7QT at the end of January

1)

I just filed our taxes this morning!  I love doing my taxes and I love getting my refund even more.  I miss working in a CPA firm sometimes, because doing taxes was weirdly fun for me (nerd alert) but the stress with the deadlines and super long hours made it pretty unbearable.  And then I didn't like auditing for the rest of the year, so I guess I made the right decision to get out of that career.  Phew, life crisis averted.

2)

Did you hear that Camp Patton is back?  Woohoo!  I'm a happy camper :)

3)

Guys, I am so largely with child at 11 weeks, it's blowing my mind.  And it's like I've got a baby bump in the front and in the back this time - bedonkadonk.  It *might* have something to do with the fact that I'm eating every 2 hours to not puke, and not exercising because I am nauseous and exhausted.  That combination can only lead to lady humps.  

4)

I won't talk about all things pregnant all the time, but let me just say this.  I am 36 years old, turning 37 in a month, and that's ADVANCED MATERNAL AGE.  So in baby-making terms, I'm ancient.  As soon as I found out I was preggers, I decided to switch from my amazing, lovely midwife who only allows natural births at a hospital 30 minutes away, to a doctor who can give me all the drugs I want at a hospital 5 minutes away.  Phil tells everyone that I want the option of an epidural, and I'm like ah, no, I want the epidural at 1 cm.  Even my doctor (so nice but so cute - I like my lady parts doctors ugly) was telling me that they just revamped the maternity ward and they have tubs now for use during labor, and I stopped him and said "I'm getting an epidural, so I don't need a tub".  Tubs were a lifesaver during my natural births, but the promise of an epidural will be my sanity saver this pregnancy.  Watch me go too fast to get one or something. {insert prayers here}

5)

I haven't even gotten to my point yet about being AMA under a doctor's care.  So because I'm high-risk (old) I have to have genetic counseling and an NT Scan.  That appointment is set for Monday morning.  I also am having a Cell-Free Fetal DNA test done, which is something I never had done before.  

The bad news is that all these tests make me a bit nervous because I like to think of pregnancy as a healthy, normal occurrence and these tests make you feel like there going to discover something wrong.  Even if my baby has any of the "problems" they are testing for, it's not like we won't lovingly accept him/her.  And I won't do an amniocentesis for further testing if we get any positive results.  I guess it will just help to prepare us mentally for what lays ahead.  

The good news is that we can find out the gender of this baby once we get the results of Monday's test!  Phil and I are definitely finding out, the kids are mixed on wanting to know, and we're not sure if we are going to tell anyone else.  We've kept it a secret before (Alexander) but I don't know if I can again.  Plus, if some of the kids want to know, then the world will know.  Telephone, telegram, tellakid.

6)

Phil and I joined a new gym!  But we haven't actually worked out yet.

I think Feb. 1 will be my new year for 2016.  January was a month I'd like to forget.  Who's with me?

7)

Next week is Catholic Schools Week!  The kids have lots of fun activities planned at their school, ending with a basketball game of students vs. faculty (and our pastor!).  My boys are really excited for that!!  This weekend, we are hopefully putting back together the second floor of our house.  The floors were installed this week, Maggie's room is coming together, and Phil's picking up some bunk beds this weekend for the big boys' room.  It's going to look like a whole new house up there!  I'll post photos next week, if you're into that sort of thing :)

Go visit Kelly for more QTakers and have a football-free, cookie-baking, room-organizing weekend everybody!