My Brag Post for the Day!

Okay so I am bragging a little... alright, a LOT!!
Can I just say that I LOVE ebay?!!! I just bought this crib set for $30! Nine pieces including the sheet, bumper, quilt, pillow, diaper stacker, toy holder, two window valances, and the skirt!! And to put it in perspective, this set retails for over $500 in the store! Its all brand new! So without further ado, I give you:

Hello, Kitty!

Happy Halloween, fellow bloggers hanging out there in cyberspace! While you were still sleeping this morning, I was up with my five year old. That's right. She is sick. Why is it that whenever your kids puke-dar comes on, they migrate to your bed to throw up? I never understood that, but I did the same thing to my parents. So, I scraped the sheets off the bed, sent my hubby to bed in the living room, got a bucket, and crawled back into bed to lay wide awake until 6:30 AM. Luckily, (and I use that term VERY loosely...) she only got sick one more time. By the time I drug my red rimmed eyes out of bed, she was ready to eat, drink, and watch Rattatouille. I just hope she feels good enough to go trick or treating by the time I get home. She has been looking forward to it for the past year, and this will be here last year to have all the attention forcused on only her, and not her and her little sister.

So I have my starbucks vanilla frappucino, and my computer, and we are zoning through the day so far. As long as I can make it to one, I will be okay! I am getting a new drivers license today (updated with married name and current address), and am also picking up a breast pump. Too much info? Too tired to care.

Looking forward to having an entire weekend off to be fat and lazy... Well, fat anyway. The laundry won't do itself!

Will it?

Kristi Rufener

The Little Things in Life

So here I am; it's quarter after eight in the morning. I feel miserable because of this ridiculous cold that I have, and I am worrying about money (like I always do), and I log onto www.cnn.com to check the news, and I find this absolutely AMAZING article about this woman who's 56 year old mother carried her triplets, and recently gave birth to them. Read it for yourself, and I encourage you to visit their blog and send them your well wishes!

56-Year-Old Gives Birth To Triplet Granddaughters
POSTED: 8:52 pm EDT October 23, 2008
UPDATED: 11:15 pm EDT October 23, 2008

CLEVELAND -- A 56-year-old woman acting as her daughter's surrogate gave birth to her triplet granddaughters at a Cleveland-area hospital earlier this month.
Jaci Dalenberg gave birth to Elizabeth, Gabriella and Carmina by C-section on Oct. 11 at Hillcrest Hospital.

The babies' parents are Kim and Joe Coseno.

Learn more about the Coseno triplets at the family's blog.

I had a chance to read their entire blog this morning, and it honestly had me riveted! It was so easy to get wrapped up in this story, the way this momma writes about her babies (including her NOT so little ones!). I wish her nothing but the best!

Rachel and Michael come into town tonight, and we will be going downtown for dinner. Something deep fat fried in lard- yum yum! My birthday is next week already, I can't believe it. It's sort of funny- after you hit the 21 year mark, you just don't care as much anymore!

I am really starting to pop out now, I should post pictures... But there always seems to be a zillion other things I should be doing instead, and the thought escapes me. Poor Jenny though- whenever I see my sister in law, I force her to take pictures with me. She is the one expecting twins, and she looks like she is farther along than I am! I'm sure she doesn't mind TOO much when I make her do this, however, since she requested them the day after they were taken, and put them up on her myspace account! (Yes, I feel horrible for her..)

The road rally is just two days away!! I can't wait! Rachel emailed me last night to tell me the t-shirts she made look awesome! We call ourselves Car Pacman- don't ask. So she had to make t-shirts to commemorate the occasion. And hey, everyone knows I will do anything for attention, so I go along with it!

Tomorrow, hubby and I will be 23 weeks along. Exactly one more week, and little Charlotte will be viable outside the womb- she will be a real baby!

Last night, she had the hiccups, so I grabbed Kev's hand and he could feel them. He compared it to a heart beat- it is a steady sensation. It seems like she gets hiccups a LOT! Just the other morning around four, she had me awake until almost six because of her moving! It seems like she gets frustrated with those hiccups, so she thrashes around. It probably would be amusing if it weren't so early and I wasn't so exhausted.

Well, it looks like the sun is finally coming up now, so I should probably get ambitious.

Update soon!

Kristi Rufener

No, Corn Does NOT Go Up The Nose...

So my mom called me a couple days ago while I was at work, and told me my daughter had a story to tell me.

"Hello mama."

"Hi Beena. What's up?"

"Well, today during rest period, Drew and I found a piece of Indian corn and we were playing with it and I stuck it up my nose-"

I stopped with my water bottle half way to my mouth in shock.

"And I told my teacher and she made me go to the office RIGHT AWAY and Betty made me blow my nose in a kleenex and it came right out, so I didn't even have to go to the hospital."

I was laughing hysterically by now, and could hear my daughter yelling to my mom in the background, "Why is mom laughing??". She sounded genuinely upset at my reaction.

"We won't do that again," My mom assured me. Right. She is five, shouldn't she have hit this sticking of things into the holes in my face stage at like, two or three?

On my posts today, we are discussing God. Since I have a cold right now, I am in no state of mind to take on the Almighty rationally, so I posted a response to the bible instead:

Lisa Simpson proved it on the Simpsons one time...

Seriously though- the only problem I have with religion is the bible. First of all, there isn't ONE religion, or ONE bible. And the bible was written by MAN. Now we all know that MAN isn't perfect, nor can he be trusted 100%. WHY? Simply because he isn't God. God is the only perfect "being", if you are religious. So how can we believe the bible 100%? I am not saying that SOME things in the bible aren't true, but man in general has a tendency to exaggerate, especially in the face of something as awesome as "God". So as far as the bible is concerned, it's not something I put a lot of faith into. That's just my opinion.

And that's about all the thinking I can handle for one day with my head so congested.

It's almost Friday though, people. Woohoo.

Kristi Rufener

To Whom It May Concern...

Dear Idiot,

I'm not sure which one of us "boneheads" you were referring to in your not so pleasant letter you sent in with your loan payment yesterday, but here are some tips from this "bonehead" in particular:

When we called to inform you of our new address, you COULD have been polite and REQUESTED new envelopes with our new address on them- instead, you decided to send us an example of our old address printed on an old envelope, circled, with a list of vulgar and completely uncalled for names directed at me and my fellow employees. Even though after you took all the time to write that note and point out our obvious "mistake", you ended up hand writing our address on a different envelope to send to us. Wow, what a fuck you to me.

Which brings me to my next point- with all the obvious time you wasted in writing that oh-so-witty reply, you could have hand written at least fourty envelopes with our new address. Keeping that logic in mind, I have so nicely decided to NOT send you new envelopes with our updated address on them. I figure if you have so much damn time on your hands, you can write them yourself.

If you have any other problems besides your noticeably screwed up head, you are going to have to find someone else to put up with your shit, because its not going to be this lady.

"Kapish"?

Kristi Rufener

Free Birthing, and Ignorance

For many of you that have seen the previews for the new show Free Birthing on DHC, I am encouraged that we have hit a turning point in our society.

That is, until I saw some of the message boards I am a part of on www.cafemom.com. Someone posted a rant about how stupid they are, and how they are a step backwards, and how your homes can be dirty and that sort of thing. So me, being the hormonal wonder I am, wrote this in response:

First off, I would like to say that I think it is incredibly ignorant for someone to say that Free Birthing or Home Birthing is a "step backwards" in the medical world. For God's sake, why didn't everyone die then? What did we ever do without hospitals and the MIRACLE of drugs?? If I had the option, I would 100% have a homebirth..unfortunately, with us living in an apartment that is sort of out of the question.
For all of the other women on here who have said they wouldn't do it because of medical reasons (preeclampsia, prior c-section, etc.) well no kidding. Free birthing and home birthing are not for women who have had or might have complications. It is a choice for a mother who has had a complication free pregnancy.
You have just as much a chance of something unexpected happening at home as you do in a hospital.
And one more thing, for the woman who said you shouldn't deliver at home because it could be dirty- are you really going to believe that you don't catch stuff at hospitals??? Where do you think the majority of MRSA cases come from?
Educate, THEN relate.

And then I was met with applause.

We took Haley and Beeps to Eugsters this last Saturday, and our twenty minute trip ended up taking about three hours due to an accident involving a motocylce and truck. When we came upon the wreck, I knew there was no way that poor guy could have survived. I was right. He was in the news two nights ago. Apparently the truck failed to stop at a stop sign, and plowed into this guy. Yuck.

The girls had a blast, and Haley spent the night and didn't want to leave the next morning!! She is such a sweet heart. Kevin remarked how good she is, and I of course said, "Every kid is good when they aren't around their parents!!".

Getting fatter, and enjoying my new diet that does not include Big Mac's from McDonalds. Damn it. I am going to eat Big Mac's until I puke after this baby is born!

Road rally is next weekend, and hubby and I are both looking forward to that!

Also, there are several people interested in my Pontiac, so hopefully we will get that sold and be ready to go for the winter.

And that's all I know for now!

More soon.

Kristi Rufener

On Life.

Took half the day off at work yesterday. I needed it. There is so much stress I am worrying myself into a state. That makes me have Braxton Hicks, which are stressful all by themselves.
I typed out a whole blog about what my weekend was like, and when I went to copy it so that it wouldn't delete it, it suddenly disappeared... I was livid to the point that I didn't bother to retype it.

My friend is about ready to pop. She is due pretty much any day now, so I am just waiting for my phone call. Her dad had a school-wide event yesterday where he cut all of his hair off for Locks of Love. All nineteen inches of it! My daughter told me all about it when I picked her up yesterday.

My grandma is home and doing fine. She had to see the doctor yesterday, and they took out her catheter, so at least she doesn't have that to worry about. She is going to stay at my mom's for a while yet, though I am not sure how long.

Hubby and I are doing well. I hate that I am constantly busy, and that we never seem to have enough money. Living paycheck to paycheck is not ideal. We will be caught up eventually, it's just the thought of waiting to be caught up that gets to me.

Speaking of cell phones, I have had it up to here with mine. This oh so wonderful Razor that everyone recommended? Right. Stupid battery won't stay charged. Calls are going straight to voice mail instead of ringing. And the damned thing is so slim, I can't hold it with my shoulder so that I can have two hands free!

Hubby and I went shopping on Sunday and picked up some super cute little outfits for the baby. He was feeling down because I hadn't gone shopping with him. We hit Kohl's, and found a lot of great stuff! We didn't pay over four dollars for anything we bought.

It was also my g-mas seventy third birthday on Sunday, so we had to stop at the Gritty (The Nitty Gritty Birthday Place, it's a Madison, WI thing...) and get her her birthday mug. Bekah also picked her out some hot pink socks with black spider webs on them. G-ma loved them. Sandee and Bill also came to mom's to celebrate, and I got to see the quilt Sandee is making me as a wedding present. It is gorgeous!! I have this certain feeling of pride when I see it, because I picked out the fabrics myself, and they go together perfectly.

Saturday Whitney and I hung out with Ephraim and Bekah. We went to China Buffet for lunch- I could eat there every day. Then we took the kids to Burlington and my Beeps (that's Bekah) helped me pick out some stuff for her baby sister. She is getting so excited!! Just last night she kissed my belly and told her baby sister good night. I hope she stays this positive even after Charlotte is born.

I am now at 21 weeks and 3 days. I get my glucose test (my FAVORITE test ever!! *see "dripping sarcasm" in the dictionary) and I am pretty much predicting they are going to send me in for the more extensive three hour test. My doctor is sweet, but he is kind of a ding dong. Oh well, no one is perfect!

If we weren't tight on money, everything would be so perfect right now. But there I was, at four in the morning, wide awake because I was thinking about a credit card I have. The worst part is that I have the money to make the payments, so I'm not even sure why I am worrying about it!

Will update again tomorrow!


Kristi M. Rufener

Needa Longer Weekend..

Okay, I just typed a really long blog here and it deleted the entire thing, so when I am done being fucking pissed, maybe I will try to type it again.

The Great Abortion Debate

So with all of the attention Sarah Palin is getting during this election (that seems to be dragging on for eternity) I would like to put my two cents in about her outlawing abortion.

The following is a discussion I had online in a motherhood community:

Quoting kristichristen:

To the person who claimed a fetus the size of a dot is a baby- be realistic.
A baby should be called a baby when it is viable outside the womb. Period. Until then, it is a fetus.
I would much rather some fourteen year old get an abortion than hear about her microwaving her kid a year down the road.
Thanks anyway.

Quoting monkeysmom21006:
Sorry, but when you were found out you were pregnant, did you refer to it as a "fetus" or a "baby"? Just wondering. I know from the second I found out I was pregnant with both pregnancies (my first at 5 weeks my second at 3 weeks 1 day) those were my BABIES. I do however agree that I would rather a girl get an abortion rather than harm the baby later in a cruel/ disgusting way. But then again, how do you KNOW she'll act like that? I got pregnant at 15, had my son at 16 and never had even a HINT of thought of doing something like that.

kristichristen:

I referred to it as "being pregnant". Whenever I refer to the "baby" I say she- because it is a girl. She is not viable outside the womb yet, and I know that. A speck is not a baby. There is no heartbeat until around 6-8 weeks, and there is no telling if there could be anything wrong with the fetus. To put a young girl through the trauma of forcing her to look at an ultrasoun is horrible. If she makes an adult decision to say, Hey, I can't take care of this baby when its born, so she decides to abort, I don't see anything wrong with that. Lets say she sees this ultrasound and is "talked into" keeping this baby. What if they find birth defects that she REALLY can't deal with? What if her family finds out she's pregnant and kicks her out, or beats her? It is a lot of what if scenarios.I DON'T agree with using abortion as a form of birth control, but I DO believe that YOU can't tell another person what to do with their life. I had my first daughter when I was 17, and wouldn't have chosed abortion for myself. Then again, I was VERY lucky to have the amazing support system I have.I am not naive enough to think that EVERY situation of abortion should be stopped. I can only make a clear decision for myself.

I am kristichristen in case you hadn't guessed.

Kristi M. Rufener

A Little Set Back...

***I forgot to post about our ultrasound on Tuesday!! Hubby and I invited his mom to come with, and she met us there. When we got in, I mentioned to the tech that the last time we had an ultrasound, they couldn't tell us for sure if it was a boy or girl, so I asked her to check again. We weren't three seconds into that ultrasound when she said, "Oh, it's definitely a girl." She pointed out the little parts, and all I could think was, "Well, she's not so shy anymore!". So Charlotte Olivia Dale is feisty. She kicked the tech twice! It was really funny to see her little feet swooping around and feel it at the same time. Now hubby and I are in a sort of frantic overdrive... and you thought nesting was for the women! Ha!***

So last night I had to close at work. To get you up to speed, I am the lead teller at a financial insitution. We have a policy that states two people (One of them a supervisor- me) have to be in the branch at all times. Like I was saying, it was my night to close, so here I was with Chris, one of our tellers that recently quit and decided to stay on the rest of the month part time.
I had just gotten out of a sexual harassment meeting (Now I am really good at it! lol) and I noticed that I was having contractions. Just Braxton Hicks, nothing painful- just uncomfortable. At first I was a little surprised, being only 20 and a half weeks along I thought it was too early to feel them... But apparently its pretty common to feel them this early with your second baby.
I put up a post on Cafemom to ask other moms if they experienced this, and got a lot of reasurring feedback, until I had had more than ten of them in an hour. So I called my doctor- not to be a Debbie Downer, but I'm not sure how I feel about my doctor yet... He is kind of spacey, and inexperienced. He couldn't remember my name, couldn't get logged into his computer, and couldn't even tell me what I should do. So there was a pointless ten minutes of my life I can never get back. *Sigh*
Luckily, when I got to my mom's house and had a chance to sit down and put my feet up they subsided, and the baby started moving around which made me feel better.
But then I started thinking two things:
I hope this isn't a preview of how the rest of the pregnancy is going to go. Not that I am complaining, but if I get a lot of episodes like that, it is going to be exhausting. Even Braxton Hicks contractions take a bit out of you.
And I am starting to wonder if it is safe for me to close at work anymore... What if I had an emergency?? I couldn't leave if I was one of the only two people here.
My biggest problem right now is that I don't want my boss to think I am skirting my responsibility, or that I am incompetent now that I am pregnant. I keep trying to do as much as I did around here before I was pregnant, but I just don't think I can handle it. And then I stress myself out, which isn't good for me, the baby, or anyone else around me that has to deal with me on a daily basis.
I guess for right now I will take it one day at a time, and when we get someone hired in here to take Chris's place it shouldn't be so bad.
Keep your fingers crossed.

Kristi M. Rufener

Today today!

SOOOOOooooo....

The last couple of weeks have been exhausting. Between covering for FOUR different people at my job, I have run myself down. The funny thing is, I am not sleeping well, even though you would think I would be considering how busy I have been.

The baby is moving constantly! She seems to like kicking me in the bladder. It is the most weird feeling in the world. I'm not sure how to even describe it! It is sort of like having a UTI; with that weird throbbing feeling you have afterwards... It's not very pleasant, at any rate.

My friend M.E. is due in a few short weeks. She is such a pretty pregnant woman! I just look like a fat dude. We are planning on going shopping some time this week for baby stuff. I feel motivated to do that, even though I don't really have the money and I shouldn't buy too much, since my hubby's family has baby fever and will probably be buying us stuff anyway.

On a side note, feeling like I am overwhelmed with bills and I am not even sure why. I haven't had a problem paying them. I think I am just freaking out about maternity leave, and not getting paid for that...

My SIL has been trying to get pregnant for over a year now, and had two miscarriages. It was devastating. So when I found out I was pregnant, I was really hesitant to tell her.. I love her to death and I didn't want her to feel like I was spiting her. My hubby ended up telling her the news, and not even a week after that we got a call from her telling us she was pregnant too..with twins!!

She is due five days after me, though I am sure she will go sooner. For a while after finding out, I was worried I was going to steal her thunder as well, but that hasn't been it at all.. There is so much love to go around, and it has been so fun having someone pregnant the same time as me! I have someone to talk to who knows what I am going through... Times two!

Have a doctor appointment tomorrow at 3, I will update around that time. For now, I am salivating thinking about the supper my mom is cooking tonight. That's right. My mom. I am not ashamed to admit I will take a free meal anytime! Especially if it means I don't have to cook.

Kristi M. Rufener

Apartment-ally Certified.

So much for my dedication to this blog- wanting to write in it once every day hasn't worked out... and it is only the fourth day!! Ha!

I spent the weekend with my best friend Rachel, who decided to make the three hour trip at the last minute due to her hubby being on a fishing trip. Needless to say, this weekend went by in a blur of stupid giggling, guitar hero playing, Olive Garden eating frenzy.

Honestly, she is my woman soul mate! Who else could I just completely be myself with and they would laugh at me like everything I say is hysterical... Even when it's not.

So when I finally let her drag herself out of my apartment early Sunday afternoon, I am sure she was ready for a nap when she got home. No luck. She called me three hours later to tell me Michael had not only come and gone already, but had made dinner plans for the two of them. Poor girl!

Hubby and I got got ambitious and started rearranging the apartment to squeeze another little one in. We completely switched the living room and our bedroom around, and I gagged over how black the white windows were as I doused them in Windex. Also noted was that there appears to be a completely other apartment complex right behind us! And who would have thought windows were for looking out of... Ha!

So I fell into bed last night thinking, "Man, I am going to sleep like a rock! I have done nothing but work today!". Alas, it was all to no avail. As soon as I lay down, baby Rufener had a field day in utero. I have no idea what was so damned exciting, but I swear that 6.5" baby felt like a pissed off linebacker. Then hubby felt the need to have a conversation. Which wouldn't have been a huge deal except he would only ask me a question every ten minutes or so. Finally told him to shut up. When I DID finally fall asleep, I would wake up every couple of hours... I honestly think it may have something to do with switching sides of the bed with him so that I could get used to sleeping next to a baby, who will be co-sleeping in a bassinet. So do you think I am going to admit that I might be losing sleep because I am too hard-headed to admit that switching sides was a stupid idea in the first place??? Hell no. I am going to suck it up until I am too exhausted to care what side of the bed I am sleeping on.

Why oh why do humans have to be stupid creatures of habit???

On a side note, grandma is still in the hospital. They are waiting for her bladder to start working, as I guess she can't pee without a catheter in. I could tell she was feeling better today though; when I called my mom to ask about her, she was strong enough to yell something about charging her for every damn thing.

That's my girl.

Until tomorrow,

Kristi M. Rufener

Welcome!

This is my first blog, so be patient with me... or go somewhere else!

My husband and I were married on July 26th of this year (2008), and I was already four weeks pregnant. This will be my second child, and his first. My firstborn, Rebekah, came into this world when I was only 17 years old; a junior in high school. Without the support of my family, I never would have been the mother I am today. Now she is 5 and in kindergarten, and continues to make me proud EVERY day!












I have known my husband almost my entire life- we have been through it all! I firmly believe that nothing will come in between us. He is such a wonderful person, provider, and father, who can't wait for his baby to get here!

Last night he felt the baby kick for the first time, and I am only 19 weeks and 5 days! It was the most comical thing- he was frowning in concentration, and suddenly his eyes flew WIDE open! I must have laughed for five minutes.

If you haven't already guessed by the title, this blog is going to be about a year in my life. I will try to blog every day, even if there isn't much to say; all the way through the birth of this child to whatever else comes my way in the next 365 days.

To bring you up to speed, in an hour my grandma will be wheeled into surgery to remove her left kidney. She has cancer, but they expect that it will be completely removed. In the last year, she has had a TIA (a mini stroke), and a serious heart attack. The year my daughter was born, she lost her husband (I was very close with my grandpa) to a heart attack. It just so happened that my mom was with her when she had hers, or she wouldn't be here today.

I will update the blog when my mom calls me to let me know how the surgery went, though I don't expect I will know until around 6 tonight or so.

As for everything else, I will throw in bits and pieces as they come. Sometimes my ordinary life is a lot more interesting than anything I could make up on my own!







Talk to you soon.







Kristi Rufener


***Update***

Grandma is out of surgery and it went well. The only part the doctor was concerned about was during the closing of the urethra they had to get close to her stomach anuersym, but there were no complications. Pending how she is feeling tomorrow, I will go up to the hospital after work to visit. We will see I guess!