17w1d

**Baby Update - Mommy is 17 weeks and 1 day pregnant. Only 160 more days to go!! :o) Don't be too shocked but... baby is EVEN bigger than it was last week, not to mention getting cuter, and smarter every day! As you’ve come to expect, there’s no shortage of growth and development this week: your fantastic little bean stalk has added yet another half inch to their overall height-- making them nearly half a foot long! Their little limbs have reached their relative proportions, and will continue to grow evenly with the rest of the body after this week. Reactive listening has begun for your baby, even though their ears are not yet structurally complete or fully functional. Meanwhile, different parts of their astonishingly complex brain are developing to process your little one’s hearing and other senses. Mind boggling factoid of the week: if you’re having going to have a little girl, her ovaries have already produced millions of primordial egg cells, which, within a few weeks, will develop into actual eggs!**

Not much is going on around this home front. Just working and taking care of kids. This week I am overnights working to reset the Toy Department for Christmas. I know, you all think it's early but really it's not. . . I'm not going to hang Christmas decorations and make you listen to Jingle Bells, but my department will get things like musical instruments and bulk furniture and get rid of the Summer toys like goggles and kites. I for one am happy that I'm overnights this week, this weekend is Missouri's No-Tax-Holiday and Walmart will be PACKED!! We drove by this afternoon and I needed milk but I wasn't going in, we can do with out or hit the gas station in the morning. LOL

We did our No-tax shopping Thursday night. I took the family to Applebee's for a late dinner and then to Walmart to shop for clothes. We got to Walmart about 10pm and it really did take us until after midnight to finish up. And everyone got new stuff - including the unborn one! With no tax weekend it's a perfect opportunity to stock up on Diapers because they to are tax free - AND I still get to use my Walmart employee discount. So basically I save 20% on my no tax purchases. Chloe got school clothes, Jacob got winter clothes (he really has NOTHING to wear this winter. . . he's grown so much!), Jerry got blue jeans and work boots, I got shoes and socks, and the unborn got 2 packages of diapers (Newborn and Size 1) and 6 outfits (Really I bought 5 boy outfits and 5 girl outfits and a either/or outfit - either way I'll take back or gift out the outfits I don't need). And since this is the baby's site, there are pictures of the outfits and crib bedding that I have bought the unborn baby. I can't wait - only 2 weeks and we will know whether to keep buying blue or pink. But even not knowing it was nice to get some things started.

Another BIG decision that we've made is that we are going to cold turkey Jacob on his diapers and pullups - except at night of course. He knows how and when to go to the bathroom but is absolutly refusing to actually do it all the time. So since I am overnights this week and Jerry will be home fully awake and willing. . . LOL. . . Jacob will spend the week in regular underwear. Wish us lots of luck, he can be totally stubborn! But Jerry and I are seriously wanting the diaper phase to be over with - when it comes to him! He's a few weeks from 3 and he's old enough to do this (with Mommy and Daddy's support). Even though I spent more money on diapers for him this weekend - I'm putting them with the baby stuff so that they aren't handy for mommy and daddy to grab when we are having a ruff moment. LOL Plus the newest addition will EVENTUALLY need them - right?!?!

This weekend I'm also planning on cleaning out my master closet so that I can get a fresh coat of paint and the carpets cleaned. This is were the nursery is going to be - don't worry it's a huge walk in closet and it's only used to hang Jerry's clothes and collect junk. The new baby will be in there until it's old enough to sleep through the night and join Chloe or Jacob in their rooms. . . depending on the sex of the baby. Because if this is another boy we will have to switch the bedrooms around and have the boys upstairs since that room is bigger. . . Chloe will have to move downstairs where she will have a door to keep out the boys. If it's another girl, she will just join Chloe upstairs when she's moved into the toddler bed (that Jacob is STILL in . . . that's another story all together. But if someone has a twin bed that they want to get rid of keep me in mind!!!)

Well the laundry is calling my name and I'm sure at any moment a child will be beggin' for dinner (they are both endless pits lately)! Hope everyone is doing good. Until next time!