The good, the bad, and the ugly

The News

2010-09-01T00:14:00.000-07:00

I've started a new blog here. I've been blogging for 4+ years and have over 1000 posts here, but there are some changes in our family that I think need to be documented on a dedicated blog. I may or may not blog at frootloops anymore, so please add the new blog to your reader or become a follower!

Thanks for reading!

Happy Anniversary, Baby!

2010-08-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

So, today marks our 4th wedding anniversary. It's crazy that it's gone by so fast! There were days and times that didn't, of course, but looking back over it all? Speedy quick.

Those of you who were there for me 4 years ago while we dated, after he proposed, when things looked shaky, and when they were grand, thanks. For those of you who weren't, well, today is a look back on those days, so you can feel cool too!

In March 2006, I was told I needed open-heart surgery for a heart condition I'd had since birth but didn't know it. We scheduled it for July 6 of that year, around my family's reunion so that I could have lots of help afterward. Just after that, Virgil asked DisGrace if I'd ever go on a date with a Samoan, not knowing the husband is Tongan. I said sure, but I wasn't looking for anything serious. hahahahaha. The same day Virgil asked the husband about it, the husband's dad told him he needed to go on a date. With a girl. So the husband instantly said yes, just to get his dad off his back.

We went on our first date April 8, 2006. Blind date with DisGrace and Virgil (and Dizzy) along for the ride. It was a lot of fun and he asked for my phone number. He texted me a few days later to see if I'd go out with him again.

The next weekend, I took him Easter shopping for his daughter -- she was living with him at the time, and Easter is a big deal to me, so we made her an Easter basket! We had dinner that night, too, and he threw a shrimp tail down my shirt. Accidentally, or so he said.

We watched movies at the condo the next weekend, which is where we shared our first kiss.

I'd kissed plenty of guys before, at least in the double digit range, though definitely not a LOT of men. But kissing him was something different. It was electrifying and rocked my world. We still have great kisses, but I remember that one specifically. It was that powerful.

The next day? Yeah, he asked me to marry him. I told him maybe, that I needed to think about it. I think on some level I knew we'd get married, but I was still freaking out about my heart. I went back and forth and remember telling Steph that I didn't think I loved him, and she countered with, "I don't understand why you think you don't." haha.

Another powerful moment occurred when Kiddo asked me if I was going to marry him, and I said I didn't know. We were on the swings at the park by our condo, and I almost fell off of mine. "Did you pray about it?" She asked me. I said yes, I had, but didn't have an answer yet. "I bet if you're really quiet, Heavenly Father will give you an answer."

I think he just had. I finally said yes on Memorial Day.

At the end of June 2006, his daughter was taken back to California to live with her mother. That was really hard -- we'd planned on being a family of four, and suddenly we didn't know if or when we'd see her again. Just a week later, I was checking into the hospital for my surgery.

My husband (then fiance) drove me to LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. We got me all checked in and my parents came to spend some time with me/us. I had a bunch of lab work done that day, and then spent the night in the hospital. The nurses gave me Valium so I could sleep, and put up a cot for the husband to share the room with me. We watched some lame movie and tried to sleep. I had to get up very early the next morning and shower with Hibiclens (a surgical prep), and then they got me ready for surgery and took me off to the OR.

My mom said when I came out of the OR, I was asking for the fiance. Not her. I'm sure that hurt her feelings. Sorry Mom. When I realized he'd stayed the whole time, and when I asked him to stay and he did (trying to sleep on uncomfortable cots and benches in the ICU waiting area), I was relieved that he really wanted to be with me! Like the whole 3 months previously had been a joke or something.

Eight weeks later, we were married.

I wish I could say everything has been easy, but it hasn't. There have been some very bad, very dark times in these last 4-1/2 years. But there have been some amazing times and wonderful times and even just so-so moments as well. Even though our life isn't perfect, we are happy and our kids are happy ... and we're getting back on our feet.

Thanks for reading my reminiscing, dear readers. There will be some changes on the blog going forward, which I'm excited to tell you about very soon.

Dead Computers Aren't Much Fun

2010-08-28T18:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, I use an antivirus. So does the husband. But we've had both computers in the compooper hospickle this week for viruses. Loverly.

I have 176 unread items in my reader. Sorry. I'm going to have to pick and choose what I get to, since I have a LOT to do this weekend!

We got rid of a fridge, a dresser, two mattresses, an entertainment center, 3 broken chairs, and a wrecked side table today. Thanks to Virgil and Lu. I spent my "chore time" today bleaching the inside of the fridge, so the rest of the house has gone to pot. Hopefully I can get a bit of it picked up ... and finish the mending DisGrace sent home with me (because I have Mom's sewing machine). And then I can finish the diaper bag I started the other day! And maybe get Bitty's quilt sandwiched!

OH! Kristina asked if I really can make diapers. Yes, I can sew cloth diapers. I don't love doing it, but I can! If the end of the world comes tomorrow, at least my babies' butts will have cute fluff on them. Even if the rest of us go nekkid.

I have sick babies.

2010-08-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

Maybe I shouldn't have celebrated church nursery success quite so much last week. Little Mister got sick and has been more than a handful this week. He's also gotten everyone else in the family sick. Including the baby. Though my being sick seems to be just starting. Woooo!

Baby girl coughed so loud last night, she woke him up. Payback!

The husband says he'll go to church by himself ... Hope so.

In other news, my mom loaned me her sewing machine that lives here locally. I hemmed 7 pairs of pants that night and have made 3 shirts for Little Mister. Who may or may not be called Stitch from here on out.

I believe Stitch was created by someone with a busy, naughty, destructive (not intentionally) 2-year-old. Stitch was programmed to destroy things. So are 2-year-olds.

I'll see if I can get some decent cell phone shots of the shirts later on.

My ankle is feeling much better, and I am still being a good girl and wearing my brace when I'm awake.

Stitch is trying to help. I'd better save the baby and the computer.

I'm Broken

2010-08-19T14:25:00.000-07:00

Not exactly broken. How about torn? My ankle has been hurting for a while and swelling not going away. Driving makes it worse. Walking makes it worse. Standing makes it worse. It's really bad when the 2-year-old hangs on it. So I went (driving) to the store yesterday (walking) and bought a cheap wrap (standing) so I could put it up (hanging on it). I also called the podiatrist and made an appointment for today because that is just not okay.

He asked me to tell him how I injured it. Is it so sad that I could not remember what I'd done to it? I remember that I'd twisted it twice last week while packing and cleaning the condo, but I couldn't recall specifics of the injury.

They took x-rays and it's not broken, but the ligaments are torn. Awesome. I have a (more expensive) brace now and instructions to stay off of it for a few weeks, and to go back if I'm not better in a month. Perfect.

To add insult to injury (ha) I finally remembered how I did it. I stepped on the mini trampoline to step over a gate to get behind it, only I slid while I was stepping. That prompted me to move the trampoline, gate, and couch. Then, while I was taping boxes closed, I stepped into the middle of a roll of packing tape. Awesome, eh? I am a klutz.

I'd take pictures of my swollenness, but my son broke my camera this morning. I don't know if it's fixable.

And I broke my sewing machine the other night. Pardon me while I go cry in my Coke.

Couponing

2010-08-18T00:05:00.000-07:00

I have to get back to this. After getting the bath and kitchen unpacked, I realized I haven't had to buy toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, hand soap, dish soap, etc., for MONTHS. And I still have some in the cupboards! The stuff that's down there I got for pennies on the dollar. Gotta get back to it so I'm not running out and paying full price in emergencies.

Off to bed now. Babies are sleeping and I should be too.

Churchy stuff

2010-08-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

One of our goals when we moved was to go to church every Sunday, as a family, no matter how tired the husband is. (unless we're sick.) Oh, and we knew we wouldn't go that first Sunday, the day after we moved and still didn't know where our clothes were. So, we've all gone the last two weeks. Little Mister ran right into nursery the first day and didn't look back at all. Before, he freaked out if I left him in there. He'd scream for 15-20 minutes, and I'd go back and get him. It was horrible. Kiddo has actual girls her age, enough for their own class, and there are quite a few young women and enough young men to bless and pass the sacrament! That's a first for me since I moved back to Utah 7-1/2 years ago -- I've been in wards where the elders had to do it. And the husband is actually enjoying being in church and learning and not feeling judged.

I'm not saying our last ward was bad by any means. I loved it there. I miss my friends. But I think maybe all the financial difficulties we've had were partly so we'd get out of there and find a ward that is better suited our entire family.

Oh ... California finally fixed the child support problem, so they are no longer double garnishing us. Sweet.

Must go put on the wrap so I can wear the baby and get a few boxes unpacked/sorted/tossed.

I'm an Addict

2010-08-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

I'm addicted to creating. I didn't realize how bad it has been, my jonesing for something to create, until I decided enough was enough and dug through the garage tonight, getting the sewing machine and a box of unfinished projects out.

The one thing I decided I don't really enjoy sewing anymore is diapers. Which amuses me, since that's what I started sewing after a long hiatus. Too bad so sad, I have too much diaper making fabric (albeit at the storage unit for the moment) to not make them for the kids. And maybe sell some.

I've been trying to think of something to make for our landlady, who is expecting a baby in October.

I haven't sewn much of anything for over a month ... I pulled out the skirt I started for Kiddo that matches Bitty's green ladybug dress. I put the waistband on backwards. Brilliant. Made friends with my seam ripper again and took it off, then put it back on correctly and hemmed the skirt. It took about an hour to finish, even with the flub, and now I'm going to finish matching pants for Little Mister. maybe we'll even get a picture of the 3 kids in their matching outfits sometime soon! I had this vision in my head of them all wearing them at the hospickle when we brought home Bitty, but obviously that didn't happen! lol

Well, it's done!

2010-08-14T15:18:00.000-07:00

We've moved out entirely. Finally. I need to go get contracts signed for the renter next week and then she gets to clean and move in and get it ready to sell.

As we were leaving yesterday after we finished packing (finally), one of our neighbors stopped by. He is an older gentleman who grew up in the same town as my dad. He and his wife are just wonderful and I'm going to miss them a lot. But Kiddo is really going to miss him -- he always gives 5 to the kids at church, and he teased her every Sunday by calling her any and every name of different animals but the one she's actually named after. Yesterday, when he called her Bird and said, "You're my favorite girlfriend." ... she started bawling. I followed shortly thereafter. But today we finished moving everything out.

One of the newer neighbors whom I've never met came outside while our kids were playing today. My the family loaded the rest of the stuff in the van while we talked a bit. Their kids were so excited to see my kids out there, they HAD to come out. He volunteered to take a truckload over to DI for us. So we loaded up his truck with DI stuff, Virgil's van with trash (he took it to the dump), and the moving van with everything else.

As I did the final walk through today to make sure we had everything, I tried really hard to hold it together, but gut wrenching sobs still escaped me. I'm just glad I left the kids downstairs while I looked around!

I remember moving in with Kiddo and being so excited to have our own space. I remember sharing my first kiss with the husband on the couch in the living room (his friends decided they wanted the couch and came and got it today). I remember the fire the husband started on our balcony before we got married. I remember our wedding day and settling in as a family. I remember moving my office out of its room so his daughter could visit us there. And that's the last time we've seen her. I remember JapanBoy's visit with his family, dinners with my parents, date nights at home with the husband, bringing my babies home from the hospital ... the scary things, the fun things, the exciting things, the sad things ... I still have all of those memories, but it was really hard to leave today.

But I am looking forward to making new memories in our new place. Once I've unpacked a zillion boxes and purged more stuff.

Friday Fave Five!

2010-08-13T05:36:00.000-07:00

1. KC helping out packing Kiddo's room yesterday. Kiddo and I were both overwhelmed with it, and I couldn't really maneuver around in it at all while I was pregnant or wearing the baby, so it really was a huge help to have her handle it.

2. Got the paperwork turned over to the buyer for the condo. Now it's just a waiting game. We'll be out this weekend and have a renter moving in for a couple of months next week, who will do the deep cleaning, stage the house for showing, and pay the HOA dues as her rent. Good deal for her, and I don't have to do the deep cleaning myself, so I never have to go back to the house!

3. I picked up a Bissell SpotBot recently because, well, with a toddler with poosplosions and renting a place to live, we decided we needed something to deal with the leaks besides just me and elbow grease. It got out red NyQuil the husband spilled at the condo the year we were married. Not kidding. It also got rid of the poop messes from the other night at the rental, and the spaghetti sauce mess from Kiddo, so hey, it's doing its job! Plug it in, turn it on, and a few minutes later, you are stain free.

4. Bitty is 2 months old this week! She's such a great baby -- usually very easy going and sleeps well. She's smiling more this week and flirting with me and Kiddo, and sitting nicely with Daddy. She gets mad when Little Mister climbs on us though. And I don't blame her. He's a rough and tumble boy!

5. Kiddo has been babysitting a lot and is usually doing a great job. She's having a hard time with all the changes right now, as are the rest of us, and she's still pretty patient with me and with Little Mister. Yesterday when I had to run to the bank, I managed to sneak out and get back before he noticed I was gone, leaving the kids home for 5 minutes by themselves. Successfully! Bitty was asleep and the other two were watching a movie. Kiddo was pretty proud of herself for handling that quick trip alone, and I am proud of her, too.

15 Things I Learned Today

2010-08-12T19:15:00.000-07:00

1. The doctor's office will not have the correct essential medical testing equipment when you go in for the second time in 2 weeks because they didn't have it at all the first time. They assure you they have it two days earlier on the phone, so you go in and wait. For a long time. While being texted every 2-3 minutes by your 11-year-old. They will have ordered something you can't possibly use because it's made of latex, to which you are allergic, and which the doctor's entire staff knows. They will have to track down a silicone version instead and call you when it comes in. This item in silicone is something they've never heard of, so you're wondering if this is really ever going to work. This appointment lasted nearly 90 minutes. Last time's was over an hour as well. If the next visit fails again, I'm billing them for my time.

2. Toddlers will poop and give themselves diaper rash when Mom accidentally took ALL of the diapers and wipes with her to the doctor's appointment.

3. Relief Society presidents and friends are fabulous to come through with diapers and wipes and bring them to the 11-year-old and 15-year-old babysitting the 2-year-old. The girls still had to change him though.

4. 15-year-olds will take what you say literally. When you say, "Just put together boxes and put Kiddo's stuff in them," they will pack everything in boxes. Even trash. (But you won't care *much* because it got done and you didn't have to do it! and you can fix it while you help Kiddo unpack.)

5. Adolescent girls will come up with ways to get paid in ways you never imagined for helping around the house. We are probably minus a bunk bed and mattress, and will need to get Kiddo a new frame for a twin bed. lol At least it will fit in her room better.

6. My car locks automatically as soon as you turn the key, whether the engine turns over or not, and that is something you should tell people who have your keys. KC didn't know that and locked us out of the car.

7. Husbands will come to your rescue.

8. Husbands don't like being called multiple times when they're driving in heavy traffic.

9. When you feel like you need to check your bank account before you leave for the day, you'd better do it or you will find out later that an unexpected bill came through the account the day before and you are now in the hole by over $100. And they aren't done charging their NSF fees.

10. Zions Bank will post cash deposits the same day, even after 5.

11. Zions Bank is about 2 blocks from our new place.

12. Husbands don't like being told, "It's leftover night," when they didn't like the dinner in the first place (hence the reason there were leftovers).

13. When Mommy is grouchy, kids cry and husbands hide.

14. The husband's computer has a new virus on it. I wish he'd quit reading manga.

15. Moving is hard on 11-year-olds, too.

Little Mister Has an Attitude Problem

2010-08-12T14:53:00.000-07:00

So, one of his favorite foods is French fries, and during the week leading up to the move and during it, he had more of them than normal ... and his diapers got grosser and grosser. He had poosplosions twice a day and just wasn't feeling well. I finally realized that whenever he had them, he was doing worse, so we cut out potatoes and things improved dramatically. He misses them and asks every time we leave the house. It's pretty sad.

Well, the other day there was a rain storm. I *love* walking in the rain and wanted to head out in it, but even I am not crazy enough to do so with a toddler and a new baby. So we went for a quick drive instead, and I drove with my window open so I could still feel the rain. I was suffering from a major caffeine withdrawal headache and, though I plan to get off the sauce in the next couple of weeks, wasn't prepared to head into a busy weekend with that headache to start it off. It happened to be Happy Hour, so we headed to Sonic for a vanilla Coke.

I also ordered ice cream.

Little Mister was excited when I asked if he wanted ice cream. "Ice ceam? Ice ceam? Uh, sure!" (which is how he answers most yes/no questions if the answer is yes.) (oh, and while he can't drink milk, he can still eat cheese and ice cream without problems.)

Then he asked for "fwen fie." I said, "No, I didn't order any French fries. They make your tummy sick, remember?"

He grunted. And then said, "Stupid."

Yeah, dude. Food allergies are stupid.

What I'm Grateful For Part Two

2010-08-11T20:45:00.000-07:00

At the second hardware store last week, I saw a former neighbor of mine. She didn't look like she'd changed at all in the 13 years since we met! Not fair. We only talked for a few minutes, but she did tell me she'd divorced the guy she was married to when I lived next door to her. Oy. He was SUCH a flirt and said inappropriate things all the time to me back then, both before and after I married my ex-husband, though it was worse before. I always felt bad for her, because I knew if I'd said yes, he would have cheated in a heartbeat. Shortly before she left him, I'd run into him at Hollywood Video and, foolishly, gave him my number. He called me a few days later for a booty call. Yeah ... Even though I was single at the time, it was not going to happen. MEN. He never called again.

Not that I'm glad they divorced, but I am glad she's no longer in that situation where her husband disrespected her so publicly. She was always such a sweetie and deserved oh so much more.

Guess what? So did I.

Dentists and Tithing

2010-08-11T15:15:00.001-07:00

I took the kids to the dentist today. While we were waiting, I heard the gal at the desk talking about all the dental work another family needed -- 4 girls, all needing tons of it done, and quite expensively at that. I just kept thinking, man if we have to do dental work the rest of the year, we're up a creek because our flex spend is gone after having the baby.

So we went back and both kids are cavity free. YAY!!

As we left, a thought came to my mind. "This is one of the blessings from paying your tithing."

I'm not saying that other family didn't pay theirs (they are LDS), but that this specifically is a blessing we had this dentist visit because we'd paid ours.

We'll see how things look next week for the husband and I. I have a couple of sensitive teeth, so while I hope I won't have to have anything done, I'm not counting on it.

But I'll still pay my tithing.

What I'm Grateful For

2010-08-10T20:44:00.000-07:00

At one of the hardware stores last week, Little Mister was freaking.out. I picked him up and carried him off to the registers to pay, and when I put him down, he grabbed the neck of my shirt and pulled it down with him, completely exposing my left bra cup. The cashier laughed and said, "It's not like any of us have never had anything like that happen before."

It later occurred to me to be grateful for 3 things:
1. The cashier was female and understanding.
2. I was actually wearing a bra.
3. I had actually done up the nursing hook after feeding the baby before we left, or she would have gotten more than an eyeful.

USCIS

2010-08-09T21:39:00.000-07:00

United States something something something ... That's where we spent part of Wednesday last week.

The husband's permanent resident card came up for renewal this year, so we sent them some money and they sent us a letter saying he had to go in for "biometrics" on August 4 at 11 a.m. and if he didn't show up, his application would be denied. Well then.

We took the older kids to DisGrace's house and ran away. We had to drive about an hour to get to the office. I was under the impression that there was to be an interview because of how his family talked about it at our last visit with them. Not so much.

There was a sign on the door saying cell phones, cameras, recording devices, etc., were prohibited and if you were caught with one, you'd be removed from the premises. The husband and I turned off our phones and went in. He handed the security guard his letter and green card, and we sat for about 20 minutes. Then the receptionist called him up, gave him more instructions, and gave him a number. About 10 minutes later, he was called back for the biometrics stuff.

The baby was sleeping but I knew I'd need to feed her while we were there or she would not be happy. The husband didn't want me to nurse in public (NIP) because he thought I could be arrested. Um, no, there are laws protecting breastfeeding moms from being harrassed. So, while the husband was off getting his fingerprints and pictures, I moved to a corner and nursed her under a blanket.

About 5 minutes after we sat down initially, however, I noticed the giant sign on the guard's desk, reiterating the "no phone" rule. Then I noticed the security guard playing on his iPhone.

If it hadn't been illegal of me to do so, I would've taken a picture.

Part the Sixth

2010-08-08T20:43:00.000-07:00

We did get her registered, and we ended up having to go to the old place to take the trash out, and I quickly gathered up some things that we were missing (silverware, for one). While there, we discovered that the solution for the leak from the HOA president was to just turn off the water to the condo. YAY! No potty and no washing hands available!

After we left there, we grabbed lunch and went to the bank, then off to the cell phone store for Kiddo’s birthday present (which made her year) and I was due for an upgrade. Then we headed home to let the internet folks in. After they left, we had ice cream at Cold Stone with DisGrace and her spawn, and then back to the apartment so the landlords could get it appraised for their refi. Then we went to Subway and picked up dinner. After we’d eaten and Little Mister went to bed, Lu dropped by for a load of empty boxes and helped me move the furniture around (which the husband doesn’t like and wants it back how it was), and Kiddo said I could go to the store and leave her home with a sleeping Little Mister.

I got about 10 blocks away before I had to come home because she was freaking out at being left home alone. Which is about how I figured the first attempt at her babysitting alone would go.

Which is why I still have no router. And I’m out of baby wipes. And we’re out of milk.

Up next: Immigration! WOOOOOOO!!!

Old School Movie Night

2010-08-07T22:03:00.000-07:00

Since we unearthed the VHS player and all the videos, I'm watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Adam is an idiot.

Who on earth would really think "one woman is pretty much like the next," or that kidnapping girls to marry his brothers is a fanTABulous idea?

yeah ... I still like parts of the movie. Dance and fight scenes particularly. And it will always remind me of Japan Boy and the summer we spent memorizing the script and score.

It's actually the same video we watched all that summer, and it's pretty worn out. I think I need to get on in DVD just so next time I'm in the mood, I can watch it without worrying the tape will break.

Part the Fifth

2010-08-07T20:37:00.000-07:00

Monday morning, I got up with the kids and went to two hardware stores to find the stuff to make the dryer hose work. We also stopped at the Hostess outlet store down the street and bought bread and donuts. Brought the stuff home to the husband, who decided to keep sleeping, and I went to bed with the babies. We woke up around the time the husband did, and he went to work on the dryer. It finally (!) all worked correctly, so he got our appliance dolly (man I'm glad he bought that a few months ago) and moved the washer in.

The cold water faucet started leaking badly as soon as he turned it on.

Around this time, we also realized we hadn't had very hot water since Saturday night, when I took a shower.

So I called the landlady and she called her husband. He told her he'd actually turned off the gas to the water heater on Friday night to let off a bug bomb. The apartment had been vacant for a month because they held it for us, and it grew bugs. Anyway. He said he would come fix it after work. He got home a couple of hours later, which was a couple of hours early for him, and he took care of the water heater but had to go find "guts" (his word) to the faucet.

When I realized that the water heater had not, in fact, been heating for 24 hours before my shower Saturday night, I realized that the Lord must have known how desperately I needed that shower, because there was plenty of water for a longish shower. Thankfully.

Finally, finally, around 5 o'clock Monday, the landlord was able to get the water all fixed up so we could start washing clothing. By 10:30 that night, I had washed 5 loads, and dried and put away 4 of them. The dryer was drying things much, much faster than before, probably because of all the lint I'd cleaned out of it!

Monday, the husband also told me his CPAP machine was overheating, so I called the medical supply company. They told me I needed to take it to them, get a rental for $25 a month, and they'll send it back to the manufacturer to find out how much it will cost us to fix or replace. Because we're made of money and all that.

Things seemed like they were finally settling down at that point ... And then we realized Tuesday was Kiddo's birthday, she had to get registered for school that day, and the internet and cable folks were supposed to come over that afternoon to get us all hooked up. That left no time to go clean or finish packing the old place. *sigh* So much for having a plan.

Part the Fourth

2010-08-06T20:31:00.000-07:00

In keeping with our fabulous weekend, our furniture doesn't really fit in the living room. Especially the entertainment center. It's too tall. It's been living in our garage with the VCR for 18 months, so we are just going to get rid of the entertainment center. So, Sunday evening (yes, breaking the Sabbath), I was desperate for a break from all the commotion and took the kids to Walmart while the husband was sleeping. We looked at entertainment centers and TV stands and didn't find a thing I liked or wanted to pay for and lug with all the kids with me. I did purchase a few other things, like new hampers for our huge piles of dirty laundry since the dryer still wasn't hooked up, and the washer was still taking up the dining room/kitchen. And I bought a small upholstery steam cleaner so I could clean up the couches Lu gave us. Plus Little Mister has been having poosplosions almost every day lately. I'm thinking something in his diet is bugging his tummy, so we're cutting out things again to see. *sigh* We had to buy more shorts for him over the weekend because we couldn't get them washed.

When we got home, I put the TV on a small side table I had from a million years ago and put the VCR on top of it. It is working for now, and the kids are thrilled they have "new" movies to watch. Kiddo has been watching all of her favorites from when she was little. Awww. I tried to put the dryer hose on but it wasn't working. At all. I left it to the husband to take care of when he got up. He couldn't make it work either. Fantabulous. I did vacuum out the bottom of the dryer and the front of it where the lint trap is, as well as the "hose" which is really stiff/flexible aluminum. A LOT of lint came out of all of that.

I should mention here that all around this, I've been unpacking and organizing and moving stuff around the new place so that we feel like it's home. Little Mister loves the new "house," which is what Kiddo told him it was, and he seems to have adjusted just fine. Kiddo loves having a smaller room and less cwap. It's easier to keep it clean. Derrrrr. The husband loves the kitchen, and we're loving the set up for him to have a darker, quieter room, and me sharing with the babies mostly. That wouldn't work for every marriage but it's helping ours because he's less grumpy with the kids, both of us have nice beds to sleep in, and I'm not angry because of his grouchiness or his sleep being off making my schedule off. Haha. Plus, when I do want to sleep without a toddler, I can and do still sleep in the other room. Yep, I'm the one living in limbo. Wooooo!

We gave up on the washer that night with the plan to head to the hardware store Monday morning. Yay for having a plan!

how about a birth control post?

2010-08-06T15:14:00.000-07:00

I went to give the husband the afternoon dose of his Depakote and when I got back, Little Mister was being a little too quiet. So I asked if he was okay. "yeah. color."

"are you coloring on paper?"

"uh ... shoe."

my lime green crocs are now decorated with black ink. awesome.

Part the Third

2010-08-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

Sunday, Virgil came back over and helped unload the truck. I'd been able to bake biscuits and made eggs and sausage for "Stewbert McMuffins" as Virgil dubbed them. So we all had breakfast and Virgil went home. The husband and I, once again, loaded up the kids and took the truck back. Little Mister panicked when the husband got into the truck until he realized we really were following Daddy wherever he went. He thought it was funny when we pulled up next to him at the stoplight before the U-Haul place, but got so angry at me when I pulled out before the husband! Poor kid.

I should note that because we picked up the truck so late in the afternoon, they told us they didn't care if we kept it all night as long as it was back by 9 the next morning. We dropped it off at 8. As of this writing, I do not have the internet so I have no idea how much they charged us, however.

After dropping off the truck, we went back to the old place to pick up a few things that I needed, including the other plug to the dryer. I'd kept it all this time, figuring at some point we'd move and would need to change it out. I am smart.

When we got back to the new place, I tried to put the power cord onto the dryer, but the dudes from Sears who had installed our new dryer had really, really tightened the screws and one of them stripped when I tried to get it out. The husband, fortunately, was able to get it out and replaced the cord when he got back from the old place (with a whole bunch more stuff). While he was working on that, I noticed Little Mister was limping around, though he was still walking and running all over the place. I washed his foot off and noticed some bruising on it and around the ankle, and it was pretty swollen. So off to the InstaCare we went AGAIN because it sounded like fun.

The wait was over two hours.

Did I mention I had a toddler, a new baby, and a grouchy 10-year-old with me?

Unfortunately, while we were there, the husband called to ask me where the dryer hoses and clamps were. Since I wasn't the one who took it out of the utility room, I was pretty sure I didn't know where they were, or if I did know where they were, he wouldn't like the answer. He went back to get them and went to see his parents. About an hour after his call to me, I got a call from our former neighbor, saying something in our house was leaking into their garage (condos, ugh). I called the husband back to see where he was. He'd left, so I called her back and (cringing because I know the state of the house, and it was UGLY) gave her the garage door code so she could let herself in and see if she could find it. It was apparently the washer faucet and she called the HOA president to come help her fix it. I asked her to call me back if they needed me to go up there, but she didn't, so I'm assuming everything turned out okay.

Fortunately, after a large series of x-rays, because they were worried Little Mister might have hairline fractures or a greenstick fracture of his tibia, he checked out just fine and we came home. Where we all fell asleep. For 4 hours.

Part the Second

2010-08-04T20:29:00.000-07:00

One other thing I should mention ... Even after multiple trips to Walmart and various other stores which may or may not be trying to take over the world, I have not remembered to get a router, so my internet time is limited. I wrote all of these posts on the laptop and had to save them to a flash drive, then copy them from word to here. Don't ever say I don't love you.

Anyway. On to Part the Second

After the husband went to McDonald's and got everyone sausage biscuits for breakfast, Lu called to say Virgil could help move the king sized bed she was giving us, but he could only help right then. Lu is Virgil's sister, and Virgil is married to my sister, DisGrace.

I met Virgil and Lu at the new place and we got the bed set up. I the new mattress pad and sheets on it so it would be ready that night. Then I drove back to the old place and had a nap with the babies, after instructing Kiddo to finish packing her room. I hadn't slept more than 4 or 5 hours a night for the previous week, so I really had to sleep. She "forgot" and read Calvin and Hobbes for 2 hours instead. Which meant when the husband went to take down her bed and get the dresser, he couldn't, so that's all still at the old house. Wonderful.

The husband and I took the kids and got the truck. Then he drove to get his brother, and The Architect showed up to help load the truck. They all worked really hard around the antics of Little Mister and Kiddo while I kept packing. Yep. Still packing. We have way, way, WAY too much cwap. After Little Mister fell off a skateboard and hurt himself, I took the kids away to get dinner for everyone, took the food back to the guys, and took the kids to the new place so the babies could go to bed on the king bed. Kiddo wanted to wait until the truck got there so she could help unpack. When the guys got there, all 3 kids were still awake (grrr) so they "helped" unload. Little Mister's shoes were missing so he kept stepping on rocks in the driveway and crying. They unloaded really quickly, then headed back to the old place for another load (yes, really).

I finally got the babies to bed and started on unpacking the kitchen. Kiddo went to bed too. Virgil, Dizzy, and KC showed up to help unload the next truckload, but when the husband got back with it, he had wisely decided that 10 p.m. was too late to unload a truck when your landlord lives above you and you share a driveway. (And Virgil got his internet nickname from the conversation we had that night. Bwahaha. I'm not nice; it had to do with teenage trauma. But he doesn't read the blog so whatever. Teenage scarring continues.)

Murphy Was Hard at Work This Week

2010-08-03T20:22:00.000-07:00

The moving saga will be spread out over the coming week. Hope you're not all bored.

Part the First

Last Thursday, we took a break from packing and being busy and went to a going away BBQ for my cousin and her husband. While we were there, my sister commented that Kiddo's "cold sores" around her mouth looked like impetigo. She also had sores on her underarm, torso, and knee. Lovely.

Off to InstaCare we went, where the PA informed me that yes, indeed, it was impetigo. With instructions to use topical Neosporin multiple times a day and a prescription for Keflex in hand, we headed to Walgreen's, Sonic for ice cream, the Redbox for a movie so I didn't freak out, and then we went home.

I'd intended to pack that night, knowing I still had a LOT to do, but ended up snuggling grouchy kids all night. I watched 2012 while they slept, but if I got out of bed, they fussed. That was quite helpful.

Friday, I took coolers full of food from our freezer to the new place. We also purchased some frozen foods (with hubby's discount from work) for the weekend so I wouldn't have to cook from scratch while we were still moving, and so we wouldn't spend a small fortune in more fast food, and we put that in the freezer as well. Filled the fridge's freezer completely full and took some to the old place for Saturday's meals. I packed as much as I possibly could that night.

The husband called off work Friday night and spent the night/morning packing and moving boxes and furniture to the garage, so it was completely full of stuff, and I'm sure his efforts helped things along the next day.

Saturday, we woke up to the power being out. That plan to use the frozen food? Yeah ... not so much. No way to cook it. We had to buy breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Awesome.

Moving moving moving

2010-07-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

My laptop and all the work stuff is packed up. Just jumping on the husband's computer for a minute to say "cya." I don't know when we'll have internet again, though I'm sure it will be sometime soon. I have to call and get that scheduled for next week sometime. Yay.

Though maybe it would be better if I left it off for a while. I might get the house unpacked faster without it!

Tandem Nursing

2010-07-28T13:16:00.000-07:00

is defined as having two or more nurslings at once, whether they are twins or triplets or a toddler and infant. Little Mister nursed through my pregnancy and is still nursing, and I'm okay with it or I wouldn't still be nursing. He just wasn't ready, especially with all the food sensitivities he seems to have, and if he gets into something with milk or whole grain corn (doritos, popcorn ... ) he gets sick and loses weight.

For the record, I do have my own limits here and will have Little Mister weaned by Christmas, hopefully sooner, now that he's finally showing some signs of being ready to wean and will eat other food. I'm not going to nurse anyone until they are 4 or 5.

Crazy People

2010-07-27T16:52:00.000-07:00

We went to a barbeque last weekend. Now, I realize that not everyone is into attachment parenting or exclusive and extended breastfeeding, let alone tandem nursing (two nurslings at once), cloth diapering, co-sleeping, or any of my other crunchy tendencies.

But IMHO, offering a 6-week-old baby a bite of an otter pop, over her mother's protestations, is completely and totally inappropriate. I love the person who offered, just was annoyed by the offer, and the fact that the person said if it was their niece, they would have given it to the baby anyway.

And then there was this gal there whom I've never seen before. She's pregnant and due in October. As soon as she saw our infant carrier, she said, "I get an infant for the evening!" I said, "I'm not sure how well she'll cooperate with that plan. She's sleeping now and will be hungry soon." And left it at that. We got to chatting and I felt okay with her holding the baby eventually, but then she said, "You won't be getting her back!" And I smiled ever so sweetly and said, "That's okay. I'll just call the police." She looked at me like I had two heads or something, but really, I don't think any mother would find that funny or okay for someone to say to them if they'd never met before! My stars.

Bitty only let the person hold her for a few minutes before she started asking for more food, and she did give her right back, so everything was fine. I'm just wondering what planet these people are from and if I'm completely off for thinking that both of them were behaving inappropriately.

From bad to worse

2010-07-27T06:50:00.000-07:00

I used the new detergent twice last night. It's a bottle that does 96 loads.

Sometime after using that minute amount of the new bottle, it fell off the shelf, landed on the washer, and the lid blew off. Most of the bottle is now inside the washer, soaked into my clothes and bras.

BRAS.

I have a 6-week checkup this morning and have no BRAS because they are soaked with 6 weeks' worth of laundry detergent!

It really could be worse. If it had been on the floor, I would have fallen this morning. And it would have been harder to clean up.

Oh my stars

2010-07-26T22:20:00.001-07:00

We ran out of detergent over the weekend while Kiddo was getting her laundry done. (Yes, she's 10, and she washes and dries her own laundry, as well as ours when I was too pregnant to lean over and get it out of either machine.) I went to the store with the kids and got detergent (and M&Ms) and have started two loads of laundry. Our hamper is overflowing and the husband had no socks for work tonight, so I need to get it caught up and packed into suitcases or something. Maybe laundry baskets... lol I've packed 3 boxes tonight and still have a LOT to do. I keep thinking I'm nearing the end, but nooooooooooooo. There is no end! And I missed a couple of cupboards in the kitchen! How did I do that? My kitchen is TINY! Why the heck do I have all this junk?

We have thrown out so much stuff, the garbage can is overflowing and we have 4 bags that don't even fit. I'm going to try and get them in neighbors cans (shhhhh, no one tell my neighbors) on Wednesday, but I'll probably have even more by then. lol

It was a busy weekend

2010-07-26T08:03:00.000-07:00

what I've done since Thursday: Thursday morning, I took a load to the storage unit, had to go in person (with all 3 kids in tow) to the city to get the utilities changed to our name, went to sis's and the store with her and all 6 kids. we came home and everyone crashed. Friday, I called the bank about our house, got everyone packed for the weekend, found a real estate agent and signed contracts with him for a short sale, came home so i could sell the pack 'n' play but the gal didn't show up, drove halfway to my sister's (who lives 30 minutes from me) but had forgotten the key to her house so i had to go back home.

after we got the key, we went to sis's and let her poopy out, then went to see Evitafjord, who was at another friend's for the night so we spent a few hours there. Then we went back to my sister's and I spent the night with 3 babiesand a dog in the bed. Saturday morning, my aunt called to see if I had time to visit with her this weekend. I haven't seen her since my grandfather died 7 years ago, so we put the poopy back in the house and drove home to start some chicken in the crockpot (it had to get cooked today), then drove back 15 minutes south and visited for a few hours at my other aunt's house. The local one didn't even know I was pregnant. She's obviously not on facebook. lol. We left the aunts and came home and sold the pack 'n' play to someone else. Little Mister fell asleep at the aunt's house, and stayed asleep for FOUR hours. So I napped with the baby. When he woke up, I finally got showered and we all went to Hubby's friends' house for a BBQ. Hubby left from there for work, and when they started fireworks, we left because Little Mister freaked out.

I did not clean a single thing, do a single dish, or pack a single box.

Got up Sunday morning, ready to make a pancake breakfast and finish the kids' rooms and living room. After breakfast, Little Mister turned into an evil child and hit the baby over the head with a hanger. I asked him to give it to me and caught my finger in it somehow, and he pulled the opposite direction. Pain. Cursing. Pain. Swelling. The husband got woken up. *sigh* LM finally went down for his nap, so I tried to get one too, but it wasn't very long. After we all got up, I went into Kiddo's room. She and Little Mister had destroyed it. Again. Couldn't see the carpet. Again. After I freaked out, we cleaned more, and she cleaned/packed/purged the rest of the day. Finally, there was enough room we could move the bed and she could finish cleaning under it.

So last night, I finished the kitchen. Still have LM's room, our room, the bathrooms, my desk area, and the garage. Feels like this move will never be finished, but whatever.

Why My Mom is Awesome!

2010-07-25T08:36:00.000-07:00

She may not agree with your choices, but you always know she loves you and would do anything for you.

And she's moving here next spring. I am so so SO excited!

Random Walmart Happenings

2010-07-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

We ran out of packing tape. And the car needed an oil change. I haven't ever used Walmart's vehicle services, but conveniently there is a Jiffy Lube in the Walmart parking lot, so I sometimes take the car to Jiffy Lube and walk to Wally's to shop. We decided to do so yesterday.

So, after meeting with the real estate agent and getting our condo listed and short sale stuff started, we headed to Walmart.

The packing tape shelves were almost completely empty, except for a few very expensive rolls. I think they must have been made of platinum.

I finally spied 3 other rolls sitting on the shelf. They had been part of a package of four; someone obviously needed just one roll and decided to take it instead of paying for all four rolls. They were all unopened themselves and I figured I could get 25% off if I talked to the cashier, so off we went to pay. After getting suckered into picking up a stuffed "Toy Tory" Buzz Lightyear doll. Which hit the floor about 15 times before we got to the checkout, so I didn't end up paying for him. I think Little Mister was trying to make Buzz fly.

I digress.

The cashier had to get permission from her supervisor. He offered me 10%. I said, "It's missing one of the four rolls. Can't I get 25%?" He had to think about it. Maybe it was the screaming toddler. Or maybe it was the fact that I was breastfeeding my 6-week-old infant so she would quit crying. (I was covered up, thank you; I even asked Kiddo to check and make sure nothing inappropriate was visible. You couldn't see my tummy or bra or anything else.) But he did eventually come to my point of view, that 1/4 is indeed 25%, and it was fair and just for me to get 25% off.

If only I'd still been feeding her when I got back to Jiffy Lube. Maybe I could have gotten the coolant for free, since they had to go back and put it in the car even though they'd called and asked permission while I was at Walmart and I said yes but they didn't do it. Wooo.

Friday Fave Five!

2010-07-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

1. I talked with the bank this morning. They said we need to list the house for 90 days as a short sale and if it doesn't sell, they'll go ahead with the deed paperwork and see if we qualify to just turn it over to them. I have contacted two agents about a short sale and am just waiting to hear back. One specializes in short sales and the other one is a wonderful person our family loves to see if she has ever dealt with short sales, and will be listing the house with one or the other ASAP. Why is this on my list? Because the end, though not tomorrow, is in sight. And I feel at peace -- we have a great place to move to that is affordable, and we have to move before we can even try and show this place, so that conversation with the folks at the bank reinforced the feeling that moving next week is the right thing to do. We have loved living here and will miss the neighbors, but are ready to move on. I wish it was under better circumstances, but really feel like we've done everything we could do to stay and make it better and am at peace and excited for our new place and new opportunities.

2. The husband's paycheck today was the best one he's had in a year or more. It gives me hope.

3. The kids' rooms are almost done being packed, and we're taking down the bunk bed and crib this weekend. I am trying to sell both frames; we'll see what happens.

4. The dental hygiene school I contacted said my credits from 15 years ago will transfer. YAY, I don't have to take anatomy again! hahahaha I still haven't figured out how to get to school full time with babies and whatnot, but we will get it figured out.

5. Little Mister's birthday presents. We got him a basketball hoop and a riding toy (thanks Gamma), and oh my stars ... he throws the ball over his head and is making baskets about 6/10 times. He's had it for two days. And when he gets bored with that, he plays on the riding toy. And then goes back to the basketball hoop. "Game! Game!" Best.Presents.Ever. lol

In other news, Small Fry's mom is apparently having a baby. Mom and her boyfriend broke up and she is trying to move to Mississippi in a couple of months. We will probably either A) never see Small Fry again, or B) get her dropped off at our doorstep. We're all having a hard time with either option. [she needs a new internet nickname. she's almost 14 and has her first boyfriend; i don't think i can keep calling her small fry!]

Man, I'm a Jerk

2010-07-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

We just got notice from the husband's insurance that his (quite elderly) psychiatrist is no longer a participating provider for our insurance. It said they wish her well in the future.

Even with that last sentence, my immediate first thought was, "I wonder if she died."

I even looked for an obituary but didn't find anything.

Wow. I'm a jerk.

freaking out

2010-07-19T15:37:00.000-07:00

I started college 15 years ago.

I never finished.

I got married and had a baby instead.

But the husband's green card application won't go through until late this fall (well after school has started), so we decided one of us should go ahead and get going because our financial life is just going to suck until one or both of us gets established in a new career. I guess that's me.

My hope is to become a dental hygienist eventually, and if I'd started last fall like I thought, I'd be ready to start the dental hygiene school next year. But no. I didn't.

I'll start with a couple of internet classes this term and next, going half time while I'm still a mom and hopefully can still work (because if I can't, this isn't going to happen), and take the tough classes next school year. And hopefully get into the program I want.

*click*

Two marriages and 3 babies later ... I just sent in my re-application to UVU.

we didn't ruin his life after all

2010-07-19T08:08:00.000-07:00

Little Mister is quite attached to Tahlulah, or Bitty as he calls her. He was calling her pretty or baby, and they just sort of morphed to Bitty.

Anyway, when I put him to bed last night, he started crying for Bitty, so I went and got her so we could all cuddle in his bed. He fell asleep peacefully and quickly, and even though he woke up and came to my bed later, he snuggled down in his designated spot and went right back to sleep. He loves to hold and kiss her, too, and laughs when she puts her feet on him while we're all cuddling in the recliner.

Went to the gym this morning and felt fabulous after 20 minutes on the elliptical, and Bitty did just fine while I was gone, but now (2 hours later) I'm ready for a nap! Guess I'd better go snag one since she is sleeping.

Happy Monday all!

Happy Birthday, Little Mister!

2010-07-18T18:56:00.001-07:00

I can't believe you're two! Happy birthday sweetheart!

holy guacamole

2010-07-18T10:40:00.001-07:00

The husband came home from work super late today (per usual on Sunday mornings). I'd already had a meltdown after being woken up from a nap again by screaming children and Kiddo arguing with me and screaming at me (I screamed too, don't worry!). She came out of her room saying, "I think I'm having PMS."

No kidding.

So when the husband came in and we were all dressed for church but I was still making breakfast (and church had started 15 minutes earlier), he said, "What do you need?" I wasn't crying or anything, he just knew. I didn't even have to say a word for him to know I wasn't okay.

Because we were so late to church, I would have missed the sacrament and then had to chase the kids through the foyer and halls because I can't sit on the hard chairs in the chapel and all the padded chairs and benches would be taken, and Little Mister takes his nap right after sacrament meeting anyway, so we didn't go.

So when he asked what I needed so I could be okay, I said, "I need to clean the kitchen." That was the first thing I thought of. He said okay, he'd help with the kids while I did it. I handed him some breakfast, which he ate, and then he asked if there was anything else. "A Pepsi."

He went to the garage and got the Pepsi, made sure I'd taken my antidepressant herbs this morning, took Little Mister into our room and watched a movie with him, and I started cleaning.

I didn't make it spotless, but did get a lot done over the next 30-45 minutes. Changed the dishwasher, scrubbed down some countertops, packed a box of stoneware and pans, started a load of towels in the washer, and hosed down the front of the dishwasher and part of the stove.

I felt a lot better at that point. But the thing that made me the happiest? When he said I could start going back to the gym this week because the baby is so good every morning when he gets home after she's eaten. YES!!! Elliptical, here I come!

The one where I win parent of the year!

2010-07-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

After being woken up by both the older children screaming my name outside the bedroom, I am short on patience and kind words. I could tell neither of them was in pain. They were just being loud and noisy.

"Why are you SCREAMING at me?"

"We're kids!" She yells back.

Point taken.

Still.

I'm grouchy, my back hurts, and she has been picking fights with me off and on all day. The next five minutes, she argued with me about a few different things. Over her brother's hysteria after he stepped on one of her toys and hurt his foot, I finally shout.

"QUIT ARGUING WITH ME ABOUT EVERY DAMN THING!"

"Quit swearing at me or I'm not going to talk anymore!"

"Oh GOOD! DAMN DAMN DAMN!"

Then I hear this little voice say, "Damn damn."

Blast it. Little Mister has a new favorite word.

Friday Fave Five!

2010-07-16T20:12:00.001-07:00

1. I started reading my scriptures again this week. It's been a while. Though I didn't get a ton read or studied, I did read some every day. I think. I told the husband after the first day and he said I was much more calm and less grouchy with the kids. Bonus. I'm noticing the same tonight, though I did lose it for a few seconds earlier. BUT I calmed right down and didn't scream (much), and this has been the worst night this week, so that's progress.

2. Baby girl had the biggest poop last night, then gave a baby giggle/coo and smiled. It was so funny. OH, and we came up with a better internet name for her: Tahlulah. Because Kiddo has this little red tomato toy my mom gave her a few years ago, and every time baby K gets mad, she turns just about as red as the toy. Tahlulah it is.

3. A friend in England sent me some butter tablet (also called Scottish tablet). It's basically butter, sugar, sweetened condensed milk, and milk. And it is delicious, if you like really sweet stuff. I sure do. lol

4. We're nowhere near packed enough, but we are progressing. Two weeks to moving day!

5. Kiddo is the best mini mommy. Little Mister is NOT sleeping tonight and being very naughty (stepped on Tahlulah on PURPOSE type of naughty!), but she's in the bedroom snuggling him while they watch a movie, and she got his "piddow" before I even asked her to. And she's changed a bunch of poopy diapers this week.

We had ice cream for dessert -- I needed chocolate. She had vanilla. lol

I hate moving.

2010-07-13T22:41:00.000-07:00

I actually said, "We need to move more often," to the husband today. No, I wasn't serious. He thought I was. But I was going through piles of stuff and wondered to myself why we have so much of it.

There are only two good parts to moving:
1. You end up getting rid of so much crap. Seriously. We've been to DI and filled our trash can repeatedly, and I'm barely into the process. Five years in one place apparently is a bad thing for me because I accumulate more junk.

2. You find stuff that's been missing for a while. Like Kiddo's gameboy. Found that a week or so ago. Today? We found the charger.

I'm hoping we find a million dollars behind the fridge or in the recesses one of our walk-in closets. That would fix everything!

Weird!

2010-07-12T21:44:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a bit. Awesome.

Basically, I'm just enjoying my baby girl, who is getting more beautiful every day. Don't believe me? just check out her 1-month birthday photo. ;)

And I'm packing whenever I can and whatever I can. Moving sucks, but hopefully we'll get enough junk purged we can really fit in the new place. lol

Come again?

2010-07-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

I accidentally ordered "potato wedgies" at KFC the other day. The drive thru dude didn't laugh. But Kiddo and I sure did.

All 3 kids and the husband are sleeping. I think I'm going to throw together a cake for a BBQ tomorrow and hopefully get a bit of sewing done so I can finish packing my sewing stuff. I have a small project I'd love to finish up so I can get everything off the table, but haven't been able to get it done yet. I'll post pics when I do!

Dear Jackie Chan:

2010-07-01T22:04:00.000-07:00

I'm seriously annoyed by "The Shinjuku Incident."

Why?

Because it depressed my husband.

We've come to expect certain things from you as an actor. Like kung fu. Lots of good action. And some comedic elements in almost every movie we've seen of yours. No cheating. No nudity. So, your movies have always been safe for us to watch.

This one sure changed our opinion of you and we'll have to be more careful if we decide to rent another of your movies ever again.

*sniff*

The packing has begun

2010-06-29T20:44:00.000-07:00

We will be moving somewhere sometime in August, hoping to be a bit settled in before school starts. We have officially packed 3 boxes of bedding (which we won't need until winter) and 4 boxes of fabric. I have a few totes of fabric that I need to go through, but things are started.

That may not seem like much progress, but remember, I have a 17-day-old baby! lol

If you are local to me and know of a rental in the south end of the valley, that will fit our family and be $800/month or less and available in about 6 weeks, lemme know. I've found a few online, but they're gone before I call. c'est la vie.

Toodles.

Friday Fave Five! or Six ...

2010-06-25T09:27:00.000-07:00

1. Baby K was almost back to her birth weight yesterday at not quite 2 weeks old, just shy of it by a couple of ounces. My other kids both took about 3 weeks, so this makes me happy. [for those not in the know: all babies lose some weight in the beginning, especially if they are breast fed because it takes a few days for mom's milk to come in. most medical professionals prefer babies to have regained all that weight by 2 weeks of age.]

2. Little Mister is adjusting okay to baby K and all the changes, though his bedtime is still messed up. BUT, I didn't freak out last night and just planned on putting him to bed later than his norm, but earlier than he has been since she got here. Neither of us got frustrated, and I didn't yell at anyone or hide.

3. The husband is getting more involved with all the kids, but especially with Little Mister. Since the boy refuses to let me or Kiddo get him dressed for the day or for bed, the husband gets to do it. He's not getting as overwhelmed as he had been and things seem to be going well, and when he needs a break he tells me and leaves for a bit instead of just freaking out. He worked last night for the third night in a row, and seems to be doing okay though is a tad beat up because his crew is all new (again) and they haven't been finishing, so he's trying to help pick up the slack. Still waiting on immigration to get back to us about his green card renewal so he can get registered for school, but overall he seems to be doing better than he was during my pregnancy.

4. Kaje brought us lunch yesterday, had a good visit with us, and got to hold the baby between nursings. Little Mister even gave her a hug before she left, and when she walked to her car, he yelled, "WAIT!" lol. It was cute. Kiddo was great, tidied up a bit before she got here, and even offered Kaje a drink without prompting.

5. Kiddo is the mini mom and has been doing a lot of cleaning, cooking, cuddling the baby, and caring for Little Mister. She's really a wonderful kid.

6. I love my baby and all my kids and husband, but the changes are hard and I've been overwhelmed a lot lately with everything. I had a meltdown the other night and emailed my mommy about it, and she called me right away. I got to talk to her for a while and it helped a lot. I'm glad she just let me talk and didn't try and fix things or make me feel better. Just her listening until I ran out of steam made me feel a million times better. I'm glad she's my mom.

If anyone local wants to come meet baby K, we are up for visitors. Just give us a call or email!

1000 posts! What the...

2010-06-22T23:01:00.000-07:00

1000 posts is crazy. I must like the sound of my own voice or something. If I hadn't just had a baby, I'd do a giveaway!

So, this morning, I was napping with the baby and had Kiddo take Little Mister to the park (across the street) for a little bit. About 20 minutes later, I woke up and had a feeling I should get dressed and go get them. Then I heard the garage door close and the kids come in the house. Turns out there were two strange men at the park, they creeped Kiddo out, so she came straight home. Good girl! I told her about my feeling and that I was on my way down, but heard them come in first. She was relieved it wasn't just her.

Re: the weight loss. I retain a lot of water when I'm pregnant and don't seem to gain much weight aside from that and baby. I realize that's not normal and I've been blessed that way. This hasn't even been the most drastic loss after a baby: I was at my prepregnancy weight from Little Mister a week after his birth, even though I'd gained about 40 pounds (of water). Don't be too jealous. I stayed there until I got pregnant again. This time, I think the diabetic diet had a lot to do with how much I didn't gain and why I'm below that prepregnancy weight. I am eating way too much "bad" stuff right now, but my blood sugar numbers are okay. I am going to start doing better though; I have no desire to get fatter or have type 2 diabetes in the future.

The baby has changed so much since her birth. It's amazing how fast they grow and change in the beginning. She doesn't look like a Little Mister clone anymore, which is probably a very good thing since she's a girl and he's, well, a boy. Little Mister has changed a lot too. He's a big kid now, refuses to go to bed at his former bedtime, and yet still wants to be a baby. *sigh* It's all just bittersweet.

The husband is at work, the kids are all sleeping, and I've caught up on my current favorite show, Drop Dead Diva. Off to bed!

Happy Monday

2010-06-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

Kiddo fed Little Mister some cheerios and then took him to the park while I slept this morning. When I got up, I made eggs for everyone (except the baby) and then Little Mister wanted his nap. Baby K was sleeping, so the house was quiet for about an hour! I couldn't sleep then because I'd slept in, but I did manage to finish my book and give the baby's bili lights back to the driver who came to get them. (She started lights on Monday for an elevated bilirubin/jaundice. We've been to the hospickle almost every day since for checks, but she's good now.)

Little Mister woke up IN.A.MOOD. But he's better now. Kiddo is making mac and cheese for lunch (the husband is sleeping so we don't have to worry about him, and LM might just get a peanut butter sandwich) and I have the baby in a sling and am nursing at the computer while I catch up on a few things. Like a blog. haha.

It's been rough for the Little Man to have to share me. We've been working on his sleep schedule and getting him back to normal, but at night he has the hardest time going down again. Turns out he wants and needs some alone time with me, so we've been reading more stories and cuddling and then he goes down pretty easily, though bedtime is taking longer overall. The husband and Kiddo are both helping out a lot with the baby during his bedtime, and I *think* it's helping Little Mister adjust to not being "the baby" anymore.

My mom just reminded me this morning that when DisGrace (my eldest sister) was Kiddo's age (10), they had 6 kids, and *I* was the 2-year-old. While I am glad I don't have 6 kids right now (because that would mean I would have seriously gone against my beliefs), it did make me think again about how HE is feeling and that he will be okay eventually, but I'd dang well better have some sympathy for him. lol

Ack. He just found the candy stash -- nerds are about to be everywhere. Have a great Monday!

p.s. Nerds rescued. Just had to come and say as of this morning, I'm 32 pounds lighter than I was 10 days ago. And that makes me 10 pounds lighter than I was when I got knocked up. I'm really looking forward to when I can get back to the gym and get my muscles more toned so I can actually wear my prepregnancy clothing. lol

The (extremely long) Birth Story

2010-06-17T17:18:00.001-07:00

So, yeah, I've been working on typing up the birth story (and a bit about the day or two beforehand) in between tantrums from Little Mister, who sometimes loves his sister to bits and sometimes wants her as far from him as possible, and baby feedings, and bouts of preteen melodrama ... The husband has been quite helpful this week, fortunately, or I think we'd all be in the nuthouse.

On Wednesday, 6/9, I saw the OB who would be delivering her on Friday. She was transverse again. When she was transverse, my contractions weren't accomplishing anything as my cervix hadn't changed in a week or more, though was favorable for induction at 3 cm and 80% effaced, and her sideways-ness would pull my cervix so high no one could reach it. So I'd been in pain and/or discomfort all this time for no reason and was just getting more exhausted every time they started up. We discussed the version and induction, and he let us know the real possibility of serious complications. And we talked about the plan. After getting my IV antibiotics going for MY heart condition and me prepped for a C-section just in case (including an epidural), he would then turn her to a head down position, but it is impossible to get a baby to engage from the outside. Once she was turned, he would then break my water. The risk there is that because she was so free floating and way up high, her cord could prolapse (come out with the fluid), which is extremely dangerous for the baby and would indicate an emergency C-section. Another very real problem was that she might take a long time to descend and could end up in distress, and since this little girl had been having a hard time lately anyway with two NSTs that started out rough, she could end up in distress from the contractions once they get going, even if the labor and delivery were faster. With Kiddo, when they broke my water, she went into distress and they had to pump fluid back into me to keep her heart rate up, or she would have been a C-section, too. I didn't think that was a viable option with this little one since she'd just use the fluid to swim away from the exit. Or she could flip again in labor and/or get the cord wrapped around something. Any of those things were very real possibilities, but I felt comfortable with going ahead with the version and induction route -- as long as we were at the hospital when my water broke, I felt like anything else that happened would be okay.

I felt very at peace about this decision, though it was still a difficult thing for me to handle. I had a very natural childbirth with Little Mister with no drugs of any kind, and I recovered SO quickly and had such a birth high. It was amazing, and extremely different from my induction and epidural birth with Kiddo. Ever since I found out about this surprise pregnancy, I'd planned in my head that we would have another natural birth without interventions. But little K has a mind of her own, and this pregnancy was riddled with various complications that hadn't even entered my mind and weren't in the picture with Little Mister -- insulin dependent diabetes for starters. But I felt very strongly that we'd both be okay at the end, no matter how she was born, and for whatever reason, baby K needed to be born with medical help. Whether we ever knew that reason was another question entirely.

After some processing and crying, I busied myself with housework and sleeping over the next couple of days. Laundry, floors, cooking, baking, and a little last minute shopping. Plus some big cuddles with Little Mister and lots of Kiddo hugs. I knew I'd miss them both terribly. And I cried every time I held Little Mister because I wasn't ready for him to not be my baby anymore.

We got to the hospital at 6:30 on Friday, 6/11, and went straight to the L&D floor. They had the room ready for everything, including a teeny tiny little hat and diaper next to the isolette. After lots of medical history and questions, and a couple of ultrasounds showing that she was head down right then, they got the IV going and started my IV fluids. They wanted 1 liter in before they got the epidural going, and I needed the antibiotics. That took an hour.

Then the anesthesiologist came in to do the epidural. Lots more history, but he apparently missed the spot in my chart where the perinatologist said to avoid a rapid epidural because it would probably cause my blood pressure to drop, and I forgot to mention it. The first time he placed it, he nicked a vein: I got a fast headache and nearly passed out. He placed it again and the test dose was fine, but when he started the actual meds, my blood pressure dropped like crazy. I think the lowest it went was 60-something over 40. It took another hour to get stabilized, and by that point it was 10:00 and the OB's partner wasn't available. They both needed to be there just in case it became an emergency when they broke my water so that there were two sets of hands instead of one. They started the Pitocin at OB's instructions, hoping my cervix would dilate more and baby would descend some. Two hours later, he came in to break my water. She hadn't descended, but I was 5 cm. It was still so high, though, it took him a while to be able to reach it well enough to break my water.

He broke it and a little trickle came out. I asked if I could please sit up again, and immediately upon doing so, a FLOOD came out. They had to change the towels at least 4 times, and after she was born, even more fluid came out! There was no cord prolapse at the time of rupture though, and baby K was fine, so I just stayed sitting up as much as I could. I knew gravity would help me progress and baby to descend, and since I couldn't walk around because of the epidural and monitors, that was the only way to do it. My belly deflated a lot with the water and it wasn't as tired anymore.

She took a long time to descend and eventually her heart rate started dropping with every contraction, but it came right back up as soon as the contraction was over. They ended up placing internal monitors once she was low enough because she was still squirming away from the external monitor, though not turning at all (fortunately). Around 5:30, I was complete and they called the OB. He was at a different hospital but on his way back. Before he got back to the hospital, however, another one of his patients was complete and her baby was nearly born before he got there! So he delivered her baby and stitched her up, then came in our room. All in all, we waited nearly 3 hours for the doctor during the course of the day or she probably would have been born way sooner!

By the time the doctor got to the hospital, baby K's heart rate wasn't recovering as well, and we knew we needed to have her soon. It was hard waiting for him, but he came into the room really quickly, and I started pushing. Because of the epidural, I couldn't tell where to push and was having a hard time, and the doctor said that was fairly normal because you can't feel down there. With Kiddo, the epidural had mostly worn off before she was born and I watched in a mirror, so I knew exactly what I had to do to get her out and did so in just a few pushes. With Little Mister, no drugs and an incredible urge to push meant he got pushed out as soon as I quit saying I couldn't do it and made up my mind to do it. So it was a bit frustrating to push for 10 minutes and not make any progress, and then hear the OB say we'd be there a while. My nurse was scheduled to leave 10 minutes later and she told me she'd only be able to stay for two more contractions. That's not what did it, but realizing the baby needed to be born right NOW because of her distress, getting the head of the bed lowered a bit at the nurse's suggestion, and actually having an urge to push, with the next contraction, she was being born. The doctor was very encouraging and told me I was doing exactly what I needed to do and to keep pushing, so I did. Then he said, "Whoa, slow down!" So I did. Apparently, the cord was around her neck and her arm, and her shoulder was stuck, so he had to get ready to quickly untangle her as soon as I pushed her all the way out. Moe was watching all of this and said the doctor has fast hands and was glad for it -- seeing the cord wrapped around her like that really freaked him out. The cord was also the reason her heart rate kept dropping toward the end. I didn't have any tears or anything, so I'm feeling pretty good today (she's 6 days old as I'm typing this), just sore belly muscles from the birth.

She was born at 6:25 p.m. after 8 hours on Pitocin and 6 or so hours after fluid rupture. She was 8 pounds 3 ounces and 19 inches long, my biggest baby by half a pound. She did just fine in the hospital with only slightly borderline low blood sugars, so we ended up staying two nights instead of the one I wanted so they could monitor her a little longer, but they never got into the dangerous range. My sugars started coming back to normal the next day, and I started feeling better almost immediately after her birth.

She started nursing about an hour after she was born and has nursed better than either of my other two babies. She's had fewer problems than they did, too, though jaundice seems to be par for the course with my kids. If I ever have another baby and have a say in things (which I didn't with Little Mister because he was in a hurry to be born!), I'd wait to at least 38 weeks to deliver. She is just doing better overall than the other kids.

We are thankful that things went as well as they did and, though there were a few scary things that happened, we are extremely grateful that we were able to deliver without a C-section or any major complications. I honestly feel like this was the best thing for our baby and myself, and my husband said he liked the drugs because I didn't try to break his hand. Ha.

So there you have it. If you read the whole thing, thanks. If not, I understand!

So in case you haven't seen her ...

2010-06-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of pics of the baby. Her bilirubin is elevated, but not nearly as high as Little Mister's, and I have a LOT more milk this time, so she's doing just fine. We have her on bili lights at home to help it go down and we're thrilled she doesn't have to be in the hospital.

Oh, and here's the pic of the totes I made last month. Um, yeah, I'm a slacker.

She's here!

2010-06-13T14:45:00.001-07:00

Baby K arrived safe and sound at 6:25 p.m. on Friday. We managed to avoid the C-section. She weighs 8 pounds 3 ounces and is 19 inches long -- my biggest baby! I'll post the birth story and pictures later this week, when I'm not so crampy.

Thanks for all the love and prayers!

You guys are great!

2010-06-10T13:49:00.001-07:00

Thanks for all the loves and feedback!! I'm doing a LOT better today. I can say it's not necessarily fear of the C-section that had me so depressed yesterday, but disappointment in a lost opportunity to have another amazing natural birth.

My birth with Little Mister was fairly perfect, as far as things I wanted and my recovery. No Pitocin, no epidural. I was up and about a few hours later, had a huge birth high, and was walking all over the place the next day. No stitches or anything, and I felt really good. My postpartum bleeding stopped within 2 weeks.

My birth with Kiddo was nowhere near that. She was induced, I had an epidural, I tore, had stitches, and things fairly well sucked. While using the bathroom, I tore my stitches out a few days later and had a hard time walking for a couple of weeks. I bled for 6 weeks.

So if we end up with a section, I will honestly be able to say I've had 3 very different types of deliveries! lol.

I feel really good about the plan as discussed with the OB yesterday. I know there is a very good chance I will end up with the C-section, and I'm okay with that. She keeps turning transverse and may do so even after my water breaks. The only way to get her out at that point is a C-section. And that's okay -- we'll both be safe and alive.

I go in at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow and won't have internet access in the hospital. I don't know when I'll be back to update the blog, but will as soon as I'm able.

I'm having a baby in 2 days.

2010-06-09T06:44:00.001-07:00

My house is a wreck. My family is making me crazy. I'm in pain all the time. I'm grouchy and mean to everyone and I don't like it. Baby girl is causing lots of drama, because she will NOT stay head down when the contractions start, no matter what, so her head is not doing its job of getting my body ready for birth. And she's shown some signs of distress during my last two nonstress tests, but she's recovered just fine so they let me go home both times. My sweet husband isn't being such a sweetie right now, and isn't being the support he thinks he is. I need someone to help fight for MY body and my rights, too, but he just wants me to have a C-section and be done with it. Easy to say when it's not your body being hacked open.

I think it's safe to say I'm feeling depressed right now.

I have an appointment in a little while with the OB who will be delivering on Friday, so I'm going to discuss the whole thing with him then -- the depression included. I'm trying really hard not to resent this little surprise miracle, but it's still happening and I'm afraid it will only get worse after she's born. Especially if I have to have a C-section.

A little Sunday stuff

2010-06-06T18:42:00.001-07:00

Baby girl really doesn't want to come out -- I keep contracting, but nothing is happening. Woo. That's obnoxious.

Little Mister's favorite word these days is "shut," while he shuts doors, drawers, dishwashers ... but the "u" comes out "i" so it sounds like he's swearing. It makes me giggle.

Kiddo made some yummy brownies tonight, though didn't wait for them to cool completely OR use the appropriate cutting utensil (she used a spatula), so they aren't presentable for the husband to take to his game night. Guess I'll have to eat them all.

Little Mister had a freak out after I started dinner and would only calm down sitting in my lap, so the husband finished making it and even heated up a vegetable! Without me asking him to! Yay husband!

The kids and I did make it to sacrament meeting today, though I didn't hear much. Lots and lots of loves from the ward stopped and asked me when I was due or why the baby wasn't here yet or when she was coming. Little Mister and I left after that and had a nap, though mine was punctuated by 2-minute apart contractions. And yet, here it is, 9 hours later, and nothing has happened.

I'm trying not to be bitter.

Friday Fave Five!

2010-06-04T17:34:00.000-07:00

1. I made it to term with this baby.

2. I have an induction date scheduled, so even if she chooses not to come before then, it will be all over soon. I just hope I'm not having these painful contractions 3-7 minutes apart, a lot in my back, for the next 7 days. Really hoping they turn into something more, but baby girl has a swimming pool in there still, so they may not.

3. DisGrace took Kiddo swimming today, and she's spending the night. I think Kiddo needed the break from being "mini mom" and I needed the break from the attitude.

4. Little Mister and I took a 2-hour walk -- 1 hour around the neighborhood in the heat, and 1 hour around Walmart. Hoping the walk helps baby girl engage and come out, but thrilled it made me feel better as far as moving my body goes. I've been a lazy, lazy woman lately.

5. The husband is learning to handle things a bit better and upped his medication on his own when he noticed he wasn't doing very well. Good for him.

Off to try and put the tired toddler to bed. Two hour walks, even though he wasn't walking, wear him out apparently.

Full Term!

2010-06-03T16:46:00.000-07:00

We made it! I'm still hoping she comes this weekend on her own so we don't have to deal with the induction on the 11th.

*sigh*

What 37 weeks means versus 36 weeks: Baby making better use of oxygen, meaning we probably won't have to deal with oxygen tanks like with did for a month with Little Mister. Actually able to eat better, which means we probably won't have any failure to thrive problems, though jaundice may still be in the picture given that Kiddo had problems with it, too.

I'll post after we're home from the hospickle, whenever that happens, but if I'm not around much between now and her arrival ... well. I feel like crap. Par for the course, I suppose.

Pregnancy nightmares

2010-05-31T12:25:00.000-07:00

I keep having them. They aren't any fun. Specifically, nightmares that my baby doesn't survive. I think a lot of that has to do with my friend who lost her son last summer and had to have an emergency hysterectomy to save her own life. We made contact again a few months ago, and she just is not dealing well with any of it. I can't say as I blame her. I probably would be a nut case if those things had happened to me.

That's one of the reasons The Architect gave me a priesthood blessing last week, and I was assured Thumper would be just fine and be born healthy and strong, even if I have to have the cesarean to get her out. When I'm awake and coherent, I feel fine about the pregnancy and outcomes, and I enjoy feeling her moving.

But the nightmares still come. Between that and getting up 15 times a night to pee, plus Little Mister's nightmares and possible sleep walking, I'm not getting much rest. And I really don't think that's going to change any time soon, since newborns aren't known for sleeping long stretches. haha.

oooooo, it works after all!

2010-05-30T19:09:00.001-07:00

the foot -- i put it on wrong because the pictures and instructions weren't very clear. someone on the sewing forum told me how to put it on and it works!! happy dance.

Friday Fave Five!

2010-05-28T22:09:00.001-07:00

I can't believe I almost forgot! I've been doing so good at posting every Friday. Grah.

1. Sewing geekiness: I ordered a set of quilting feet for my sewing machine so I can learn to actually quilt, and they got here today. The manufacturer is different from the one that made my machine, so one of the feet is incompatible, but I'm okay with that. I spent about as much as for 3 feet and a tool as one of the feet normally costs -- and got two that work and a functional tool I can see myself using a lot. I'll hang onto the other foot -- I'll probably have to get a different (i.e. better) machine eventually and it may be compatible with that.

2. More sewing: I had a couple of coupons for JoAnn fabrics today, and got some things I've been needing, including a pair of pinking shears. They're the ones that zig zag the edges of fabric, which is helpful in preventing fraying, and also can be used to trim edges of small items that need to be turned right side out after sewing to create less bulk and a curvier shape. Like baby booties. When I got home, there was a check in the mail from my grandpa for my birthday last month, which covered the shears. Thanks for the prezzie Gramps! (I'll have to write him a real note later; he doesn't read the blahg.)

3. I had lunch with Kaje yesterday, and she brought me some cute stuff for baby: A blanket, some girly bibs (thankfully; I didn't have any, just the gender neutral ones I'd made for Little Mister), a cute little sailor girl outfit, and some white onesies on which she'd put some cute appliques. The onesies are everyone's favorites. We had a good conversation, and I gave her some zucchini muffins I made the other night as well as the juggling balls/hackeysacks I'd made for her cute son. He called me today to say thank you, and seemed very excited about them! And he talked to me for a few minutes. I haven't seen him a lot in recent years, and still sometimes think of him as the tiny munchkin he was when we were roommates, but he's 9 now, and all growed up.

4. Had lunch with DisGrace and all the kids today. When lunch was over, we traded kids: She took Kiddo home with her, and I got Niecey-poo. She's 14 and can either be quite helpful or quite a handful. Today, she chose the former. She went with me to the fabric store and kept Little Mister happy. When we got home, she changed his diaper while I was in the bathroom -- without even being asked! And then she helped me clean up the living room, which desperately needed it. I made spaghetti for dinner, which she ate, and then while I was trying to get Little Mister to bed (fail), she just read. She pretty much read until her dad came to get her. She was a HUGE help, and didn't whine at all. She even got clothes for Kiddo while I was putting LM to bed so Kiddo could sleep over at their house. I don't know where she managed to find clean ones, but she did!

5. Ice water. I'm not quite drinking it by the gallon, but close. It's helping me stay cool. So is putting ice on the top of my tummy to discourage Thumper from flipping again. lol

So, we have a game plan

2010-05-27T22:28:00.000-07:00

I plan to discuss this with the OB next Wednesday. She keeps flipping around -- she moved to the correct position last night, but Little Mister gave her a good kick today when he woke up from his nap, and she moved transverse and then breech later on. *sigh* She's just going to keep doing it because she has so much room!

If I go into labor on my own between now and the "deadline," and she is breech, we will ask them to try to turn her and then immediately break my water so she can't flip again. That means more pain and a probably faster labor, so I may end up with an epidural, but at least there's a hope of a natural delivery.

If we have to go the version route on the 11th and it is successful, we'll still ask them to immediately break my water for the same reasons and hope for the same outcome.

And again, if we have to do the C-section, it'll be okay.

The Architect came over and gave me a blessing tonight, and I'm feeling much more at peace about it all. The husband had planned to, but he's so freaked out about all of this, he finally said he's not in the best frame of mind to do so. So I emailed the Architect and it worked out just fine. And he convinced Kiddo to work on her room. So that was a bonus.

In other news, the kids have booby trapped the house. I stepped on a tape dispenser the other day and punctured my foot. It is now infected which makes it hard to walk. Awesome. And yes, I will discuss that with them too. In the meantime just trying to keep it clean and dry. woo.

blast blast blast

2010-05-26T17:38:00.001-07:00

This baby is out to get me.

She turned breech again last night, while I was having some "good" contractions.

They've scheduled me for an attempt at manually turning her, and if it works, they'll immediately start an induction. If it doesn't, they will be doing a cesarean.

Please think good thoughts for us -- I'd prefer for her to turn on her own and come out, even though she seems to hate contractions. Our new "deadline" is June 11, which is when they will intervene.

I'm baking muffins and making other foods to stick in the freezer for afterward, just in case I have to do the surgery route. I know I'll be out of commission a lot longer that way. Not thrilled.

But if it has to happen, I'll be okay with it. It's just my preference to NOT have to do it that way. lol

Good news!

2010-05-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

Thumper turned the right direction this last week, so no more breech or talk of C-section. As long as she stays put. Guess she really didn't like the ice on the head bit -- hot bath, ice on top of my belly ... I did it 5 nights in a row, and the second night felt some major pain and pressure, so I'm thinking that's when she turned, but I kept doing it just in case. haha.

I'm almost 36 weeks' pregnant, and that's when Little Mister made his entrance into the world. So I'm half hoping she comes in the next few days to a week. 37 weeks is when Kidlet joined us. I'm not DUE until June 24th though. *sigh*

The diabetes appointment went very well -- even though I wasn't as consistent about tracking my numbers this last week, the ones I did track were normal so they're no longer talking about adding more insulin.

I also bought a new mattress pad and sheets today. I can't wait to go to bed tonight. Alone. *snicker*

So flipping tired (whiny post)

2010-05-24T16:34:00.001-07:00

I remember getting worn out toward the end of both of my other pregnancies, and I remember being uncomfortable and miserable. I do NOT remember wishing they were over, especially not early like this, and wanting to just be DONE being pregnant and being willing to go through labor to get the baby out of me. That didn't happen until I was already in labor! But here I am, not even 36 weeks, and I want to be done done done done done.

I'm sure part of the fatigue and doneness is because Little Mister has changed his sleep schedule a bit, and so I'm not getting the rest I need because he's not sleeping when he used to. That's rough going. And he's almost two, so he's having more frequent meltdowns and tantrums, and is wanting things his own way, no matter what *I* think about it.

And part of it is the stress with Kiddo being a preteen and sassy.

And part of it is the husband's frequent bipolar crashes of late. He is ready for this to be over, too, and keeps asking me when I think it will be. "I don't know, let me look in the crystal ball!"

I'm trying to enjoy the baby's movements, but she's developed this habit of placing one or another of her appendages into a very uncomfortable position, worse than either of the other kids did. I was having some contractions the other day while she was doing it, and I was out with the kids running errands. I was in tears from the combination. Kiddo asked if she needed to call an ambulance and said that if she could drive, she'd just take me to the hospickle.

I'm officially on maternity leave as of today. I just can't keep doing all of this. Hoping she comes in a week or so, and that the few remaining projects get done, whether by me or someone else. *yawn*

I'd better go change LM's diaper ... just realized it's been a while.

Friday Fave Five!

2010-05-21T07:39:00.000-07:00

1. *gasp* DH noticed he was making a mess in the area in our room that I'd cleaned on Monday, and *cleaned it up himself!* without any poking, prodding, prompting, or pleading!

2. Paid off our car this week and paid off some small medical bills that had been sitting around but I could never find TO pay. We had the $ for the medical bills from our flex spend account, just couldn't find them. Lovely. It feels great to get them out of the way!

3. Chocolate Carnation Instant Breakfast mixed with whole milk tastes like a real chocolate milk shake (though not the correct thickness). And if I drink 2 cups of water in the hour following, my blood sugar doesn't soar either. Ahhh. hahaha!

4. The virtuous body gal dropped her prices. This is a good/bad thing for me. Love her soap ... I'm restraining myself for the moment though.

5. Kiddo finally figured out I was tired yesterday and fixed dinner while I fell asleep in Little Mister's bed -- it wasn't from scratch, but still. She heated up frozen chicken patties and made some instant mashed potatoes and gravy. AND she fed her brother without being told. After a week from heck with attitude, attitude, more attitude, and me running around doing errands every single day (even on the days I'd planned to stay home), I really needed the sleep and the break.

The not faves: My feet and hands are swelling up -- not fun. Baby is breech, so we're trying to persuade her to head toward the exit. And for some reason, it's really irritating me when people use exclamation points after every single sentence they type! It's annoying! Not everything demands an exclamation point! I won't name names, but there is someone on a website driving me crazy with this habit! Grah. Hoping I'm not so grumpy after the baby gets here.

More new words!

2010-05-17T17:22:00.000-07:00

He finally figured out that when he passes gas, it's not pooping. It's "tooting" at our house. So now, anytime anyone toots, he runs over and touches their tummy or butt and says, "You toot! Good job!"

I'm hoping no one from the church comes over and farts loudly.

well that was fun

2010-05-17T05:47:00.000-07:00

so, i'm still pregnant. that status was in serious jeopardy over the weekend. about 6 on saturday evening, i noticed i was having contractions 3-5 minutes apart. five hours later, after getting disgrace to come over and the husband home from work, we went to L&D. i wasn't progressing much, and i'm past 34 weeks, so they sent me home.

now, i know a 34-weeker will eventually be fine, but probably in the nicu for a while. so we just kept telling baby girl to stay put for another 2 to 3 weeks.

last night around 10 or so, the contractions slowed a lot and the intensity dropped a LOT.

this morning, i feel a lot better and, though i'm still having a few contractions, they're not intense and not consistent at all.

thank heaven.

Friday Fave Five!!!

2010-05-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

1. The totes I made. *love* (can't post pictures yet, will do so later)

2. I bought this fancy handmade soap the other day for my own mother's day prezzie. Because I'm cool like that. Actually, I want a pedicure and the husband said that was fine, but um ... with so many medical appointments every week, there is no way I'll have time to do any pampering until this baby is 19. ANYWAY. About the soap. It's divine! My skin isn't dry or itchy, it hasn't made me break out yet (miracle!), and the ingredients list is very minimal. The gal who makes these soaps is on the sewing forum where I learn all kinds of fun things, and she is wonderful! Go. Shop. Buy. www.virtuousbody.com ... become a Facebook fan today and get a special discount (today)!

3. The fact that Little Mister looks for me at the stairs while I'm at the hospickle with all these dumb appointments warms my heart because I'm still his favorite, but I'm also getting happier with the fact that he's not freaking out when I'm NOT home, which might make the labor/delivery/hospickle stay a little easier on all involved.

4. Kiddo used some of her own money to buy prezzies for Little Mister, Thumper, and herself. When LM was an infant, he had a blanket we called "the magic blankie" because it would calm him down when nothing else would. So soft and fuzzy, made of Minkee, and we were washing it almost every day (after he puked on it). My SIL bought him a stuffed monkey made of Minkee, and we called it "the magic monkey." Sense a theme? I bought some fabric to make two identical magic blankies for Thumper (so she has one when the other is in the wash), and then we had to find some onesies and socks for her. While we were in the baby section, Kiddo found Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Piglet, all made with Minkee. Mickey and Minnie came with small fleece blankets, so she bought those for the babies, and she bought Piglet for herself. Little Mister *loves* Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Disney, and was SO excited about Mickey, he held him almost the entire way through the store after that. He's been sleeping with him, cuddling him, and giving him drinks from his sippie cup. So cute.

5. While it's not my fave that the husband keeps crashing from stress, especially with the coming baby and the pregnancy complications, it IS fabulous that he can talk to me about all of this stuff. He didn't talk to me about things before, so this is a good, positive step.

Fun times

2010-05-13T16:58:00.000-07:00

Woke up with major contractions on Tuesday. Had to go to the hospickle anyway for a nonstress test. Baby was fine, contractions aren't making things progress much yet, and my doctors said they wouldn't stop labor if it came now anyway, so ... yeah. they sent me home after just over 2 hours there.

My blood sugars are under better control unless I have a migraine, so that's good. The diabetes folks didn't freak out over any of my numbers, so that was even better.

Saw one of the OBs yesterday, who did NOT freak me out about an amnio or any other interventions, so I'm feeling more calm.

I also felt pretty good in the afternoon, so I went to the store and finished up the baby shopping. I can still walk today, so that's good news.

Was off work last night, so I sewed. Contrary to Kristina's belief that it only takes me 15 minutes to whip up stuff, it took about 4-1/2 hours to make 4 totes for the baby's gear. Couldn't find any in the store that I liked, would fit into the empty bookshelf that's just sitting there, or were in our budget, and neither was another dresser. I had the fabric on hand and figured what the heck? And stayed up until after 2 finishing them. When I got up this morning, we loaded them up with baby clothes. Kiddo started the blankets washing, and we have diapers to do, but things are looking up as far as our being prepared goes. I do need to install the car seat base, but that's about it.

I had to go in for another test this morning (fun times, I tell ya), and had noticed that baby girl wasn't very active this morning. Panic. They found her heart rate right away, but she didn't move once for 10 minutes. With Kiddo, that wouldn't have worried me at all because she was a lazy baby, but the last two have not been. I said something to the nurse about the lack of moving ... I should've kept my mouth shut. Thumper started moving after those 10 minutes and did.not.stop. for 45 more minutes. Now, they expect to have 20-25 minutes of continuous monitoring for the nonstress tests in order for them to send you home. So that was a major problem. They finally got her back on the monitor, and even though she kept moving, it still picked up her heart rate. So I finally got to leave 20 minutes later.

I refuse to go anywhere tomorrow. I'm going to be lazy and stay in my jammies all day because I can. Plus, I have 5 appointments next week. Yay.

I keep telling Thumper to wait 3 more weeks and then just walk on out. I hope she's listening.

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

Before I go getting all bitter and sentimental, happy mother's day to all the mommies I know. lol

Mother's Day has become my least favorite holiday.

It's not because my daughter, as wonderful as she usually is, inevitably picks a fight with me.

It's not because both my husband and daughter ask me for every holiday what I want, and I always say, "A clean house," and they both laugh like I'm joking. And I never am.

It's not because my husband works graveyards, so I don't really get a "day off". Ever. or that he always goes card/gift/flower shopping at the last possible second and won't buy them on Sunday, so (this year at least) I'm SOL.

It's not because my in-laws expect us over there for all of the holidays.

Because as nice as MIL can be, she is not my mother.

My mother and I live in different states, and every holiday reminds me of how much I miss her and how, what I really want for Christmas/birthdays/mother's day, is to see my mother. But I don't get to. And mother's day is the worst of them all, because it is a day supposed to be honoring MY mother (and my family honoring me). I miss her more and more with every passing year and wish we lived closer so I could spend time with my mother. Especially on mother's day.

Love you Mom.

Dumb and Dumberer

2010-05-07T19:08:00.000-07:00

My Friday Fave Five will have to wait. I'm a total dork.

I made a dumb choice or two today. First, I didn't tell the gal at Los Hermanos that upstairs was a mean thing to do to a woman this pregnant. Instead, I just waited to use the bathroom until I got to the school to pick up Kiddo. lol. Had fun at lunch with my friends from college, though Little Mister wasn't too thrilled about first, being woken up to go, and second, getting a bowl of salsa dumped on him by the waitress. She apologized profusely and got us extra napkins and even a wet one, but she should have at least comped us something. Her tip? about half of what I would have given her.

I had contractions off and on when we got to my sister-in-law's to chill for a little while, probably because I waited so long to pee earlier. hahaha. I *know* that happens. I just didn't want to traipse up and down stairs. Oy.

Second dumb choice? Well. We had to go fax some papers to the flex spend company to get some money back (which we desperately need -- our prescriptions are not cheap!), so I went to the grocery store. This grocery store faxes stuff for the cheapest around, so it made sense. And I was craving grapes, so I figured I'd grab them and a couple of other things on the perimeter of the store while I was there. We did NOT go up and down any aisles, just walked around the outside aisle of the store and grabbed those few things.

By the time we got back to the car, I was in tears from the sciatic pain. Kiddo asked if we needed to call daddy. No. Do we need to call an ambulance? No. I'm not in labor. She paused. Did I do something??? No. I just hurt.

Yeah, it's not been a fun night. Her attitude was great until after dinner, at which point she freaked out because she was supposed to do her chores. I was in too much pain to cope and went to bed with Little Mister and woke up still hurting. Derrrrr.

The husband massaged the area when I woke up before he went to work (thank you husband), but I still hurt. I'm going to bed now and am hoping some Tylenol will help, because at this point, standing/sitting/lying down? It all hurts. Bad.

Wednesday Whining

2010-05-05T16:57:00.000-07:00

I'm 33 weeks pregnant tomorrow. My perinatology and diabetes appointments were okay yesterday, though they increased my insulin again (second week in a row). I've felt off all day today after that, have a migraine with numb face (joy), and still had to go to an OB appointment. *sigh*

Ugh. Did NOT have the best OB appointment, though I am back down 2 pounds. woo! haha. (I'd gained two or three the week of my birthday, probably from all the sugar and eating out!) I really like the doctor, so it wasn't him at all. Just ... my amniotic fluid index (AFI) is at 22, and he's getting really worried about it. It's gone up 1.5 cm in 4 weeks. It can trigger preterm labor and there really isn't much they can do about it. It's associated with the gestational diabetes ... and because my sugars aren't being controlled that well with the insulin, he's worried about the baby, too. He said if they have to keep increasing my insulin, we'll need to do an amniocentesis at 37 weeks to check her lung development, and if she's fine, they'll want to deliver immediately. If I refuse the amnio, they would have to wait until 39 weeks and that carries increased risks for the baby with out of control sugars. I have to go into their office weekly to check the AFI from here on out, which I figured, and still do the twice-weekly NSTs at the hospickle. They used to do them in their office but don't anymore. He suggested calling L&D when the husband gets home first thing to see if they're busy (at 6:30 a.m.) and hopefully I can get them out of the way early in the day without having to wait a super long time.

So, I'm being more strict with myself about what I'm eating -- no sugary crap at all. no white flour anything or white rice. Brown stuff from here on out. More veggies. I seem to do okay with some fruits but can't eat them all the time. No sugar, not even graham crackers or cinnamon life cereal which weren't affecting me at all before but are now. yay.

At this point, I almost hope she comes at 36 weeks, though 37 would be better. *sigh*

The good news is that I'm not retaining much water ... yet ... woo.

There's the end of my whining. You may return to your regularly scheduled programming.

our internet

2010-05-04T05:32:00.000-07:00

seriously sucks. it dropped my vpn 5 times in ONE HOUR while i was trying to work.

so while i couldn't work last night, i sewed this up for Thumper.

I have a skirt for Kiddo cut out using both fabrics and pants for Little Mister cut out, only using the plaid. I've asked Small Fry's mom for her measurements so I might be able to make her a skirt, too. I have enough fabric for it! Way overestimated what I needed. Anyway. It made me much less frustrated with the internet to do something productive.

The bonnet is a tester for a friend who created the pattern. I might have to find some little babies to try it on since Thumper is (thankfully) still inside!

The Blind Side

2010-05-03T20:16:00.000-07:00

I watched this last night while cutting out giant piles of fabric of stuff I need to do before Thumper arrives. I *loved* it. So much so that, when Kiddo asked if we could watch it this afternoon, I said sure. Little Mister had just fallen asleep because he'd taken a very early nap this morning (and thus didn't go to bed on time tonight), and The Husband was at the store (again, getting a couple things I forgot to put on the list Saturday ... lurve him!), so we just chilled out for a little bit. I made chili for dinner while we watched it. Little Mister woke up about 15 minutes later and didn't want to watch it until he saw the football scenes! haha. Love that kid.

The husband hadn't wanted to watch it. He grew up in the projects in LA until they moved to Utah, and his older brother was an amazingly talented athlete but their parents couldn't afford the equipment rentals the schools required once they moved here, so he never got to play beyond his sophomore year. And his younger brother was just as talented, and just as out of luck here. The husband knew he'd be reminded too much of his brothers' missed opportunities, and it was an emotionally charged movie anyway, so he didn't want to watch it.

I had told him about a couple of funny scenes, and he came home right before one, so he came in and watched it. He wandered around a bit, then came and watched the rest of the movie with us. He really liked it, too.

Sandra Bullock did an amazing job, but so did the young man playing Michael Oher, Quinton Aaron. And Tim McGraw didn't suck. This is one movie I wish we'd purchased, and we may still yet because I liked it that much.

I had to look up some things about Michael Oher and Quinton Aaron after it was over the second time. Not only did Michael Oher have to bust his butt in his classes during his senior year so he could qualify for any of the football scholarships offered to him, but he had to take some online independent study courses through BYU to replace some of his worst grades. He had planned to leave college after his junior year, but decided to stick it out, made the honor roll, and got a degree in criminal justice. When he signed with the Baltimore Ravens, his contract was $13.8 million for 5 years. After his first year in the NFL, he came in second for the offensive rookie player of the year.

Not too bad for a kid from the projects.

Quinton Aaron was in a bad place in his life when he auditioned for the part of Michael Oher. His mother was extremely ill and he had no money. He told the director, after the audition, that he was also in security and, if he didn't get the part, he'd love to help on the movie in security, and gave him a card. The director said he'd keep that in mind. A year later, Quinton's mother died. He still had no money and his family was about to be evicted from their apartment. That's when he finally got the call that he had won the part. I couldn't find any listing of how much he made for the movie, but he was nominated for best actor for the movie in both the Black Reel awards and in the NAACP awards.

When I told the husband about Michael Oher's NFL contract, he told Little Mister that playing sports was a-okay with him, and to make lots of money to support his parents. haha.

On Parenting

2010-05-03T10:02:00.000-07:00

I didn't sleep much last night, or very well. Just couldn't sleep. Little Mister didn't come in until his usual wakeup time at 5:45 this morning, but the husband had come home around 4:30, and that woke me up.

I'd been asleep for about 2-1/2 hours.

So I let Little Mister wake up Kiddo a bit early this morning, she changed the dishwasher and we made breakfast, and then I went back to sleep. When she asked me to take her to school this morning, I asked her (in my sleep) if she wouldn't rather skip school today so I could sleep.

She said no, she wanted to go learn.

I'm either doing something very right, or very, very wrong.

Maybe I should have offered her cookies.

When We're Helping We're Happy ...

2010-05-01T23:03:00.000-07:00

So today, the husband finished the grocery shopping. He took Kiddo with him. But first, he told her she absolutely had to do the dishes because I'd been telling her to do them all day.

The dishwasher was unloaded and then loaded in less than 10 minutes.

He bought her a treat (mini M&Ms) while they were out, which she shared with Little Mister when they got home. She also helped make dinner again, with a very cheerful attitude.

Later on, after Little Mister was in bed, she helped me sort the baby's clothes into size groups and put the first load in the wash, and folded and put away a load of towels.

Why did it take her all day to do one thing I asked? The rest was happily done, to the point of me wondering who she was ... haha.

The husband also seemed in a very good mood after finishing the shopping. I'm thinking I need to request his help more often, maybe asking him to help fold a load of clothes with me tomorrow.

Completely unrelated, I hadn't seen We Are Marshall ever. It's been on TV a lot the last few days, and I finally managed to catch it on near the beginning this afternoon. Little Mister actually watched it with me. Because they play football a LOT in that movie. haha.

Oh, and to be fair, Kiddo and I did watch Sherlock Holmes earlier today while LM was sleeping. The husband watched it yesterday and said it was very tasteful, so we decided she could watch it if she wanted to. She did.

Next up is The Blind Side, which I was going to turn on tonight while I cut out fabric when I had no work, but it started trickling in. I'm trying not to be upset about it. ;)

Cute Toddler Moment

2010-04-30T18:40:00.001-07:00

This trumps the Friday Fave Five. Hands down.

Little Mister and I just had the cutest conversation. He nursed but wasn't going to sleep, tried to leave but I'd locked the door, so he came back and crawled over me. My shirt hiked up over my belly and he stared at it for a minute, then started rubbing it. I asked if there was a baby in there and he said yeah, and kept rubbing it. I asked if he was going to be a good big brother and he said no. lol. He was still rubbing my tummy. I asked if he wanted to say hi, and he stuck his face down by my belly and yelled, "HI!" hehehe ... I said, "That's baby [Thumper] in there. She's your baby sister." He said, "Baby!" and kept rubbing, and then when I repeated her name, he said the first part of it. I told him she was going to come out soon and say hi to him and he'd need to keep taking good care of her. He had the biggest grin on his face! I asked him for a kiss, which he gave me, and then I asked if he wanted to kiss the baby. He kissed my belly, came back up to his normal cuddle position, and went to sleep. It was SO sweet. *love*

Friday Fave Five!

2010-04-30T13:56:00.001-07:00

1. The husband played with Little Mister for an hour or so yesterday, just so I could sew a coming home outfit for Thumper.

2. Little Mister cooperated today so I could finish sewing some pants for him. But he didn't want to cooperate with the photo. Sadly, I positioned the pocket too high, but he likes the basketball tag on the pocket and keeps trying to pull it off.

3. Kiddo has been a big help, too. Even when she doesn't want to be.

4. Woke up this morning not feeling well thanks to the stomach virus Little Mister shared, but the husband got me some ginger ale. (sorry, no pic.) He's also promised to go to Costco for me so I don't have to, since too much walking makes me hurt in my "sciatic" area. The husband also massaged that yesterday and I was able to stretch, so it doesn't hurt so much, but we don't want it to flare up again!

5. I am starting to feel better now, and might actually get a shower sometime today.

Even Toddlers Have Those Days

2010-04-28T12:15:00.000-07:00

A note from Little Mister

When I woke up this morning, Mommy wasn't snuggling me anymore. I started kicking the wall. And hurt my foot.

Mommy let me go wake up Ha. That was fun. But when Mommy couldn't stay awake and told Ha to give me some breakfast, she wouldn't. She ate in front of me instead. Mommy yelled and she finally gave me some toast. I gobbled it up because I was starving.

We took Ha to school and she didn't say goodbye to me. Mommy had to make her come back to the car for a hug.

We came home so Mommy could put some eyes on or something before our next ride. I found a chopstick on the floor and stuck it in my mouth, then ran away from Mommy. Mommy tried to take it but I wouldn't let her. I tripped and choked myself and cried, and Mommy cried too. I don't know why SHE was freaking out; she didn't get hurt.

[note from Mom: He is just fine, though I was worried he'd punctured something with it when I saw him go down. Scary.]

Then we had to go to a boring place where a strange man looked at mommy's tummy and drew on her tummy with blue gel and stuck a machine on it. I don't know what they were doing, but the blue gel looked like fun. So as soon as the strange man left the room, I climbed up on his chair and got the gel down. Mommy put it back. I tried again, and the chair rolled out from under me! Mommy couldn't catch me and I landed on my face. My forehead, nose, and upper lip hurt bad. I cried and cried and cried, and when the strange man came back to talk to Mommy, she could barely hear him.

When we got home, I begged Mommy for a nap, but she ate something instead. At least she gave me a popsicle.

[Note from Mommy: His nose didn't swell up or start bleeding until we got home. But it was fine after his nap.]

After naps, I pulled a chair down on myself. And then I fell over and bonked my head into a box.

Mommy says it's one of those days where you just want to go back to bed and try again tomorrow. I am starting to understand.

Uh-oh, Mommy caught me on her desk again, playing with the computer. I bEt I'm in trOUBlE nOw.

ooooops

2010-04-27T20:33:00.001-07:00

yeah, my sugars were so bad last week (due to eating junk all week) that they increased my insulin. by almost 50%. hopefully I don't have any crashes -- my lowest ones over the week were on the border of being too low. I've actually done fairly well with the eating today, making sure I'm eating on my schedules even if I did have a cookie for a snack. lol. At least it was only ONE and I had a glass of milk with it, so there was some nutrition, right?

hoping we get back on track this week ... ultrasound next Tuesday along with starting twice-weekly nonstress tests to make sure Thumper is okay.

In the midst of all my grumbling about having to go to doctors and the hospickle so often, I realize we really do live in a wonderful time where I can get good medical care. Even if I resent it.

Busy busy week

2010-04-26T21:18:00.001-07:00

I'm supposed to be taking it sort of easy (per the perinatologist's recommendations 3 weeks ago). Tell that to the 5th grader who has several choir and school things this week, the two doctor/medial appointments for me, and all the stuff I haven't done yet that needs to be done before the baby comes. *sigh* Hopefully things will slow down some since choir will be over for the year after Wednesday, and the husband has agreed to do the grocery shopping -- just need to make him lists! I wore myself out today so he went to the store to get breaded fish fillets for dinner (what I was craving), which we had with rice and green beans. Nothing fancy at all, but totally hit the cravings.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes! Nothing terribly exciting, just a very restful day. The husband came home from work in the morning and then left to get me a Pepsi for my migraine. He also brought me some beautiful flowers -- surprise! I love it when he brings me flowers. Kiddo watched Little Mister in the a.m. so I could nap, and while I was sleeping, she made cupcakes. Yes, I had a couple. My sugars have been so bad the whole last week. Oy. I tried to get back on target today, but LM wouldn't sleep last night and I didn't get my food packed for being out of the house all day! So ... I'll try again tomorrow.

Then LM took a very long nap, and I slept too. haha. The kids and I did go to the store and bought a new phone because the cracked one got very wet somehow, and then we all went to dinner. We didn't get out early enough to go to Olive Garden, which I've been craving off and on for most of this pregnancy, so we just picked up In-N-Out Burger burgers and fries and came home and had dinner together. (Liked the burgers, not the fries; they were very hot when we got them but got stale as soon as they were cool enough to eat. Will be trying 5 guys next.)

My back was spasming from my earlier trip to Walmart, so I didn't end up working. Bummer. haha. The only position I didn't have pain in was on my side with the top leg bent. It's better now. So the husband went to Walmart and picked up Avatar, which we watched together after the kids went to bed.

LM slept in his own bed all night that night, so that was a wonderful gift. Wish he'd done it again last night, but no. Hoping he does it tonight so I can focus and hopefully get a bunch of work done. Wheeeeeee.

And with that, I'm headed back to work.

Friday Fave Five!

2010-04-23T13:57:00.001-07:00

1. After spending last night in bed with 5-minute-apart contractions for an hour or so that gradually stopped, today, at least, I'm glad I'm still pregnant.

2. Lunch with DisGrace yesterday. I wasn't in the best of moods, but by the end I was feeling better.

3. My birthday is tomorrow! I'll be 34.

4. Kiddo and Little Mister are getting along great. If only she'd quit giving him chocolate milk, we'd be set.

5. Fong's Asian Dining. It's a new restaurant near our house and they do sushi and Chinese food. They're pretty reasonable, too. We had dinner from there last night (because I was contracting so much), and everyone got to eat something they liked. Awesome.

A rant.

2010-04-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

Dear Daughter,

While I appreciate your willingness to watch your brother today while I slept, I would like to remind you (again) of a problem that erupted everywhere shortly upon my waking.

Your brother can tolerate small amounts of cheese, yogurt, and ice cream, but he has NEVER been able to drink milk. Remember that whole 1-1/2 years where I didn't drink milk because it made him sick when he got it through MY milk? Or the formula we had to give him to supplement because it was making him hurl everywhere? Giving him a Carnation Instant Breakfast made with cow's milk to drink is a HUGE problem. He pukes all over me every time you've given him one, and has done so twice in three days after you have given him that when I was not aware.

Perhaps the key for you remembering this would be to have him puke on you, but I can't change his aim. *sigh*

This time, though, you do get to clean up the mess on the carpet. Good luck.

Love,

Your disgusted mommy who now needs a shower desperately

Ooooooo, glamour shots!

2010-04-20T13:21:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Steph's mad skillz...

;)

New Words

2010-04-19T21:25:00.001-07:00

Little Mister has been expanding his vocabulary daily. Fortunately, he hasn't picked up on my saying "dammit" when I drop something or open a door into my ever-expanding belly, which are all three happening with more frequency.

He first learned to make racecar noises while watching Cars, the Disney movie. That was how he asked us to watch that movie. It was so cute! I found some socks with Lightning McQueen (the main character of the movie) on them, and he made the same noise every time we put them on him. I got depressed when he learned how to say "Cars" about a week later. The "vroom" ish noises were just so darn cute! *sniff*

We went outside during a wind storm a week or so ago, and he said, "awesome!" Quite clearly. Not quite sure where he picked it up, but he does say it occasionally and uses it quite appropriately. Including at church yesterday, and the moms in the hall with me just started laughing and asked if that's really what he said. Yep. At least it wasn't "dammit."

Sadly, my lovely daughter loves Jonas, the "band". She has exposed her baby brother to their "music," and one of his new words is "Joe." Which means he really wants to listen to Jonas "sing". Oy. We'll cure him someday, I'm sure.

He watches way too much Disney Channel with his dad and sister while I'm resting in the evenings. He now says Sonny, Charlie, and Ferb, all characters in various shows on said channel.

He's also learned to say chocolate. No idea where THAT came from. ha.

Another word he likes is "popcorn." We sing "Popcorn Popping" a lot because he likes the actions. He finally correlated "popcorn" with that yummy salty, buttery goodness when we saw a movie a couple of weeks ago. He found a box of microwave popcorn in the pantry a few days ago and brought it to me. We haven't had it for quite a while but it was still in date. I made him some, he ate quite a bit of it, and now he keeps saying "popcorn" while opening his hands like you do in the song. If we start singing and that isn't what he wants, he gets mad and keeps saying it over and over. We eventually get the message.

He also learned what the word "blessing" means when we're saying a blessing before dinner -- he mimics us and folds his arms and bows his head and says "MEN!" really loudly after we all do.

Today's new word? Sorry. He threw his plastic wheelbarrow at me and when I said, "Ouch! Dammit!" he said, "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" and hugged my feet and legs where the wheelbarrow had made impact. He kept saying it after he hit his sister with a wooden spoon, and even said it to himself when the spoon rebounded and smacked himself in the forehead.

We haven't tried to teach him any of those words or behaviors; he just picked them up over time. Guess that means I need to learn to quit saying bad words again, because sooner or later he'll start saying the ones that are worse than "Crap!" which he did copy me and say one day, but hasn't since.

Ooooo, a poem!

2010-04-17T20:13:00.000-07:00

Small Fry sent me this poem. With this little note. "the poem is about never giving up and reaching your goals. i wrote it myself show it off for me heh heh heh >:D"

Man was strong and brave,
but the dangers ahead were grave.
The mountain was steep,
and death was just a leap.
But onward he went,
over every lump, slope, and dent.
He must use all his will and might,
to go forth, to fight.
Threw rain, sleet and snow,
up was the only way to go.
The cold he had to endure,
but near the top he was sure.
He was tired and his arms were weak,
but near the he could almost reach the peak.
Upon the top he rested done,
he smiled happily for he had won.
He gazed in awe at his veiw,
for what looked like the sky had split in two.
The beutiful moon and shining stars filling the empty night,
with the peachy sun and cotten clouds glowing light.
This feeling of inner peace he could not resist,
Cause just for a moment time had cease to exist.

I'll have to email it to her dad and have him go read it. I like the concept. She did well, even with a few typos.

Friday Fave Five!

2010-04-16T20:36:00.000-07:00

1. Long story short, Small Fry has been feeling ignored by her dad (the husband) and rightfully so. She refused to answer the phone when we called on Easter and has ignored my last couple of emails, so we hadn't heard from her in almost 2 months. Her mom emailed me and created some drama, but the husband handled it really, really well for the first time EVER, and wrote Small Fry a letter this week. Kiddo drew her a cute picture and wrote a little note, and I wrote one too. Mailed it off a few days ago with some insurance stuff her mom requested. Small Fry emailed me today, out of the blue, just random stuff about life and didn't mention any of the drama. Woooo.

2. With the insulin, I can have small amounts of dark chocolate if I eat it at certain times. I'm much happier. haha.

3. I scored 15 boxes of Quaker cereals at Smith's this week for 6 bucks. Life, Cap'n Crunch (for the husband and kiddo), and low sugar instant oatmeal. Mmmmmm, I think I might try some oatmeal for breakfast soon!

4. The husband's check today was actually almost normal. Next week's should be too. When his take home pay dropped by half, we had enough to cover bills and food, but have none put aside for when we have to move to a rental. We're hoping he's able to get some more hours between now and August so we can do so, and that I'll be able to kick it in gear at work and make a bit more money, too, since he should be starting school then.

5. I finished some diapers for sale and shipped those off, too. And the gal who bought them referred me to a friend of hers for a bunch for her son, who has cystic fibrosis and will need dipes until he's about 5 and can have a surgery to help out with bowel and bladder control. Between the two orders, the cost of most of my supplies I bought for Thumper's diapers will almost be taken care of. It was already paid for, but it'll be nice to have a little of that money back! And if they like them, hey, I might get more orders. ;) Here's some pictures.

Outside.
Inside.
The stack!
A bonus newborn diaper for the one she's about to have -- she has no idea I made this one to match one of the ones for her toddler!

glamour shots blog carnival

2010-04-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

I'm not really participating in Kristina P.'s blog carnival where everyone shows their glamour shots from way back.

See, I never did glamour shots per se, but my sunday school teacher was a photographer and had stylists in his studio, so he took us all over there when we were 13 or 14. I took one of the proofs to school to show a friend, and some guy saw it and said, "WHOA! who's the babe???" "Um ... me." He refused to believe me.

Wish I had a copy I could share. *sigh*

More Horror-mones!

2010-04-14T11:07:00.001-07:00

I was having a nap with Little Mister, and when he woke up, he got up and ran out of our room to find daddy. I hadn't moved yet, but was getting up. I heard Daddy ask him, "Is mommy trying to steal some more sleep?" Meaning he was ready to go to bed and wanted me out of the room.

My Inner Snark came out of hiding again and said, "Next time you're pregnant, I'll let you sleep as much as you want."

The Joys of Horror-mones

2010-04-13T23:43:00.000-07:00

So, I've been having a lot of bad pregnancy symptoms of late. Like, really bad lower back pain, headaches, sciatica, heartburn, etc. The husband, for whatever reason, gets them all with me. Which is sort of good because he knows what I'm going through, but it's really NOT good because he whines more than I do.

Ahem.

Today he said something about how sharing pain isn't nice.

My response?

"Well, at least I know if you ever break my heart, yours will be hurting worse afterward."

He didn't think that was funny.

Friday Fave Five!!

2010-04-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

1. The kids and I went to Thanksgiving Point yesterday with DisGrace and her kids and our niece ... who is home (temporarily) from her mission. (long story short: she has been sick since she got into the MTC and developed such bad ear infections, it's caused hearing loss.) We ran into a former neighbor from when I was growing up; her sister was my best friend. Fun to see her and her kids and some other relatives. Little Mister was so excited to see all the animals, and the cousins took turns taking him various places. I got a nice break, and a little too much sun!

2. I found a refurbished washer from an appliance repair shop. The husband and his brother are going to pick it up today. Here's hoping it works well, but it does come with a warranty.

3. The insulin has brought my blood sugars under control ... I even had a bite of dessert with dinner last night and everything was fine. Wooooo! Still hoping I'll be fine after the baby comes. We'll see.

4. I just love my family. Kids are so great. Thumper is really wiggly and was sticking her butt straight out last night. At least I'm pretty sure it was her butt. It prevented me from leaning over at all, but it was cute. Little Mister is just a happy kid. Adore him. Kiddo is learning that giving me attitude isn't good and she's been much more helpful and pleasant this week, and we've all gotten along better. Here's hoping it continues when she goes back to school next week. The husband has mellowed a lot while off work as well. And I haven't missed work once, though I am looking forward to all of us getting back to our routines next week.

5. Crock pots. Threw a roast in the crock pot before we went to Turkey Point yesterday and we got to have dinner on time. It's been a hectic week in some ways, so it was good to have a nice dinner last night. We're supposed to go to the aquarium today, so I have to figure out what we'll be doing. Have a turkey thawed and ready to go, but I can't leave it while I'm gone, and the husband will probably be sleeping at some point ... so ... yeah. Maybe it's for tomorrow.

I'd better get some breakfast. Hope you all have a fantabulous weekend!

Medical and other stuff

2010-04-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

Sooooooo ... we had planned to go see that dragon movie (I can't get the name straight) today. Before we left, our washer died. Kaput. We decided to see the movie anyway and deal with the washer tomorrow because we don't get to do stuff like this very often. We got there and the show time was sold out, but the 3D one an hour later still had tickets. Bought the tickets, went to target for baby wipes and diapers (if I have no washer, we can't use cloth!), and went back to the theater. We all liked it, but it gave Kiddo a migraine. great.

Got home, grabbed my paperwork, and went to the hospickle for my followup.

Met with the perinatologist and diabetes educator. It was a different RN than last time and I really liked her. She listened to my concerns and explanations about my sugars, and asked for more input, and I asked her if I could only see her in the future, explaining I didn't love the other one and felt she didn't want to listen to me. She looked really surprised by that, but said she understood. The only problem is this one usually only works on Monday and Friday, and the perinatologist is only in on Tuesday, so the diabetes folks go to the maternal fetal medicine wing of the hospickle on Tuesdays and meet with patients there instead of the clinic -- so they will only schedule pregnant women on Tuesday. Rather than cart the toddler in to 2 different appointments every week, I guess I'll deal. She'll be there in 2 weeks, but next week I have to see the other one again.

The perinatologist wants me to have another echo for MY heart function to make sure everything is okay, and seemed really surprised that my OB didn't have me follow with them last time. She's really wanting to play it "safe" medically, which is fine, since she was okay with me not taking oral medications ... though I'm still hoping baby girl gets to pick her own birthday! Their estimate of her weight is 3 pounds 6 ounces, which we all know could be completely wrong. haha.

At any rate, we've all decided insulin is necessary at this point, and I'm really fine with that. It's just once a day, and I gave myself my first dose right at the end of my 2-1/2 hour appointment (GRAH!) today. It didn't hurt at all, compared to jabbing my finger 7 times a day. Which I still have to do at least for this coming week to make sure the insulin is helping when I'm more resistant, which doesn't seem to be when people typically are. Most people are in the morning until lunch, I tend to be more through the evening and first thing in the morning.

So that's that. Yay.

Happy Easter!!

2010-04-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

Little Mister opened his Easter basket the day I bought it (as I mentioned the other day). He's been playing with the balls constantly ever since. The husband ate the candy in it, so I stuck a couple of Reese's eggs in it with a few jelly beans and whopper eggs. He was freaking out this morning, so the husband bribed him with the peanut butter egg. He gobbled up both of them and went back to find more. lol. He doesn't love the other candy, which is fine with me.

Kiddo's basket had a rented Princess and the Frog in it (they're watching it now) with a couple of little toys and a hand sewing kit she requested, plus some of the same candy we put in LM's basket. She squealed. It was cute.

I had some contractions last night, so I didn't get our traditional Easter morning breakfast started ... made her do it when she got up this morning, and she was all too happy to do so. I can't even eat the sweet rolls, so it worked out. I wasn't tempted to eat the marshmallows. haha.

I did make some bacon and eggs, and made open-faced egg mcmuffins with garlic butter. *drool* they turned out well. While I was cooking, I asked Kiddo to tell us the real story of Easter, and she did a really good job with it.

I'd better go rest some more. A few more contractions. It's been a stressful weekend so far ... hoping the rest of spring break and hubby's vacation mellow out a bit.

Hope you all have a fabulous Easter Sunday!

Friday Fave Five!!!

2010-04-02T12:33:00.000-07:00

1. The husband got to see the baby move the other day. We were talking and I pointed at my belly, saying she was pushing there. He looked at it and saw her next few kicks. She hasn't let him (or anyone else for that matter) feel her move yet, so that was pretty exciting. :)

2. A boy in Kiddo's class asked her to "go out" last week. Her answer? "I'll have to check my schedule." Then she came home and told me I'm her schedule. haha.

3. Little Mister went to the store with me Wednesday and picked out his Easter basket. It had a full sized basketball and a full sized soccer ball, and almost no candy. He didn't even notice the candy. We did open the basket that day and got the balls out. He's been having a blast with them ever since. (yes, I know, Easter isn't until Sunday. He doesn't care. haha.)

4. JapanBoy and his family made it safely to my parents' house. I'm terribly upset we won't be seeing them for a while yet, but at least they're in the same country now!

5. Naps, food, and showers all help me be in a better mood. If I can't have chocolate, I'll take what I can get.

Medical update: After my wretched appointment Tuesday, I cut my carbs a lot Wednesday. Not such a great idea; even though my numbers were all normal, I was spilling ketones yesterday morning (bad for me AND baby). Yesterday, I decided to take my 7 meals/snacks and spread my carbs out to 8 equal meals and snacks (equal in number of carbs, not food), and only had 2 slightly high numbers. My ketones were just fine this morning. sweeeeeeeeet.

It occurred to me

2010-04-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

That if this baby follows in her brother's footsteps, she'll be here in 8 weeks. *freaking out*

I was napping with Little Mister in the recliner today and had this dream that she was trying to get out of my belly through the side. We could see her face all smashed up and I could tell she was crying. Horrendous dream.

Woke up, and she was SHOVING in that same spot.

Little Mister wasn't squishing her though; he was on the other side.

She's been shoving there all day. Don't know what her deal is, but it's making me nervous.

oh NOES!!

2010-03-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

I just realized the most horrible thing ...

I can't steal all the kids' Easter candy this year.

I also won't be able to indulge in our traditional Easter morning brekkie. (tomb rolls = hollow sweet rolls).

*sob*

I have a fantasy

2010-03-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

That some day, I'll be able to sleep as long as I want/need without anyone waking me up for any reason.

No boogers to clean. No food to make. No butts to wipe. No messes to tackle. No required hugs or snuggles or anything. No toddler kicking me in his sleep. Nobody waking me up to show me the cool rock they found at the park. No bouncy balls smacking me in the face or chest while I rest. No preteen emotion storms of angst or slamming cupboard doors while she does her chores. No alarm clock telling me it's time to get up to get Kiddo to school or myself to work. No baby punching my bladder while I'm sleeping, to the point I'm wake up about to wet my pants.

Just sleep. Blessed, peaceful, deep sleep.

I fantasized about this for about an hour this morning. Then I realized something.

That day that will surely come as my children grow up, but I will miss those things! Maybe not the boogers or messy pants, but I'll miss Little Mister coming to lift my eyelids to check if I'm really asleep or just pretending. I'll miss his warm little body curled up next to mine. The total trust in his face as he pats me on the cheek or runs up for a hug and a kiss. The words he says that mean, "I love you," but sound nothing like it, but when I say, "I love you too," he gets a huge grin and nods as if I understood him perfectly.

I know there will come a time when we're done having babies that I'll still miss feeling them move inside me. I'll miss that sweet newborn smell and the special nursing time you only get when they're little.

There will probably even be a day when I miss the prepubertal whine fests, as Kiddo becomes a full-fledged teen and I won't be able to do anything right. And even if she's not that bad as a teenager, she'll still grow up and move away, and I'll miss her coming in to tell me every single thing about her day, or waking me up to ask me to pray with her because she had another nightmare.

So for now, I'm trying to fix my attitude and enjoy the moment we're in instead of wishing myself out of it. After all, they don't stay little very long, and if you don't enjoy it while you're in it, you are missing out on something amazing.

Friday Fave Five!!

2010-03-26T21:12:00.001-07:00

1. Lunch with girlfriends. The bloggy lunch last weekend was way fun. My college girlfriends and I went to lunch Wednesday, also way fun, though in a different way. One of them is moving out of state very soon, and that sucks. I'm going to miss her, though I don't see her often. Plus, the food was way better than at Golden Corral. Just sayin'.

2. My blood sugars are almost all at their targets now, though I think I just pushed my luck with my "snack" of french vanilla hot chocolate. i was cold, it was in my carb limits ... lol. we'll see what my sugars look like before bed!

3. Steph suggested I get a water bottle with a straw because it's easier to suck down water (or soda) with a straw -- you get more. Since I bought it, I've been drinking almost 3 quarts (96 ounces) a day. Yes, I'm peeing constantly, but between that and my blood sugars, I'm feeling SO much better.

4. I never got to experience the joy of this with Kiddo at such a young age, but Little Mister actually ate some of everything on his plate tonight. I've been offering him a bit of everything at every meal, but he just eats what he likes and ignores the rest. Or throws it at me. Every time we tried to get Kiddo to try something new when she was little, she'd projectile vomit. Not worth it. ANYWAY. I made salmon and rice and green beans and sliced some strawberries for dinner tonight. He ate all his salmon and rice, and took two bites of each of the green beans and strawberries *voluntarily*, not even snuck into something (which I have done with the green beans before). He's getting more adventurous with food, which is good since I thought I killed his appetite for new things when I was only eating cold cereal for weeks and, thus, so was he. haha. (Kiddo did NOT eat all of her salmon, though did eat her strawberries and green beans. lol)

5. Kiddo got new glasses this week. They are very cute and, even better, she can see the crap on the floor when I tell her to pick up! HAHAHAHA! I'll have to take pics this weekend.

The Joys of Walmart Bathrooms

2010-03-25T20:32:00.000-07:00

First a confession: I HATE public bathrooms. *especially* when I have a toddler in tow. Some bathrooms are worse than others obviously, and some I really don't mind going in. Like the restroom at Gloria's Little Italy -- clean, well supplied, decent design ... But I was able to leave my toddler with my girlfriends with whom I was lunching today rather than take him in a public bathroom. Again.

Toddlers do not keep their hands to themselves. They want to touch everything. They WILL touch everything. They don't understand "germs" or "gross" or "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA". Babies are easier; they are confined. Preschoolers do typically obey when you say "yucky" or something along those lines.

But my little boy has a newfound love of flushing the potty every.single.time. I pee. Which is a lot right now as I'm 27 weeks pregnant. He was working on potty learning, but realized it's much easier to use the diaper and then just flush after mom. *sigh*

I had to go to Walmart the other day and realized on my way in that I had to go. NOW. Thumper kept whacking my bladder. I plopped Little Mister in a cart and buckled him and headed for the "family" restroom in the back of the store since the cart would fit in the bathroom with me and I could keep my eye on him while maintaining some semblance of privacy.

It was gross. Not THE grossest bathroom I've ever been in, but it was pretty disgusting. And poorly designed. The toilet was really close to the wall, and the paper holder was just in front of it. Nowhere for my left knee to go. It was too close and yet not close enough to reach the toilet paper easily, especially given my currently expanding stomach. I finished my business, but every time I leaned forward to get toilet paper, the toilet flushed. Normally not a problem, but it was that cheap, thin crap stores use, and it was only coming out a few squares at a time, and Thumper was protesting every time I leaned forward, so I'd have to lean back to breathe, then go back for more.

When the toilet flushed, it was almost like the poor dude's version of a bidet. Not something I wanted to experience in Walmart, thank you very much.

D.I.S.G.U.S.T.I.N.G.

I came home and showered. And will never use that bathroom again. Even if I wet myself.

quickie update

2010-03-23T20:19:00.000-07:00

I met with the dietitian today and got my monitor and diet instructions. I have to test 7 times a day, but I'm eating 7 times a day, too. hahaha. All afternoon and early evening, following their carb and other food recommendations, my sugars were right on target. Until I had a little chocolate as part of my snack earlier tonight. Even though I had some protein with it and it was within my allotted carb count, I started getting a headache again almost immediately. The next reading was *barely* in the range they want, so I think chocolate is out except rarely. Booooo!!!

I go back next week to meet with them again and give them a copy of my test log. From there, they'll decide on insulin therapy if I need it, and whatever other followup. We're hoping I can cut back on the number of times I'm having to monitor every day if I can get it under control with diet and exercise this week.

Little Mister isn't sleeping well tonight, so I'd best get some work done so I can snuggle the boy. Thanks for all the sympathy and well wishes, here, on FB, and privately!

Getting a phone call

2010-03-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

From a doctor's office before 9 a.m. is NEVER a good thing.

I failed.

They said something about having me see a diabetes educator for diet and monitoring. Awesome, I can deal with that.

The diabetes educator called and left a message about INSULIN. I don't want to do insulin, but if it comes down to it and I can't control this with diet, I will. I'm waiting for another call from them -- they didn't answer when I called them back.

I'm going to try for a nap now. Wahoo.