Friday, December 28, 2007

A Few Random Bits

In addition to wiping to kiddie asses, I'm wiping my cat's ass because he's too fat to clean it himself. He sucks. But if I don't do it, he leaves skid marks, like, on my pillow.

As much as I love shopping in bulk, sometimes I really screw myself. Case in point the bulk pack of unscented deoderant I just bought. What the hell was I thinking? What did I tink would happen if I sweat through the deoderant? That it majically wouldn't smell like anything? No. It smells like something all right. Do I suck it up and stink? (um, no) But it totally defeats my savings now that I have to re-buy it.

Speaking of bulk shopping, my pantry is stocked as if we were preparing for famine. I have no less than 60 cans of vegetables down there and many many other things. I should take a photo for you. You'd never believe it.

I don't think that I ever even brushed my hair yesterday. CA and I laid on the couch until noon while ED screwed around with his toys. I took a nice nap while they napped and then read morethan half of "The Choice". It.Was.Glorious.

I'm leaving in a few for lunch with my mother. She doesn't drive, so I have to go pick her up, 45 minutes away. Annoying. But it's free lunch. Except for we are going for chinese and I'm not sure how my belly feels about it. I'm not such a big fan of meat these days, chicken most of all. I hope I can hide it from her.

The only sweet I can stomach is a banana nut muffin from Tim Horton's. It almost tastes like thre is artificial banana flavoring in it, but man it is delicious. If I don't eat breakfast at home, that is what I get. With no coffee of course.

Because as GREAT as coffee would be right now, the first sip just turns my stomach. Which sucks because I have had a killer headache for the last few days that tylenol is not touching.

After lunch, I will drop my mother off and go to Targetbecause I have $80 in gift cards. I'm planning on spending all of it on sweats. All of mine are stretched out and full of holes. And unless I'm at work, I plan on living in them until August, so I'd better stock up.

Ok, that killed some time.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Oh, you didn't think I'd stay away, did you?

We had a pretty amazing Christmas. The kids are both at the point where they get it, and are fully aware of what is going on, and it just made it deliciously fun. Of course, they both got more clothes than they could ever wear, and more toys than they will ever play with. Highlights for ED were the Crash ‘em Up Race Track, the guitar from my MIL, a fire truck that shoots little blue balls out of it’s hose from my brother and SIL, and his new digital camera from my parents. Highlights for CA, the baby with diapers and a sippy cup, the life size plush Dora from my FIL, twin babies with all of the accessories from my brother and SIL, and her own digital camera from my parents. They both really had a great time and we are blessed to have family who love them so much and spoil them rotten.

Hub’s aunt gave CA a Dora outfit on Christmas Eve and she demanded to wear the sweatshirt immediately. She carried the pants around for the rest of the night and just kept looking at them and saying “how beautiful…”. She also proclaims “How nice!!” after every photo she takes. We had my FIL wrap some of the gifts we got for the kids that cam in the mail from Target. He happened to just wrap them right in the cardboard shipping boxes they came in, so when ED opened one he looked at us and yelled “Santa’s workshop is Target!!!!” He also thought that Santa was a big pig for eating all of the cookies we left out for him.

Oh, you want to know what I got? A very nice jewelry box from Hub and the kids, some Nicholas Sparks books, some CD’s, lotion (bath and body works Coconut Lime Verbena---YUM) and other miscellany from my parents, and a new vacuum and coffee maker from my MIL.

I did spend much of the day yesterday dashing for the bathroom so that I could gag in private, but we did manage to keep our secret from our family, with the exception of my brother and SIL. It was nice to tell someone. Hub’s cousin is also expecting and is exactly as far along as I am, which is very cool. They were totally done having kids though, and have given us all of their kids clothes etc, so we have big plans to buy them quite a bit of stuff, as giving them back their things that have now been through at least 2 kids seems a bit rude.

That all being said, I am 8 weeks along as of today and I am sicker than I have ever been during a pregnancy. I feel horrendous 90% of the time, which is just so not cool. They don’t joke when they say that every pregnancy is different. I did feel pretty awful with ED, but with CA I had no complaints. I wonder what the next 8 months will hold. I just keep telling myself that the sickness and being so uncomfortable is a sign that this is a good pregnancy, and it keeps me going.

I’d like to know, from those of you with more than 2, how did your subsequent pregnancies compare to the 1st two? Are they really all 100% different? And do you begin showing sooner with each pregnancy? I feel like I could jump in to my maternity clothes tomorrow, but it would probably be a big faux pas. I didn’t show until almost 5 months with my second, but I’m already sporting a small bump this time. The non-consistency is killing me.
Ok, really, I want to know.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

I heard that you wanted to know what I had for dinner last night. Well let me tell you! A Snapple Peach Tea, 2 Claussen Pickles, and 2 frozen Minute Maid Limeades. I went to the store last night specifically for frozen lemonade, the Minute Maid kind that you get at festivals and what have you over the summer, but the limeade was all that they had. Just as good. I’m actually wishing that I brought a pickle with me for lunch. Who knew that people actually craved pickles?

I spent the rest of the night with an albatross CA hanging off of me. She is so sick, the poor dear with the stuffy nose and phlegmy cough. She was just miserable. She fell asleep in my bed around 10 and we slept until 2, until she just couldn’t take it anymore. We ended up on the couch and she didn’t go back to sleep ‘til about 4, on top of me, where she stayed until 7. This is 3 nights this week that I’ve had almost no sleep. Add it to the constant nausea and I am not a happy camper.

Here is some good news though! Today is my last day of work until the end of the year! I actually come back on Jan 2nd and only for ½ of the day because I have my first (finally!!!) doctor’s appointment at 1. 13 glorious days off. I can not wait.

Hub and I will be spending the day Christmas shopping tomorrow. We’ll drop the kids off early, grab some breakfast and be on our way. It’s one of our favorite things to do! We’re busy then from Saturday until Tuesday. This really is my favorite time of year; I just wish that I was feeling better to enjoy it more.

I probably won’t be around here much the next few days, so Merry Christmas to all of you. I hope all of your Christmas dreams-for you and your families- come true.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Could someone just strap my mouth shut?

The appropriate response when one is given $170 pre-paid MasterCard from her adoring associates is not “Well, at least I know how much I’m worth.” Pointing out that there isn’t even a card……not so cool either. It’s $170 damn $$ that I didn’t have yesterday. Add it to the $60 in Target Cards and $40 in Kohl’s cards and I’m one lucky lady.

What is my problem??


P.S. I'm more nauseus than I've ever been the other 2 times. My ass is seriously being kicked here. Only 33 weeks to go....

Scent of a Whaaaaaa?

I can smell my neighbor smoking on her porch, even though our windows are shut. I can smell that the woman in the next office used Pantene shampoo today. When I got in the car last week, I smelled Chinese food. When probing Hub I found that he had been to the Chinese buffet for lunch, over 5 hours before.

Believe it or not, even in “real life” I have a very keen sense of smell. I can smell the weirdest things from miles away. My sense of smell plays a key role in many of my memories as well. Here are a few:

• A freshly picked tomato, straight from the garden has such a beautiful distinct smell. It reminds me of spending time with my papa when I was little. (he died when I was 4) He would take me out in to his garden and we’d bring some salt, and pick and eat the tomatoes like they were apples. He was my very best friend when I was a little girl and I’m so grateful for his memory and the time that we did get to spend together.
• Mexicali Musk for Men—this is the “cologne” (if you could call it that) that hubs wore when we first got together. He still has the bottle, complete with the red fake worm floating in it. I make him wear it every now and again for nostalgia’s sake. It takes me right back to high school.
• Baked beans in the oven as well as cocoa butter remind me of my paternal grandmother. She had the softest skin I have ever felt and had bottles of Vaseline cocoa butter lotion everywhere in her house. Her house was always warm, with something savory baking in the oven and her cocoa buttery scent always mingled in just the right way.
• Hershey’s Kisses remind me of the same grandmother, and my grandfather too. The kisses were a Christmas tradition, and they filled a large ceramic Santa boot each year. All of us kids had our fill, and it seemed like the boot was bottomless. My uncle puts the boot out at his house each Christmas now as both of them are gone.
• Rave hairspray and hot rollers or a curling iron heating up remind me of my mom. She stayed at home with us so she didn’t get fancy much, but when she did it was a huge production. I would sit on the closed toilet in the bathroom and just watch her, awestruck, and always asked her to curl my hair too.
• Dreft—it has such a distinct scent. Although I used it for both of my kiddos’ it reminds me of preparing for ED’s birth, getting everything washed and ready for him, setting up his bed and packing our bag for the hospital.
• Coffee, laced with cream and sugar—it’s what my dad always smelled like growing up, and his coffee always smelled so delicious that I thought it was cocoa. He’d always laugh and let me have a taste, and I’d always be disappointed.

What kinds of scents just take you back? Are there any scents that bring back unpleasant memories?

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

The Numbers ARE Relevant

1 The number of children I took with me to shop last night
7 The cost of dinner (2 tacos, some nachos, and a soda) for CA and I
65 The amount of money I spent at Target which included purchases of a Christmas gift for my boss, an 8x10 frame for my living room, Burt’s Bees Chapstick (peppermint), tissue paper and gift boxes, and cards for my staff that say “Have a Cool Yule” because I am just so trendy like that.
2 The number of times I used the restroom in Target
2 The number of times CA insisted she did not need to go
1 The number of times I had to pull over at Starbucks for an emergency potty break for CA
5 The cost of the obligatory peppermint mocha (decaf of course)
22 the cost of my Christmas cards at Walgreens
2 the number of hours it took for me to put together my associate gifts and address my Christmas cards.
1 the # of seconds it took CA to fall in love with her new Dora pillow case that came from Target.com yesterday
11 the hour at which ED finally fell asleep
3 the amount of times he was up during the night
2 the amount of times he peed through his pull-up and pants
5 the number of times CA woke up coughing during the night
1 the only time she asked to get out of bed.
4 frantic texts between Hub and me about CA being sick and in our bed since he worked in Albany last night.
1 P.S. please don’t lay on her when you get home since she’s very tiny and easy to miss.
3 approximate hours of sleep I got.
3 things ED is obsessed with getting for Christmas- a playhouse, a guitar, and crash ‘em up race track
4 if you count the bridge he asked to buy Daddy for his train board
1 thing CA wants for Christmas—a baby (if she only knew) When you ask her what kind of baby though she says “chocolate” (she is getting a baby with diapers she can change herself)
0 things I’ve bought Hub so far for Christmas
5 the number of things on a growing list of things we need for the new baby that did not last after ED and CA.
3 The average number of really weird dreams I’m having on a nightly basis.
567 the average # of times I’ve already snapped at my staff today
8 more hours until I will be home
2 the number of baths I will give tonight
8 hopefully the hour I will get to go to sleep

Monday, December 17, 2007

OH YEAH!

I totally forgot to tell you that I linked to my 3 favorite entries over there in the sidebar.

And also here is a photo of the kids where we went sledding on Saturday. (Where my husband thought it was lunacy that I wouldn’t go down the huge hill---I think he’s the loonie)



And P.S. Chex Mix is salty and delicious.

Craptastic!

My weekend was actually pretty good, despite the fact that the drama queens in my family cancelled our Christmas gathering due to the potential of a bad snow storm. This is complete jackassery if you ask me. It started with my uncle flat out refusing to go because he didn’t want to get stranded somewhere. Then my mother started freaking out until finally my aunt just cancelled it. The storm was not supposed to hit until late in the evening, when we would all be at her house anyway. Worst case scenario, we could have all stayed there. Luckily, I am a huge procrastinator so when my mother called at 10 to say it was off, I was just stepping in to the checkout line at the grocery store and I gave everything back to the cashier.

I’m a little bit smug over the fact that the weather never really got that bad.

We ended up having a good weekend anyway. We took the kids sledding and to see Santa on Saturday during the day, I took a 3 hour nap in the afternoon, and then we saw Alvin and The Chipmunks and went out for dinner in the evening. Yesterday I slept in and then baked Christmas cookies. I had good intentions of cleaning the kitchen floor, but it never happened. It is a filthy mess.

Despite the fact that I slept all weekend, I am exhausted today. Really exhausted. I have been sick in the evenings, rather than all day, and I haven’t been eating much dinner. Sick for me involves loud and exaggerated gagging which hub and the kids find to be very entertaining and imitate very well. I’m not entertained, fuck-holes. I’m surprised FIL hasn’t caught on yet. 2 more weeks ‘til I go to the doctor. This is the longest I have ever waited and it is keeeeeeling me. I just want to see my baby bean doing ok, and happily swimming around in there.

The Head Teacher from the 9-18 month room at the old daycare has transferred to the new one. She was one of CA’s favorites, and has been assigned to her room as an assistant. (I guess she takes the bus and could not transfer to the brand new center that opens in Jan. so she decided to stay with the company as an assistant.) My kids were always the teacher’s favorites at the old place (how could they not be) so it was nice to see someone who was genuinely excited to see them both and notice how much they’ve grown over the last 5 months. The old director was in for a visit last week and we got to see her too. It’s nice that we still have some ties to the old staff that we were so comfortable with.

Well this is all over the place and apparently I have nothing good to say. I’m debating taking a nap in lieu of a lunch today. Sounds like a plan.

Friday, December 14, 2007

10 Gripes

1. Weak-minded people really piss me off. Folks who make up their mind about something based on nothing; with no factual evidence, piss me off even more. If you live your life based on the weather report, you’re going to miss out on things. It is not always accurate and in the end you lose.
2. People who conveniently have health issues related to their pregnancy on Mondays and Fridays because they know their boss can’t write them up……all I have to say is my ass is here. And no, I won’t write you up. But your life will be hell come Monday.
3. Also, please don’t call in to my voicemail when you know I’m not even here yet and say that you need a personal day today and that if there is a problem, I should call you. No. It is not my job to call you and tell you to get your ass in here or be written up. It is your job to be here. And if you can’t be bothered to come in to work, I can’t be bothered to call you at home and coddle you or try and bribe you in to coming in. You can look out for me on Monday too. I have the whole weekend to stew.
4. Furthermore, anyone calling in the day after our holiday party, that’s right, all 3 people, need to look out for me come next week.
5. Speaking of the Christmas party, I was grilled on why I was just drinking Sprite. Now there is wild speculation that oh.my.GAWD she’s having another baby. Shut up and mind your own business. Just because I don’t get obliterated in the middle of a snow storm when I have a 30 minute drive home does not mean that I am with child. (even thought I am.
6. Damn these Italian Christmas Cookies that keep ending up on my desk. I’ve eaten like 4 5 7. Christmas is a pregnant gal’s worst nightmare.
7. My husband is less than thrilled with my lack of desire as of late. I honestly could not care less. I am thisclose to moving out to the couch so that the thought doesn’t even enter his mind. I feel like I should care that I’m disappointing him, but in truth, I just don’t.
8. Did I mention that my mother-in-law is a soothsayer? She asked Hub whether or not I was pregnant. She just has a feeling. She always has feelings. Like the house just got really cold so someone must have died, feelings. We’ve decided to never tell her now. We’re not giving her the satisfaction.
9. This half decaf coffee is just.not.cutting.it.
10. Could someone else please wrap the gifts and make the hot pepper dip and Oreo cheesecake for our party tomorrow? Could you do the shopping I haven’t done too? And maybe pack a bag for the kids? Thanks!

Thursday, December 13, 2007

HodgePodge

Something happens to me when I’m pregnant. A nice way to say it would be that I like to run my mouth, but really there’s a lot more to it. In addition to running my mouth I have a tendency to live with NO FEAR, (a la Tessie) and maybe put myself in a situation that could have some consequences.

Generally, it’s just the mouth running, which I will get in to later. But today, I could have been killed in the Tim Horton’s parking lot. I pulled in, as normal, where it’s a straight shot to the drive thru. As I was pulling in, a truck was wrapping around the building trying to get in too. I let him go in front of me, as he was legitimately first. Then, the shit of a guy behind him tried to sneak in too. I refused to stand for it and jammed my way in front of him. I looked him in the eye and mouthed “mother fucker”. He was obviously pissed. I refused to look away and stared at him until I was fully in the drive thru and placing my order. I’m pretty sure that if he hadn’t had a chick in the car with him, he’d have gotten out. I’d have gotten out too. No worries.

So here are some lessons others have learned over the course of my 2.03 pregnancies:

*Don’t mess with me in the drive thru
*If I send you a meeting invite detailing the meeting room, don’t ask me 5 minutes before “where are we meeting?” because I will ream you a new one.
*Stop calling Facilities about the heat.
*I will tell you constantly that your behavior is causing me to go in to premature labor.
*I will run my mouth at inappropriate times and expect you to act like it’s no big deal.
*I will also inexplicably burst in to tears over a pre-baby photo. (This one to be exact taken the spring before we got married)



I hope you all will be able to live with me until August.

In other news, I have convinced my husband to hold off on telling the family until after I’ve been to the Dr. which is January 2nd. I didn’t even necessarily have concerns about saying anything early, but I don’t know if I’m prepared for the reaction of “Oh my god, a 3rd??!!” or “don’t you know how this happens by now?” as if it were some sort of accident, yet. Not to mention that the first thing out of my mother’s mouth will probably have something to do with how small our house is and how will we possibly fit 6 people in it. Nevermind that we’ve been slowly remodeling for the last 5 years, and that moving does not fit in to our 10 year plan. We will make it work; we are adults.

We are still freaking out hardcore about boy’s names, but I think, THINK, that we have settled on Abby if it’s a girl. (this totally means it will be a boy)

My work Christmas party is tonight and we are having a terrific snow storm. Should be interesting. I’m not even going home in between but this means that I will not see the kiddos until tomorrow morning. (frown) This also means hub has to bathe them both and put them in bed. (GRIN!)

Speaking of bathing---I had a minor panic attack about having to bathe 3 children. I hate bath time more than you could imagine. I’m thinking it’s time to get ED in to showers. I also realized that Hub will be in California the 1st week in September. And I will be home alone. With 3 children. One who will be up to eat at all hours of the night.

Calgon, take me away!!!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Tenacious C

Already, at age 2, my daughter is not someone that you want to mess with. We went to a local hobby shop this weekend and while Hub looked at some trains and track for his ultimate train board set up, I took the kids down in to the craft area where they have 3 Thomas train tables set up.

ED was playing on one, while CA was playing on another. It seemed like we were there for hours, and soon another boy, who was maybe 6, came to play. He was one of those kinds of children that rubs me the wrong way….not a bad child, per se, but kind of a pretentious type. You know, the kind that comes up to you and tells you what your kids want or need or said even though you are standing right there and clearly he is wrong.

Aaaaaanyway…..

The kids are each playing on a separate table when all of the sudden the boy went over to where CA was playing and said that he was playing with that table first and that she would have to leave. “I was here first!!”, he goaded her. At this point the protector (as well as the hormones) in me kicked in and I was about to give the brat a piece of my mind. UNTIL my little girl looked him dead in the eye and said “NO YOU WASN’T!” She squared off her shoulders and pointed her little finger quite accusingly at him.

Actually I waaaaaaas” he taunted back at her.

Act-ly you wasn’t” she said again, refusing to back down.

She eventually became interested in what her brother was doing and left that table anyway. I sat back and watched it all, my little girl so strong and refusing to take any crap. Part of me thinks that this is just the two-year-old in her, but the rest feels proud to already be raising a strong young lady. I can only hope that she doesn’t lose this quality as she grows. She’s been strong-willed since birth, so I don’t see her outgrowing it any time soon.

My sweet baby girl. She’s Tiny, but she is tenacious!





Monday, December 10, 2007

Bitching and Moaning

Here is a warning. I am about to do nothing but be miserable and bitch. If you’re not up for it, you should leave now. If you choose to stay….remember, you’ve been warned.

I have some sort of weird up and down morning all day sickness. It goes a little something like this: wake up ravenously hungry so I eat which makes me feel sick for about 3 or 4 hours until all of the sudden I am STARVING again, to the point where I am shaking, so again, I eat and am nauseous all over again. This goes on all day. A.Vicious.Circle
There seem to be a few smells that are bothering me a lot these last few days. They are: ED’s wet diaper in the morning, cheerios in a bowl with milk, the litter box regardless of whether it is clean or dirty, our fabric softener, and most of all Doritos. Please, if you are within lets say 5 miles, no Doritos please. Our office admin actually ate some and then brought me some mail---which now reeks of Doritos and is being looked at by someone else because I can not handle it.
My cat has a real freaking problem cleaning his ass. To the point where he is leaving poop marks on my bed and pillow. I spent last night washing sheets, pillow cases and actual pillows. I also attempted to clean his bum myself. Then I FREAKED out because pregnant people aren’t supposed to clean the litter box……so I should probably stay away from his crap, right?
I have crazy insomnia- I can only sleep for 2-3 hours at a time and then I am up for 2-3 hours. It actually kind of sucks. But it does allow me to catch up on TiVo. I’m having crazy crazy dreams too. Like crashing in to horses with my car kind of crazy. Yeah. No wonder I am crabby.
If you see my hubby could you tell him that just because we are both home at the same time, and just because the kids are sleeping, there is no rule that says we need to do it. Really. No rule. I have never been less interested.
Hubby fixed an air duct in our basement and now we have adequate heat flowing through the house. Too bad it is now 170 degrees in there and I swear I can feel it blowing on me 24/7.
Speaking of heat, it is about 200 degrees at work today. Why? Because one of my employees calls facilities 5 times a day because she is freezing. Nobody else is cold. SO I told her on Friday that it may be a lot easier for her to add layers than it is for others to strip them off. I am THIS CLOSE to really losing it.
Another associate flat out refused to answer calls today because she was logging an account. It’s really not my problem that you can’t type and talk at the same time. Keep your ass on the phone! GAAAH!
I am so so so so so so thirsty!!! Nothing quenches it. It is constant.
Then I saw THIS!



Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

We've Decorated---a photo entry

My China Cabinet and Nativity Scene


My penguin pants
CA taking a rest while we do the work
My Favorite Ornament
Stockings
CA's Angels



ED's nutcrackers





The Grinch and Dog




The View Outside

CA posing





The Tree






My New Angel




Friday, December 7, 2007

Ho Hum

So I’ve been in this training seminar the last few days; Leading Effective Sales People. Never mind that I do not manage sales people, it is actually a good class. It’s tiring though and has taken a lot out of me. It’s one of those classes where they don’t even want you to come out to your regular job on your breaks and that is just something that I can’t commit to. So I’ve been back and forth, reading emails and kicking a few asses along with reading and commenting on blogs, sporadically.

We are planning on (finally) putting up our Christmas tree this evening. Every year I buy the kids an ornament and write their name and the year on it. This year, I let them pick out their own. We went from daycare on Wednesday to McDonalds to eat, and then over to the Christmas store. They were in awe of all the decorated trees, peppered with lights, some colored and some white, some with very conservative ornaments, the rest decked out in crazy fashions. They really enjoyed themselves. CA picked a kitty (it was a hello Kitty, but all she knows is that it was a white kitty with a pretty pink nose) and ED chose a yellow M&M who was all tied up in ribbon. I picked out an expecting ornament for hub and me and a new angel for the top of the tree. The kids were pretty excited about all of it.

Tomorrow we will be in Rochester for a birthday party, and then Sunday I am home with the kids all day, since hub is working. I’ll probably use Sunday to brush up the decorations, do some grocery shopping, and maybe start some cookies.

I’m really looking forward to Christmas this year. It will be the first time that both kids really know what is going on and can really enjoy it. They’re at the age where I won’t have to tend to them every second at our holiday gatherings, so that will be nice too. And just think….all of my family festivities start next week and I haven’t even bought one gift!

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Baby Names? Already?

I realize that I am like, a day pregnant. I do. (Ok, I am 5 weeks—in my 6th week, but whatever.) But these are things that I talk about when I’m not expecting, so it’s totally ok.

Anyhoo, we’ve been throwing around the idea of not finding out what we’re having this time to change it up a little bit. Part of me thinks it’s a great idea—we already have everything we need either way gender wise. The nosey Nellie in me needs to know right away. If it were possible to know today I would find out. I guess I have plenty of time to make a decision.

With all of this baby talk comes name talk though and it is proving to be a challenge, especially in the boy category. We kicked around Ben but decided it sounded ridiculous with our last name. We both kind of like Henry. But just kind of. I like Andrew, or Andy or Drew, he doesn’t. I like Hayden, he doesn’t—because Hayden Christianson played Darth Vader in Star Wars……So then I suggested Luke and he was against that too. He suggested Edward to which I replied ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?? Like we would be these freaks with 2 kids named Eddie. WTF. Our fall back name is Matthew, which is my brother’s name. It couples nicely with Christopher as a middle name, which is hub’s brother’s name. (I feel bad though because my other brother might get jealous) It also makes for some nice rapper MC jokes. In fact we were like “MC Lastname!” all night making “wickie wickie” record spinning sounds. I think we’re leaning toward a little bit out of the ordinary if it’s a boy, though.

For girls, we still both like Olivia, but again, the last name issue. We both really like Abbey too, but not as a nickname for Abigail, just Abbey. My problem with that name is that just before we were married there was this girl Hub worked with who has the same name. She kind of stalked him for a while and sent him some love letters. Until I sent her a nasty email which somehow gave ME a reputation where he worked as being a crazy bizotch. But I digress-- I think I can get past it. I THINK. I love Grace, he hates it. I like Ella and he’s iffy on it. I like Jenna, he hates it.

Chinese gender predictor says it’s a girl. It has never been wrong before, but of course there is no science behind it.

We are definitely open to suggestions at this point—especially for boys. PLEASE! NAME OUR BABY!

I have 8.5 more months to think about it.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Redundant

So the endocrinologist was swell. The good news is that they gave me blood work slips to last for my entire pregnancy. I don’t have to go back in until April; they will call me when my blood work comes back every 6 weeks. Nice, right? The bad news, of course, is blood work every 6 weeks. The price we pay for healthy babies, I’ll tell ya!

I did have fun reading the inane signs they had up in their office. Redundancy really annoys me, and it was EVERYWHERE. Obviously, their secretary needs to take a class or something. Here are some samples:

“This year once again we will be accepting donations for a family in need like we did last year.” (Once again this year like last year? YAY!)

“Beginning in May 2008 we will start offering 7:00 AM in the morning appointments. Would you like to come in at 7:00 AM in the morning?” (no, I’d like to come in at 7:00 AM in the evening.)

I really wanted to take photos but I think they would have thought it was weird.

Anyway, if you are wondering about pregnant old me, I am the way I always am early on. Exhausted, gassy, my boobs are sore, and in a rare twist, they are actually leaking. Seems odd for 5 weeks, but ok. I am so tired that I was driving on the thruway this morning at a pretty good pace thinking that maybe, just maybe, it would be ok to close my eyes for a second. I decided against it though. As a result of being tired though (or maybe just as a result of being pregnant, I don’t know, they tell me I was a raging biotch with E), I’m being a huge bitch at work. I can see my Christmas gift just sliding down the toilet. I can’t help it. I sent an email to all of my folks that start at 9:00 AM (in the morning) because as of 9:03 none of them were here. I also made a comment to one of my staffers to do less eating and more working. Yeah. That one could actually get me in some trouble.

Which is why I’m here. If I don’t pay attention to them, they can’t annoy me.
It’s so hard to abandon an entire BLOG. I wish there was a way to download my other entries over here. I’ll probably end up copying some of them and linking to others. I don’t know. I’m attached. But then I think of my mother. Asking if she could read my “Tradition” entry. Out loud. To our whole family at Christmas. Then I’m seething all over again and I remember why I sat down and relocated yesterday. Blogging is not supposed to be hard. It’s supposed to be relaxing. GAH!

I also don’t want people to think that I’m only going to write about my pregnancy since I’ve named my blog Incubation Nation. I just thought it was kind of hip and trendy. My blog will be much the same, if not less censored than it previously was.

That all being said---how did it get to be December? December 4th no less? The kids and I started their Advent calendars (one day late, so they each opened 2 on Sunday, but whatever) and Hub and I are disagreeing on how to open them. I say (and this is how we’re doing it) that you work backwards, as in today is 21 days until Christmas, so we open slot 21. He says I should be opening based on the date---today is the 4th so we open slot 4. He’s probably right, but don’t tell him I said so. I find that doing it my way though eases those constant questions of “How many more days until it’s Christmas??? Mommy? How many days NOW???”

We had some pretty wicked weather yesterday, all snowing and blowing and nasty. When I was getting ED out of the car at daycare he looked and me, and touched the snow in my hair, and said “Mommy, you look so beautiful with all of that snow in your hair.” He was so serious and adorable, I could have died right there. I love that even though he’s about to be 4 (In like 4 weeks!! What the heck!!) he is still such a mama’s boy.

I have an appointment with my endocrinologist today. At least somebody wants to see me right away. I tried to get them to just send me scripts for blood work in the mail, but they insisted that I come in. Typically, when pregnant, I have to increase my levothyroxin dose because the baby sucks up what little metabolism I have. I know this. They know this. But whatever, I’ll go in there and chat with them for a while. At least it will get me out of work for a few hours.

I’m also wondering if since my OB won’t see me til January, if I am feeling under the weather, should I call my primary? I still haven’t quite kicked what I had last month with the sore throat and the coughing and all that jazz. I was already on azithromicin and was better for a few days. I will more than likely ride it out for a few more days and then see what happens.

Ok, off to take some photos for my department to display at our Christmas party. Yeah, my job is really hard. : )

Monday, December 3, 2007

And Then There Were Three

Ahh, so here I am. It feels a little less stressful.. I thought about not mentioning anything on my Blog for an entire month while I wait to go to the doctor, but instead, I’ve decided to relocate. I’ve never really been comfortable, since my mom found my blog anyway. So here it is; a fresh start.

And what perfect timing!

I am expecting our third child this August. It’s still not entirely real to me. I mean, I’ve known for all of 4 days, but still. So.Not.Real.

What’s that? You want a timeline? OK!

Well of course, there was that one time, 11/14 to be exact………then there was my frantic phone call to hubby on 11/17 saying, hey, I just tracked my cycle online, and my most fertile day would have been 11/14……

Earlier last week I put it out there. I told him “I know I say this every month. I know. But I feel very pregnant right now.” He blew me off of course, but I was feeling that lactational let down sensation that I’d had early on with CA, plus my boobs were killing me on top of it.

I tested on Friday morning, after I had already peed so I barely had to go. So, I trickled on to the stick and crossed my fingers. It was faint, but it was definitely there……a blue plus sign. I told hubby “I guess this explains my weeping uncontrollable when you surprised me with the mixer.” Indeed. Friday was a blur. I gagged all day long, but I convinced myself it was nerves. It couldn’t possibly be that I’d just found out that morning and was already sick. Just not possible. I tested again in the evening, and again got the positive result.

Saturday was more of reality setting in. Like crap crap holy crap SHIT! Like what the hell am I going to do?!?!?!? CRAP!! CRAP!!! HOLY SHIT!!! 3 KIDS!!! Nauseous all day

Yesterday I had settled down a bit. Ok, we can do this. I can totally (well maybe) handle 3 kids. Again with the nausea though. I can’t help but thinking it is a bit too early for all of this—but I’m fine until I eat. After I eat, I feel like crap. But whatever. I hardly slept at all last night because my mind was going a mile a minute.

This of course brings us to today. I called the dr. this morning and they don’t want to see me until I’m 8 weeks. Especially because it’s my 3rd pregnancy. They’ve always seen me right away in the past so I’m a little bit uneasy. We also wanted to tell our families at Christmas, but now I’m unsure. I would have liked to have that 1st ultrasound before we begin broadcasting it, you know. I’m not really sure where that leaves us.

I came very close to throwing up when I dropped the kids off this AM. All of the kiddy daycare smells just set me off. I’m standing strong though. I’ve never thrown up from morning sickness before, and I’m not about to start now.

So here’s the question……Is it weird that I have E’s comment in the back of my mind? You know the one----“So when you have those 2 other babies, how many of us will there be?”