February 2008

February 05

what a weekend....

So I belong to this online mommies group.  I have been there since Elijah was about 6months I guess.  I've really enjoyed it.  It's been nice to be on a message board with so many other moms with so many backgrounds.  I have made some friends from there and learned a lot.  So last week one of my friends suddenly disappeared from the message board.  We are also Facebook friends and had a game of Scrabulous going, and she disappeared from there.  So I posted a message on the message board asking if anyone had heard from her and if she was okay.  Minutes later my post was removed and I got a PM from the moderator saying that her account was temporarily suspended.  How fishy... So then I get an e-mail from MySpace (which I'm not fond of, but still have an active account) from another mom from the message board that said that there were several moms from the site who were being investigated and weren't allowed on the board.  So a little more delving, and I find that there are 6 REALLY active members that hadn't logged on for several days.  I keep digging and I find one of their blogs and she told the whole story and I must say that all weekend I just felt like I was trying to solve a mystery and that it wasn't really real.  These women had started e-mailing each other and had (apparently) talked trash about someone on the site.  One of the women ended up sending copies of the e-mails to the state moderator (as this is a national network) and then all hell broke loose.   These women were banned from the site (a couple have been re-allowed back on, for various reasons) and very vague posts were made by the moderator of the site and the state moderator.

This whole thing has sorta struck a chord with me.  First, I think that the whole thing is rather high school-ish.  But then to take 6 very vocal women away from a group, and only give some vague reasoning... I mean we are all adults (last time I checked) and I think that we have the ability to make up our minds.  But it has all been kept very hush hush.  The site is rather boring now.  I mean these women were very active in arranging play dates and MNO and things like that.  They donated their time and sometimes their money to help out with events.  It's very disheartening.  And I have to say I'm torn.  On one hand, I really value the opinions of these women.  They always have ideas and are there  if I'm having issues with Elijah.  They come form every walk of life.  I like the diversity.  On the other hand, I'm not sure that I feel very positive about how this was handled.  Regardless, I'm glad that I have my little Thursday playgroup that is separate from this on line group.  Though I'm not sure that the suspended women are as lucky...super sigh...

Anyway, that took up a lot of my weekend time.  Poor Jerry was reduced to using the desktop to get on the internet.

Friday's MW appointment went well.  We are both a little concerned about my weight gain, but I know I need to eat better food...i.e. no more Little Debbie's...sigh... though I have to say, I have just been starving all the time lately.  Regardless what I eat.  So I'm eating a lot of everything, not just junk.  Grace is transverse (long ways) which is fine for right now.  She has a lot of room...though seems to like the bottom of my uterus more than the top.  She is VERY active and has been keeping me up for hours at a time at night.  I need to start sitting on the bouncy ball and seeing if that will calm her down.  I do feel like she is sorta trying out the upside down thing.  In the past few days she has been experimenting with kicking farther up... we'll see... like I said, we still have plenty of time.

I went to the dentist today.  I really dislike the dentist, but seeing as I probably won't go for a while after Grace is born, I kept my appointment today.  I do have a question though...why is it that dental hygienist and hair dressers have such issues with silence?  I could care less about this woman's daughter and her school issues or how long her labor was and why the epidural wouldn't take... I don't know you!!!  sigh...  Anyway, it's very odd... I just want to be there and get the heck out!  At least at the hairdresser you can talk back...

The fence people are here!!!!   WAHOO!!!   We are supposed to have a our fence finished by this weekend!  That's really exciting!  Today's weather is GREAT!  It's 75 and sunny, so I'm hoping they will make good progress.

Okay, I am off to try my hand at making AIO diapers.  I think I've figured it out and now I need to put everything together.  We'll see.  Tonight Elijah and I are going to a pancake dinner at a friend's church...yum-o!!!  I take my GTT on Thursday morning, so I have to be REALLY REALLY good food wise tomorrow.  Have a great day!

February 08

Houston we have a fence!!!!

Those that are close to me (distance wise) are probably already sick of hearing it, but WE HAVE A FENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm so freakin' excited about it and so is Elijah.  They finished the work on Wednesday afternoon.   I got up and went to my GTT on Thursday...after going to the wrong place...ah pregnancy brain!...then came home and Jerry and Elijah had been up there since Elijah had gotten up.  Which meant he hadn't even eaten breakfast before wanting to going out to play.  So it's already worth every penny.  Elijah is having a hard time realizing that we can't be out there all the time though.  He wants to go out before getting dressed in the morning and eat out there... not that I'm complaining that my kid wants to be outside, but there are other things I have to do during the day.  We had friends over today so I was getting the house in a tidy state before they got here...not acceptable to Elijah... poor baby...  We did go play before lunch and after nap.  All that's out there right now is his sand box, some trucks, and a ball or two.  But that's keeping him busy for now.  We are looking at a Step 2 swing set-y thing that he can grow into a bit and isn't too permanent (in case of moving, etc.) which will make the summer even better!  My plan is to be able to sit on the patio and nurse Grace while Elijah plays until he passes out...HA!

My folks are coming down at the beginning of March to take care of Elijah for a night so Jerry and I can go on a baby-moon.  Then they'll bring Elijah down and we'll stay with them a night (they have a condo in Myrtle Beach for a few days) and then come back home.  I would love to go away for a week, but Jerry is keeping his PTO for the baby (and other possible vacation-y things like homecoming next October) and I guess we are all nervous about Elijah at night...though he'll probably surprise us all.  So I'll take the night.  We are staying in a place that has an indoor water area, with a lazy river!!!!  We'll probably go walk Broadway on the Beach and see a movie or two and eat out and watch really bad TV....actually we'll probably fall asleep by 9 and sleep until check out!  I'll be 31 weeks by then...man the home stretch.

I don't know if I've mentioned Elijah's language lately, but he is really talking now.  It really seems the last few weeks it's insane.  He picks up words so quickly.  He's suddenly much more interested in talking than signing.  He still uses his signs, but isn't as intersted in learning new ones.  This is fine.  It's just my little man growing up...sniff sniff.

I got my GTT results back today and everything is normal...WAHOO!  I didn't think that it would be high...well maybe I was a little worried.  But I didn't feel as weird as I did when I took it with Elijah.  My MW called this afternoon to tell me that everything looked good... so WAHOO!!!   No 3 hour test... that would have killed me!

Okay, Jerry just drove up with dinner, so I'm off to EAT!!!!!

February 13

when story time isn't story time...sigh...

  So yesterday I decided to give story time another shot.  So after getting ready and going on a short walk, we head out to the library.  We stopped going because I was getting annoyed that other kids were running around the whole time and the parents were either talking among themselves or reading other books (out loud...) So, I tried to be all positive.  The kids still were running around, though this time it seems the parents were paying attention to the story...I'm all about leading by example, but your kid needs to be paying attention to you for the example to work... Elijah was getting flustered because the kids were running in front of him and he couldn't see the book.  He kept telling them, "Move, eeease," and that was heart breaking.  I started saying something to the kids and finally some mom's caught on.  So, I keep looking at the clock, thinking about just leaving, when the reader stands up and pulls out a DVD?!?!  What got me even more than the fact we were going to be watching a DVD at story time is that suddenly the moms told their kids they needed to come sit down and watch TV...WHAT?!?!  You don't make your kid sit and listen to an actual person, but you make them sit and listen to TV?  This is STORYTIME...hello!  Not to mention total rudeness to the storyteller.  Sigh... I guess maybe the whole thing is indicative of what goes on at home.  I'm not saying that Elijah doesn't watch TV, but it is never a forced thing.  And we read 1328974896698 books everyday (some to the point of my insanity...) and people are perplexed when I say that he'll sit through all those books.  It's not forced either, he likes the stories.  I like that he can tell some back to me or remembers something from a book and talks about it.  I love that he, for the most part, could care less about TV.  I digress, I understand that toddlers aren't always going to sit through a story time, but what I don't understand is parents not showing respect to the storyteller or to the other children who are paying attention.  sigh...

anyway, that's my rant for today.  nothing exciting is happening these days... Grace kicks me lots.  She has decided that the top of my uterus is an okay place to hang out too and I appreciate that.  Tomorrow is Valentine's Day.  I got Jerry's gift this morning.  It's not big, but we are going on a baby moon in a few weeks, so that's our real present.  I just wanted to get him a little something.  I got Elijah a kite.  I think he'll like that.  We went puddle jumping this morning too.  I got a good video of him playing, I'll try to add it sometime.

Ohhh, I finished Stephen King's new book, Duma Key... very good....creepy, but good.  I finished it within my 3 week allotment, but barely!  I really like him as a writer and this is one of the better books he's written.  I'm back now to the Jane Green books Jerry got me for Christmas.

February 17

too good too be true...

Jerry has kept Elijah at night for the past week.  Elijah has gone to bed on his own, no crying, no whining, we have had our little routine, kissed him good night, shut the door (well left it a crack) and we've heard not a peep.  Elijah has then been sleeping straight through until 6 -6:30 then coming to bed with Jerry and sleeping at least another hour.  We have been holding our breath.   Didn't want to think that maybe he had  worked it all out.  So I thought, sure I can handle a night listening for him.  Jerry deserves many nights off... What's the big deal? He'll get up at 6 and come snuggle in bed...sigh... not so much tonight.

At 1:30 I am awaken to frantic MAMA DADO MAMA DADO and crying.  By the time I get my preggo belly out of bed, he has thrown open the door and is crying hysterically.  So, I go into his room and I pick him up and calm him down.  I put him back in bed and sing to him a bit.  I tell him mommy will be right out in the living room, get up and leave the door open a crack.  I have barely gotten myself settled onto the sofa, before he is crying again and standing in the door.  I bring him onto the couch with me thinking he needs some cuddles.  He must have had a nightmare or something.  Every time he just about drops off to sleep, he starts crying and grabbing for me.  So I move to the recliner.  Thinking I can rock him back to sleep.  Nope... not happening.  It is now 3:00 and I'm suddenly starving, but am determined to get this kid back to sleep.  I ask him if I let him get in bed with me will he go to sleep.  He hops off my lap and goes and gets his pillow, walks right by me and into the bedroom and crawls in bed.  Great, I think he'll just go to sleep.  So I lie down beside him and he cuddles up to me and STILL will not go to sleep.   He is still at least.  I slow my breathing down and eventually (after several tries without success) he falls asleep and I am able to push him over to the other side of the bed.  It is now 3:45 and I am beat, but starving and Grace has decided now is a good time to run laps around my uterus.  So I get up and make myself a banana with PB and settle back into bed with reruns of the Cosby Show on and the laptop.  I am now wide awake (as is Grace) and Elijah (thankfully) is sound asleep with his butt up in the air, here beside me.  It is currently 4:14 and I'm not sure sleep is coming anytime soon.  This wouldn't be too much of an issue, except we are supposed to go to see Jerry's folks tomorrow and many people will be there, which means 1) one of Jerry's brother's will make a crack about me getting fat....hahahaha...charming... 2) Someone will comment on how tired I look...always nice to hear... 3)Elijah will be totally thrown off nap and eating schedules and will be very clingy because of all the strange people around...4)I will have a short fuse and little patience because of lack of sleep... 5)sleeping in the car is sorta out of the question because Jerry has to take a Benedryl before leaving since his mom has a cat (allergies) so if he can drive he'll be yawning all the way...not a problem except that Jerry has to stop his yawns in order to not trigger an asthma attack...this is very loud and startling...and also, I'm rather preggo and riding in a car, is not comfortable....  I'm sure that I could bow out of going, but it's Jerry's dad's b-day and I want to be there for that.   So suck it up Erin...you have had less sleep before in your life and done more...

So here's to hoping that The Cosby Show will lullaby me to sleep and that Elijah will continue to sleep and that I can get in at least a few hours...... and here's to Grace calming down so all that can happen as well...ahhhhh, positive thinking...  Good night...rather...good morning... what are the odds I can get IHOP out of this when Jerry wakes up?  hmmmmm....

February 19

what a cutie!

Jerry shared this with me this morning:

Jerry was sleeping and heard on the monitor, "Mama, Dado? Mama Dado?"  And as he is starting to rouse from sleep he heard this getting farther away, and then suddenly the bedroom door opens and there is Elijah standing there, all happy, looking at Jerry, "DADO!"  And crawls up in bed with him and snuggles down.  Since it was 7 in the morning, all was good...but man what a cutie...

I just wanted to share...

Sunday was fine.  No one commented on how tired I looked, but a brother did make a comment on me being fat (what are you 12?)  I made myself stay up until 10 and then slept really well.

Yesterday Elijah and I worked on dealing with frustration in more creative ways than throwing, spitting, hitting, etc.  I was impressed with myself keeping my cool through the whole thing... Showing by example and all...sigh... he seems to be getting it though.  We only had one time out and I think that was more for my sanity.  He did, however, only take a 27 minute nap and that was not okay with me...but he woke up happy...so whatever.  It just takes so freaking long to get him back on track once he's knocked off.

We are off to a tie-dye party this morning!!!  Wahoo!  Should be lots of fun.  We'll end with a potluck lunch...I'm taking spinach pie...yum-o!!!

February 28

oh no oh no oh no

This is Elijah's newest phrase.... EVERYTHING is oh no oh no oh no...always in threes.  It's sorta cute.  Yesterday I was tie dying some more old t-shirt and onesies and he comes running out of his room, "Momma, oh no oh no oh no!" grabs my hand and I go back to his room where he has poured/spilled/accidentally knocked over his juice on the carpet.  Part of me wanted to blow up and get mad, but the oter part (the part that won out) wants him to tell me about these things instead of me finding trails of ants coming into the room...sigh...

Anyway, the doddle bug has a cold.  I'm glad this is happening this week instead of next week when my folks are coming and Jerry and I are going on a baby moon (wahoo!!!!)  But he's been so freakin' whiny that it's beginning to drive me nuts.  He falls to pieces over EVERYTHING and I'm a bit over it.  He just has a little snotty nose and a small cough... but it's enough to make him a bear.  Sigh...  to make matters worse, he wakes up not hungry but by 10 he's starving, so I give him his breakfast (today he ate TWO bowls of oatmeal!!!)  SO then at lunch he's not really hungry for anything other than a snack...after nap he wakes up not hungry but at 4 he's starving again...sigh... At least we convinced him to eat dinner tonight.  He also hasn't really wanted anything to drink.  This is odd since usually we have no problem getting fluids in him.  I thought that maybe his throat was hurting, but he'll drink a smoothie...just not ice water?  Odd kid.  I took him grocery shopping this morning because I was going crazy being in the house.

Tomorrow is our last monthly MW appointment.  I think we go to 3 weeks now and then after then next one every 2?  I can't remember.  I do remember that I never got to the weekly appointments with Elijah.  I am having trouble with my right hip lately.  It kills!  Not all the time, though it is becoming more annoying more often.  But if I sleep on my left side (you know, the one you are "supposed" to sleep on whist with child) and I get up, I honestly can't walk on my right leg it hurts so bad.  I'm guessing that it's just the relaxin stuff making my joints a little looser, but I'm going to ask about it tomorrow.  I think that my weight is better this month, but I don't know.  I'm refusing to step on a scale.  I just know that if I freak out about it, I may tend to not eat enough.  We'll see tomorrow.

Oh, yeah, so last night around 3:45, I get up to what? pee... of course... and as I'm heading to bathroom, who do I run into? Elijah.  He's just waddling (since we triple up on his diaper overnight...it's a pretty funny waddle to watch) to Jerry's room.  He looks up at me with his little sleepy eyes and walks over grabs my hand, says, "Mama" and walks over to Jerry's door and goes in and just climbs in.  Jerry wakes up a bit and we have a conversation about the whole thing...though when I come into the room in the morning, Jerry asks how Elijah ended up in bed with him... overall pretty funny and cute too.

I guess that's it.  I haven't blogged lately mostly because nothing really has been happening... but I guess this is a good little catch up.