Friday Fun with a Twist!!

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Mommy Brain tagged me like 2 weeks ago for the 7 facts MEME which I have already done here, so I thought that I would give it a little twist. Here are 7 fun facts about each of my family members.

Hub

1. He has been in business for himself as a carpet cleaner for the last 7 years. As a previous “corporate whore” he says there is no way he could ever work for “the man” again.
2. He loves to cook and is really very good at it. His favorite thing to make me is broiled fish, which I love. But he ALWAYS forgets to buy a lemon.
3. He aspires to be handy around the house. His problem—he has no patience. He is getting better though.
4. He was a Theatre Major in college and acted in several productions.
5. He was also the stage manager for the college dance troupe.
6. He always read the paper while we are watching TV and I never tell him that it drives me crazy.
7. He is more family oriented than I ever thought he would be. He’s always the one to suggest fun family activities.

ED
1. He weighed 10lbs 2 oz at birth; his cheeks were so fat they looked like they would fall right off of his face.
2. His favorite way to comfort himself is to twirl my hair around his fingers; he is a mama’s boy through and through
3. Like me, he is extremely over-sensitive and has a tendency to be shy until he knows people—then he will talk your ear off. It is very hard for him to be in awkward situations.
4. He and Hub’s dad are like kindred spirits or something. They are the best of friends. (It’s cute, but also annoying)
5. His first sentence, at 11 months old was “More corn please.”
6. Corn is one of the only veggies I can still get him to eat. He used to eat EVERYTHING. He is finally getting better though, especially if I let him help me cook.
7. He refuses to answer to his full first name (E.dmu.nd) or to write it out when his teacher tells him to at school. He’ll say, “No, there’s another D and an I and an E.”

CA

1. She was covered in hair from head to toe at birth. I felt funny putting her in sundresses because of her hairy shoulders.
2. She is the best eating 2-year-old I know, asking for things like salad and fruit. When we go to a restaurant, she orders broccoli. The one thing she hates: tomatoes.
3. On her first birthday, she only had 2 teeth. She popped the rest of them last summer just before she turned two. I could tell when she was getting molars because she would run a high fever and throw up every time.
4. Like her father, she is very outgoing and talkative. For a two-year-old she has an amazing vocabulary. She really talks constantly.
5. Still like her father, (and not at all like me) she is a determined go-getter. She potty-trained herself in one day just after she turned 2, both day and night time. It was her decision, not ours. She has always been that way, doing what she wants when she wants to and doing whatever she can to get her own way.
6. When she is not talking, she is singing. She especially loves to sing in the car and will serenade us for hours on end. She totally gets this from me.
7. She also loves dancing and gymnastics. Her favorite dance: The chicken dance. Her favorite part of gymnastics: jumping on the trampoline and somersaults down the ramp.

Simple Things

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• Sometimes the best part of my day is coming home and taking off my bra.
• I love knowing that if I forget to put on deodorant (it happens more often than you think)my friend Bev keeps an industrial sized spray can in her filing cabinet
• Oooey Goooey brownies purchased by my husband waiting at home for me
• I got a google hit yesterday for “Sexless Marriage” AWESOME
• Reading blogs and comments and so often thinking “ME TOO!!!”
• Looking forward to a steak and onion sub for lunch
• My kitchen is being gutted today, which in itself sucks, but means we are really doing this!!

More Random Crap

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CA has green goop leaking from her nose and right eye. It is not at all charming. She was up several times during the night and ended up in our bed after Hub left for work at 5AM. I’m waiting for a “post-naptime come and get your sick child what were you thinking sending her today” type of call from daycare.

ED will tell anyone of his love of “brown” and “pink” pop tarts. Sadly, Hub bought the wrong pink ones, strawberry instead of cherry. The frosting on the strawberry is white, making them “not pink”. I argued with ED about it being the same thing, and my last words before getting in the shower this morning were “It better be gone when I get out.” It was, and I asked him about it. Was it good, etc. I noticed there was no pop-tart mess on his face and questioned him further. He insisted it was “all gone”. I asked him to why there were no pop tarts in his teeth and was told “Because it’s all gone in the garbage can, not in my belly.” What kind of 4-year-old can play the semantics game? Mine can!!

We are grilling tonight, and I am excited. The weather has been great the last few days, and though it is dreary today, it is still warm. I’m going to be bitter when it sleets and rains this weekend.

Backtracking a bit, Hub took the kids to the children’s museum yesterday and spent a good 5 hours there. He called me several times with updates. My favorite one “This place is a haven for SAHM’s! I wonder if I could join the Mommy club!”

We’ve been having quite a bit of dialogue about what to do with the kids while I am on Maternity Leave. I think it’s important for them to continue with daycare—it won’t be any fun being cooped up in the house with baby and me all summer. When pre-school changes to summer camp in late June, we have the opportunity to modify their schedule until September without losing their MWF slot for the fall. The problem is that they would change over to 2 days per week BEFORE my leave (I plan on working thru 7/15) and they would change back to 3 days per week probably a full month before I am back at work. This whole business of not being able to hold our slots for us is a bit ridiculous. I get that they are in the business of making money, but seriously, come on.

We haven’t told them yet that we don’t plan on enrolling The Bean until she is a year old; when ED is safely in kindergarten. They are starting to look at me funny as I waddle through the halls with no mention of my pregnancy. Whatev.

Have I mentioned that we are considering traveling to Atlanta at the end of May? When I will be starting my 8th month of pregnancy? Oh yeah!! I wonder if it will be worse than VA was in June when I was pregnant with CA.

And finally, I found out late last night that the gutting of my kitchen is happening tomorrow. I am not at all prepared. Nothing like a little bit of notice!!

Oh, and a last minute FINALLY!! Hub just brought a Ford Edge by to see if we really could fit all 3 car seats in the back. WE CAN!!! It’s an 07 so I think we can get a pretty good deal. YAY! YAY! YAY! Next to the El Camino this is my dream car!!

In Dreams

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My dreams have been dark lately.

I should preface this by saying that about a month ago our 2 snails, the ones who were screwing all the time, died. They left their baby behind and we bought a new snail to keep him company since ED cried that the baby didn’t have any parents anymore!! Hub cleaned our tank over the weekend, and tragically, the baby snail died a few days later. He is lying crumpled and soft at the bottom of our fish tank.

This, while I was unaware, is apparently weighing heavily on me.

I dreamed of the baby last night, floating around in my womb, and then suddenly, I was looking at her from the outside of my belly, as if it were made of clear glass. And out of nowhere, she was curled in to a ball, and laying at the bottom of my belly. Lifeless.

I woke at 4AM in a panic. I could not remember waking and feeling her move during the night as I do on most other nights. She was not moving then either. I got up and went to the bathroom. Sat on the couch for a few minutes. Still, nothing. I contemplated eating or drinking some juice to make her move, but thought better of it since I’d have to reschedule my Synthroid for the day.

I told myself she was fine. It was just a dream. But I couldn’t shake the dread.

Finally, she wiggled a bit; I’m sure she was sleeping. I slept fitfully for another hour or so before getting up for work.

She has been kicking me hard today, right in the ribs. And I don’t think I have ever felt more relieved or gladder to be uncomfortable and mildly miserable.

Be safe Baby. Be healthy and strong.

Sweet Dreams.

Sarcasm and Self Pity Must Make for a Good Post

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I’m tired and crabby. I even went for a walk on my lunch break ( I KNOW, RIGHT???) to alleviate the crabby, and it did not help. I did feel great while I was doing it though; I’m just right back where I started from.

I think there is a honeymoon phase in pregnancy—you are done being sick and you feel pretty good. I am so done with that phase, if it ever existed. I’m sore, and hot and moderately miserable thanks to the 24-hour heartburn that seems to exist even with the 2 pepcid I take per day. I asked Hub to turn on the AC around 3AM, and he very politely suggested that I crack a window. It was 40 degrees outside. I was roasting though—I sure can’t wait for the summer!! What’s really great is the way my hips give out at odd intervals. This has happened during both of my previous pregnancies as well. Why don’t I think of these things before I go and get knocked up.

Someone just told me not to have a fourth baby. Why? Because her sister had a 4th and has regretted it every day since. Nice. Thank you so much for sharing; I do appreciate your opinion.

And please stop telling me “Oh, there will be more kids than adults! HA HA HA!” Fools. We have a 3rd adult in our house for one thing (well. I guess I’d count FIL as .5 adult—but whatev), and for another, just STFU. Seriously.

And can you believe my eye doctor wants to reschedule since I’m pregnant. My eyes are SCREWY right now. But apparently, it could be pregnancy related.

Speaking of pregnancy related, I think I have carpal tunnel. I think that is what caused my wrist to give out and dump a whole pot of boiling water on my other hand. Yet I type away.

And also–I wnet through all of our baby clothes this weekend. Up until then it completely escaped me that I gave all of our newborn baby girl clothes away. PHRICK!

And finally, it seems I am hit in the face with all of the things can go wrong in pregnancy on a daily basis, via the internet. I happened to google the name we are considering, 1st and middle, and the very first thing that came up was a baby who was stillborn, and her entire story, complete with photos of her posed with family members. It was so incredibly tragic and I cried for this poor family, but it also creeped me the hell out. I totally respect the family’s right, and they did what they needed to do to get through it, but I wish I never saw it.

And since we’re jumping around here in a ridiculous fashion, do you know how much it’s going to cost us to do our upstairs? Do you also know how hard it will be for us to get a loan, since for construction people only want to lend you a portion of what they think your property will be worth after it’s complete? It’s starting to look like we’ll be hiring someone to do the framing, and will probably do the rest ourselves. How fun does that sound?? With preschoolers and a newborn! I can’t wait!!

And finally, Hub’s trip to California in the fall has been extended to be about 5 days long. The bride wants him out there by the Thursday before the wedding. The wedding is on Sunday people. We are talking 5 days of me home alone with 3 kids. My mother has offered to come and help me. I’m not sure which prospect is worse?

I need some ice cream.

Friday Confessional

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Ok, I’ll admit it—I am not a perfect mother. You’re shocked, right? Truthfully, nobody is perfect but I do pride myself on being pretty darn patient with my kids. And trust me, when my 4-year-old has made 100 inane statements in a row, ending each one with “Riiiiight???” and expects a response each time, it gets tough to be patient. It is tougher still, when my 2.5 year old acts as if she can not go on another minute without her blankie—which she normally carries around and sucks on and integrates in to all of her play but that we have recently tried retiring to the bedroom during non-sleeping hours, and throws herself on the floor, weeping and carrying on like we killed her puppy. Still, I maintain.

I feel like I can handle most anything that comes up during the day. As evening falls though, it becomes harder and harder. My breaking point is always bedtime. I have no patience at all for the bedtime routine. I often find myself half-wishing that they’ll forget that they need to pee and brush their teeth, because I just don’t think that I can handle going through it for one more night. Invariably we do it though, and I stand in the bathroom with a forced smile on my face, willing myself to just.deal.with.it.already.

ED: I want the Spiderman Toothpaste
CA:I want ED’s toothpaste! NO, I want yours!! Wait I want MINES!
ED: (after 10 seconds of brushing) DONE! Didn’t I do a great job??
CA: (after 3 seconds of brushing) DONE!! DONE!! DONE!!

I bark at them “Nobody is done!! Brush your teeth the right way!!!”

They are finally finished and are now fighting over the cup of water.

“ED give the cup to your sister and go give kisses to Daddy and Grandpa. DO NOT DUMP THE WATER!! DO NOT DUMP THE WATER!! ED!! (dumps the water) GO GIVE KISSES!!!!!”

Ca insists on rubbing her toothbrush on the underside of the faucet as she is rinsing it off.

“Could you not do that???”

She sucks the water, and anything that was lingering on the faucet, out of the brush. She hands it to me and fills the water cup herself. I’m starting to feel like this was planned all along. Of course, she makes a mess all over the sink.

“JUST GO TELL DADDY AND GRANDPA GOODNIGHT!!”

We are finally in their room, and they are playing musical beds.

“Everyone in the right bed, right now. RIGHT NOW!!”

They scramble and kiss me good night. Choruses of “I neeeeed to be covered” are heard for the next 5 minutes.

I give in and cover them.

It happens again.

I cover them again and say “The next time I hear a sound, I am shutting this door and taking the light! I MEAN IT!!”

This usually works; the prospect of a dark room and a closed door (I mean, how horrible is that??)—ED may wander out to ask me a question after CA is asleep, but usually, it does work.

I don’t know why I get like this. Maybe it’s because I’ve had a long day and time for myself is…right…there—I can see it, I can taste it, but I just can’t get there. Or maybe it’s all the stress of the day building up in to these last few minutes that I have with the kids. Like the balance of the universe rests on them being asleep on time.

It doesn’t.

I always make sure the last thing I say to them is “I love you”.

But I sure do hate it that the end of our time together every night, is marred by my harshness—I mean, God, they’re just being kids. Still, I behave like a lunatic.

This my friends, is my confession. I am not perfect. But I can keep trying.

Thursday Three

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1.

Hell Yes. I would forgo my previously required 30th birthday bash in favor of front row tickets to their reunion tour. And might I say Donnie, you have NEVER looked better. Tivo is set for The Today Show tomorrow morning. And if my BFF wasn’t 8 months preggo, we would be on our way to NYC right now.
2. I scalded my hand this morning making tea for Hub. I actually cried; it hurt so badly. I have iced it all day and it still kills and is very swollen. Any suggestions on pregnancy ok pain relief? I’m typing this with one hand which is so not cool.
3. Um, Oreo Shakes from BK? YUMMY!

Coping Mechanisms

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Some of you commented after my L OV E post that I seemed to be in a really good place, especially considering that I am nearing the 6-month mark. That was more of a diversion tactic, because seriously, folks, I am miserable. I have never had such horrific back and hip pain, my wrists are killing me, the prescription on my glasses is just off enough to be bothersome, and I can’t sleep for more than 2 hours at a time. We ran in to 3 children with the name of our choice at various activities over the weekend. Seriously, my friends, miserable.

Work is stupid too. Everyone here behaves like a child. It amazes me that while at work; people put their personal agenda ahead of that of the business. What the hell are we paying these people for?

Here is what is helping me cope:

• White toast with butter and honey in mass quantities.
• Decaf Honey Lattes from Starbucks
• Lunchtime “browsing” trips to Target
• Honey Crullers from Tim Horton’s
• Jon and Kate Plus 8
• Taking CA to gymnastics (gymnasKICKS! As she calls it) and watching her do the entire class
• Apple Pie A la Coldstone (this was a one time thing, but sooooo delicious)

My coping tactics are probably leading me to gestational diabetes.

The installers are giving us a hard time, as in not calling us back, about the kitchen. Hub needs to do his schedule. I need to schedule a few days off to help with clearing the kitchen out, and they won’t give us an install date. Hub cursed {insert home improvement chain here} out for about 30 minutes last night and they promised him a call from the installer this morning. We still haven’t heard. The cupboards are taking up more than half of our garage, so they need to get on it already!

I have decided to take the week of Memorial Day off of work as well. I have a comp day saved, so with the paid holiday, I only have to use 3 vacation days. I’m angling to have 10 weeks off after The Bean is born and still have my time off at Thanksgiving and Christmas. So far I am doing ok. 8 weeks until vacation and then 6 more weeks that I plan on working before going out on short term DB. When you break it down like that, it doesn’t sound bad at all, does it? 14 more weeks of work; I think I can do that!

My (Apparent) Sexless Marriage

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**Disclaimer to say that this is about my sex life. Reading further is up to you. **

Last weekend, I had a surge of energy for “activity”. Hub questioned me a bit, and I mentioned that I had heard this can happen in pregnancy, but that I’d never experienced it before. It was an eventful Easter weekend, in that respect, to say the least. And Hub was a happy, happy man.

It would stand to reason that Hub would wonder if this weekend would be the same; I can’t blame him. But it wasn’t. There were relations on Friday night, nothing spectacular, but not boring either. We were busy all day on Saturday, driving well south to experience “Maple Weekend” (and CA falling face first in to a mud puddle along with our van getting stuck in the muddy muddy parking lot ) as well as seeing a high school musical that our friend directed. By the time we got home, it was close to 11, I was exhausted and sore from being in the car so long, and it was all that I could do to stay awake long enough to get the kids in bed. Hub was disappointed; he thought something would happen. I apologized for being so tired, and politely said there was no way.

“But I drove both ways without even complaining!” he whined, as if that should buy him something. And I told him how much I appreciated it, and went to bed.

He made no secret of the fact that he had expectations yesterday either, questioning when the kids would be napping and so on. I wasn’t sure, since we had a lot to do, but assumed after we had gone shopping. Hub took CA and got the groceries, leaving me home to organize the entire pantry and work on laundry while ED watched the Kid’s Choice Awards. Not easy work for someone who IS NOT pushing 6-months-pregnant if you ask me……anyway, he came home and the kids went in for a late nap. CA fell right to sleep, but ED was not sleeping. Hub gave me the eyebrows. I told him I wasn’t keen on being buried under the covers wondering if ED was going to barge in. What Hub heard was “as soon as he is asleep, GAME ON!!!” We had a small lunch and I did some more work. ED was still awake, and Hub finally told him to lie quietly for 10 minutes and not to move. This apparently was our opportunity, and I declined, causing Hub to sulk around until dinner.

“But I’ve been so nice…I didn’t even complain when you went to bed last night……and I did drive all day yesterday……”

SERIOUSLY??

We have 2 kids and one on the way for god’s sake. It’s not like we are newlyweds.

I guess my question is how can I win in this situation? Apparently, last weekend, I made all of his dreams come true. And it wasn’t enough. Why couldn’t he just enjoy it for what it was instead of thinking that this was the pace of business for the rest of our lives? Apparently, I should have squelched my desire last week because all it did was backfire on me this week—all I did was make him want more. In my mind, it seemed like there should have been some sort of reprieve this week—honestly we did it more last weekend than we would typically do in 2 weeks.

I’m reasonably sure that we will never see eye to eye on this subject; though he did apologize last night and tell me that because of the events of last weekend, he was probably overly-excited—(he normally will ask for it a gazillion times, but be ok with, or even expecting to hear “NO!!”—he’s typically not a sulker). Ok then.

It doesn’t happen often, but I hate being made to feel like sex is a chore, or an obligation, or my duty as a wife.

I’m usually happy to oblige darling, but my duty right now is to grow your child. You’re going to have to deal with it.

L O V E

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I love this point in pregnancy, when the baby is moving so much, and she still has a lot of room to work with. I feel every tiny kick and punch and watch my belly move like it is a circus. I can place my hand on my belly and feel her kick inside and out.

I love this point in pregnancy, when I feel like the baby has a personality. We are using her name daily, integrating her in to our lives before she is here. We are slowly preparing for her debut, and it is more exciting by the day.

I love that it is no less exciting the third time around than it was the first time around.

I love that when I get home from work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, CA is waiting at the top of the stairs to greet me with one of her signature hugs. She tells me without fail “Mama, it’s so nice to have you back home!!”

I love that she gives me the same hug at bedtime and after hearing it from me over and over, says “I give the best hugs!”.

I love that ED can put things in to perspective. If today is Friday, it is pizza night—and that means tomorrow is Saturday and there is no school.

I love that he has legitimate interests and can spend hours in his own world zooming trucks back and forth, sorting and organizing his little cars, or just conversing like an adult with his Grandfather.

I love that my kids are old enough to entertain each other while I laze on the couch after work as the week comes to an end.

I love that they, like me, are bored with going for a walk when we get to the corner, and are content to turn around and go home.

I love that my husband isn’t giving me a hard time about not keeping up on the housework during the week.

I love that he doesn’t mind my granny panties.

I love that he brings home little surprises for the kids after being out all night working.

I love that it upsets him that he is not home for a lot of dinners and bedtimes, and makes up for it by making the time that he is home count.

I love that we have decided to stay in our house and work on it piece by piece instead of packing up and starting from scratch.

I love that our cabinets are here, and our kitchen is really going to be done soon; and that we got an amazing deal on our countertop and sink.

I love that despite a snowstorm last night, we are starting to see signs of spring and warmth.

I love that it isn’t dark when I’m driving home from work anymore.

I love that the ducks have returned to our business park and waddle around in their male/female pairs and will soon be leading their ducklings around.

I love that Starbucks has introduced a delicious Honey Late right in the middle of my honey-craving phase.

I love that I have money to blow on Starbucks.

I love that I have the time in my workday to blog and comment to my heart’s content.

I love that I will have at least 10 weeks of paid time off this summer.

I love that I have the ability to take paid time off before the baby is here.

I love that I am ok with having nothing good to end this with.