unborn baby hiccups

Have you ever gotten that annoying twitch directly under your eye, or in the corner of your upper lip?? Imagine your whole belly doing that. That's what it feels like when baby has the hiccups. Rhythmic, constant, soothing at times, bothersome at others. I can see the subtle jerks in my belly if he's laying with his back up, and I can usually feel them with my hands, but I can ALWAYS feel them inside. Right now I can feel them on my back and in my pelvis. It's one of the weirdest sensations ever.

I love when he gets them because they are a sign that his lungs are maturing, but just as that twitch in my eye can be annoying, after a few minutes I wish he could hold his breath to get rid of them!! Of course, I don't think taking in a big breath of amniotic fluid would do the trick quite as well....

Preggy Facts

-How far along? 30 weeks
-How big is baby? about 3 pounds
-Weight gain/loss? I'm about 7 pounds heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight
-Maternity clothes? A must. Although I can still wear a few pairs of my non-maternity jeans with the front folded over.
-Stretchies? All old ones from the first two, although they are starting to get darker...grrrrr
-Sleep? Yes please!!! I'm getting less and less
-Best moment this week? When Tay and Vin felt him moving around
-Movement? The kid never sleeps, I swear!!
-Food cravings? Food in general.
-Gender? Boy
-Labor signs? lots and lots of Braxton Hicks, some dilation, but nothing major yet.
-Belly button in or out? it's perfectly flat.
-What I miss? being able to go more than 10 minutes without peeing, being able to laugh without peeing, being able to tie my own shoes, caffeine.
-What I am looking forward to? My baby shower, and meeting my little man!!
-Weekly wisdom? Enjoy the little things while they last. Like being able to lift your leg to put a shoe on, or being able to pick up a penny off the floor.....in fact, being able to reach the floor at all.
-Milestones? We made it to the 10-week count down.....

stress-ball belly

Oz is now large enough that we can tell distinct body parts like knees, feet, hands, bum, elbows. He's also large enough that when he moves, you can see it from across the room. There are times when he'll shift positions and the belly gets rather distorted. It sort of reminds me of those stress balls that are really hard to squeeze, but once you do, a little balloon forms in the gap of your fingers.  Obviously not quite as exaggerated as that, but along the same lines.

Other times he'll be doing something that we can only imagine falls in line with kickboxing, and there are repeated jerks and shutters, again, visible from across the room. It can make one sit in awe that he doesn't break his own bag of waters....with all that violence in there it would only make sense for the membrane to rupture. The tool doctors use to break it in the hospital looks like a longer version of the sticks corndogs are on, so how does this active little baby not do any harm when he's flailing around doing lord-knows-what in there??

For now we just sit and watch (and I grunt, some of his antics are rather painful and uncomfortable) the show. I wonder if babies get frustrated when they get to just a few weeks from their due date, when they are so big there isn't enough room for the gymnastics to take place??

24-year-old lady-grandpa

I am addicted to Wint O Green lifesavers. I always have a handful with me. My purse has them, the diaper bag has them, my mid-weight jacket has them, my kitchen has them, my  night stand has them. If I am somewhere I need to put my bag down, I grab a few and shove them into my pants pocket. I can not live with them. I know the sugar factor is no bueno, but the good thing is this: I can't eat one without needing to drink at LEAST one full glass of water, so they are helping to keep me hydrated. (An ongoing issue with me, especially during pregnancy.)

However. My son is incredibly observant, and has noticed that I keep pulling these tasty treats out of my pockets, so now, every time he gets hurt or any time he simply feels like it, he reaches into my pocket for nana.  I remind myself of the stories I've heard from people about their Grandfathers, and how every time they would see their Pappy, Papa, Grandpa, they would reach into their pocket to find a treaty of some sort.

I am the 24-year-old lady-grandpa. I even smell minty all the time!!

the little things in life

I don't know about any of you, but there are certain things that make me feel excited. Example: A bag of chips in my favorite flavor. I don't buy chips very often because I know I'll just eat the whole thing in one sitting, but every once in a while I'll splurge. I have a particular soft spot for honey Dijon flavored things, and right now there is a bag of said flavored chips just sitting in my pantry, waiting for me. I have been waiting for the perfect time to enjoy them. I have to wait until the kids are in bed, because when it comes to my honey dijon chips, I don NOT like to share. Even my husband knows not to ask for any. So they lie in wait, peeking at me every time I open the pantry for the peanut butter or a paper plate. Waiting. Patiently. Eagerly.

I think tonight might be their night, I just have to see if I can stay awake late enough!!

Size Matters

Well, for the last week or two people have been commenting on my size. They ask when I'm due, and when I tell them I still have two more months, they seem shocked, one women even responded with "you poor dear".  So I looked up my belly photos from when I was pregnant with Vin and this is the comparison.

The 29-week photo is from this pregnancy one week ago, and the other is the 34-week photo from Vin.

The good news from these two photos is that if you look carefully, the old photo shows my belly pointing slightly downward, whereas last weeks photo shows my belly still fairly high, pointing straight out. This is a sign that labor is not too close by. The old photo was taken after we had already been to the hospital to stop preterm labor and just days before Vin was born. So THAT'S encouraging, what's downright depressing is that the sizes are identical....and I still have at LEAST 9 more weeks, with Oz projected to gain a minimum of 1/2 pound per week. I thought I was a "Barn with legs" now.......

Bayfield Angel Food

If you have never heard of Angel Food Ministries, it's about time someone tells you. Angel Food Ministries is a company that provides bulk foods in non-bulk quantity for bulk prices. Did you catch that??

And to make it even better, ANYONE can participate in this, you don't have to be on welfare, or have a certain income to qualify. You don't have to make a minimum order, or order every month. You get as much or as little, as often or as infrequently as you want.

Order from your local host site at the beginning of the month and pick-up at the end of the month.

Here is the link to their website Angel Food Ministires, there is also a link on the sidebar for quick reference. You can locate your local host site, view the monthly menu, place an order and get other information.

The prices are amazing, I'm telling you, and the food quality is amazing. Check it out and take advantage of it, seriously. A friend and I are heading it up here in Bayfield, so if you're reading this and you live in La Plata County, contact me and we'll get you set up, other wise, contact your host site.

Speaking English? No Thanks

Everyone who has met my son knows that he does not speak English. He has his very own very intricate language and I am the only one who can fully translate. He can say certain things, like momma, dadda, paka, donut, banana, baseball, ball, soccer ball, wawa, no, night-night, bye-bye, hi, socks and shoes. That's it though. The rest of his vocabulary is entirely original. There are words that we believe he can say, but chooses not to, like mia (my mom) and Tay Tay.

So. My dad has this technique to get him to say things. Vin loves food. Seriously. A lot. So whenever my dad has food, Vin is right by his side asking for bites, and in order to get a bite, he has to say either FOOD rather than GOCK, or MIA rather than LALA MOMMA. Today at breakfast my dad had some ham, and as per usual, in order to get a bite, Vin was instructed to say a few words. first came FOOD, which comes out FOO....close enough. He got a bite. Next was MIA.....no. If Vin doesn't want to say something, he just says no and waits for another word. Ok, so MIA wasn't happening, how about BUTTER, over-annunciating the T's. No. MEAT. That was GOCK, so no bite. HAM. As loud as he good, with the biggest smile on his face, he shouted HAM!!!! I haven't seen him so proud of himself since I found him with three brand new rolls of toilet paper shoved into the toilet.

So his new word is ham. He's very excited about it.

Biscuits & Maple sausage gravy

In our home, we make biscuits and gravy for breakfast every Saturday, it's one of Dom's favorites. I thought I would share it with you, because it's soooo good. I make it with the kids during the week sometimes too.

We use store-bought biscuits. Nothing fancy there.

For the gravy, I start by cooking 1 pound of Maple sausage in a large skillet. I melt 1 stick of butter in a saucepan, then add 4 heaping spoons of flour and stir together. I let that simmer for a couple of minutes to cook out the flour taste then I add about 1 cup of milk and whisk it smooth. On medium heat, I continue to stir constantly until it gets to the thickness I want. Then I add it to the skillet with the cooked sausage on low heat. The gravy with thicken up even more when you stir it with the sausage, so you'll have to add a little bit more milk to thin it out, but then take it off the heat so it doesn't continue to thicken.
Serve hot and enjoy!!  There is no need to add any other seasoning to the gravy, the Maple sausage is plenty.

Hope you enjoy!!

Oh the Joys

At 29 weeks pregnant with my third child, I am having my very first experience with sciatica nerve effects.  More and more frequently dear little Owen (who is not so little anymore) will position himself in such a way that causes both my buttocks and both my upper legs to go completely numb.

This does not pose such a problem if I am at home or in the car, but standing in line at the store is another story. Have you ever tried to walk like a normal earth-dwelling human while unable to feel anything between your bellybutton and your knees?? It's near impossible, I'm telling you.

As if my "Preggo-Waddle" isn't bad enough, let's just add an awkward dragging/pulling motion to it. Actually, while we're at it, let's have a few muffled squeals from sharp jabs to the ribs or kidneys too, shall we? Why hold back?

At least my mom is compassionate. There is is cure to that for you, she said. Birth. Moms sure do have a way with words, don't they??

Cold Souls

We watched Cold Souls last night, a film with Paul Giamati playing Paul Giamati.

The plot is that he gets his soul extracted in order to better embrace a character he needs to play. He rents the soul of another person and meanwhile someone steals his soul and takes it to Russia.  Throughout the film Paul learns what an effect not having a soul has on life, and eventually decides that he wants his soul back, even with the dark and twisty parts.

It got me thinking about how the world would be if such a thing as soul extraction were possible. One of the biggest things noted in the film was that while Paul was soulless, he was unable to connect to anybody. He couldn't give heartfelt advice to a dear friend, couldn't make love to his wife, didn't care about the feelings behind his poet role on stage. What a cheap way out of dealing with life.

It really made us start thinking though, and we love Paul Giamati, so if you have the chance, we recommend adding it to your Netflix Queue or renting it.

Thank Goo'ness it's.....Friday

Every week I see posts pertaining in some small part to “TGIF” and I always feel relieved.

Why? you make ask. I will tell you.

Because 9 times out of 10 I don’t know what day it is, so when I see such posts, I feel less at a loss than usual.

One day I’ll get a calendar, and on one day after that I’ll find a place to put it where I can see it every day.

Until then, I rely on Facebook posts to tell me every-so-often what day it is…..

1000 Voices

For those that are not aware, my dad is the pastor at our little church, Bayfield Christian Church, here in Bayfield. Right now we are taking on a HUGE project that we need your help with. The church carries a note on a 5 acre parcel of land that we want to turn into the largest community garden int he Four Corners area. This garden will be completely free for anyone and everyone to come and grow their own food. What we need your help with is this: In order to not charge people for land use, we need to pay off the land. We are asking people for $135.00 as a one time tax-deductible donation. If you can't afford the 135, $5.00 will do, every little bit helps. On the side you will find the link to the website where you can make a donation and read more detail about what we're doing and our goals in making this happen. Please take a few minutes to check it out and make a donation of any amount. On the web page there are downloadable fliers and brochures.

Hello World

We're starting this blog to share with you the things that we are passionate about: Everything from our family to community projects to food recipes to money-savers.

We're not entirely convinced that anyone will actually READ our blog, but who knows, maybe some sick-minded soul out there will find it amusing or useful...God willing maybe even both.

Here's a little bit about us to start off.

We are Dominick and Rebecca McCullough. We met in Fall of 2003 at Moorpark College in Southern California and had been dating for a year when we found out we were pregnant with our daughter, Theren Rayne. We married in April of 2005 and Theren was born the following June. Rebecca worked as a waitress for a while but decided her place was at home. In Spring of 2007 we found out that we were pregnant again with our Son, Vincent Dominick. He was born in November 2007, a whole 5 weeks premature but strong as an ox. In January of 2009 Dominick was offered an amazing job opportunity that ended up falling through, and we found ourselves making the decision to Move to Southwest Colorado, where Rebecca's parents live. We currently share a roomy 5 bedroom home with them right on a lake in a forest. Dominick is working sales for a local magazine, Inside Outside Magazine, and travels the Four Corners regularly, which he loves. Rebecca has completed her degree in Medical Transcription and stays at home with the kids. Theren (now nearly 5 years old) has begun Preschool, and Vin (2 years old) enjoys playing with his dinosaurs and cars and begs to clean snow or play in the dirt. The biggest news we have is that Rebecca is expecting our 2nd son, Owen Zachariah, in June!!

God has continued to bless us in good times and in hard times, and we look forward to discovering Him as our future unfolds.