[ad]I went to see the midwives on Friday and it went well. But she did bring up a concern. She’s a little worried about my weight. Not that I’ve gained too much, but that I’ve not gained enough.

That’s right boys and girls, my doctor wants me to GAIN weight. Now she said Sarah is doing well and growing and there’s a good chance I may weigh less after the pregnancy than I did when I started out, which was a bit comforting. I’m not entirely sure how much I weighed when I got pregnant, but at a rough estimate I’ve gained about 30 pounds give or take. With the excessive summer heat and some of the real life stresses I’ve been going through my appetite has not been what it was. I do try to eat at least three times a day, but I know I can be doing more, maybe like eating smaller meals, but I find it hard to do when a lot of the time what we have in the house or what Brad cooks just sounds unappetizing. I could fall into the eating nothing but junk food trap, but I know that’s not the best choice. So, dear friends, what can a girl do to eat more and GAIN weight?

There it is. I look in the mirror and I hate myself. I have started my diet again today. Being stuck without any transportation and no way to get over to see the chiropractor for the better part of a month has left me pretty well unable to move most of the day. I figure in three or for days I can start exercising to go along with my diet. My seven day goal is 5 pounds lost and to be able to walk to end of the block without being in pain. Most of that second goal is mostly chiropractic fixes, but it is still a goal.  Things will Change, because they have to change.
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I just wanted to take this time to say Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah  and hope you are enjoying what ever other holidays you you might be celebrating this this time of year.  I also wanted to announce that we will be moving servers in a day or two so if you find us gone think nothing of it, we will be back ASAP.  I also wanted to mention a few new offers we will be putting up after the server switch over.

The first is from Babies on Parade.  This is a basic get free coupons and stuff sent to you offer with some conditions that apply and no doubt are subject to change.

The second is from Get a Years Worth of Baby Products.  For those who remember we need our truck fixed or a new car we would greatly appreciating you giving these offers a look.  Please do fill out your email for them and confirm the email they send you so we get paid.

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We need a new car.  At the very least I need $650 to get the fuel pump in my truck replaced.  I honestly believe that car companies went to putting the damned things inside the gas tank just so your average ordinary guy can’t remove the old pump and replace it with a new $15.00 dollar one and be on their way again.  Of course if it was a part I could get to without removing and draining my gas tank they would probably charge $500 for it, but I would still be $150 ahead of where I am now.  I am not asking you for money thought donations would be accepted if anyone really cares to make them, just use the contact page to send me a note.  What I want to do is show you a few freebie offers that you might be tempted to join up to.  I make money on everyone one of them.

My financial goal for this post is $650 minimum.  That will get my gas guzzling environmentally unfriendly truck back on the road.  If you don’t want it back on the road, then help me raise the funds for a more environmentally friendly car.  Locally I can get a 20 mpg car for $1200 to $2500 depending on condition.  I would prefer to get something a lot more dependable which will cost in the $5000 to $7500 range.  I know I am hoping for a bit much out of this campaign to get a new car but then again I have seen people get lucky before.  If I can raise between $15,000 and $17,000 I will put it towards a new Hyundai Accent (it has to be an automatic for Katy or it would be cheaper)

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(93 entries to fix the truck, 857 for a reliable car, or 2357 for a Hyundai Accent)

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(That is 93 new sign ups to fix my truck, 857 for a reliable car, or 2357 for a Hyundai Accent. Come on and help a family out. Even if you don’t sign up please pass this along.)

If you hadn’t noticed it is Christmas time again and gifts are on the mind of people all across the world, including England and this post is geared towards our British readers.  You can save buckets of money with this site.  Shop and compare prices on Christmas gifts for the entire family.  Some of these fine merchants will ship gift wrapped worldwide so try and remember your favorite blogger and who turned you on to this site.  Also remember that while I might not mind getting my Christmas gift until well after the Epiphany there are those that might so think about your shipping methods and mind your dates.  If young kids are part of your life then so are toys.  You can even search out a new laptop for your favorite tech head.  I honestly wouldn’t object if you bought me one too.

As a quick note to our British and European readers we are actively seeking guest bloggers to give a different perspective.  Please contact us if you are parent with newborns or school age kids.

When you are the stay at home work at home parent how do you deal with it?  While there are two of us at the moment with any luck that will change soon and Katy will be back to work.  I say that not just as the part of me that wants peace and quiet back in my day, but the part that is worried how the hell were are going to pay our bills.  For those that don’t know I got a recent trip to the hospital and things were not peachy.  I have been trying to take it easy, and watch my stress levels which is much easier said than done.  The next time a medical type person says I should be careful how much stress I am under, they should have to default half their weekly check to me for a month and allow me to smack the shit out of them.  That would assure some stress relief.  How does anyone else deal with this?

I remember a time when pulling all-nighters every night wasn’t such a chore.  I shouldn’t say chore the reasons for being up all night right now are quite legitimate with the furnace being on the fritz and needing to feed or change Sarah nearly hourly.  I just sat here holding her for more than an hour after she fell asleep, waiting for Smorty to come back up and glad I had the time to do it.  With Liam so much of his early life was spent in the hospital then the feeding tube I feel like I somehow missed out on things with him.

While there was a lot of convenience to the feeding tube, simply pour the formula into the bag, hang it, and let the machine push it, I am glad we aren’t having the same sort of GI issues with Sarah.  I think she might have a slight case of reflux, but nowhere nearly as bad as he did.  Hopefully, when we see her doctor on Friday, we can address that issue. While I can most certainly say I don’t want her to have a feeding tube, there are days where I don’t think I would mind having one.  The benefits of taking that half a pot of cold coffee all at once are obvious to me.  While I wouldn’t want to give up eating regularly, pouring one of those nasty tasting protein shakes directly into my belly when I need to eat and Sarah is fussy certainly seems like a fine alternative too.

I digress though.  I got to spend an extra hour simply holding my girl, and it was a moment I’m glad for.  While some will criticize me for some things I have chronicled here that she may later read, I am fine with that, because I know she will just as likely read this post one day and see I did enjoy my time with her once she was born.  Well she is asleep now so I am going to take her back to her room now that the heater has made it toasty warm, then i am going to crawl back into bed and just maybe get another ninety minutes of sleep before Liam decides he needs breakfast.