Discussions in a car

On our way home today from a friend's birthday party we passed the hospital.  Here is the discussion that ensued:
Elijah: Mama you were in that hospital?
Me: Yes.  And you came to visit me when I had Grace.
Elijah: Yeah and then Grace got sick and had to go there and I got to play with the toys?
Me: That's right.  She had to be put under the lights to make her better.
Elijah: Why did you go to the hospital to have Gracie?
Me: Well, she was in my tummy and I needed to get her out, so I went to the hospital.
Elijah: Oh. You had a doctor help get her out?
Me: Well I had a midwife and she helped.
Elijah: Oh.  Will K go to the hospital to get her baby out?
Me: Yes.
Elijah: What about J?  Did she go to the hospital?
Me: No.  She had her baby at her house.
Elijah: Oh.  Did her doctor go to her house.
Me: Her midwife did.
Elijah: Oh.  (silence...feeling pretty good about this conversation.)
Elijah: I want to have a baby in my belly. (well... it was going well...)
Me: Well, um, you are a boy.  And you will be a GREAT daddy some day, but only girls can have babies in their bellies.
Elijah: Oh.  Well, MR can have the baby then.
Me: REALLY?  Okay.  She'll be happy to know that...  However, having a baby is a really big responsibility.  Maybe you should wait a bit.
Elijah: Don't worry mama, we'll wait until we are five. (almost run off the road, I'm laughing so hard. But trying to keep it all in.)
Me: Five.  Wow.  Well, you know that I was almost 30 when I had you.
Elijah: That's a long time away.
Me: Yeah, but it's a lot of fun to be a kid and play and live your life a bit.
(silence)
Elijah: Well, okay.  We'll wait. (phew)
Me: I think that's a good choice buddy!
Elijah: For now, I'll be a mommy monster and have lots of babies and give them some mommy milk!!!!!!
-- that's my boy!

April 2008

April 01

Note to Self:

Never ever talk about your child's sleep habits.  It jinxes everything and you end up spending two and half hours fighting a 2 year old to take a freakin' nap.  All the while knowing that the angrier you get the less likely your toddler will go to sleep.  Now you are faced with a choice... wake a child up after only a one hour nap so that hopefully sleep will come easier tonight, but deal with a grumpy PITA kid all afternoon...or let him sleep now and possibly miss part of AI tonight because he's just not tired?  sigh...

NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER talk about your kid's sleep on your blog... or anywhere else for that matter.

April 05

Still knocked up...

Though I feel like it's not going to be much longer.  Mom will be here on Thursday and I think that I will breathe a little easier... or harder if labor starts.

This past week was a good one though I'm over the rain.  I know we need the rain, but man I am sick of being stuck inside.  Twice I sent Elijah out into the back yard with his raincoat and galoshes on to just get out of my hair.  On Tuesday I went a little insane with the cleaning.  I mean, I was cleaning the inside of drawers...can we say nesting?  Wednesday we went to meet a friend at Fit For Fun and totally made fun of some of the moms there whose outfits cost more than all the clothes in my closet... it was just too much.  More power to 'em though I guess.  On Thursday we went to Monkey Joe's.  I've always been a little nervous about going there.  I was scared that an older kid would trample my kid, but it's set up really well and well run.  Elijah spent a good half hour sitting on this little fire engine thingy, but got into the bouncy-jumpy things for a while.  We were there for a birthday party, which was good, because this kiddo worked up a huge appetite.  He ate two pieces of pizza (sans cheese) and a  box of juice and wanted more... He had a lot of fun though!

Oh yeah, on Wednesday we went over and hung out with Rachel.  I got to hold the babies.  They are so freaking cute and tiny!!!

Yesterday we went over to Angela's to drop off a canopy for her yard sale today.  That was fun.  She has a good play area and K.Lo and Elijah played whilst we talked.  It was nice.

Last night though...sigh... First off, the temperature outside didn't go below 70 until this morning.  Our house was sooo hot, so I wasn't sleeping well.  At 1:11 a.m. the fire alarm went off.  We have an electric system that if one goes off they all go off... ummmm, no one else in the house woke up.  It only beeped 3 times, but still.  Fire is one of my bigger fears.  So I got up and checked all the rooms and what not.  Nothing was on fire.  So I got back in bed and then I couldn't sleep... all I could think of was that maybe there was a fire in the attic, what would I do, blah blah blah... So when Elijah walked into my room at 1:30 a.m. I wasn't really sleeping.  I took him in to Jerry and went to the bathroom (big surprise there!) and started feeling a little sick, so I just stayed up and turned on the TV.  When I left Elijah with Jerry, I thought he felt a little hot, but I just thought that it ws just the temp of the house.  At 2 I hear Elijah's little voice calling me, so I tell him to come on out and sit with me.  Jerry brings him in and he's still really hot, I take his temp...101.5...sigh... so out comes the IB.  I tell Jerry to sleep in the back room, since I'm already up and I go lie down with Elijah in the big room.  I take off his shirt to help him cool down...sigh... The child was driving me nuts.  He didn't act sick.  He was figitity and playing with a doll, so I finally took him to his room.  That didn't go over well.  I compromise with rocking him.  By this time it's 3.  I turn on Step Up and Dance and rock the boy child.  He doses on and off, but is still awake.  Finally at 4, I'm about beat and am finally tired.  So I put him bed with me and turn my back on him.  At 4:30, I look over and he's finally asleep.  THEN... I realize I am starving, so I eat a banana and lie down to sleep, except that Grace gets the hiccups...sigh.  She is so far down in my pelvis that my whole hip bone shakes with each hiccup.  I get out of bed and decide that I'll go on and eat some cereal and that way I won't be too hungry in the morning and maybe I can sleep in a bit (Fool that I am!) She finally gets over the hiccups at around 5:30.  I FINALLY sleep.  At 7:30 on the nose, Elijah wakes right up and is UP!  Sigh...  His fever didn't come back until later in the day.  Again, he didn't act sick, just had a fever.  Sigh... I never know what to do in these situations.  Go to the doc?  Wait and see if he develops any more symptoms... let the fever runs it's course?  Isn't it the body fighting something?  he didn't take a much longer nap than usual, and I didn't really get a nap, so I'm pretty tired.  I hope that I can sleep tonight.  Mary the midwife offered to write me a script the last time for something to help me sleep and I'm wondering if maybe I should have taken her up on it.  My hip hurts so bad most nights, that I don't sleep well.  I can only sleep on my right side with some relief or sitting straight up, but that makes it a little harder to breathe...

Not much longer, I know... but I just don't remember being this uncomfortable with Elijah.  Though I carried him farther back and Grace is really right up front.  I shouldn't complain.  I've had a really easy pregnancy.   I'll just be happier once my mom is here.

Okay, enough for now.

April 11

soon?

soooo.... i'm still pregnant, but things are looking positive.  i'm effacing and a little dilated and grace's head is down...way down... mary the midwife said that i would probably be 3 cm by next friday and that i'm effacing nicely... next friday i'll 37.5 weeks which is where i was when elijah was born, so we'll see.  my contractions are sporadic at best, but when i have them i actually feel them, so i guess they are doing something.

my mom is here, so i feel better about the possibility of going into labor.   already i feel more relaxed.  not having to run after a 2 year old constantly is great!

that's it for now i guess.  i know there was more, but i can't remember.... okay... now for some rest!

April 14

Grace's Room -- check

I have finished all but two pictures on Grace's room.  Once again, I used an opaque projector to draw some characters from kid's books on the wall and then painted them in.  Overall I think they have turned out well.

Ollie

Doggies

Nim's Island

Russel The Sheep

The Belly Button Book

I Love My Mommy

Dog's Busy Day

The Peace Book

Happy To Be Nappy

Llama Llama Mad At Mama

 

So there they are.  I have a gorilla from Goodnight Gorilla to do and the green Powerpuff Girl left to do.

Elijah is sick.  He has gotten progressively yuckier over the weekend, so I broke down and took him to the doctor today.  If I wasn't thinking that I'm going to have this baby any day, then I would've waited it out, but I really don't want it on my mind.  But, yeah, he just has a cold.  Oh well, they were super nice.  We so rarely go to the doc.  We hadn't seen this PA since Elijah was 2 months old!  My mom has been great helping out with Elijah and around the house and yard.

Have I mentioned that we got a new mower?  We had an electric one with a cord and that made mowing the outside of the fence really difficult.  We were going to go battery powered, but the price doubled within the past couple of months.  So Jerry went and got us a reel mower.  I have to say that our yard looks really good.  It's lowest cut is only 1 inch, so it leaves a nice carpet of grass on the ground.  It's also the best cut for grass.  I'm just happy that we are reducing our carbon footprint a little bit.  Jerry did most of the back yard and all the front in a little over an hour, not too bad.  If we lived on more than .5 acre, I'm sure we would've been less likely to buy this, but we don't, so there.

Jerry came home to work today, and he did so from bed.  He also has a cold or really bad allergies or something.  These sickies need to not get the mama bear sick.  I'm having enough issues with little feet trying to push through my skin and contractions...I do not want a cold... I might cough and a baby may come out...

Okay, I'm going to add a couple of pics to the album and then go to bed.

April 17

This week

I just want to thank my town.  Thank you for not giving me dirty looks for using the handicap stall since that's the only one I can fit into.  Thank you for not commenting on my size and instead asking when I am due.  Thank you for not giving me a hard time since my belly hangs out over my maternity pants and my shirts don't cover all the belly either.  Thank you lady at The Fresh Market who said that she couldn't tell I was pregnant from the back, though I know it was a lie.  Thank you shoppers for not staring too hard at the mom that is hanging on to the buggy to get through a contraction while her toddler sings an unknown song at the top of his lungs.  Thank you mom for helping out with said toddler and allowing him to play at playgroup, while I sit on my butt and eat yummy snacks and talk to my mom friends.  Thank you Jerry for dealing with the toddler boy at night, even though I am the one that is not sleeping and so would be the better parent to get up if need be... I mean I'm on the way to the bathroom anyway right?  Thank you playgroup moms for bringing the perfect mix of yummy fruit and healthy foods and brownies and cookies this morning and for coming over and chatting to me.

I have needed this this week.  I am feeling very pregnant and huge and sad that NOTHING fits.  I have not needed to be reminded that I am indeed the size of a beached whale that needs to pee every five seconds.  I have needed to take a three hour nap.  I have needed to see my friends.  I have needed to pretend to sleep a little bit.

Tomorrow we go for another check...please please please, at least let there be something happening in this area.  I seriously may cry...

To Grace... my birthday is on Sunday.  There is a full moon on Sunday.  And while I am not one to share my birthday well, and I'm not too sure how much I believe the whole full moon thing... I will happily make an exception for you.  You are welcome to make an appearance at anytime.  I promise to call Mary the Midwife and make sure you are born in a warm and safe environment.  Your dad will be there and your Oma will bring your older brother to come and pat you on the head.  I bet your Opa will even jump in the car and drive down immediately.  I promise that you will like it just as much on the outside as you did on the inside... Love, mom.

Here it is folks.  Hopefully the last of the belly pics.  37 weeks and 2 days:

April 19

she's still in there...

Mary the midwife says sooner rather than later.  Grace's head is farther down (though don't know how that is possible as she already feels like she's halfway out!)  i'm still thinning, but not much more dilating.  I need to relax and not stress about this.  Mary says more than likely before May.  I'm going to go on a walk...

April 20

The big 3-2

Wahoo!  It's my birthday!  No Grace yet...hopefully soon.  Jerry and I got to go see Leatherheads (quite good...) and out for a walk and early dinner.  My mom made me a Boston Creme Pie and babysat for us.  Over all a very nice day.  I gotta say that my kiddo has stolen my thunder though.   Over the past few days Elijah has acquired three new skills.  First, he suddenly has gotten the idea of matching pictures to the pieces of a puzzle without help.  Honestly, it went from him being frustrated that things weren't fitting to putting the whole puzzle together by himself!  Second, he can consistently turn flips.  He's been trying for days and would occasionally get over, but now it's consistent and he uses it as a ploy to not brush his teeth and get ready for bed.   But it's really cool, so maybe we aren't as hard on him as we should be to stay on task.  And third he learned to ride his trike all by himself!!!!!  My boy is growing up!

April 23

When you want a hurricane to come through...

It doesn't.  I guess it isn't hurricane season and all... A really strong low pressure front could be helpful.  The moon's force didn't pull this kiddo out.  I am only 38 weeks pregnant and I could feasibly go the full 40.  I guess I am really paranoid about trying to birth a 10 pound baby.  Last weeks estimate was over 8 pounds...

I have been walking a bit more, though it is not comfy.  Every night I am awakened by contractions that are, how id Jerry put it?... oh yeah, more substantial.  I almost don't want Mary to check me on Friday.  Why is it that the last trimester seems the absolute longest.  Everyday, I wake up and think today could be the day.  I try visualizing the birth, relaxing, walking... Each night, I think oh maybe this contraction will lead to another....and it does...2 hours later!

Okay, enough whining.  She will come out soon... she has too!

Elijah is now a master of the trike.  It's really cool to watch him.  Now he'll talk or sing while he's riding.  At first it was just this total look of concentration on his little face.  He almost looked mad.  But he's really good at it now.  I'm a very proud momma!

My mom has been weedwacking and mowing up a storm.  Our yard will look very pretty while she is here!

We went over earlier this week to hang out with Rachel and the kiddos.  Her mom was there and so my mom got to talk to someone closer to her age and practice holding babies.  It was a good visit.  Elijah did have a bit of a meltdown before going because he wanted to ride his trike.  So we threw it in the car and took it with us.  MR and Elijah had the best time playing together outside.  Elijah pulled MR around on the trike, very freakin' cute!  Erin is almost done with his semester in school and finishes his clinical rounds tomorrow.  I know that Rachel will be happy to have him home a little more.   She is so lucky to have her mom live in town!  I feel really lucky to have my mom here now.  There is no way that Elijah would be out on his trike if it was just me.  He's really good about staying in the cul-de-sac.  He knows he can only go down to the stop sign if Oma, Opa, Momma, or Dado is with him and tells you this 23984987 times on the way to the stop sign.  But it's a good lesson and I'm glad he understands it!

I voted yesterday!  We have early voting set up since our primary isn't until May 6th (one of my projected due dates) I figured I had better get in there and do it.  So voting - check!  I am an Obama Momma all the way.  I'm a little perturbed that Hillary won last night actually.  It freaks me out that if she wins, gets elected twice over, then our country will have been run by 2 families for over 30 years.  It's just odd.  On a mom's board I belong too, someone said they wouldn't vote for Obama because they were scared he'd get killed and it would start a whole black versus white thing.  WHAT?!?!?  Anyone could get killed for any number of reasons.  It would be devastating regardless.  It's just odd.  I never thought about murder as a reason to vote or not vote for someone.  I'm more about politics than I am about color, religion, sex, etc.  I want a candidate that shares some of my political beliefs and one that can, HOPEFULLY, bring change to this country.

This has been a lot of little tangents.  Sorry.  Please send laboring thoughts my way.  Hopefully the next blog will be a birth announcement!

April 28

still here...still preggo

i'm hoping this cold front will do something though.  friday i was 3 cm and 60% effaced... i've been having contractions all weekend that have gotten progressively more uncomfortable.  we'll see.  i've given up holding my breath.

so i'm here.  i'm going to go walk the mall after elijah wakes up from nap and hope that'll do something!  send birthing vibes please!

March 2008

March 04

super fast

just thought i'd blog really quick.  we are under all sorts of watches and warnings.  it's been super warm today (75) and windy and now it is storming and windy as well...hence the tornado watch and severe storm warning.  i just wish this had come through during the day.  elijah is totally freaked out.  of course all this thunder started right as he was going to bed.  poor little guy is scared.  jerry is snuggling him in the big bed for now.

very exciting news, though, our swing set arrived today!  i can't believe it got here so fast.  i just ordered it last wednesday... we were expecting it at the end of the month. SWEET!  i got a picnic table for the munchkin off of craig's list this past weekend.

today, elijah and i went to costco and picked up some things for rachel and erin since he's in school and working and she's got the twin belly going on... i mean why not?  we were going anyway.  anything to help out.  but anyway, we got to their house and MR came out and started running around in circles of happiness to see Elijah and he just stood there for a minute.  i looked at him and said, "well, are you going to say hi?"  elijah looked at me and proceeded to pull his pants down.  it was freakin' hilarious.  we were all laughing our butts off... what the heck kid?  finally we moved on into the house and the kids spent most of the time running up and down the hall and then coming a crashing in to their parent.  it was quite amusing.

my folks arrive on thursday!!  we have a play date tomorrow and then playgroup on thursday.  jerry is taking thursday through monday off!!!  i'm really excited about this weekend.  the weather is supposed to be sunny, but chilly.  i don't even care.  it could snow and i would be alright with it... well maybe not snow... but ya know.

it seems like there was something else i was going to blog about, but i can't remember what it is...ahhh, pregnancy brain.  okay, i'd better go disconnect the computer before this storm gets too close...

just gotta explain these pics...  the first one:  elijah has figured out how to turn on his lamp on top of his toy chest/bookcase... this is how we found out how he does it...sigh...

the second pic:  this is how i found elijah when i went in to check on him before going to bed.  what a sweet little kiddo... anyway... that's that...  i added other pics to his 2 year album.

March 12

Surprises and the Babymoon

So my folks got here on Thursday.  We went to a local amusement park on Friday morning that has an indoor toddler playroom since it was POURING rain.  Friday evening I was supposed to go out with the ladies from our playgroup for one last MNO before Rachel has the twins... but it turns out that the MNO was a SUPRISE baby shower for me!  Everyone was in on it... I couldn't believe it!  We went out to dinner and then Carmen opened her store and we had a little party in there.  It was sooooo much fun!  I love being surrounded by such a positive mom force.  I know we don't always agree on everything and we all have different parenting styles, but regardless, all the women in our group are so accepting and supportive.  I feel very blessed.  I was given many fabulous gifts!  A very nice way to start off a great weekend.

So Saturrday morning, Jerry and I went to Cracker Barrell for breakfast.  It was very nice to not have to sit there and entertain a toddler while waiting for the food to arrive.  After that we hit the road to Myrtle Beach.  When we got to our condo, we were WAY early, but they let us check in anyway.  Very nice.  We were on the 17th floor across from the ocean.

  It was very nice!  The weather was rather cold and windy though... I didn't care!  We went to Broadway on the Beach for lunch and then saw 10,000 BC...not a good movie, but once again...didn't care!  We got some food and went back to the condo and did NOTHING!!!!  It was so nice!  Jerry slept until 10 on Sunday (I was up at 7 due to a starving belly, but after I ate, I sat around and watched movies...)  After Jerry got up we went to the outlet mall and walked around and had lunch.  My folks arrived around 2 with Elijah, so we went back into parent mode.

We met the parents for dinner and then came back to the condo.  Elijah had pretty much skipped his nap, so it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to put him down.  On Monday, we dropped Elijah off with my folks for a couple of hours and just sat around Atlanta Bread Company and talked to each other.  It was very nice indeed.  Now we are home and back to the daily grind...sigh...

My folks had a very easy time with Elijah and I think that everyone feels even more prepared for Grace's arrival.  Elijah only woke up at 5:30 and mom  crawled into our bed with him and he went back to sleep.  WAHOO!!!

Oh, I forgot!  The swing set arrived and has been assembled thanks to my dad and Jerry (incidentally Tom and Jerry...hehehehehe) We haven't anchored it yet, because we need to mow under it and adjust a few things, but it's all good!  Yesterday I went and picked up a basketball hoop (the little outdoor kind) from a guy selling it for 5 bucks on Craigslist.  When I got there, he said I could just have it!!  How nice!  So I think we are all good for entertainment for Elijah for a while.  I will pick up a wading pool as the weather gets warmer, but that's it for the back yard.

Okay, we have some friends coming over for a play date this morning.  I guess I should try to look alive by the time they get here!  I'll upload pics of the view and the swing set later.

March 16

How does this work?

So on Friday we go for our midwife appointment.  I actually only gained .2 pounds in two weeks.  So, I'm feeling pretty good about things.  Thinking grace just had a growth spurt a while back and that's where the weight gain came from.  Two weeks ago I was 30 weeks pregnant and measuring 31 weeks.  This week I am 32 (ish) weeks pregnant and I am measuring 35 weeks!!!  How is it possible to grow tummy-wise and not gain but .2 pounds!?!?!?!  Whatever!  Anyway, now we are almost 33 weeks and here is a pic of me now and a pic of me with Elijah at 33 weeks and 4 days...

I guess I'm not that much bigger.  I can't believe how much lower he was already.  Mary (the midwife) thinks that Grace will come early and my labor will be shorter.  We'll see.  I think she is nervous about not making it to the hospital on time (she lives a little farther away.)  We went over our birthing plan and Elijah's birth story.  She wants us to call her immediately if we feel like we are going into labor.  Told her not to worry... I don't want Jo Shmoe the doc delivering our kiddo.  So we are seeing her again in 2 weeks and we'll start pelvics then.  Grace is head down and I fell like she's trying to jam her way down into my cervix, but as the picture shows she is still higher.  It's all good!  She'll come out when she's good and ready (just hopefully not 234897071238947980754 pounds!)

Okay, dinner is ready.  There are other things to blog about, but I wanted to post these since I had requests for them!

March 18

How to say goodnight....

I know the video is long, but I think it's rather funny.  I walked back into Elijah's room the other day to find this...please note that we do NOT cover our child with toys at night... We have no clue where he picked this up, but he does the same thing for his dolls.  One can only hope that he won't do this to Grace...sigh....

March 27

Easter and play dates and babies, oh my!

So I got a call during breakfast Easter morning that Rachel had her twins!  Baby girl was 5 pounds 13 ounces and baby boy was 7 pounds 6 ounces!!!!  that's a lot of baby!!!  They came home on Monday night and all are doing well.  They are super cute and so little!!!

We went up to see Jerry's folks for Easter and his sister and her kids were there.  I totally forgot my camera...sigh... but they all had fun!

We have been so busy with play dates this week.  But it's been soooo nice out that I'm glad we were able to get out and play with friends!  I went over and helped out with MR this morning while Rachel and Erin took the twins in for a check up.  Rachel's brother was there, so that was nice.  We took the kiddos to a local park.  I don't understand people that think that it's okay to bring their really big dogs to a park and let them run loose.  I don't care how nice your dog is, if a kid is scared of a dog, the last thing they want is one running straight at them.  Sigh... we ended up leaving sooner than anticipated because of these people.  Sigh... oh well.  The kids still had fun playing and it was nice to visit with Rachel's bro.... (very nice of her to have the twins while he was on Spring Break...hehehehe!)

Elijah is sacked out.  But I have a feeling it won't be for much longer.  So I'll add some pics and relax a bit myself!  Hope you are having the same great weather we are!! (74 degrees baby!!!!!)

March 31

So yeah...

I'm definitely bigger.  Megan is right... I just wanted to live in a delusional world.  My skin on my belly actually hurts.  It feels bruised... oh poor me...  I am supposed to be taking it easy in the words of our midwife.  Not so easy when your toddler thinks it is funny to run away from you and then stop to see that you are coming after him and then take off again...sigh.  This week may be the last playgroup we go to for a bit.   There is a birthday celebration on that day... and it's actually supposed to not be raining.  I know we need the rain, but I'm going a little insane with the kiddo in the house.  I sent him out to play in boots and a raincoat this morning (I mean it's 60-something degrees...)  This afternoon we jumped in puddles and got some swinging in between showers.

I had this grand plan to make a bunch of all in one diapers to sell in the store, but I realized I needed fleece and not flannel and so I have all this super cute snuggle flannel that's just been sitting around.  What's more is that the snuggle flannel is on sale again for 2 bucks a yard and man I just want to buy it.  It really is the cutest stuff ever.  So, since I don't want Jerry to divorce me, I had to come up with something to do with all this flannel.  I came up with Snuggle Buddies.  I have made bunnies and bears.  They are really cute if I do say so myself.  I have a big and little one of each.  They are pretty much just stuffed and then I stitch on detail.  I'll get pics soon and post them here.  I think that I can sell them fro fairly cheap.  I mean I'm using less than a yard of fabric for two (one small and one big) and then the embroidery thread is a whooping 20 cents.  The fill is 4 bucks a bag and I use about half a bag per 2... so ya know.  They would be cute shower gifts or a gift for a sibling...maybe the sibling could give the smaller one to the new addition...  Jerry thought about making many different sizes akin to those stickers you see on the back of cars showing the family members.  All good thoughts....

Going back to being huge... What gives the general public the right to comment on a pregnant woman's size?  I was standing in line at JoAnne's and the cashier asked when I was due.  I've just started saying soon... you say May and they look at you like your an alien.  This woman a couple people behind me said, "well you must be having twins."  "Nope...just the one..."

I don't mind my friends talking about my size, but random people on the street... "Wow, you are HUGE!"  I mean you honestly wouldn't go up to someone and say, "Wow!  Your butt is HUGE!"  I mean you honestly can't hear it enough.  I know Rachel had it hard... though she had some good comments.  After telling someone her twins were a boy and a girl and STILL they asked,  "Are they identical?"  (this honestly happened more than once.)  Rachel would say, "Not from the waist down."  I mean people honestly just don't think before speaking.  I mean I know that I'm big.  I am carrying this little girl all up front.  Her feet are actually on top of my ribs.  Elijah liked to stuff his feet under my ribs.  She is head down though and her head is nestled down into my pelvis.  My mom is coming down next Thursday and staying until after the baby is born.  We have an appointment next Friday.  Mary the midwife will do a pelvic and do the Strep B test.  So we'll see if anything is happening.  We walked around Target this weekend and man I had to sit down through some contractions.  Braxton Hicks I rarely feel.  I have to actually have my hand on my tummy to feel the tightening.  But nothing consistent.  I'll be 36 weeks when we go in... so we'll see.  I practice squats in the shower, and I honestly feel like her head is just going to come right on out.  (Sorry hope that's not TMI!)  I guess it would be nice for her to come out nice and quickly, but I would prefer to make it to the hospital!

On the toddler front.  Last week I sucked it up and started making Elijah go to sleep for nap in his own bed.  I had been rocking him and I really like that time with him.  It's our cuddle time and most of the time I just fall asleep for a bit with him and then put him into his bed.  So it wasn't going great.  I was putting him in our bed and cuddling him.  This weekend, my super smart husband just made his nap time routine match his bedtime routine... duh!!  So it works great!  We have a little relaxing time in the big chair (usually watching 15 minutes of Curious George) and then he picks out 2 books, I read them, sing him a song, cover him up and leave.  We were sitting in the room a couple of days.  I asked him today if he wanted me to stay in there and he said, "No, bye-bye mommy."  I gave him a kiss and left the room... 10 minutes later...  I probably shouldn't write this...he'll probably not do this anymore!  But it's nice.  I will miss our little snuggles, but I'm glad that this wasn't a struggle we had to deal with after Grace arrives.  Not that there won't be regression on every front, but alas alack...

Okay... that's all for now.

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.

January 2008

January 02

the zoo

So the trip to the zoo went well. Elijah and I hit the road after lunch. I set up a bag of toys within his reach. I made it about an hour before needing to pee. So we stopped and I went, however, when we went to get back in the car, Elijah started crying and continued to do so for 45 minutes, at which time we stopped again. So I picked him up and we went inside. On the way out I told him that we were going to get in the car and he was going to take a nap (it's now 2 and an hour past nap time...he was sooooo tired....) and lo and behold, the child was asleep within five minutes... He slept the rest of the trip and woke up right as we pulled into the hotel. Sweet! I got a call from mom that she was going to come and meet us at the hotel for the night. So we went and played in the pool and got a shower and waited for her arrival to go eat. After dinner, back to the hotel to get ready for bed. What should have been a no brainer, took until 9:15 for Elijah to fall asleep. Sigh... I guess it was so much excitement plus a new place and all. Anyway, mom and I read a bit and then piled into bed. Elijah in the middle and the adults on the ends. It was a huge king sized bed, but that didn't stop Elijah from attempting to kick me out of bed. Then little Gracie decided that this was a perfect night to kick all night long... not such good sleep for Erin, but mom and Elijah slept well and all in all, what's one night.

So after eating breakfast we head on over to the zoo. They have a playground within the zoo and while we waited for the rest of the crew we went and played. My stupid rechargeable batteries didn't charge and the gift shop only had AAA batteries... so I bought a disposable camera... my mom had her camera, so there were some good pics, but the disposable camera pics were not the best....sigh...

ANYWAY, after everyone got there we set off for the 5 mile walk of the zoo. I brought the stroller, though Elijah walked almost the entire day. I think he really liked the zoo. He loved hanging out with my folks and it was great to have them there. It meant I got time to spend with Laura. Laura's mom came along too and it was really fun. I thought that Elijah would pass out after lunch, but he stayed awake until we got back in the car. It was a lot of fun over all.

I was beat on the way home. Elijah, thankfully, stayed asleep in the car through Raleigh which was what I wanted... I hate the traffic there. I got him an early dinner to eat in the car and then headed home. He got upset about the last 45 minutes and was only clamed by me singing either The Wheels on the Bus or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star over and over and over again... I think he was mostly upset at it being dark out and him being tired of the car and from the day.

Overall, it was fun. I think that next time I would drive up really early in the car and then stay the night after the zoo. I was beat by the time I got home.

So the pics are over on the side as well as some new belly pics. We are at 22 weeks now. I have a MW appointment on Friday. I am sure we will talk about the ultrasound, though I feel if there was something wrong she would have called. Little Gracie is kicking up a storm and thinking my bladder is a soccer ball... between her and Elijah it's a wonder my bladder still has any function.

okay, so that's the zoo story...which overall is a little boring... but it's my blog so

PS the entry right below is probably much more interesting...hehehehe

Ahhh 2008....

While people are contemplating resolutions for the New Year... I am simply making wishes this year.

I wish for a healthy baby to be born (Jerry really loves me and says that this baby is going to be a nice 6.5 pound baby with an easy labor...isn't he sweet?)

I wish of an easy labor and a 6.5 pound baby.

I wish for Elijah to continually sleep through the night.

I wish for my house to magically organize and purge itself.

I wish for healthier cravings...I really really really want a box of Swiss Cake Rolls with a side of Fudge Rounds right now... sigh... oooo.... and maybe some salad and breadsticks from Olive Garden... Man, I just ate (well, three hours ago...)

I wish for weather that will make up it's mind. It's FREAKING cold right now but by Monday it's supposed to be back in the 70s! sigh...

I wish for better painting skills...not art like... just painting a wall... why is it so hard and what is the point of painter's tape if it doesn't keep the paint out? super sigh...

I wish to live closer to my folks...

I wish to be more positive this year (not starting off so well...maybe less cynical would be better...)

I wish for a decent president to come into office.

I wish for patience with my toddler.

I wish for the writer's strike to end and then for some decent TV.

I wish to become a better mom and wife.

I wish to be a better friend.

Hell, whilst I'm wishing... I wish for someone to give me the winning lottery ticket.

I wish for better traffic patterns in the city.

I wish for more patience for the idiot drivers in the bad traffic patterns in the city.

I wish for decent sleep...not to be disturbed by my bladder or my child or my dreams or my cravings for Little Debbie's Evil Snack Cakes....

I wish for my husband to be happier in his job and to find a new passion with school starting back up.

I wish for my kiddo to potty train himself, because, quite honestly, I'm too freakin' lazy to be doin' it right now.

I wish to not stress over things I have no control over.

I wish to walk more.

I wish to find more time to myself.

I wish to find more time with my husband.

I wish to work harder on getting my inventory built up.

And, of course, I wish for peace in the world and for the ignorant to wake up and realize what we need to do to keep our nation united and the people of it safe, fed, and healthy.

So that's it for now. I'm going to write another entry about the zoo trip, either tonight...or soon...

I hope that everyone's New Year was safe and happy...I was in bed by 10:30 and asleep by 11. I hope that 2008 ROCKS!!!!

January 09

Birthdays, Weather, and Cravings... oh my

I CANNOT believe that Elijah is going to be 2 on Sunday. It just doesn't seem possible. There are days (such as today) when it seems he should turning 16, and others when I can't believe he's up and walking...running... hopping... whatever! He has become much more of an independent kid and while that's really cool, I still enjoy the times he comes and snuggles in my lap or sleeps beside me. His signing and speaking vocabulary has increased so much, I can't even keep up with a list anymore. We show him a sign and he's got it. He tries words he hears and mostly comes out with a humorous rendition of said word. He is a kind and loving little guy and has learned the meaning of the word share. He shows concern when someone is crying and offers hugs to someone he loves or who he has hurt (usually me...sigh) The kid could hold his own in a hopping contest and has inadvertently learned to gallop. He can undress himself (and does so immediately when really mad) and readily (most of the time) helps to dress himself. He puts his toys away and likes to "help" around the house. He has all but three of his teeth for his age (the last three molars are being extremely stubborn.) and has more hair that I know what to do with. He would rather be outside playing than anything else. He loves making cookies or bread or anything that may require the use of the mixer. He can (unfortunately) open doors, which has prompted remembering to lock bathroom doors unless you don't mind being surprised. He still has allergies, but I feel like they are getting better and hope that very soon he will grow out of them. He is wearing at 3T but many of there are short on him...though big in the waist. He brings us books and sits through them either saying the words he knows or signing them. He loves Wheels on the Bus (though I am close to tracking down whoever came up with this song and pounding on them a bit) and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. He knows the signs to the aforementioned as well as Happy Birthday. He is a superb climber...sigh...which we encourage and then roll our eyes at ourselves when he climbs his dresser or toy box to get to whatever...super sigh... Overall, he still amazes us. He is going to sleep in his bed without us in the room...though this takes some time. He still wakes up twice a night, but goes back to sleep easily. He has a great curiosity, but usually stays close by. He is walking backwards over to me right now. We love our little guy and are so happy to see him growing so well! His party is going to be at the Railroad Museum on Saturday... I can't freaking wait!!!!

On to the weather....

It's freaking 75 degrees. I'm sitting outside typing this in a tank top and linen pants... sigh... it's great, but it's also January....

Let's talk about these cravings...

It started our with nice healthy things...and now...

oranges

pasta...well chef boy-r-dee

peanut butter sandwiches

little debbie snack cakes (the woman really should make a variety pack)

cake in general... but ohhhh, Boston Creme Pie is super yum-o

olive Garden's soup, salad, and breadsticks

Atlanta Bread Company's Chopstix Chicken Salad (OMG, my mouth is so watering right now!)

hot dogs

french fries (but only from McDonald's)

Egg McMuffin

turkey sausage (don't ask...)

It's not like it's do or die...well, sometimes it is... I have definitely sent Jerry out for Swiss Cake Rolls... but man once I get it in my mind, it's all I can think about. I still haven't had the OG's SSand B...sigh... With Elijah is was ice cream and egg's benedict (mmmm, that sounds good right about now actually... TANGENT... on vacation last summer we ate at the resort restaurant the day we left and they had this roasted tomato with poached egg and basil hollandaise sauce on it served over homemade hashbrowns.... holy moly... i wanted to bring that cook home with me and eat that everyday...it would be really really good right now...END TANGENT) but that's really it. I mean I had more food aversions with him than cravings. It's amazing I haven't gained tons of weight... I do try to eat something healthy before pigging out on whatever the latest craving is...but ya know...

That rounds up that blog entry. I've been thinking about this one a bit... I think of blog entries all the time, but I don't write them down and then I forget....sigh... but how can one forget their kiddo turning two? He's my little guy...

January 19

What a week!

So, my folks arrived last Friday and I feel like I haven't stopped since then! On Saturday we woke up to rain...yuck! But at least it wasn't freezing. We headed out with all the goodies to the RR Museum. A friend of mine met us there with the cake she made (which, by the way was AWESOME!!!!) so we set up. They have this little caboose for the party. The only thing is that they don't have lights in it...so it was a bit dark... oh well, we were just in there to eat. Our play group has a no presents rule, so that makes parties move right along. After we cut the beautiful cake and had some snacks we went into the playroom to play. This place is really cool. They have all sorts of toy trains for the kids and a big set up of electric trains that run in the playroom (behind Plexiglas) that the kids can start. It's really neat. The playing was the coolest part of the party, I gotta say...well, besides the cake...I'm still in awe... anyway... So after the party we got some food and went home to eat and nap. That afternoon Jerry and I went to see Sweeny Todd...very good movie! And then home to put the kiddo down for bed.

I guess Sunday was rather lazy. Mom played lots with Elijah...jumping in puddles and all. So that was nice. I had listed a chair on craigslist and someone was supposed to pick it up, but didn't... that annoys me... they could've called. It took almost all week with these people and I eventually told them I was contacting someone else...who came and picked it up that evening...sigh...ANYWAY, that's a tangent.

All day Monday my dad and I painted the living room. Quite a task. We got two coats up and it looks great! Mom entertained Elijah at the park and playing...very helpful. We went out to Olive Garden (finally!) for dinner and then too bed...(after American Idol of course!)

Tuesday we ran errands...not so exciting, but ya know. My folks made us some really yummy baked beans for dinner... I think it will become a regular in our house. My folks moved into their hotel that evening (didn't want to impose...whatever...)

I don't really remember Wednesday except that we made a huge freaking dinner. So maybe that's all that we did...though I sure we did something else...

On Thursday, my folks decided they were going to leave a day early (Friday as opposed to Saturday) due to the bad weather they were supposed to get. So, Jerry and I rearranged our days. Jerry was going to take Friday off for his b-day and we were going to have a whole day of grown-up time. We were going to kick the whole thing off with a early b-day dinner on Thursday evening with our friends and my folks. We also planned on visiting the aquarium on Thursday morning. So while mom was on the phone with Travelocity rearranging stuff, I was on the phone canceling dinner and Jerry was arranging to take half a day on Thursday, instead of a whole day on Friday...sigh...

So after all that, we headed out to the aquarium, picked up Jerry's b-day cake and then Jerry and I went to see National Treasure 2....super sigh... We had planned on seeing Cloverfield...oh well, there's always video... and then out for a quick bite. My folks had Elijah in his PJs by the time we got home, so that was easy enough..

On Friday my folks stopped by to say goodbye. I took Jerry to work via McDonalds. Came home and started to sorta get the new nursery in order. I was in the process of getting some balloons for Jerry when he called to go to lunch. So I called Rachel and we arranged to have Jerry's b-day dinner at their house. Erin got the pizzas and I still had the cake. After Elijah's nap we got the balloons and I picked up Kalhua and Vodka for Black Russians (One of Jerry's favs)...side note.... wanna have some fun...walk into an ABC store while pregnant, carrying a toddler and buy copious amounts of alcohol...or just two bottles... I think it would have had an even greater effect if I had looked more tired and ragged...hehehehehe....end side note... Then went over to Rachel's to set up. Elijah was ecstatic since it had been a bit since he had seen MR and he knew we were going there, so he played HARD! I went and got Jerry from work and we had a very nice little party. Elijah crashed shortly after returning home. So at least there was something fun for Jerry's b-day.

This morning we had another person come to get measurements for a fence...WAHOO!!! It is rainy and cold today...sigh...we tried to find a few places for Elijah to play and ended up at Barnes and Noble with the train table. He's snoozing for now. It's so dreary outside that I wouldn't mind cuddling up as well. I feel, though, that I should be doing something productive...sigh... but I think that sleep...or at least being lazy will win out! I guess that's it... I have other pics on the camera... I'll add them later.

January 22

Two Year Well Check

So we are back from the doctor's office for the kiddos 2 year well check. He's in the 75% for everything. He's 31.5 pounds and around 3 feet tall... He's a perfect kiddo health wise. His eczema is still bad, but we are still hoping that he'll grow out of it as well as the food allergies. The doc suggested vitamins...but I have issues with that and since we are outside daily... (vitamin D is the biggest deal.) The doc said we were doing the right thing offering food to Elijah and if he doesn't want it to let it go...obviously the kiddo isn't undernourished. Everything looks good from his head to his toes (though Elijah was not thrilled about having his ears looked at.) I'm so glad that we didn't have to do shots. I am hoping that by the time shots come around again (at 5 years) there won't be any trouble with going to the doc's.

We got another quote on a fence for the backyard and it came in 1000 less than the first quote! That's insane. It's the same thing...how can it be 1000 bucks different? Obviously we are going with the cheaper fence. Then we will look into a Step2 swing set thing-y. Our hope is to have all this done before Grace makes an appearance. This way I can sit on the patio and let Elijah play. It would also be easy to let him go out and play while I'm making dinner. A fence is the biggest thing.

I still have a ton of pics on my camera and I really am going to down load them. We also got Elijah's 2 year pics made. I'll add some of those soon too.

I have some things to do while Elijah is napping. Hope your day is going well!

January 26

Ahhhh the belly...

So I added new belly pics. I also added belly pics from Elijah's pregnancy to compare. I hadn't looked at them in comparison. I knew that I was carrying little Grace awfully low, but man you can really tell. She is constantly kicking/punching me in the cervix and that is quite painful. It's like she wants out... hold your horses kiddo... it's not time. believe me when it is, I'll let you know. She is an active child...as was Elijah...which is all good. But being so low if it's not my cervix, then it's my bladder and dang... otherwise she's just turning flips and that's fun too! I think she must be long ways still, though she really likes to curl up in a ball on my right side, so low and lopsided... lovely... At night when I am reading in bed and lying on my left side, she gets all agitated trying to stay up on her right side...it's kinda funny... I usually end up just rolling over to my right side. So far, this has been an uneventful pregnancy. All my appointments have been normal. I'm measuring normal. So I'm hoping this all continues along the same track.

This week has been difficult on me. My folks haven't been here to help with Elijah. It's funny how easy it is to get into someone to help you around the house...sigh... I still have hopes that the perfect job will come along for Jerry nearer to my folks. Anyway, it was back to the grindstone for me. We also didn't go to Pass Your Plate this month since we still had food leftover from last month...but now we are out. So I actually had to come up with dinner a few nights. I made a spinach pie which was yummo (I ate all but 2 pieces of it......I could probably eat another one...) But cooking with a toddler and being preggo isn't the most fun I've had. I don't know when we are going back to PYP, but I hope it's soon. We can't afford to go out as much as we have been and I really don't have the energy to cook everyday... How lazy does that sound? Ahhh, well... think what you want... I don't care! Elijah did help with the pie though.

I have felt tired all week... I guess I am entering the last trimester. sigh... I took a nap with Elijah almost every day this week. I missed out today and I'm feeling it. He is insane right now. It's been raining all day and now he is zipping through the house on his scooter running into everything (including Jerry, who, I'm afraid is about to lose his patience with him...) and cutting corners quite close...sigh...

I'm starving, so I need to go see about what we are doing for dinner before I break into the sweets we have lying around...

January 30

Welcome to the third trimester!

So here we are in the home stretch I guess. I have to say that if I were a bit bigger and much closer to the big date, I would think that I was about ready to have this kid. I have been nesting and cleaning like crazy... I even mopped today...maybe that's only saying something to TJ and my folks (only b/c TJ put up with my mess for two years...though I always kept it on my side of the room...for the most part!!!)but I really don't clean that much. I like to have the kitchen clean... and I would like to clean my bathroom more often, but I just don't...playing with Elijah is always more fun! But today I swept, mopped, cleaned the kitchen, and cleaned Elijah's carpet. I guess I was antsy waiting for the fence guys this morning, but I really wanted to clean. Elijah was great playing on his own and not whining. When I moved into the living room, he got his broom and helped me out with the sweeping (he likes to sweep stuff into the dust pan and actually does a decent job with it.) It was impossible to keep him off the mopped floor, but it dried pretty quickly with the windows open and the ceiling fan on. We went through Elijah's toy box and put all the "baby" toys into Grace's room and put all the bugs/animals/dinosaurs into another box which fits into the toy box, but it makes it soooo much easier to find things.

Elijah's nap has gotten shorter lately. He wakes up after 1 hr 15min - 1 hr 30 min completely happy... so there ya go. About twice a week he sleeps for about 2.5 hours. He's sleeping longer at night though...so I guess it's all good. Speaking of which, (I'm scared that I'm going to jinx this by saying anything but...)he's going to sleep in his bed without us in the room!!! We say night night to toys, get ready for bed, brush the teeth, relax with 5869375682907 books, then 2-3 books in bed, lights out, a lullaby or 70327475 and then good night kisses from mom and dad. We leave the door open, and he definitely gets out of bed, but we only go in to tell him to get back in bed and that's rarely more than 2 times now!! If he calls for us and stays in bed we go in and re-tuck to reinforce the good behavior of staying in his bed. He still wakes up about twice a night (which the ped says is perfectly normal for this age.) But he goes back to sleep pretty quickly. Though my defenses are down (and apparently so are Jerry's) because at about 5 or 6 if he wakes up, he's usually sitting there with "skunky" (a stuffed pillow that used to be mine) and looks up at us when we come in and the following conversation happens:

Jerry/myself: Lie back down in your bed, elijah.

Elijah: Mama/Dado bed?

Jerry/myself: You want to come to bed with me?

Elijah: Yes, peees, bed, Mama/Dado?

Jerry/myself: Okay, come on...

At which point he grabs skunky and stumble walks to our bed and climbs in. It's just too freakin' cute and he only does it at that last wake up in the morning... and by doing this we are almost guaranteed that he will stay asleep until about 7-7:30...sometimes even 8!!!! I figure that it's okay. When the baby comes, Jerry and I will switch nights again (him bringing the baby to me to be fed and then take her back), so it'll be a nice treat for Elijah to be able to come to bed in the morning with either Jerry or myself for some snuggle time. I have to say that the snuggle time has made a difference in Elijah's attitude during the day too. It used to be up and play, and he would have a tantrum for no reason except he wanted our attention. So I've made a point each morning to snuggle with him, even if it's 5 minutes and he seems to be such a happier little guy!

okay, I'm going to wrap this up. It is such a nice day, I think we will head out to the park and play for a bit! Hope the weather where you are is as nice!

December 2007

December 08

TAG!!!!

my friend Angela tagged me so here it goes...

1. I started smoking when I was 16 and quit when I was 22 as a Valentine's Day present to Jerry. When I was 20 my height was 5'2 1/2"  at 24 I was 5"4 3/4"   hmmmmm... I quit cold turkey and still dream about smoking occasionally... a former minister of mine told me, "when you start dreaming about sex and stop dreaming about smoking you know that you are truly a non-smoker."  I have also heard that it takes your body a full 10 years to completely heal... I'm almost there!!!  I now get very annoyed when sitting in a non-smoking section and smoke still comes through... sigh...

2. When I was in 3rd or 4th grade I went to a piano competition thing-y and forgot one of my memorized pieces half way through... so I made the rest up.  The judge guy did not pass me on that piece, but commented that he was impressed that I didn't just stop.  I played the piano until my sophomore year in college and then gave it up...though I miss playing and if we had the space I would want a piano.

3. I have three tattoos.  I got the first one after I graduated from high school (Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes on my hip) the second one with money I saved from a competition for quitting smoking (that was the first time I quit...only took twice!)  The tattoo guy told me it was a Native American symbol about how the moon and the sun are connected... ummmm.... it wasn't until almost 6 years later when I was really looking at a picture of it that I realized that it's a naked lady...very artsy (obviously!) but still... I love it though... it's on a shoulder blade.  And finally after I left WWC I went with a friend to get a tattoo and ended up getting one myself.  It's an ankh and it's the biggest tattoo I have.  It's on my lower back.   I love all three and I often think about getting another, but I doubt that I will.

4. I think of myself as spiritual instead of religious, but I really like to sing hymns.  I love my church from the mountains.  There is a church here that I like well enough to attend, when I feel like going.  I don't care for religion being pushed in my face and I find many super religious people to be rather hypocritical... or lacking of knowledge.  But I tend to keep thoughts to myself in the aspect of religion.

5. I have recently found myself being a more conservative democrat.  I find that I am not as extreme as I thought I was.  It's very interesting.  I don't think that I would ever be a republican, but I do find that some of the far left-ist people rather annoying and arrogant... to the point they are almost as bad as the far right-ist... I try to not get into debate about this either...

6. I am a total mountain girl at heart... if we had even a hope of moving back to the mountains, I would do just about anything to move back there... including finding a job... (not that I wouldn't do that here...)

7. I can say the 50 states in alphabetical order in one breath...even while intoxicated...  it's quite humorous when I'm intoxicated....

December 10

This weekend....

So this weekend was freaking amazing weather wise!  And the weather is continuing to be nice.  We are having a cookie exchange tomorrow and I was going to get hot chocolate, but now I'm thinking that I may get lemonade instead.  It's supposed to be 80 degrees!!!  Insane!  While I guess it's nice, it's hard to think Christmas-y thoughts with this heat... though I guess I bring this on myself living at the beach and all.

So I made cookies yesterday and Elijah helped me.  We are taking gingerbread people, so he helped roll out the dough and cut the cookies.  It's funny.  He didn't lick his fingers once and wasn't interested in tasting the dough... I guess that's good.

We played at a couple of different parks this weekend as well.  The weather was just too nice not to be outside.  Though yesterday we went to a park and a guy brought his kid and Rotweiler...to a park seriously?  Then the kid ran off and the guy sat down with the dog and started smoking...SUPER SIGH....seriously?  Elijah was the only kid playing on the equipment...go walk and smoke elsewhere....sigh...  So we ended up leaving shortly after that, we at least got a good hour of play in.

I've finished my shopping and just waiting for a couple more things to arrive in the mail.  I feel good about being done.  We went to walk the mall last week and it was packed!

I guess that's really it.  We find out what the baby is on Friday!!!!  I'm sooooo excited!  I've been dreaming about it... I must say that this dreaming is the worst thing about my pregnancy.  I have the weirdest dreams when I'm pregnant.  So I wake up so freaking tired... sigh...  anyway, I dreamt last night (amongst really weird things...) that we were having a girl... The only name we are solid on is a girls' name... so who knows... we'll find out FRIDAY!!!!!!  Have I mentioned that yet?

That's all.  I'm going to add the pics of Elijah helping with the cookies and by then I'm betting that Elijah will be up and ready to play...as usual!

December 12

two more days

of waiting!  sigh...

we had our cookies exchange yesterday.  it was really nice and fun and yummy cookies!  but the weather was so freaking hot!  we walked before the party and i was beat the reat of the day.  i felt bad for elijah.  he wanted so much to run around outside, but i didn't have enough energy to run after him.

this morning i went to BBB and got a shower head that can be handheld so jerry can start giving elijah showers.  jerry doesn't feel comfortable in the shower with elijah b/c one the shower is so freaking small and two he can't see well without his glasses.  i don't mind showering elijah, but it's getting harder and it's not going to get easier anytime soon... sooo why, you ask, don't we just give him a bath?  because, i say (hehehehehe), in the bath his shampoo and conditioner (yes conditioner...he has the thickest hair!!) can't stay on his skin very long or it exasperates him eczema... so in the shower we wash his hair and then his body with his special soap... in the tub he just sits there in it.  so i'm glad we have this shower thing, now i don't have to be squatting in the shower to wash the kiddo.

i think tomorrow we will go to the park to play, and i think that some of our playgroup will be there.  this weather is crazy warm, but only for a few more days, so might as well get out and enjoy this.

my newest addiction is facebook.  i cannot get enough of it.  jerry and i are playing a scrabble game through it (not that we couldn't play scrabble on our own...) and i'm catching up with people from high school and college.  it's awesome!

okay so taking bets... girl or boy!  elijah's up from nap, so off i go to chase that one!

December 14

It's a......

GIRL!!!!!

At least we are 90% sure.  She was not cooperating very well, but you know...  I assume everything is okay... but we won't know for sure until Mary looks at the pics.  Anyway, we are really excited!  And yes there is only one in there....

December 16

Fa la la la la la la la la

Finally some colder weather to put me more into the Christmas spirit.  Don't get me wrong, it's been nice to not have to bundle up in millions of layers to go play at the park, but come on, it's December already!

So Jerry got his bonus check on Friday...and while not as much as we would have liked (though is it ever?) it was enough to go get a DRYER!!!  WAHOOOO!!!!  I know I should continue to be all environmental and whatnot...but dang it's nice nice to not have to wait until the morning to hang out clothes, just so I'll have clean undies in a day... ahhhh...I guess I really am growing up being all excited about this....  We also purchased new Tupperware stuff (as most of our old stuff was missing lids) and a new knife block (our old ones had wooden handles...who makes knives with wooden handles and says they are dishwasher safe...sigh... anyway they were growing stuff and some were broken...so new knife block....wahoo!)  We are also tossing around the idea of getting a rechargeable lawn mower.  We have an electric one right now and really like it, but the cord is starting to annoy us...so if craigslist would get with it and let me post I would go on and try to sell the old one.  We also still have the riding lawn mower, but it hasn't worked in a while and we have no idea what's wrong with it (yeah, big surprise with all our extensive knowledge of small engines and whatnot...)I think we should just sell it and be done with it, but we'll see.

It is my goal that before the new year we will call 1800GOTJUNK and get the insane amount of crap in our garage out!  I like that they recycle what can be recycled and then dump the other stuff.  I just don't want to deal with it.  If the garage can get organized ahhhh... we would have a place to store all the crap that needs to be stored in order to get ready for the new baby.

My folks are coming down for Elijah's b-day in January and we need to finish painting the living room and get the new nursery painted and the office organized... sigh... I need to make a list so we aren't spending a lot of time doing nothing.

Have I mentioned that I love our new dryer.... it's so quiet... no ear splitting squeaking...contented sigh...

December 25

A Peaceful Christmas

Our Christmas was a peaceful one.  Jerry and Elijah slept until almost 8 and since I was up at 6 and couldn't go back to sleep, I made French Toast and bacon for breakfast.  After we ate we opened presents.  I guess I should back up a little though.

On Sunday we went to see Jerry's folks.  We did a little Christmas-ing there.  Elijah was given a present larger than himself and it took him 20 minutes to open it.  Mainly it took this long because he wanted to shred the paper into little bits...silly kiddo.  Anyway, he got this Toy Story 2 train set.  It's really quite spectacular.

Okay, so back to today... After breakfast we started with stockings.  Elijah was excited to pull stuff out of his and he started to unwrap his gifts...soooooo sssssllllloooowwwwlllllyyyyy... His first gift was a set of small (think matchbox size) Tonka trucks.  We might as well have not gotten him anything else.  He was so excited about those.  But he eventually moved on.  So after stockings we moved onto presents.  Again, it took a few tries (and wanting to stack EVERYONE'S presents, still wrapped, into a big pile...) he enjoyed opening his gifts...though he still wanted to rip the paper into smaller pieces instead of ripping into the package.  We gave him some musical instruments and a little magnetic zoo train.  My aunt gave him a little phone thingy and a lift the flap book about bugs.  My folks gave him a trike.  Oh, and we gave him a play dough activity kit.

Jerry got several DVDs, a lap desk for his laptop, some shirts (the ones I got were too small...go figure right?), a programming book, and something else I'm forgetting...

I got some yummy chocolate pancake mix, a couple of LED lights, some maternity sweaters, 4 books, cupcake feet, a couple CDs, and a gift certificate to a maternity store.  My parents also got me a subscription to Everyday with Rachael Ray!

Tomorrow Elijah and I are traveling to Asheboro to meet my parents, Laura, and Laura's mom at the zoo on Thursday.  I'm excited to go, but I'm a little nervous about the traveling.  This will be the first time I've traveled out of town with Elijah by myself.  We are staying in a hotel with an indoor pool, so that will be fun and I'm not worried about having him by myself at the hotel.  It's the car that I'm quasi-stressed about.  But we aren't leaving until after lunch, so hopefully he'll sleep for a good portion of the trip.  Then on the way home I'm hoping he'll be so exhausted from playing at the zoo all morning that he'll sleep all the way home.  the only problem then, will be my bladder, and the baby that seems to think it's a soccer ball.

I guess I'll upload some pics so I'll have some room on the card for the zoo.  He's so into animals lately, I'm curious to see what his expression will be seeing them live.  I am a little bummed because the polar bears aren't there.  The sea lions are getting a new habitat and so they get to live in the polar bear's area...since the two don't get along too well...you can figure it out.  sigh...  oh well.  The weather looks to be perfect.  The last time I went it was right after Christmas and there was barely anyone there, so I'm hoping that it'll be fun.

okay... uploading...

Hope everyone's Christmas was merry!

 

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas!

May you have peace and joy today and all days!

December 31

Happy....

Happy

New

Year!!!