Rimmasch Family Pictures 2011

Well, it's the time of year again when we bust out the tripod and do a little Rimmasch family session :)  Happy Holidays from our growing family to yours!  Hopefully the next post will be of baby sister!

Halloween Festivies

I love Halloween!  Not the scary, icky stuff, but the parties, dressing up and decorating part :)  If it were up to Ronnie, we would skip Halloween and start listening to Christmas music October 1st, but he's always a good sport and dresses up for me!  This year my sister Meghan threw a mad hatter tea party and as usual, I procrastinated coming up with an outfit, so we had to make due with what we had at the house.  We ended up being Alice, the Queen of Hearts and the Cheshire Cat, which I think we pulled off pretty well (despite Ronnie's humungous mouth I drew on him).  It was an awesome party and Chloe had a blast entertaining everyone.  She's such a goof!

For Halloween we also had a theme, though most people didn't put it together.  Chloe was Rapunzel and Ronnie and I were her Ruffians aka the mime and a thug from the tavern.  Everyone we walked by would say something about Ronnie being from How to Train Your Dragon, which is a pretty fair assumption.  We left our bowl of candy sitting on the front porch because I knew we were going to run out anyway and I would just feel guilty and went around the neighborhood as a family.  Our complex is full of families, so it was really fun going out and seeing everyone's costumes and visiting.  Chloe loved going up to the houses and saying "trit tor treat" and even walked up to a few of them by herself.  After we finished our area (and my legs felt like they were going to detach from my hips) we headed over to my parents house to hit up some of the more choice houses (where they give out pop, full size candy bars and homemade snicker doodles).  It was a great night!

PS  We also helped my Dad dress up for work....he's the scary guy holding Chloe in the picture above :)

Trunk or Treat

Chloe was SO excited to go to this trunk or treat and loved saying "Trit tor Treat" at every car!  I love that she's getting big enough to enjoy and get excited for the holidays!  She's already talking about Christmas lights!

Pumpkin Carving 2011

Mine used to be an owl sitting in a tree and Ronnie's is the Jolly Roger

Pre-Barf

Post-barf

With Great Grandma Millie

The 2nd generation of Rimmasch cousins, minus a few...

Another Halloween means another Rimmasch family pumpkin carving in Fayette!  Meg rode with us and entertained Chloe in the back seat, and oddly enough, Chloe barfed AGAIN on the way to Fayette!  I'm not sure what the deal is (perhaps it was the whole cup of ice cream from the Cheese Factory in Beaver that we let her consume), but she barfed the last time we went to Fayette in May.  Thankfully I packed extra clothes and after Ronnie almost lost his lunch cleaning up the mess, we were on our way!  We had a great day spending time with family that we don't see often enough and chowing down on good food!  We love hanging out in Fayette, Ronnie loves Uncle Drew's motorcycle and Chloe loves seeing her cousins.  It was a quick trip, but it was worth it :)

Maternity Pics

Chloe put herself in time out here after she got in trouble for climbing up the ladder in the orchard

Chloe trying to show us her owie lip

A couple of weeks ago, I decided it was time for some maternity pics, so my talented hubby did a little photoshoot for me.  I love that we can take nice pictures any old time and I know I definitely take it for granted.  Thanks Ronnie for the awesome pictures!  Anyhow, these were taken when I was 34 weeks (I'm 36 weeks today) and I thought this post would be a good time for me to reflect on my pregnancy.
I feel like I've had to do a lot of growing up with this time around.  Chloe's was smooth sailing, besides being extremely swollen for about the last 10 weeks or so of it, but this one has had a few (albeit small in comparison to others) hiccups.  First, at the beginning of September I had the inner ear infection, which was the craziest experience I've ever had (you can read about it here)!  Although it was awful and I'd never want to do it again, I'm grateful for the insight and faith that I gained because of it.  In a round about way, it's really been the first step in getting over my needle phobia, since I had to have an IV and have my blood drawn ( I had an amazing nurse named Kristen).  It also helped me understand and feel more empathy for women who get really sick during their pregnancies (feeling nausea and throwing up and such).
At 31 weeks I went in for the routine blood glucose tolerance test (where they just poke your finger) and my levels came back too high, so my doctor told me I had to go in for the dreaded 3 hour test.  I begged and pleaded with my doctor, but in the end I had to go anyway.  I was anxious about it the whole weekend before and prayed for strength and an excellent nurse every time I thought about it.  I was in serious panic mode about the whole thing because you have to have your blood drawn 4 times in a 3 hour period, while fasting.  I went in on Ronnie's birthday at around 6:30 am, praying the whole time (my palms are starting to sweat just thinking about it) that I'd be able to get through it.  My prayers were definitely answered by my nurse who was incredible with the needle (my special pediatric needle because I'm such a woose) and had wonderful bedside manner.  She was so kind and reassuring and explained everything to help me feel less nervous.  By the end of it I had the thought "this was actually a pleasant experience!"  Thank you nurse Amy!
The rest of that week I binged on delicious, sugary things and then the following week found out that I had elevated levels and that I would need to see a diabetic specialist about my diet.  The specialist told me that I would have to poke my finger to test my blood sugar 4 times a day and that I would have a restricted carbohydrate diet.  Again, the specialist was kind, sympathetic, and willing to help, which made the whole experience so much easier (I've felt so blessed by the kind people who have helped me through this pregnancy).  I'm allowed a 30 carb breakfast, usually eggs and toast with fruit; a 30 carb snack-string cheese, yogurt, crackers; a 45 carb lunch, 30 carb snack, and 45 carb dinner.  It really isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but it has definitely helped me learn some much needed discipline.  I have to actually think about what I'm putting into my body and decided if eating a snickers bar and feeling hungry for 30 carbs is worth it, or if I should snack on something that will fill me up.  Today I REALLY wanted some of Chloe's Halloween candy, but opted for a sugar and carb free jello.  Yay me :)  Earlier this week I went back to see the specialist and she said that since my diabetes is under control with just my diet, I only have to poke myself twice a day!  My biggest motivator in following my diet is the possibility that if I don't, my daughter's blood sugar could plummet after delivery since she would no longer have my insulin supply and she'd be rushed to the NICU (and lets be honest, I really don't want to push out a 10 lb baby either...).
I know this sounds like a big whiner post, but really, I just want to be able to remember and compare later on.  The last thing that has been challenging this time are my hips.  Somewhere around 25 weeks my hips started to really give me trouble, especially when getting out of or readjusting in bed.  I remember having discomfort with Chloe, but not until the last few weeks, and nothing so intense as what I was feeling.  There were times when it hurt SO bad that Ronnie would have to help lift me out of bed and then I'd feel a POP and I could stand upright again.  I finally mentioned to my doctor that it made me want to cry when I had to switch sides during the night (around 32 weeks) and she referred me to a physical therapist to see what they could do.  I now go to the physical therapist twice a week for a massage, hip adjustment and pool therapy and I'm not allowed to pick Chloe up at all.  It's helped a lot, though it's still very painful getting out of bed- and hey, I get a massage twice week, so I guess I can't really complain.
It's been crazy juggling appointments with all 3 doctors, but I'm SO grateful for what these experiences have taught me.  To depend on people, to trust them, to overcome my fears and stifle my complaints (besides this post...and to my husband....) and to trust in the Lord.  I feel like I've matured and that I'm finally beginning to fill the mommy shoes I've been wearing for the past 2 years.  Most of all, I'm thankful that my baby girl is healthy and growing and I'm SO excited to meet her!!!
I love feeling her sweet little movements and gliding around.  She still isn't really a "kicker" but instead it feels like she's sliding and gently rolling around in there.  I feel like she has a very soft, sweet little spirit...but I guess we'll see :)  I've had LOTS of heartburn, so we'll also have to wait and see if she comes out with lots of hair like the old wives tale predicts- I'm secretly hoping that she'll have red hair, but of course will love everything about her no matter what!  I've really enjoyed gradually buying clothes and baby gear for her and making bows (with Chloe I was lucky just to get to school on time), it's really helped me to feel connected to her, since it took us so long to come up with her name.  My favorite thing is having Chloe sit on my lap and hug and kiss my belly saying "Hi baby sister!  I love you baby sister!"  I think she's getting really excited to reunite with her little playmate :)