haircut

It was time. Time for the mommy haircut. My hair was driving me crazy and so I cut it off. A lot of it. But that's ok. I like it shorter. And it grows fast. And I'm hoping it will take me less time to do now that it's short (we'll have to see about that, I've only had one day with this 'do). Because with a baby coming who has time to do their hair? Also, I am 33 weeks along. Only 7 more to my due date.

Jillian's Room

This weekend we've been in the process of moving the computer desk out to the living room and trying to put together the baby's room a little bit. We've got a crib and changing table, although they look a little bare with no mattress or changing pad, and a rocker. All we need now is the baby...and a few million more things! The first two pictures are of the room with the desk still in it. This is one gigantic desk. It's a 6 foot "L" shaped desk so it takes up a lot of room. I was worried we wouldn't be able to find a home for it anywhere else in our apartment but we did although the living room is kinda messy at the present. But the baby's room is looking good. Bare, but good.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is a big deal at my work. Since the teens I work with are discouraged from having a home visit during Halloween, my work tries to make it a really fun day for the kids. They have a dunk tank where the kids can dunk their favorite (or least favorite) teacher, doughnut eating contests, costume contests, etc. And most of the staff at work dress up. This year the therapists came as superheros. The teachers were 80's pop stars. Everyone else kinda does their own thing. This year I was a pregnant princess, mostly because it's the only thing that would fit me. My dad told me that if I was pregnant (which is kinda hard to hide the fact that I am at this point) that I should be a queen. But my mom is still alive and her mom is still alive, so I explained I'm just going to have to be a pregnant princess. Anyway, this is me, the pregnant princess.

My Job Opportunity with SetFocus

I don't think I ever posted on our former blog. Sorry for not doing anything in the past but I thought I would share some of my news (but I am sure no one really cares since I tell everyone everything, yes friends, I am a loud mouth). If you didn't know I recently have been testing for a contract position as a C# programmer for SetFocus. I have took my first test and passed last week and took another programmming test (with a programming assignment) and also a verbal programming test. I think I passed everything, the programming test and the programming assignment was easy as cake, however during the verbal interview I sounded like a babbling fool (once again, my loud and running mouth). Anyhow, if I get this position its 3 months of unpaid training (but they pay for all my training) and also a 2 year commitment to SetFocus (hey, I like commitment!) The upside for all of this is that I could get into a job that pays above $50,000... which would make life happy. I won't know anymore till Monday, but they told me that they reject more than 3000 candidates per quarter for this program and I am competing against other people that are currently doing the tests. I got to take all the tests, so thats cool. If you got $10,000 to lend me, let me know :)

Later,
Sean

Baby Shower

Today was my baby shower. My friend Melissa threw it for me and it was Halloween themed which was really cute. She made the cutest cookies that looked like fingers that had almonds dyed red as fingernails. I didn't get a picture of the cookies but I did get a couple of pictures of me opening gifts. I had a really good time and I know that Melissa put in a lot of hard work. It was a fun party! Thanks to those who came!

Blessing Dress

This is my other project that I've been working. I was inspired by my cousin Melanie to make Jillian's blessing dress (Melanie made her daughter Gracie's dress). So I broke out the sewing machine that I got for Christmas last year and started sewing away. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be as my last real sewing project was probably my prom dress in high school a million years ago (well, 11 if you want to be exact. Gosh I'm old...). I did end up melting my fabric with my iron but I think I covered it up nicely and I don't think you can tell. And if you can, just pretend for my sake that you can't:) I think it turned out nicely although I think it will be much cuter on a baby. My current project is knitting a blanket for this little girl of mine but I'm not as excited about it so it mostly sits on my table untouched. But it's started. Be looking for pictures of that...I won't say soon but in the future.

New Project

I wanted to do something cute for the baby's room. Since Sean and I live in an apartment painting is out, as well as wallpapering, hanging lots of cute things on the wall, etc. I found a piece of metal and framed it and put magnets on wooden letters and butterflies and fireflies and I'm going to hang it on her wall. So we'll only have to put two little nails in the wall instead of 13. It's not currently on the wall but on my living room floor as there is a giant computer desk taking up most of the baby's room. Oh, and yes, we're naming her Jillian, and yes, I know that one of the Ls is crooked. But it's just hanging there so it's easily fixed. I just didn't notice until after I took the picture. Anyway, Sean's project for the weekend is to move the computer desk out of the baby's room so I can hang my creation.

Dishwashers and balconies

It started out like a normal Saturday. I got up early to reorganize the closet in the baby's room (nesting, remember). I cleaned for awhile and then got Sean up to help me out. He decided he would help by doing the dishes. He started up the dishwasher and we went back to organizing the closet. Sean happened to go into the kitchen a few minutes later and I hear him say something I won't repeat on the blog. So I go into the kitchen to find our dishwasher overflowing and refusing to drain. Sean goes to the office to let them know we need some maintainance assistance (the only good part about living in an apartment). When he comes back he tells me that a lady in our complex is locked out of her apartment on her balcony with her two year old inside. Long story short, Sean called the fire department and they came and broke into her apartment through her window to let her in. Sean is officially the hero of the day. Him and all those firemen.

Books

So I've been bitten by the "Twilight" bug, no pun intended. "Twilight" is that vampire novel that everyone seems to be reading by Stephenie Meyer. I admit, I'd rather read it then do a lot of things. Like go to work. But I would rather do many things than go to work. I did read it while I was watching America's Next Top Model which is one show I try not to miss so I guess you could say I'm enjoying it. Right before I started reading "Twilight" I was reading "Forever Odd" by Dean Koontz and waiting for my friend to finish "Brother Odd". So now I have a dilemma, do I read "New Moon" (the sequel to Twilight) or "Brother Odd" after I finish "Twilight"? I love it when I have too many book choices!!!

Tanner's Blessing

This weekend my nephew Tanner was blessed so Sean and I went to Rexburg, ID to be there. We had a good time visiting with family and seeing the new baby. Makes me excited for mine to get here. I hope she's as good of a baby as Tanner is! This is me with Tanner yesterday.

Car Troubles

Sean and I thought it was going to be a good day yesterday. We were on our way to the dentist, we were even early for our appointment. We had no cavities (yahoo!) and so we left and I dropped Sean off at home and went to work. I got a call from him about a half hour later and he was still at home because his car wouldn't start. Car troubles are the worst. Apparently the alternator is shot and we need a new one. So we're down to one car. Makes going to work and school in two different directions at the same time difficult. We've been trying to work that one out. But we did take a nice picture yesterday before all the car troubles started. Enjoy that and send us your 'cheap repair' wishes.

Nesting

I've read all about these pregnant women who are nesting. You know, cleaning outrageous things in their house, the light fixtures, scrubbing floors with toothbrushes, that sort of thing. If you know me at all you know I hate cleaning and so when I got up this morning at quarter to six (yes, folks that's 5:45am!) and did my dished and then cleaned my stove I knew that this nesting business is no joke. I was thinking I might even have time to reorganize all of my kitchen cupboards. I think I'm going nuts. Hopefully this nesting business lasts awhile. My house could use the attention!

What a difference six weeks makes

I was just thinking that I'm not really that big for being 28 weeks pregnant. But then I was looking at some pictures and I am getting bigger. Go figure! Anyway thought these comparisons would be funny. The first picture I'm 21 weeks along, the second 27 weeks and the third was taken today (28 weeks). Don't make too much fun...one day you may look like this!

So we've been bugged about not updating our blog so we decided to start over. Sean and I are expecting our first baby the end of December and since all our family lives far away this will probably be the easiest way to share pictures and funny stories and stuff. I will try to post more often on this blog than I have in the past.