It's A Wonderful Life

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2009-07-06T15:17:00.000-07:00

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It's been awhile!

2009-05-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

I haven't been very good at keeping my blog updated. As it turns out, I did get offered the job covering the mat leave, and I accepted the position. I ended up getting 1 week of training (but only the equivalent of about 4 days due to her leaving early one day and me leaving early another) for a position that I would say needed a good 3-4 weeks of training. So that first week was very stressful, but by the Friday, I thought I would do ok.

And then the next week started. It was awful. People seemed to not realize that having just started, I didn't just know what they were talking about when they asked me something, and that it was taking me longer to get things done because I hadn't been doing it for 3+ years like the last girl, and that I just needed time to learn and become comfortable. And I was having all sorts of things come through my office that I had never seen before and had no idea what to do with them, and there was really no one I could ask for help for alot of it...Just had to figure it out on my own. I spent the better part of Wednesday afternoon crying at my desk, and even that didn't seem to deter people from their crazy demands.

At about that same time, Jamie spoke to his foreman and the owner of the company he was laid off from, and they wanted him to start back pretty quick. So after discussing it to death, Jamie and I decided that when he went back to work, I would go back to staying home with the kids. Not just because the job was seriously not working for me, but because we found out that to get subsidy for child care, they go by pay stubs, so if we got subsidy, it likely wouldn't last long. And if we weren't subsidized, we'd be paying up to $1200 a month in child care when I was only making $1500-1600 a month. I'd basically be working to pay a babysitter, especially taking into consideration the cost of gas to drive back and forth to Veg, and wear and tear on the car. So Jamie got called back to work on Tuesday (Monday was Victoria Day) and I am now back home with the girls and couldn't be happier about it.

And as if the job itself wasn't bad enough, one of the girls I worked with had chicken pox while I was there, and it got passed onto Lexi. She is covered in spots (although strangely enough, none on her face, just her torso and limbs) and is crabby, crabby, crabby.

The girls did get spoiled with having their daddy home (and I must say I quite enjoyed it too), and they are really, really missing him now (again, as am I). He is working all day shifts, which means more hours and he's not home at all during the week when they're awake. And they also are going to need him to work some weekends to load trucks, so he is going to be busy and the girls and I will have to adjust, but I think we'll all do just fine.

Our house is still on the market and we unfortunately have not had much interest. I'm actually quite upset, because in a span of less than 2 weeks, 3 comparable houses sold (and 2 out of 3 with our realtor) and we didn't even get a showing. So I'm not thrilled about that, but I'm still confident that we can get the place sold.

Our credit unfortunately did take a hit with Jamie being laid off for so long (and his EI taking well over 2 months to come in) so we figure when the house sells, we will just worry about getting as much of our crap paid off as we can (obviously mortgage, but our personal loan we had to take out, Jamie's car loan, the credit card and some other stuff we have financed) and spend about a year saving up for a down payment and building up our credit to the point that it was before. We really hope to be able to buy some land (probably around 10 acres) and put a house on it (although we'd have to go factory built and not custom). I grew up on a farm and living in town, even a small town, is just not where I want to be.

But at this point, we are just taking it one step at a time and trying not to think too far ahead. We don't have any control over when the house sells, so we don't want to get too ahead of ourselves. I am definitely a planner, so this is hard for me to just play it by ear, but it really is all we can do at this point. But I am still hating that it's all unknown and I have no control. LOL

Another Interview

2009-04-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

On Monday I had a job interview at the Chrysler dealership in Veg. It was for the financial manager position. The interview went really well and was with a guy that Jamie and I know, so it was very relaxed and not alot of questions, but more an explanantion of the position. I feel I would do really well at the job, but my only concern is that it is a commision-based position. For about the first 3 months I would make a wage, and after that it would be strictly based on how much life and disability insurance and extended warranty I sold. So that worries me. I know I could do it, but it concerns me that there could be slow months (especially with where the economy is right now) and that I might now make alot those months.

The interview I had today was actually with the GM dealer in Veg. It went much better and is a job I think would likely be a better fit. It's the customer contact manager position. I felt that the interview went extremely well, and because it's a managerial position, I am much more confident about the financial aspect of it as well. The only thing is, it is a temporary position covering a mat leave for 12-18 months, whereas the other one is a permanent full-time position. Although, at this point I don't have to be worried because I haven't actually been offered either of them, but I am going to think confidently and tack on a "yet" to that sentence, and worry about which would work better, or if either of them will, because worrying is what I do best. lol

But it still comes dows to child care. Yesterday I mentioned I found a dayhome with immediate openings but it would cost $1200 a month to send both girls. I had found one right in Veg (this other one is in between Two Hills and Veg), but she doesn't have openings until mid-June, so that wouldn't work, but she is $200 a month cheaper, which would have been really nice (although still a rip-off in my honest opinion).

I do have to say, though, that I am very excited at the thought of going back to work. I had been toying with the idea since about last October, but I really just wasn't ready until now. I know it still won't be easy to get used to sending the girls to a dayhome and not spending my days with them, but I think that it will be good for all of us once we settle into the new routine.

Jamie applied for another job today that would be really great for him. The pay is supposed to be really good, but again, it is only a temporary position until next fall. Ideally the company he is with now would get their act together and take him back. They have one crew back to work, and it is his crew, but rather than put him back in his regular position as a loader operator, they brought back another guy who isn't even supposed to be running loader (he is the tower guy, whatever that means). We thought maybe it was because this other guy has more seniority, but then we found out that the foreman's son was brought back, even though Jamie has over a year of seniority on him. I think a call to employment standards is in order (especially seeing as the foreman will neither take, nor return Jamie's calls now), but Jamie doesn't like to makes waves. I, on the other hand, would be kicking some ass.

Still Here!

2009-04-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

So it has been a ridiculously long time since my last post, as usual. Things here have been crazy lately. Jamie has been laid off of his job since 2 weeks before Christmas. He did have another temporary job for about 2 months starting the end of January, but that is over and done with now. He had EI in between those 2 jobs, but we are still waiting on it to come in after the second one ended.

So that has prompted us to put our house on the market (which wasn't a hard decision to come to because neither of us are very happy with the town we are currently living in). I also have been putting out alot of resumes to go back to work too. Jamie has been looking for work and applying alot, but it is hard to find anything what with the recession, and everything that he does find he don't hear back from, I assume because there are so many applicants. Which is what prompted me to start looking for myself. Also, he isn't going to find a job making nearly what he was before, so we would really need the second income.

That being said, I looked into childcare today because I have found a few options for myself and have had, and do have, interviews lined up. They are all around the same price per month for the 2 kids, but I only found 1 place that actually has openings. She's out of town, but on the way into Veg, which would work ok. What doesn't work, is that it would be $1200 per month for the 2 girls. That just seems ridiculous to me considering this is small town, rural Alberta. When I had my dayhome, I never charged anywhere near $600 per kid, and I had family rates so that it wasn't full price per kid. And I had trouble filling spots. So I don't understand how they're able to charge that much now.

So I'm a little unsure about what is going to happen there. With what I would be making at any of these jobs, and with travel expenses, after I paid for child care I would be pocketing less than $1000. It hardly seems worth it to me. But we shall see.

So with all I have talked about Jamie, you might be wondering about us, and yes we are back together. It was the right move not only for us, but for our family. We are very happy and have been doing really well.

The girls have also been doing well. Addy is now 2 years and 2 months, and Lexi is 14 months. Addy is talking up a storm (you can't get her to shut up...lol) and she repeats everything...And I do mean everything. She is a busy little girl and is almost always into some kind of mischief. She is most definitely into the Terrible Two's now, and is teaching her sister all about how to throw tantrums. And man oh man does that little baby have a temper! Lexi is all about what she wants, and if she doesn't get it, you will feel her wrath! She is actually even more mischievious than her sister, if you can even believe it. She started really walking about a month ago and now that's all she wants to do. When we're out and Addy gets to walk, she gets quite annoyed that she can't always do the same. And while, like her sister, she is fiercely independent, she also loves to snuggle up and give love and kisses and hugs (again, also like her sister). She still isn't much of a talker (although Addy makes up for it)...She seems to know alot of words, but has absolutely no desire whatsoever to use them. But every once in awhile, she will surprise you and come out with a word, and then refuse to say it again no matter how hard you try to get her to.

The most wonderful thing, though, is that the 2 of them really have a great relationship now. I mean, don't get me wrong, they beat up on each other (although today at the pediatrician's I discovered that they do actually know how to place nice with other kids, just not each other) and they steal toys, pull hair, push and shove and yell like you wouldn't believe, but they can also be so great to each other. They will share when they want to, and they will bring things to each other that they know they like (Addy usually just brings Lexi food, or a toy if I ask her to, but Lexi will find Addy's suckies or special toys and bring them to her), they give each other hugs and kisses (on their own without being prompted...lol), I'll catch them sitting together (sometimes even holding hands...they especially do this in the car), Addy still asks to hold Lexi and they'll sit with her in her lap for the longest time, and sometimes they even play nicely together...lol.

They are both still on the bottle, and Addy also still has her sucky. I didn't want to wean Addy off the bottle before I could wean Lexi too, because I figured it would just cause jealousy and fighting and Addy would likely just steal Lexi's bottle. So now we are slowly working on that, and once the bottle is gone, we will work on the sucky.

We also have Lexi's big girl bed, but we haven't set it up for her yet. I think she is ready, but Jamie figures it will just cause them to take even longer to fall asleep than they already do (because it will be both of them out of bed tearing the room apart rather than just Addy). So we are going to put that off for awhile too. Maybe give it a shot when the bottles and sucky are gone.

But other than that, I don't think there is much more to share. Hopefully I will get better at blogging more often. At this point, I actually tend to have more free time so maybe now I will be able to make a better effort.

An Update!

2009-01-15T13:23:00.001-08:00

I'm such a bad blogger, I can't even believe it. Maybe my New Year's Resolution should have been to blog more often...Like at least once a month! lol

Things here are busy, busy, busy. It's just the girls and me now, and it seems like I never have a free minute. We are just a few short weeks away from their birthdays, and I cannot even believe how quickly this last year has flown by.

My little Lexi baby will be turning 1! She is a snuggly, obedient and sometimes mischievious little girl. She loves to eat and to follow her big sister around (which is when the mischief usually occurs). She is gloriously chubby and has the cutest little round tummy that just loves to be tickled. I see changes in her everyday and she picks things up so quickly. I absolutely love that she is still very much a baby, unlike Addy at the same age. And she gives the best wet, slobbery kisses you ever got!

She has the biggest grin I have seen on any baby and it doesn't take much to get to see it. She sleeps great, is always in a good mood (except for when her sister picks on her) and loves to be loved. Her only word is still Dada but we are working on Mama! lol She waves, she blows raspberries and makes funny noises with her tongue. She crawls around the house as fast as her sister can run, and is alarmingly close to walking. I wouldn't be surprised if she was toddling around by her birthday.

And my Addy Pie is going to be 2! *sniff sniff* Where have the last 2 years gone? I look at pictures of my tiny, beautiful newborn baby girl and I cannot believe that she is the toddler that is running around here today. Can you say defiant? Or mischievious? Or stubborn and independant? Because that is my Addy! She is into everything and truly believes that she has every right to be into everything. How dare I say no?!?! She has reached that toddler stage where, for days, she will pick at her food, barely eating anything, and then one day she eats so much I think she'll never stop.

She has quite the impressive vocabulary and you have to be extremely careful what you say in front of her now. Or even what you do. She has picked up alot of my little "quirks" like humming while doing something, or playfully shaking her little fist at you (at least I hope it's playfully...lol). She gives wonderful, big hugs and smooches on the lips. She doesn't usually like to snuggle, but if she knows you're feeling sad she'll climb on your lap, give her you big hug, a kiss and then snuggle in your arms. She frustrates me to a level I never thought I could be frustrated to, but the next minute she has me laughing or bursting with pride.

I cannot believe that in less than a month I will have a 2 year old and a 1 year old. This past year has been a roller coaster of emotions, but has been an amazing time with the 2 of them. They have a great relationship and it's obvious to see that they love each other very much. And I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for us, and to see them grow and develop even more.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-15T12:32:00.000-08:00

This year we had 3 Christmases and it was very crazy and chaotic. We had one at home with Ryan a few days before the 25th, and I would say that was the only calm and relaxing one out of them. Lol. We had a really great day together.

Christmas Day was at my mom's, and even though Jamie and I aren't together he still came so he could spend the day with the girls. There was a houseful that day, and I was coming down with a bug, so it was really overwhelming, but still a good time.

Boxing Day was at Jamie's mom's with all this family. I was very sick that day, so I spend most of the time sleeping.

The 3 of us got very spoiled. I basically had my lists checked off, and then more on top of that. The the girls got a ridiculous amount of stuff. I would say our toy population doubled. It is insane!

Anyways, here are some pictures to share. None from Boxing Day, though, because like I said I was sick and sleeping for most of the day.

Addy was scared of the mall Santa, she didn't want anything to do with the Santa at the Christmas party her grandma took her to, but when she saw this Santa at the school Christmas concert she went right up to him and crawled up on his lap.

The girlies and Ryan on our Christmas.

The tree Christmas Eve.

And all the presents! Christmas morning there was about twice the amount that there is here. Crazy!

The stockings.

Christmas Eve after reading our story.

The girls waiting to open presents Christmas morning.

Lexi on Christmas morning.

Lexi again.

Stocking time!

Opening her stocking presents.

Getting help with her stocking from Grandma.

And from Mommy!

Santa gift!

Oooooh!

Santa gift!

Checking stuff out.

"Ooooh! What's that?"

Stuff for her kitchen set.

My Addy pie (and her talking sippy cup from Grandma).

I am a bad blogger!

2008-10-24T16:41:00.001-07:00

It's been over 2 months since my last entry, and strangly enough, I don't have a whole lot to share.

The girls have been growing like crazy. Addy is now 20 months old. She has a great vocabulary, but only uses it when she feels like it. She understands every word you tell her, but half the time when it's something she doesn't want to hear (such as "Don't do that" or "Put that down") she just looks at you like you're an idiot speaking a different language. She has discovered a new love, as well...The Wiggles! lol She is also going through a phase right now where pretty much the only thing she wants to eat is bananas (known as numnas to her). But there are many, many things that she could be wanting to eat, that I'm not going to complain about something healthy like numnas.

She has officially stopped walking and now runs everywhere. There is no stopping that child. She is into anything and everything and no matter what it is, how heavy it is, how high up it is, or whatever, she is determined to get into it! She doesn't seem to understand the word no in the listening context, but in the speaking context, she has it down pat.

Bedtimes and naptimes have greatly improved. She is now going down fairly easy, and when she doesn't want to sleep she just gets up and plays until she tires herself out and crawls back into bed. Although the other night, rather than playing she decided to color. All over her closet doors, her bed and her sheets. Whoever left those crayons in her room where she could reach them will be in big trouble when I find out their identity!

Potty training is not even in our vocabulary right now. She was doing really well with pooping on the potty, but has since decided that it takes too much time and she just can't fit it into her busy schedule. So when she is ready, I will be there dropping to my knees and thanking God I only have one in diapers!

And speaking of that little one in diapers, my tiny little Lexi-Lou is not so tiny anymore. She is crawling all over the place, although she still isn't sitting up without having to support herself by keeping her hands on the floor. She loves to babble away and make lots of loud, high-pitched noises.

She's taken after her sister in the great sleeper department. We get a solid 10 hours before she wakes up for a bottle and goes back to sleep for another 4 hours. Naps are pretty good too. She was napping for 3-4 hours in the afternoon, but she has started preferring to take 2 naps that are only an hour to an hour and a half long. Still nothing to complain about though! She never did take the soother, she just goes down with her bottle (yes, I know, I'm bad) and sucks on her 2 middle fingers.

She absolutely loves to be in her jolly jumper. As soon as you start to put her in it those little legs start kicking and make it quite difficult! lol She will just jump and jump and jump in that thing. I think the only thing she might like more than it is crawling around.

At this stage with Addy, her sleep habits had kinda gone to hell, and she was either sleeping in bed with me or having to be put to sleep in the swing and then moved to her crib. Lexi won't even lay still in my bed, and she isn't too crazy about the swing, whether for sleeping or distracting her so I can get stuff done.

The 2 girls absolutely adore each other, but even at this age they are already fighting. A little sibling rivalry is to be expected, though, especially when they are both so young and don't understand the concept of sharing, or quite get that pulling hair and pinching hurts like a mother. lol

It's sweet to see them interact when they're getting along. They love to hug each other and give kisses and their faces light up when they see each other. I'm sure that they will be great friends throughout their childhoods and when they are adults.

Yay Me!

2008-08-07T20:12:00.000-07:00

Today I had a very productive day. I got my kitchen all cleaned up (it was such a disaster, I am embarrassed to even think about it), got everything unpacked from camping on the weekend, cleaned up all the toys that were scattered from one end of the house to the other, did some laundry and even got my floors washed!

My sister also took Addy and Alexis for me this evening. She wanted to take them for some Auntie/Nieces time and I jumped at the chance to have 2 free hours to myself. Jamie was already gone to work and I spent the whole time doing what I wanted to do. And man did I need it. I got to blast my music, did some reading, had a little workout, took a bath and just relaxed.

And now the heat in this house could very well kill me. It has to be close to 30 degrees in here and it seems no matter how many windows I open, it's not cooling off in here like it is outside. If it doesn't get much better tonight, I'm definitely not going to be sleeping well. All I can say is thank heavens I'm not pregnant!

Another Long Weekend Is Here!

2008-08-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

This week has been a really good week with the girls. They have been in good moods, napped well, went to bed well and were cuter than usual, if that's even possible. They slept in and treated their mommy to leisurely mornings and quiet afternoons that they slept away. And still, I managed to get absolutely nothing done around here!

This weekend we were supposed to be getting the house ready to have the realtor come take a look and give us an idea of a selling price, but it looks like that will be pushed to the back burner again. Instead we're going to spend the weekend out at the lake with friends and possibly at another lake with my sister and her hubby. There isn't a whole lot to do around here anyways, that doesn't require a trip to the city to buy supplies, and we aren't going to the city any time soon so I suppose it's no big loss. I'm still in love with the house we looked at in Myrnam, but we're not sure we're ready to make that move. But it has been for sale for quite some time now (things don't seem to move very fast out there), so my fingers are crossed that when we're ready to make a move, it will still be available.

Jamie is off until Tuesday evening when he goes onto nights, so I'm looking forward to having some family time and for the girls to get to spend some time with him. This week he has been long gone by the time they get up for the day, and when he's been getting home, they're already in bed asleep, so I know they are missing their daddy and he is missing them.

Anyways, I have lots to do to get ready for the weekend, and not much time to do it, so I am off. Enjoy your long weekend, everyone!

My New 'Do!

2008-07-18T18:08:00.000-07:00

Today was a day I have been looking forward to for awhile. It was my afternoon, child-free, to get my hair done and relax. I wanted a change, so I went in and told the stylist "Something short, and red, and different," and this is what she did. It's bold and I think it's way cooler than I am, but I love it!

Here is my before picture, taken yesterday:

And here are the after pictures taken this afternoon:

1 More Sleep!

2008-07-17T18:42:00.001-07:00

1 more sleep until my kid-free afternoon of pampering. I can hardly wait! It will be so nice to have an afternoon to myself. I love my girls, but I need some time for myself. It is long overdue.

Today was another uneventful day, although I did put a pretty good dent in Mount Washmore. There is still alot to do, but I did get a surprising amount done. I didn't manage to get much else done, but I can deal with that. It seems that whenever I do laundry, it gets washed and dried, but then just stuck in a laundry basket and forgotten about. So today I had alot of folding and putting away to do.

Tonight seems to be a nice treat. Both girls are already fed, bathed and in bed asleep. So it looks like Jamie and I may have some couple time!

I broke Addy's blind in her bedroom today. It's one of those stupid roller ones that you have to pull down farther to get to go up. Well I pulled, and it fell on my head. So now her window is covered with our duvet cover, which is a not so subtle pink. And being in her room is now like being in a cotton candy machine. Everything is pink. Hopefully Jamie can get that blind fixed soon!

Happy Hump Day!

2008-07-16T17:32:00.000-07:00

Well the week is half over now. Only 2 sleeps until my child-free afternoon! I can hardly wait, although I know as soon as I leave the house I will be missing my girls.

I didn't do much of anything today, although I did see the doctor. I went because my ears have been giving me issues, but it turns out it is just because of my allergies and the fact that I'm not (not to mention can't) take anything for them because I'm breastfeeding.

I also asked about all my belly pain. I have been having alot of numbness and pain around my c-section incision as well as pain on the left side of my abdomen. He says that it is muscle spasms from screwing around with my muscles during my surgery (obviously he didn't use those words...lol) and that I have 2 options. Option #1 is a topical gel that should help. Option #2, if that doesn't help, is "targeting the spasms" and he says he does that for a few patients but that it is incredibly painful. So I figure I'll try the gel, but if that doesn't work I'll just wait and let it work itself out. It's not painful enough that I want to try an "incredibly painful" procedure to get rid of basically some mild-moderate discomfort. Plus I'm a wimp. lol

Not much else to mention, though. Tomorrow will be dedicated to laundry and housecleaning, assuming my kids let me.

What is wrong with people?

2008-07-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

I sat down at the computer this morning with my cup of coffee to check my email and see what's in the news today, like I usually do. And what do I see? Yet another news story of a dead, abandoned newborn being found.

I just don't get what is wrong with these people. I can understand someone finding themselves dealing with an unwanted pregnancy. It's not fair, but I know it happens. But do these women (and girls) not understand that they have options? As much as I disagree with it, and I am 100% pro-life, I would rather see a woman have an abortion than to leave their baby in a dumpster or a stairwell or wherever to die. But if they do carry on with the pregnancy, why not just give the baby up? Why abandon it? Why not seek medical help when they go into labor? Or if they don't, at the very least drop the baby off at a hospital after it's been born so that it can be taken care of.

There are so many couples who can't have children, or who miscarry, or who have a baby or child die, yet these women who are blessed with these babies just throw the child's life away like it doesn't count.

Hopefully one day there will be a system in place for women who feel they have no other option. So that another baby doesn't have to suffer like so many have. In the meantime, I suppose all we can do is hold our own kids close to us and be thankful to be able to provide for them.

Another new week.

2008-07-14T10:40:00.000-07:00

It is Monday again, and for once I am actually feeling well-rested and happy. I am usually not a morning person, and although I am usually in a better mood by this time of the morning than when I first get up, I have been strangely un-grumpy since I rolled out of bed.

It's certainly not because I had a restful weekend. Saturday Jamie was barely around at all and I had a difficult day with the girls. By the time the weekend rolls around I am so ready for his help, and he was busy and I didn't get it. Yesterday was also busy, but the girls were much easier than they were the day before.

I think the real reason why I feel so wonderful is because I got a good night's sleep last night. And not just 6-ish hours of straight sleep like parents of a baby are thrilled to get...Lexi was down by 11:00, I was asleep shortly after and she let me sleep in until 8:45 this morning. That's how real people sleep! lol

This week should be relatively uneventful. Nothing planned until Friday, when I get an afternoon to myself. Either my mom or my mom-in-law will be watching the girls and I will have the entire afternoon to myself to go to St. Paul and get my hair done. Something short and red, I think.

The weekend should be busy because we have a wedding to go to, but it will be nice to get out and do something. We won't be kid-free (although we will likely only take my breastfeeding lady with us), but it will be a nice change of scenery, not to mention routine.

So I have my fingers crossed for a nice, quiet, maybe even relaxing week. Hopefully my 2 lovely ladies are in agreement with me on that one!

Some photos!

2008-07-14T10:24:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been trying to make a conscious effort to take more pictures of the girls. I always took alot when I just had one child, but since Lexi was born, I haven't taken as many. Which I suppose is to be expected, but I really want to have those memories.

So along with taking more pictures, I have been really trying to get some good ones, too. To put some thought into them and try to make them as good as can be, not just Lexi propped up in the corner of the couch, or Addy in the highchair eating because that's the only time I can get her to sit still.

So here are some of the ones I am most proud of. They're almost all of Addy. For some reason, I hardly get any good ones of Lexi. Although she has gotten much better, she is still not greatly photogenic, and her movements are still a bit jerky and unexpected, so I end up with some part of her blurry.

One Of Those Days

2008-07-10T20:04:00.000-07:00

Today was a day, as Cathy so perfectly put it, from you know where. It started last night, with both of my girls not sleeping well. Jamie was on nights so I was left to deal on my own. Addy was a little difficult to get to sleep, but there was no throw-up, so I'm not going to complain about that. But she had a very restless sleep and was up countless times crying out, but she was able to soothe herself back to sleep, so that was good.

Alexis...Not so much. She was up at aroung 12:30am, and then again at about 4:00am, wide awake both times and very demanding of my constant attention. She also had me up much earlier in the morning than I would have liked, and wouldn't you know, as soon as we were up and I was semi-awake, she was snoozing in her swing.

Addy had a very difficult morning. She was very bratty, which is unusual for her. She was pinching, hitting, throwing toys at her sister, picking on the cat and throwing tantrum after tantrum after tantrum.

Lexi was a little better, but still not very happy. Fussy and, again, very demanding of my attention. I'm beginning to wonder if she might be teething already. I was hoping that would wait a few more months so the breastfeeding would continue to stay pleasant, but I'm not so sure.

Anyways, they both basically slept the afternoon so that was nice. And I shipped Addy off to her Grandma Dianne's for the night, so it's so nice and quiet around here. Lexi is already fed, bathed and in bed, and I have the evening to myself.

The weekend is nearing, but I don't think it will be very relaxing. It sounds like it's going to be another busy one that won't be much of a break. Maybe one of these times I'll get a bit of a break. Just not this time.

Friday Yet Again

2008-06-20T14:10:00.000-07:00

Another week has come and gone, and we're back to the weekend. I sat down a couple of times this week to write in my blog but I just couldn't think of anything to say. It was a pretty uneventful week here.

We tried the potty training thing again with Addy. I was happy leaving things alone for awhile (although I am so tired of changing diapers I could cry). But Sunday night Addy made the "poop face" and Jamie asked her if she needed to go potty and she went straight to the bathroom. So I thought maybe she was ready. Monday morning came, I put her on the potty right away. You could tell she was trying but nothing came, so I put her in a pair of panties and off we went with our day. We tried a couple times between then and lunch (she had slept in so there wasn't much time there) and nothing. During lunch she was sitting in her high chair and got a strange look on her face, so I asked her if she needed to go and she gave me her yes "noise" but by the time she was out of the chair she had wet herself. And boy did that upset her. And after that she didn't even want to try anymore. I'd say 'potty' and she'd throw a tantrum. So that was the end of that.

Lexi had her shots last Friday and that went well. She cried a bit, but I managed not to. She is now weighing in at 13 pounds, 12.5 ounces and is just under 25 inches long. She seems chubbier to me than Addy did, but I checked Addy's book and she was actually bigger at her 4-month shots (14 pounds 6 and 3/4 ounces and 25 inches long). So I must not be remembering very well.

Anyways, at that appointment the health nurse also told me they changed the recommended age to start introducing solids. It was 4 months when I had Addy, but now it's 6 months. But I had already started Lexi on rice cereal at that point. So I'm still debating whether I will continue or not, but since then she hasn't gotten it.

This week has actually been really crappy weather-wise. Overcast every day (although I believe Wednesday morning was nice, but it went to the crapper by lunch time) and at the very least rain, although I think we had a thunderstom every day too. But so far, today is nice. Hopefully it stays that way. Savannah and Alicia are spending the night here tonight and I thought it'd be fun to have a campfire. And I'm dying to get outside and get some fresh air (and get my kids out...You can tell Addy has been cooped up too long), so hopefully the weather cooperates.

This weekend should be a busy one too (although aren't they all?). Tomorrow is the community garage sale, so I will definitely be doing alot of garage-saling. The rib cook-off happens tomorrow too, so that saves me having to make a meal but it's definitely not a time-saver. Tomorrow night is Irene's bridal shower, which Martina, Lexi and I are going to. And then Sunday we're off to the city to buy Jamie his Father's Day BBQ, do his tux fitting for Kim and Ryan's wedding and hopefully be back in time to get to the beach with Holly and the girls, assuming it's nice.

I'm tired just thinking about it all.

My Lucky Girls and Their Wonderful Daddy

2008-06-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

This Father's Day has really gotten me thinking about how lucky my kids really are. I always thought I had a great dad when I was growing up, but when push came to shove, he made it very obvious his children are not a priority to him.

When I was first pregnant with Addy I wasn't too sure how Jamie would do. But he surprised me and he really grew up and stepped up to the plate when she was born. And all through my pregnancy with Lexi when I was unsure of everything and had no idea how things could possibly work out, he was there to remind me how wonderful she would be and to not worry about things.

He may put up a fight about changing dirty diapers, and he may not help with the laundry, and Lord knows he is completely oblivious to the housework that I need help with, but my 2 little girls have the most wonderful Daddy they could possibly ask for.

He loves them and spoils them. There is always room in his lap for a little lady and I quite often find him hiding out in one of their rooms playing with them. I know in the years to come he will endure more tea parties than either one of us can imagine, have more pretties in his hair than he could care to count, and he will probably end up made up more than once too, but I know there will be no complaints out of him.

Sometimes I think he could use a lesson or two in compassion, but he always puts their needs first. His baby girls are his top priority and he doesn't try to hide it. We were barely home from the hospital with Lexi and he was asking me when we could have another baby.

Addison and Alexis are very lucky to have such a wonderful Daddy, and I know they will never have to endure the emotional pain my father has put my siblings and me through. And that is a good feeling.

Even though it was yesterday, Happy Father's Day to a wonderful father and husband! I hope you enjoyed your day about you, when you make every other day about your kids!

Mondays Suck

2008-06-09T19:49:00.001-07:00

Today was a rainy day and I spend most of it in bed being lazy. Jamie is on nights this week so he was my enabler. He watched Addy for most of the day and Lexi either slept or laid in bed with me and nursed.

Usually I like rainy days but today I didn't. The weather just made be feel mopey and exhausted. And now Jamie is working and my pity party is continuing. I've been trying to get Addy to sleep for about 2 hours now with no luck. And all I want to do is go to bed so I can sleep and not feel so tired tomorrow.

This weekend really did me in. Since 2 Saturdays ago, Holly and I had been into the city 4 times including this weekend. And yesterday I didn't seem to get anything done but it still somehow was a busy day.

My house is still a disaster and I'm beginning to think it will look that way until my kids have moved out in a couple of decades from now. And even then it might still look like a disaster because I'll probably need another few years to catch up on my lost sleep.

I'm also still behind on my laundry. But I am coming to terms with the fact that that's never going to change.

Well, Addy is still in her room, wide awake, crying her head off and now my boobs are leaking like the Hoover Dam, so I guess it's about time to cut this short.

Here's hoping tomorrow is a better day.

My Girls

2008-06-04T19:21:00.000-07:00

Thought I should post a little update about the girls, seeing as it's been awhile since I have. Plus I like to talk about them. lol

Addison seems to have entered The Terrible Two's a few months early. She has become very stubborn and the temper tantrums are happening more and more often. She has also begun to really climb things. I am forever catching her on the little table in her bedroom, up on the back of the loveseat sitting facing the window checking stuff out and on the kitchen chairs, which are really only on the way to getting onto the table where I most often find her. When we first brought up the patio furniture, we had put the baby gate up on the deck and Jamie and I were outside playing with her. Lexi woke up to be fed so I went to get her and Jamie went to get us some drinks and before he even had them poured Addy was on top of the patio table.

But even if she is very defiant and has that famous Davidsen Temper, she is still a wonderfully loveable little girl. She likes to give hugs and kisses, and she loves her baby sister more than anyone. She is forever getting up close to her face to look at her and talk to her and she loves to snuggle her and shower her with kisses. She will even try to pick her up of of your lap if you are holding her, or take her out of her bouncy seat. And the scary thing is she can pick her up no problem, so unfortunately for Lexi she doesn't get to chill out on a blanket on the floor.

You can definitely tell that Addy is transitioning from a baby to a toddler when you look at her eating habits. Before she would eat anything and everything and lots of it. Now she is becoming a little bit more picky and will take things out of her mouth that she doesn't like and chuck them across the room. Also, some days she will eat like crazy, but the next day she will hardly touch anything.

She's still on the formula and gets a bottle when she goes down for her nap and at bedtime. I have been debating trying milk again, but I think this time we will try soy milk and see how that goes.

I am anxious to start potty training, although I know it's still too early. We have the little potty in the bathroom and every so often I will sit her on it (still clothed, though) just so she can get used to it. I am just so tired of changing diapers, so I blame that on my anxiousness.

Addy is also learning new words all the time. Unfortunately her grandma taught her Shit when we were in Jasper and now it's not unusual for me to hear "Oh shit!" come out of her mouth. I find that so frustrating and it upsets me to the point that I really think I could cry because I try to be so careful and I was always worried other people's language would result in this. She also has learnt Stick, but that seems to come out as Dick and unfortunately some people don't feel the need to correct her and ennunciate when they speak. Some of the words that don't tick me off that she has now added to her vocabulary are Duck (and any bird is a duck), Daddy (which she says clear as a bell and when I coax her to say Mommy, this is what she comes back with), Hot and Ow.

She has made the adjustment to her toddler bed amazingly well and is back to sleeping through the night I would say about 95% of the time. She is going down well for her naps and I have noticed a real decrease in her making herself throw up (praise the gods!).

Alexis seems to be a completely different baby and sometimes I can barely believe my eyes and ears. She has completely outgrown the colic and is a happy, smiley baby. She was laughing the other day, but I think that is going to be like what her smiling was like. When she first started smiling she was soooooo hard to get to smile, and that seems to be where the laughing is headed. But now she is smiley all the time so hopefully in a few weeks we will get to hear that amazing little giggle on a regular basis. I said to my sister a couple of weeks back that there is nothing more amazing than looking down at your baby when he/she is breastfeeding and having them smile at you, but I think hearing that laugh for the first time might just be right up there with that.

Lexi is definitely on the road to sleeping through the night. I was getting a good 6 hours out for her usually, which is really nothing to complain about. But since I have started trying to get her out of our bed at night and into the bassinet, those stretches have seemed to decrease, but I guess that is to be expected. Soon enough she will be sleeping through the night, though, and she'll be out of the bassinet and into her room, so for now I think I will just cherish these nights where I get to snuggle with her in bed, even if I do get woken up more often than I would like.

This morning we gave the rice cereal another shot. I think this is about the 3rd or 4th time we have tried. Addy started at 4 weeks (no, that's not a type-o, and boy was she ready for it!) so I have tried Lexi a few times since about that age, but she just wasn't ready for it yet. But today she was. Those little arms and legs were flailing and kicking like crazy, and her mouth was open like a little bird waiting for the food in between bites. And when the bite would come, she would slurp it off the spoon like there was no tomorrow! With it taking her so long to be that way, I really find it amazing that Addy did those things at a fraction of Lexi's age.

Lexi has also started rolling over from her tummy to her back. I thought to myself one day that she should be getting close the being able to do it, so I put her on her tummy and she rolled almost immediately.

She's still breastfeeding like crazy, but she is also getting better with the supplementing. I have to hand it to those moms who breastfeed without the occasional supplementing. I sure couldn't do it. Some days by the time the evening rolls around, I just feel so "touched out" that I have to ask Jamie to give her a bottle. And actually, last weekend my sister and I spend an entire day in the city doing some shopping, getting pedicures, saw a movie and just had a girl's day, so Lexi didn't get to breastfeed from about 6:30am until about 9:00pm and she did amazingly well. I, on the other hand, was very full and tender and that was after "taking care of it" twice in the last 5 hours.

Well, Jamie is home from work now, so I guess it's time I go find us some supper.

6 Things.

2008-06-02T10:42:00.000-07:00

I have been tagged by Erin. The topic is to share six unimportant things about myself and then to tag six other people to do the same thing. Here are the rules: 1. Link back to the person who tagged you. 2. Post these rules on your blog. 3. Share six unimportant things about yourself. 4. Tag six random people at the end of your entry.

#1. I hate popcorn...Even the smell makes me nauseaus but every once in awhile I get a huge craving for it.

#2. I'm actually not a big fan of driving. I would much rather have someone chaffeur me around.

#3. I hate to cook, but I love to bake.

#4. I can type over 100 words per minute and I never have the right fingers on the right keys.

#5. I have a horrible temper. It takes me a long time to lose it, but when I do, I lose it big time.

#6. I love shoes. And the higher the heel the better. I have a large collection, but nowhere to wear them.

Well, I'm supposed to tag 6 people now, but I think everyone whose blog I read has already posted this. But in case I'm wrong and I've missed someone, I tag you!

Not Computer Savvy

2008-05-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

Apparently I am not very computer savvy.

I started my last post on Tuesday but only just finished it today (and no, for those of you who are smart-asses, I have not been posting since then...hehehe), and now it is dated for Tuesday.

Or perhaps I was just fore-telling the future??

Still Kicking

2008-05-27T18:11:00.000-07:00

Apparently it has been awhile since I've posted here (as Holly pointed out last weekend), so here I am.

Not too much exciting has been going on around here lately. On the long weekend the 4 of us went up to Jasper and met my mom and cousin there. It was kind of a bust, though. Two babies and all the gear that goes along with two babies made it very difficult to be able to sightsee and do the things we wanted too. Although I did book a "surprise tee time" for Jamie to go golfing at the Jasper Park Lodge and I tagged along with him leaving Mom and Leigh to look after the babies. It was really nice to be able to spend an afternoon together without the girls, although I think I spent most of the time driving the golf cart to catch up to Jamie and fetching clubs. Which I still don't understand. Most of the time it would have been faster for him to get them himself than for us to do our charade of:

"Bring me the 9 iron!"

"Which one is that?"

"The one with the 9 on it!"

"Where would the 9 be? Oh, is it this one?"

"No! The one with the 9 on it!"

"This one?"

"Does it have a 9 on it?"

"No!"

"Then not that one!"

Anyways, I don't think I will ever have a job as a caddy. hehehe

This past weekend was my neice's birthday and the party was at our house. I remember saying to my sister "If I can handle 2 babies, surely I can handle a pack of 8 and 9 year old girls." HA! lol I suppose it would have been a lot easier if I had been organized. My house was a disaster and Holly's and my "quick trip" into Veg to get the party stuff ended up taking half the day and half of the guests beat us to the house. Thankfully Jamie was home. Jamie who was supposed to clean the house but instead left our 9 year old neice to babysit Addy while he napped all afternoon. Men. *sigh*

So the lack of organization combined with the mess that was my house put my stress level through the roof. But we all still had fun and surprisingly, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Jamie is back to working close to home and he is at the house at some point throughout the day every day, so that is so nice. It's been great for the girls to get to see him. He was missing out on alot with both of them, and although Lexi was still to young to know the difference, Addy was really missing her daddy.

This week I haven't managed to get anything done other than my yardwork. I still need to get my planters and hanging baskets all done up but everything else is done. And I am so happy about it. I had been after Jamie to do it (it seems I'm always after him to do the outside work) and I was sick of having to ask and having to look at it, so I figured seeing as both girls were napping at the same time I would just go out and get it over with. But now I need to find some sort of outdoor toy box for all the play things that go outside because I don't have anywhere to put them. And the tent needs to come down from the party last weekend but that is a 2-man job. It seems the to-do list never ends.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend. We're each getting a "free day" to do whatever we want. So on Saturday my sister and I are going into the city. She's got a couple of stops to make in the morning, and then in the afternoon we're getting pedicures and going to see the Sex and the City movie at silver city in West Ed (or whatever it's called now). Surprisingly, all the times I have been to that mall, I have never been into that theatre.

Then on Sunday Jamie is going golfing and afterwards we're going to have some people over for a BBQ. So that should be fun. The only thing is that gives me a crappy timeline to get the house cleaned. Sunday I want to get my planters done so that means I need to get all the housework done before my day on Saturday.

Okay, well I think I've been boring enough so I'm off to try to get a few more things done before my girlies wake up.

Another Week

2008-04-29T11:48:00.000-07:00

We actually had a very productive weekend, which was long overdue. We got alot crossed off our to-do lists. The cabinets all have locks on them now (or at least the ones that the locks we bought will work on), we got the new light fixture up in the entry way as well as one in Lexi's room, Jamie finally took down the Christmas lights and brought in all the extension cords he had outside, the deck got pressure washed, some of the raking in the backyard got done, the vehicles got washed and a bunch of other little miscellaneous jobs got crossed off.

And I got a massive sunburn, not to mention a touch of sunstroke. I do it every year. The first really nice day comes along and I spend way too much time outside and without any sunscreen (and I know better, and I'm usually really careful about sunscreen, but I always do it) and I end up sick and sunburnt to a crisp. And to make matters worse, all that raking I did left me with arms and shoulders so sore it's painful to pick up Alexis.

And speaking of which, I cannot believe how quickly she is growing. She is already into 6 month sleepers and outfits, although she hasn't quite outgrown all of the 3 month stuff. She is smiley and happy and much less demanding of my attention now and she grins when she sees her big sister. She's still sleeping in our bed, but she is also now spending a good chunk of her time at night in the bassinet next to me. She loves to be outside and even though she won't fall asleep in her crib or bassinet on her own, if you put her outside in the stroller she will doze off on her own.

Addy, it seems, has finally made the adjustment to her new bed. As long as you get her down for her nap or bedtime on time (and don't try too early when she isn't ready yet), she goes down on her own and doesn't need someone in the room. She is now (other than the rare time) back to sleeping through the night. Typically she is down for the night at about 8:00pm, and sleeps through until early morning for a bottle. She'll then go back to sleep until somewhere between 8-9:00am. Everyday it seems she does something new. She has mastered going down the steps to the living room on her own, as well as climbing up on the couch and stealing the phone or remotes off the end table when nobody is looking and she loves to throw toys, shoes, bottles and whatever else she can get her hands on through the railings down the stairs. She also loves to be outside and likes to walk on her own when we go for walks. Yesterday she had her first trip of the year to the park and she was all over the place, swinging, going down the slides and climbing on anything and everything. She loves her baby sister and I have to be extremely careful about making sure that if I'm not in the room that Lexi is out of her reach because she will pick her up. She is a smart, loveable little girl, and I can't even fathom how much she has grown and changed in the last 14 or so months.

Last night, I did bedtime on my own with no help. I even had to bathe Lexi after supper (she doesn't usually get her bath around that time because we're so busy getting Addy into bed) but she had a major poo explosion so we had no choice. So 2 baths and I still had Addy into bed at a decent time. And I was on my own for the night too, and we all did really well. Addy was up at about 11:30 and was not very happy, but it only took her a few minutes to calm down and we were all back to sleep fairly quickly. And other than the crappy sleep I had because of the aforementioned sunburn and sore arms and shoulders, we had a really good night.

Welcome, Weekend!

2008-04-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

I am so glad it's Friday afternoon. Jamie will be home in a few hours and I can enjoy the weekend. Hopefully I can actually get some stuff done and get Jamie to do a few things around here too. Number 1 on the list: installing the childproof locks on the cupboards. *Someone* has been putting off doing it basically since Addy has become mobile, and I am sick of picking up stuff she has pulled out of the cabinets and drawers and fishing her out of the lazy-susan cupboard.

I am also looking forward to a break from the laundry. This week has been an entire week of catching up on laundry and I am almost there. There's a load drying right now, a load in the washer waiting for the dryer and one more load to be washed. That is the closest I have been to caught up probably since Addy was born. In the past 5 days, I have washed, dryed, folded and put away...I would say if not 20 loads, pretty darn close to it. I am so sick of laundry but I will stay caught up with it from now on.

My Gorgeous Baby sling arrived this week too. I am having some difficulties with it, though. I can get Addy into it no problem in either the tummy-to-tummy with legs out position or the hip hold position. But I have been having some real issues with Lexi. I bought it basically for the cradle hold so I can nurse her in it or let her sleep in it so that I could get some housework done. But she does not like it and I can't figure out how to position her to nurse her. I tried the tummy-to-tummy hold with her today (legs in, though, not out like with Addy) and she liked that a bit more but I can't nurse her in that position. And I still don't even know if I have her in right in either of those positions. I'm sure that the sling fits me, I just don't know how to get Lexi in it. With Addy it's easy because her body isn't hidden away in the sling. But with the positions for Lexi, I don't know how she is supposed to be positioned because in the pictures and videos, you can't actually see the baby's body once they're in there. I feel like she is lost in the pouch. And of course I can't contact the company I bought it from because the couple that runs it just had a baby so they are closed until June 1st. Any baby-wearing mommies out there that can offer me some advice?

It's Been Awhile

2008-04-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

I've been slacking with my blog lately, but things have just been so busy it seems I barely get a chance to check my email, let alone post an entry here.

Things have just been the same chaos as usual around here. Jamie is still working in Camrose, but it looks like he should be back working close to home and here every day within a month's time. So that'll be nice. Especially for Addy because it's obvious she misses him alot when he's gone.

Alexis is growing like crazy. I've already packed away alot clothes she has outgrown, and it looks like I'm needing to do it again. She is finally starting to go longer in between feedings and sleeping for longer lengths. She is also happy when she's awake, for the most part anyways. She has been smiling for a couple of weeks now and although she hasn't rolled over yet, I don't think it will be long. Maybe now that she is awake for longer periods throughout the day she will be able to get more tummytime and hit that milestone soon.

Addison is now in a big girl bed. We had to ditch the crib because she was very close to being able to climb out of it. Not to mention she's done a real number on it. She would stand up in it and shake it, and it was not taking the abuse as well as it should have been. So into a big girl bed she went this past weekend. It has been a fairly smooth transition, although we have to stay in the room with her while she is falling asleep. If you leave her alone she either gets out of bed and bangs on the door while screaming her head off, or she stays in bed but makes herself throw up. Yes we're still dealing with that. Will it ever end? Anyways, all in all it has been a pretty easy transition. She sleeps normally once she's fallen asleep, it's just getting her there.

Yesterday we ended up spending the afternoon in the ER, though. I was sitting with her while she was falling asleep and she had been sitting up in the bed. I don't know if she lost her balance because she was on the pillow, or if she went to lay down and moved too quickly or what, but she smashed her head into the side of the bed. Right along her left eyebrow, across her temple and to just above her ear. She cried and cried and cried, and then she quit crying, calmed down and proceeded to throw up. So off to the hospital we went.

The nurse checked her out when we got there (about 1:45) and the doctor ordered x-rays and said we'd have to stay there the afternoon to make sure she was okay. He said he wanted to check her out when he got there after clinic hours and then we could go, assuming all was well. Other than the x-rays which she did not like, she was really good all afternoon. She was running around the ER and the waiting room like the crazy child that she is, and she even had a little nap on the stretcher. And we finally got to go home at about 5:30. Today you'd never know she was hurt except for the bruise on her eyebrow and the goose egg above her ear.

So that was her excitement for the week. And really, in all honesty, with the way this child is and being into everything, climbing on stuff and trying to jump off of things, I'm really surprised that was the first trip to the ER with her.

And for me this seems like it has been the longest and most stressful week ever, and I cannot wait until it's over.

Happy Friday!

2008-04-11T15:17:00.000-07:00

Today the girlies and I had a nice, relatively quiet day. Lexi and I were up early and Addy slept in. We spent the morning visiting with my mom, who stopped in before work, and playing. I even managed to squeeze some tidying up in there.

After a late lunch, I got the girls ready to go out, strapped them into the stroller and headed downtown. We went to the bank, then across to the clinic to visit Grandma, to the post office and finally home. We went about 1km and it was so nice to get out of the house and enjoy the weather. And when we got home, before coming in, Addy and I played in the front yard while Lexi snoozed in the stroller. And apparently all that fresh air tired them out because they are now both in their cribs sleeping.

Tomorrow we're going into Walmart to get some photos done. I've been really wanting to get photos done by Tammy from Smiley Eyes Photography but it's been really hard to find a day where we can make it out to see her. So to Walmart we go for now. Addy has a bruised fat lip from falling and biting it, so she'll be wearing her first makeup at an early age, I think. And Jamie needs to get a haircut before. So we'll be in Veg for awhile, but it will be nice to finally have some pictures of my new girl.

Other than that we don't have alot planned. I have a couple of things that I want to get done around the house, but they're pretty small jobs that shouldn't take long. And Holly and I are planning on going out for a walk and enjoying the nice weather too, so that will be fun.

But it's getting to be that time where I have to figure out what we're having for supper, so I'm off.

Halfway there!

2008-04-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

We're halfway to the weekend and I am definitely going to need a rest once we get there. This week has been busy, and today was only the first time I had to actually leave the house.

Grandma Dianne came this morning and took Addy because Lexi had her 2-month shots scheduled for 10:30am. She actually did quite well. She cried alot during the visit but that was just her normal fussiness. She got measured and weighed. At birth she was 20 inches long and 7 pounds 15 ounces. Today she is 22.5 inches long and 11 pounds 12 ounces. She is in the 25th percentile for length and the 75th percentile for weight. So she is growing nicely, and on a steady curve the nurse said.

She slept through the first needle although she did cry out in her sleep. But once that 2nd needle went in she was wide awake and screaming. And the volume only increased by the 3rd one. But as soon as she was done getting poked, I gave her the boob and she was fine. If memory serves me correctly she did alot better than her sister did at her 2-month shots.

Now she is fast asleep in her bouncy seat and you would never know she had such a rough morning.

I also got my flu shot. I apparently should have gotten it when I was pregnant, but I didn't. Addy has to go in later in the week to get hers too because she was supposed to get it last month at her 12-month shots but she didn't.

Today is absolutely beautiful out so I think I may take the girls out for a walk. We tried yesterday but Lexi cried the whole way so we cut it short. Hopefully she enjoys herself more this afternoon.

But Addy and Dianne are still not back, so I think it is time for me to tackle some laundry. There's a big pile to be washed, 3 baskets to be folded and 3 baskets that are folded but still need to be put away.

Have I mentioned that I hate laundry?

My Little Mischief Maker

2008-04-09T11:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was quite the day with Addy. Trouble was finding her like it had never found her before. First off, I was trying to get Lexi to sleep and I realized I could hear Addy's whiney cry. It sounded like she was in the kitchen, but when I got there all I found was one of the lazy susan cupboards open and a bunch of cans out of it on the floor. But no Addy. Which I found strange because the whining was definitely coming from the kitchen.

I had a little moment of panic before I discovered where she was hiding. At that point I burst out laughing, which apparently made her feel a little better about her perch because the whining stopped.

I managed to squeeze her out (it is an unusually small opening), but 2 minutes later she had crawled back in. How in the world she could manage to squeeze through the opening, climb up onto the top shelf and get turned around and sitting, I do not know. She is mind boggling sometimes.

Then a little later in the afternoon I was once again busy with Lexi and I realized that things were a little too quiet in the house. So I went looking for Addy and found her on her way to the patio door. Which wouldn't be so bad except she had a trail of sandwich bags following her all the way from their drawer in the kitchen. *sigh*

She also got stuck trying to get behind the swing to play with the wood stove tools that she knows she's not allowed to touch. Nothing like getting busted disobeying, eh?

And here I thought the girls were having a nice sisterly love moment, but upon closer inspection of the picture I realized that Addy was pinching Lexi. Poor baby.

Yesterday we also had a little lesson on getting down the stairs. She has no problem going up the 2 steps from the living room, but she always needs help getting down. So I taught her how to get on hr tummy and go down backwards. She caught on quick and was up and down them all day. After her nap she was playing in her room and I was sitting on the couch nursing Lexi (notice a pattern here? She always gets into trouble when I'm busy with Lexi) and she came out. She was standing at the top of the 2 steps holding onto the railing and waving one foot out at the top of the stair. I wasn't too concerned because if you are holding her hands to get her to go down, she will do this but she will not step down them. Only this time she did. Somehow I managed to get from the couch and to her and catch her in midfall. And Lexi didn't even lose her latch. lol

And after all that, what better way to wind down than by sitting down with a sippy cup of apple juice and watching Cinderella?

Oh Yuck!

2008-04-08T16:05:00.000-07:00

I just finished nursing Lexi about 5-10 minutes ago and I decided to treat myself to a little piece of chocolate because she wouldn't need another feeding for a couple of hours.

So I pop a chocolate Easter egg in my mouth and grab the jug of milk out of the fridge. I checked the date on it and it said April 15 so I poured a glass and downed it.

And after finishing gulping it down I realized it had turned bad and I drank it so fast I didn't realize this until it was gone. So now I can feel the belly ache coming on.

How does milk go bad a week before the best before date??

I think from now on I'll stick to water.

Another Monday

2008-04-07T20:51:00.000-07:00

Today Jamie went to work and I began another week alone with the girls. GO's opened so Martina is working there in the evenings so it's a little later than usual that she gets here, but I think we'll cope okay.

This weekend was a busy weekend, and I didn't seem to get anything done around the house. We went to the home and garden show on Sunday and I got some good ideas for the house and yard, but mostly I just wanted to get out of there because it was incredibly busy.

This evening I got Dianne to come over and watch the girls after supper so I could get some housework done. I got quite a bit done, so now if I can just catch up on my laundry this week and stay caught up with the kitchen I should be doing good.

Anyways, I'm beat today so I'm gonna grab a snack and crawl into bed, I think.

Some (Overdue) Pictures From Easter

2008-04-03T14:01:00.001-07:00

Hunting for eggs.

"I see more!"

"Gotcha!"

Checking out her loot.

Lexi showing off her Easter dress. I couldn't find matching ones that I liked, so the day before Easter my mom made 2 dresses and 2 pinnafores.

Giving Mommy a dirty look.

My 2 girlies (and Lexi's crazy eyes...lol).

I love how worried she always looks!

"Woohoo! Can I open it??"

Addy opening the basket the Easter Bunny left her.

Lexi wearing Addy's bunny ears.

Lexi getting help opening her basket from the Easter Bunny.

Pictures!

2008-04-03T13:55:00.001-07:00

Oh the emotions!

2008-04-03T12:40:00.001-07:00

It seems my girls are a little grumpy today. I thought I would share a couple of pictures of their grouchy faces.

An update...

2008-04-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

Things here have continued to be busy and chaotic. Alexis seems to have settled down a bit, but she is still very demanding. She always wants to be held and won't sleep at night unless she is snuggled up to Mommy. Fortunately, I have learned to adapt to having a tiny person in bed with me and I am getting a much better sleep while still being aware that she is there.

Alexis is still also very gassy. You have never met a child that stinks like she does, I tell you. And she's strictly on breastmilk so I don't really understand why. But it does seem to be improving. I only have to turn to my friend Mr. Ovol Drops about 1-2 times a day now, rather than at every feeding. She is still only giving me about 3-4 hours of sleep at a time, although last night I was treated to 5 straight hours of glorious, glorious sleep.

Addy is continuing on with her sleep issues. Some nights she sleeps right though, but most nights she doesn't. She is back to being parented to sleep (by Auntie Martina, though) which frustrates me. I know she is old enough to be able to put herself to sleep, but I also have to accept that her world has been turned upside down basically since Christmas when I was put into the hospital. She also is rarely sleeping the night now and I know she can do that as well, so once we have a better routine with Lexi and she becomes a little less demanding and is sleeping better, it will be back to the Empathic Sleep Teaching with Addy.

I am both very proud and a little sad to announce that my baby Addy is now walking. She looks so funny because she is so little, but she just cruises around and it seems that the trouble that would find her before is finding her alot more quickly now. How can one little "innocent" baby find so much mischief to get into? No, the dog food is not to eat. No, don't put the dog food into their water and make them soup. No, please don't rip everything out of your dresser. No, please don't pull everything out of the kitchen drawers. Please get out of the fridge. Don't tear up the newspaper. Where in the world did you find that? No, don't shake drops of your drink out of your sippy cup and onto the floor and then lick it up. Please get out of the toilet. Why do you try to climb into your playpen, then scream bloody murder when I put you into it? Stay out of the garbage. Please don't climb into the dryer. Please don't swing the baby so high in her swing it threatens to tip over. *sigh* I am going to get old before my time, I think.

Anyways, despite her sleep issues and her mischievious ways, Addy really is a joy to have around. She loves to love her sister and give her hugs and kisses. When she isn't pulling the dogs' or the cat's tails or whacking them with her toys, she loves to love them too. Every morning and after her naps when I pick her up out of her crib she gives me a lovely snuggle and she makes me laugh every day. Her vocabulary is increasing by the minute and you have to be incredibly careful about what you say in front of her because she picks things up so quickly.

And I have been doing well too. I don't know what I would do without Martina staying here with me. I think I would have lost my mind by now!

My New 'Do

2008-04-03T12:20:00.000-07:00

Last week I decided it was finally time to do something for me. Plus, I needed a little break and my mom offered to take the girls for me. So I went and got my hair cut and colored. I had been wanting to go short for awhile, but thought that with 2 babies it would take too long to style (as I do have to dedicate at least 5 minutes to styling my short hair) and a ponytail would be much easier. However because of my natural curls, it was taking me close to 10 minutes to brush it out each morning so I decided to go for it.

Here is the before picture:

And here is the after:

Happy Humpday!

2008-03-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

Wow, 2 days in a row I have been able to post! Alexis just finally let me lay her down for her nap (she's been sleeping awhile but every time I laid her down before now she would wake up and want to be picked up), and Addy is still down from her nap, although she will probably be up soon.

This week is dragging on and on and on. It feels like it should be Friday already. But it's American Idol night again tonight so I won't complain. And tomorrow I have an appointment to get my hair cut and colored. I figure I deserve it, plus Jamie has been nagging me for a long time to go short again, so it will also be a nice surprise for him.

So, I am still wondering if it really is colic with Alexis. When Addy was born and I was breastfeeding her, right from day 1 I could not touch chocolate without it bothering her. I tried a bit in the hospital with Lexi and she was fine with it. But a couple of days ago I thought just to see I would not eat any and see if things improved with her. And they have gotten a bit better, so we will see if things continue to improve or at the very least stay the same, or if it was just a big coincidence.

I also have a swing issue. We have the Fisher Price Ocean Aquarium swing and ever since we got it it's been going through batteries like crazy. One day we noticed that in 2 of the battery slots (there's 4) there was some dark brownish marks (kind of like rust, but sludgy so it could be wiped off) which we assumed were from the batteries leaking, but I cleaned it up and there were no problems. Last night, the batteries in the swing died while Lexi was sleeping in it and this morning when I went to change them, one of the batteries I took out was dripping wet. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the part of the "body" where the suspended part of the swing comes out of also had drips of the battery acid (I assume that's what it is, anyways...What else would it be?) and it was right over top of the baby. So now the swing is out of commission. Even if it is all cleaned up and is no longer doing it and doesn't pose a risk as is, I am not going to risk it happening again and that crap dripping on my baby. So time for a new swing.

So hopefully we can get through the next few nights until I can get somewhere to get a new swing. Our sleep options with her at night are either in bed with me or in the swing and I don't get a good night's sleep with her next to me, so we will see what happens.

A Free Minute!

2008-03-25T12:07:00.000-07:00

Finally I have a bit of freetime to update my blog! Things here have definitely been difficult lately, so it has been tough to get a chance to do even my daily chores around here, let alone get on here to update.

Well, as much as I hate to admit it, I have been blessed with a colicky baby. I don't know why it's hard for me to admit. Maybe partly because admitting it makes it real, or maybe because my mom has always said that colic is due to a nervous mom and I don't feel I'm nervous (nor do I believe that, but it's hard to not question whether or not it's my fault she is this way), but nonetheless, it is hard for me to admit.

I guess on the scale of colic horrors, Alexis is not way, way up there, but she certainly is on it. She is next to impossible to settle or calm, she is always extremely gassy no matter what I do, and she doesn't like to sleep, or at least fall asleep. And, of course, worst of all, her favorite thing in the world to do seems to be scream her head off and demand my constant attention. Some times are much worse than others, and I wonder if the reason the evenings are so bad could be because come the end of the day my nerves are so shot from the crying that she senses my stress, or at least partially caused by that. Anyways, that is why I have been MIA.

Plus, the girls and I are sick right now, which doesn't make things easier. And Addy is in the midst of teething but it seems to me she always is. As soon as one tooth pops through, another part of her gums swells up to signal the arrival of yet another one. My poor girl is always dealing with a sore mouth.

So in the midst of all this, I have been trying to be very aware of my mental health and whether or not I may have or be developing post partum depression. And at this point, I can honestly say I've dodged a bullet this time. Which I find a little odd. I definitely had PPD with Addy, although at the time I was definitely in denial and never did get any help for it. And I had things so much easier with Addy than I do this time. For one, she was such an easy-going, happy baby and she rarely cried, but also I didn't have 2 babies to deal with like I do now. Anyways, I know that it can take alot longer than this to rear its ugly head, so I will continue to pay close attention.

I have had alot of help this time around too. It was always available to me the first time, but I didn't need it as much as I do now, so I am definitely utilizing it. I don't know what I would do without everyone around to help out and give me a break when I need it, or even just tidy up my house and catch up on the laundry because I never seem to have time to do those things. Although today I lucked out and both girls are napping at the same time, so I have been able to get alot done.

But on that topic, there is alot more I could be doing too, so I'm off to take advantage of this free time and get some much needed cleaning done.

3 weeks today!

2008-02-27T12:47:00.000-08:00

Today Alexis is 3 weeks old. It feels like she has been here forever, so when I stop and think that it has really only been 3 weeks, I can hardly believe it. In the last 3 weeks she has been a busy girl. She's gotten over her jaundice and grown alot. She seems so big compared to when she was born! She is a very demanding eater and wants to eat all the time. I think part of it may very well be her using me as a pacifier, but we have tried giving her the soother and she doesn't seem to like it. I think she has her days and nights mixed up too, as during the day she will sleep 5-6 hour stretches and is barely awake long enough to finish a feeding, but at night she wants to be fed every 3 hours and I have a very difficult time getting her back to sleep. So we need to work on that.

The 3 of us have been taking walks in the afternoons this week. Lexi usually sleeps the whole time, and Addy just sits up front in the stroller and looks all over the place and babbles away to herself. We don't go far (only about a 20-minute long walk) and I keep the pace pretty leisurely because I'm still healing, but it's so nice to get out of the house and enjoy the nice weather. And Addy seems to be sleeping better at night after having gotten some fresh air during the day. Today we're going over to Mom's for supper, and I am planning on heading over there early so there probably won't be a walk today. The girls are sleeping now, but when naptime is over and Addy has had her snack (and Lexi will probably want to eat again too), I will have the enjoyable task of trying to get 2 babies ready to go and remember everything we'll need. So we'll see how I do. lol

Anyways, being that it's almost 2pm, I should probably go get myself dressed. I remember 5 or so years ago when it was a big deal when I was out of bed, dressed, teeth brushed and hair done by 10am. Now it's a big deal if I have both kids up, clean diapers, dressed and fed by that time, and I'm lucky if I get to be ready for the day by lunchtime.

Another long day.

2008-02-25T20:46:00.000-08:00

Today I had both girls all day, and no help at all and I am exhausted. I don't think it was my first day with both of them alone, but I certainly haven't had enough of them to be used to it. I felt like all day either one of them was crying or I was feeding Lexi. I did manage to get in about an hour long nap this afternoon, which was really nice. I can't imagine how tired I would be by now if I hadn't gotten that little snooze.

This afternoon I also managed to get the 3 of us dressed and out the door for a walk. It took about a half an hour to get the girls happy, clean, diapers changed, warm clothes on and myself dressed and all of us out the door just for a 20 minute walk, but I so needed to get out of the house and enjoy the nice weather. I haven't had a chance to take advantage of the warm temperatures yet and Addy needed some fresh air too. So hopefully it will help us all to get a good night's sleep tonight.

Today Jamie found out that rather than working close to home for a couple of months before going back to Camrose, they will be starting six week's worth of work there sometime this week. So being home without him at all during the week will be tough, but I have people to ask for help so hopefully we'll do okay. I am feeling a little sad, though, that he will miss alot of Lexi's first couple of months. By the time he is back here and working close to home, she will be alot bigger. Oh well, such is life, I guess.

Anyways, my bed is calling me so I am going to go try to get some sleep. Here's hoping for a good night with both girls. Lexi gave me a rough time from 1am-3am last night, and Addy was up twice in hysterics, so hopefully tonight will be better.

2008-02-20T13:56:00.000-08:00

Boy am I a slacker, almost a week since my last post.

Really, this last week has not been very eventful. We did some visiting over the weekend, but that's about it for excitement. Yesterday Jamie went back to work, so I have been on my own. Addy spent Monday night at my mom's and she didn't bring her home until almost suppertime yesterday, so today has been my first full day with both girls without any help, and it has been going surprisingly well. Addy had a long nap and now she is back in her crib because she is kind of crabby this afternoon and seemed like she could use more sleep, although she has yet to fall asleep. And Lexi is in the swing snoozing away.

Addy is so close to walking it scares me. She will stand on her own, and she has taken a few steps (the first time being on Feb. 10th), but she is still a little scared. It won't be long, though. She doesn't even seem like a baby to me anymore.

I feel lately like all I do is nurse the baby. She is so hungry. During the day she's fine, and she's usually fine after I've gotten her down for the night, but in the late evening before bed and in the early morning (like 5-6am) she is ravenous. This morning I brought her to bed at 6am because she was hungry and I was tired, and I slept while she nursed off and on for 2 entire hours. And then she was still fussing to eat, so I gave her a bottle and she took about an ounce and a half of that before she was finally content.

I really can't complain, though. She is so good, even if she does seem to think she's starving to death lately. And Addy has continued to like her and lavish her with attention and hugs and kisses, which is a big relief. I was kind of worried that the novelty of her might wear off and she would start to feel jealous (I would certainly feel jealous if I were her stuck in the playpen while Mommy held and nursed the baby), but she has been so awesome. Here's hoping that things stay this way.

I saw the doctor yesterday and he said my incision looks good. He cut off that little piece where the stitch had poked through and come undone. It's a little sore there now because he pulled it to cut it, but it's not bad. My blood pressure was still on the high side (140/100). He said that at this point he isn't going to worry about it, but if it's still high at my 6-week check-up then he may put me on something. I won't have that appointment until April because he's gone on holidays all next month, so perhaps I will be able to get my iud by the time he is back and I go in. No more babies for me, or at least not for a very long time.

Actually, the crazy thing is I have really been missing being pregnant. I guess because I have spent the better part of 2 years prego, it feels strange to not be now. Although I'm sure if I felt with Lexi like I did with Addy I would certainly not be missing it, but even when I had the pre-eclampsia with Lexi I didn't feel sick.

Oh well, miss it all I want, I won't be that way again for a very long, long time.

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T22:04:00.001-08:00

Although today is Valentine's Day, it really wasn't different from any other day around here. We opt not to do anything for v-day because we both feel that it's important to show each other our love and do nice things for one another every day, not just one day, so all we did was exchange cards. We also got cards for the girls and a little box of chocolates for Addy. My mom also got them the cutest little matching slippers, and more chocolate for my tiny choco-holic. So, again, like every other day, it was more about them than us, but that's the way it should be.

Today was also our first outing since bringing Alexis home. We went to Vegreville to do some shopping. The diaper situation here was not looking good and we didn't figure we'd make it to the weekend. Anyways, it went really well. Alexis slept from the time we put her in the carseat to leave until we got home and took her out of the carseat. Poor Addy had a little breakdown when we got to the check-out because I wouldn't let her have the diaper coupons, but we made it out of there alive. Then we got home and I was exhausted, so when Addy and Alexis went to sleep, so did I.

Tonight I finally gave up on waiting until day 10, and I had a bath. I figured it's day 8, my incision is closed up and I hadn't had a bath in at least 9 or 10 days (the shower just doesn't cut it...lol), so I got in the tub. I also wanted to take my steri-strips off and there was no way I was doing that without soaking them first. My incision looks good, though, except for at one end of it there was a stitch out (they only stitched inside with the dissolved stitches). Anyways, this stitch was out and in the tub I notice it had come undone so now there is a piece of "thread" about 1cm long coming out of my incision and just sitting there. So we'll see what the doctor says about that. I'm to go see him on Tuesday.

Anyways, I'm sleepy and Jamie should be done giving Alexis her bedtime supplement, so I think we're all going to head off to bed.

Back once again!

2008-02-12T13:58:00.001-08:00

Jamie, Alexis and I arrived home on Saturday, which happened to be Addy's birthday. Had it not been her birthday, I probably would have opted to spend another day in the hospital, but I really wanted to be home for Addy's birthday so when the doctor gave me the option, I didn't hesitate when I told him I wanted to come home.

Our adjustment has been good. I was pretty nervous about what it would be like to go from one kid to 2 (or in our case, babies) but so far it has been a really easy transition. Now, that being said, I have yet to have to look after both girls by myself, so we will see how it goes when Jamie is back to work and I'm past the point of having someone else come every day.

Alexis is a really good baby. She is so similar to Addy, both in looks and personality, but she is much more demanding. She wants what she wants and she wants it 5 minutes ago. We're dealing with a mild case of jaundice right now, but it seems to be improving. She spends most of her time sleeping, and when she isn't asleep she's eating. Since she was born, she has consistently had a good night and a bad night. On the good nights she will go 3-4 hours between the start of one feeding to the beginning of the next. The bad nights are another story. She will be up every 1/2 hour to every hour wanting to eat and she just doesn't seem to be satisfied with what she's getting, so we have started supplementing her at night. On those bad nights, she also doesn't like to be put down, so as soon as you lay her in her bed (or if you're really "lucky" she'll wait until you've just dozed off), she will scream her little head off. I will spend an insane amount of time trying to get her to sleep and then laying her down (and then starting over when she wakes up screaming) because I am not a fan of co-sleeping, but lucky for Alexis her daddy is the opposite and there have been quite a few times where I wake up and he has his back to me and is all snuggled up with the baby.

Addy has made such an awesome adjustment to having the baby here and losing a significant amount of my attention (although alot of that is because of the c-section and the fact that I can't pick her up). She adores Alexis and is always pointing at her saying "pretty" and trying to hold her little hands and give her kisses. It is so sweet to watch.

She has also taken her first steps. She has no problem standing on her own, it's taking those steps but on Sunday night she took 2 and last night she took another 2. My baby is on the road to toddlerhood.

I'm also doing pretty good. The baby blues are definitely not as bad as they were with Addy, but I do still have my moments. My pain hasn't been too bad at all, except for some left-sided abdominal pain and some incredibly painful tape burns from my dressings. But the tape burns are alot better now and I don't have much pain at all. I go see the doctor next Tuesday to see how I am doing and to get my incision checked out, but it has been healing really well. The health nurse came yesterday and that went well too, and she even told us that Alexis is gaining weight alot quicker than most babies do and she is almost back up to her birthweight.

Anyways, I'm off to have a rest, but I'll share some pictures first.

Introducing...

2008-02-12T13:53:00.000-08:00

Alexis Avery MacDonald

Alexis arrived via c-section on Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 at 8:37am. She weighed in at 7 pounds and 15 ounces and was 20 inches long.

My last entry for awhile.

2008-02-05T20:59:00.000-08:00

Well, it is almost 10:00pm the night before the surgery and I am still not ready. The diaper bag is packed, but that's about it. My bag isn't packed, Jamie's isn't, the carseat isn't installed. Lots to get done, but eventually it will be done.

I'm still not convinced that we are having a baby tomorrow. My sister-in-law was here tonight and we were talking about how this is my last night with the baby belly (tomorrow night it will just be a flabby belly...*sigh*) and I just couldn't believe it. I can't believe this pregnancy is almost over. It seems like I only just found out. It seems like I only just had Addy (yes, okay, I kind of only did just have Addy, but you know what I mean). But I'm glad that for the most part (and what I had the time to pay attention to) that I did get to enjoy this pregnancy and experience all the positives, because I really felt last time that I didn't get to do that.

Anyways, enough of that, I just wanted to come on and say good-bye to everyone. I'll be back home probably Sunday, and hopefully I will get a chance, not to mention have the energy, to come on and say hello and share some pictures.

Think of me in 10 hours...I will be in (or on my way into) surgery...Yikes!!

"The" Week

2008-02-04T10:18:00.001-08:00

It's Monday, the start of another week. And this is going to be one heck of a week. The day after tomorrow is c-section day.

Today I had to get up early and be in Viking for 8:30am to get my bloodwork for the crossmatch done. Jamie's mom came and watched Addy while I was gone. I also had to see the doctor to get my blood pressure checked, but the walk-in clinic was at the hospital this morning, so that worked out good for me. I also figured I had better see him because I fell going out to the vehicle this morning.

It was last Monday that we got the loads and loads of snow, and the town still has not come around to clear our street. I would say about 90% of all the streets are done, and even some of them have had the snow removed, not just piled out of the way, but our street always sits and sits and sits. It's packed down where you actually drive, but along the sides where you park it's a mess and we only have street parking.

Anyways, enough of me being long-winded. I fell because the street is a mess, but I ended up on my hands and knees, not my belly. The doctor said you're usually pretty safe unless you land on your belly, but he had a listen to the baby just to be safe and said it sounds good. He also said that while taking a fall like that is very unlikely to hurt the baby, at this stage it could theoretically put me into labor. I promptly told him to not say anything about labor, because I am not going into labor. If I have to have a c-section anyways, no way am I going to endure the pain of labor again first.

For the rest of the day I plan to just take things easy. I need to un-decorate from the party, but that shouldn't take long. I may even just leave it for Jamie to do tonight. There's a bit of laundry to be done, but that's it.

Tomorrow all I intend on doing is finishing up whatever laundry doesn't get done today, or accumulates between tonight and tomorrow. The dogs are going to the groomer for 3pm and it sounds like all 3 of us are going to make that trip, but other than that I am going to enjoy the calm before the storm and spend as much 1 on 1 time with Addy as I can.

The Birthday Party

2008-02-03T18:46:00.000-08:00

There is a good reason why you should not have more than one child born per month...It could very well kill you. I barely survived Addy's party and I can't stop thinking "Next year I have to do this twice in about a week!" Oh boy.

Actually, the party itself wasn't what almost killed me, it was all the prep work. I felt like I spent the entire week doing chores to get everything ready, and I was still up early on Saturday to finish the cleaning, do the decorating and get all the last minute things ready.

I'm sure I complained at some point this week about the lack of RSVP's and how annoyed I was. But then to make matters worse, people who we had tracked down and who said they were coming didn't show (and only 1 person out of those called to say she wouldn't be able to make it), and then more people yet showed up over an hour late. How could you possibly show up an hour late to a 2-hour party? Whatever.

Anyways, the party was good and Addy seemed to be happy and have alot of fun despite the fact that she didn't get to nap. Towards the end of cake time she was getting fussy and was making everyone aware she wanted to go to bed, but I really could not ask for her to have been better behaved.

She got spoiled in the presents department, which was no surprise. She is one loved little girlie.

She was quite confused by her cake at first too, which I thought was cute, but once she had it figured out that cake was a goner.

There's lots of pictures on facebook to check out, and I'll have some on motherhood too.

Tomorrow is party day!

2008-02-01T13:44:00.000-08:00

Today I managed to get alot done and to get Jamie to help out with his fair share too (miracle of miracles!), so I think that come tomorrow at 2pm we have a good chance of being ready for the party!

I'm actually really annoyed because other than our parents, we have had no one rsvp without having to get ahold of them ourselves and ask. That is one of my biggest pet peeves. It says right on the invitation to rsvp and it has our phone number and my email address right there, and not one person (other than our parents who we knew would be here anyways) could find the time to let one of us know. How hard is it to pick up a phone for 30 seconds, or send a quick email? Not very. But it is hard to plan a party and food and drinks and all that when you don't even have a ballpark idea of how many people are coming.

Okay, rant over.

Other than for a couple of minutes before lunch, I have been feeling pretty good today. But I cannot even begin to describe how sick I am of this constant pain in my ribs. I cannot wait until this baby is out and his/her foot is not constantly pressed up into my ribcage.

Anyways, I have a few more things I want to get done before my motivation and energy completely leave me, so I'm off to finish my work so I can relax a bit before I have to make supper.

Oh boy...

2008-01-31T19:24:00.000-08:00

Tonight Addy decided it was time to show Mommy and Daddy who really is boss.

I decided to get in the tub with her at bath time. Jamie wanted a break from bathing her and it's hard on my poor ol' prego back to lean over the tub, so I figured I'd just get in with her. We were splashing and playing and having fun when she stopped to point at my nose. I've been teaching her different body parts (okay, the nose is only the second), but when you ask her where her tummy is, she pats it, and the nose is the one we've been working on now.

So anyways, she's pointing to my nose and I said "Nose" to her a couple of times, when out of nowhere the little bugger rams her finger up my nose and holy mama does the blood start gushing. Instant tears to the eyes, I'm telling you! lol

So first Mommy gets beat up, but then it was Daddy's turn.

He got her out of the tub, all dried and in pj's and into bed. She fussed for a bit and then made a noise that sounded too much like barfing for him to not go check (I was still in the tub nursing my poor nose at this point). So he went in and she had barfed everywhere. One end of the crib to the other and she wasn't done. She barfed the whole way to the bathroom and a fair bit in the toilet once he got her there.

So then I got to give her another bath, while Jamie had the biggest barf explosion ever to clean up.

Okay, Addy, we get it...You are the one with the power. *sigh*

Ultrasound Update

2008-01-31T16:48:00.000-08:00

Well, we had our ultrasound today and apparently the baby is now right on track size-wise. So either last time they were wrong, this time they're wrong or else the baby has really not been growing much in the last 4 weeks.

But everything looks good. Or everything that she could see anyways. It's a tad bit cramped in there. Hmmm. Imagine that. Baby is head down, which is what the doctor had thought, so that wasn't really much of a surprise. Plus I continue to get kicks up in the right side of my ribs, so I was sure he/she had to be head down.

The tech also gave the impression that she knew the sex, but I was very clear from before that point that we do not know and do not want to know, so we are still in the dark and I'm definitely glad about that.

We all seem to be in bad moods around here. I am impatiently waiting for it to be everybody's bedtime.

A Week To Go

2008-01-30T20:08:00.000-08:00

I don't have much interesting to say today (although, do I every have anything actually interesting to say??), but I thought I would post anyways because today is 1 week away from my c-section.

I am feeling excited and nervous, and I am also really surprised that the days don't seem to be dragging on and on. I guess I have alot to keep me busy what with all the appointments and getting things ready for Addy's party on Saturday, but I still find it surprising how quickly the days are flying by.

Tomorrow is the ultrasound. It will be the last one before the baby is born and I am hoping that as with all the others, the baby is modest and keeps those legs closed. I do not want to know what it is and because we've come this far, it would be a big disappointment to accidentally find out.

I am slowly getting everything ready around here for our new arrival. It's been tough because between all the baby prep and party prep there is an insane amount to do, but little by little I get my list shorter each day. Tomorrow will probably not be very constructive but I have all day Friday and then Saturday morning to do the last minute tidying and other things I didn't get to. And whatever I don't have ready for the baby can always be done Sunday (assuming cleanup from the party doesn't take too much time) and Tuesday. And that day I will also have to remember to get my stuff ready too. Yoi!

I suppose it's good that these last couple of weeks before the baby's arrival have been busy because then the chaos that I know awaits me shouldn't be such a huge adjustment. Right?

Today Sucks

2008-01-29T14:19:00.001-08:00

Today feels like a Monday. I think I should have just stayed in bed, and said to hell with everything and slept the day away.

I napped too long yesterday and it was close to 2am before I fell asleep. Jamie let me sleep in and I woke up at about 9:30. First we get a call from my sister or brother-in-law (not too sure which one) that they needed a boost, so Jamie goes to head over there and gets the car stuck trying to get out in the 10 million feet of fresh snow we have. Somehow, it's my fault he got stuck and I get yelled at every time he comes into the house in another new and wonderful hissy fit because no matter what he does he can't get out.

Then he goes to the town to complain about the snow not being removed yet (which I understand because 90% of the other streets are done, but now they've quit working on getting it cleared because "it's too cold"), but that goes about as well as the getting the car unstuck, so then I get to hear all the yelling and whining about what an a-hole this new foreman is.

Both of our moms were here for lunch and although I wasn't really all that hungry, I figured I should have something to eat. Because there were 4 of us plus Addy, Jamie made 3 cans of soup. My mom was the only one who had dished hers and I went to pick up the bowl and spilt the entire 3 cans (minus 1 bowl) all down the front of myself.

And no sooner than that mess gets cleaned up and I sit down to eat my soggy grilled cheese sandwich, Addy shoves her fingers down her throat and barfs up her entire lunch.

So now this afternoon I am feeling very grouchy and emotional, not to mention exhausted, and Jamie won't stay home long enough to help with anything. How is it that he wasn't even supposed to have today off, yet he still ends up with sooooooo many things to do that he can't stay home for even 5 minutes. Men.

In The Homestretch

2008-01-28T19:21:00.000-08:00

Today was my last prenatal appointment. Beforehand we went into the hospital and had a non-stress test done. Everything looked good with the baby and no contractions to speak of (just my usual "irritable uterus"). The doctor said everything seems fine with the baby. I'm measuring large but that's no surprise.

I have an ultrasound on Thursday just to see the size and position of baby. Then on Monday I have to go into the hospital again to have the bloodwork done for the bloodbank stuff for the surgery. I'm also supposed to get my blood pressure and protein checked that day, and then we will be good to go ahead with the c-section on the Wednesday. Only 9 days to go!

Addy's birthday party is this Saturday and I'm very excited for it, although a little stressed too. There's alot to get done before, but as it happens this cold weather has gotten Jamie put off work until further notice, so I at least have his help to get the house in shape for all the company we will be having. Fortunately we were able to get a fair bit done yesterday, so that leaves me with a much shorter list for the week.

Mozart and Casper we supposed to go see the groomer tomorrow but she cancelled because of the weather. I guess she's had dogs get sick before when they get groomed when it's so cold out. But she said that she'll for sure get us in before the 6th. I'm hoping it will be this week before the party so that we have clean, good-smelling dogs when we have a houseful of people.

This morning I was feeling a little under the weather, but after having a long nap this afternoon when we got home, I feel better. I'm almost there now, so I am trying to concentrate on the finish line and not how difficult this last bit of pregnancy is. The emotional rollar coaster is here to stay for awhile I think. Feeling so miserable (yes, I know, pregnancy is a wonderful thing, but I feel like I've been pregnant for almost 2 years and this part of pregnancy no matter how smoothly it goes, is nowhere close to being fun) has made me a bit of a basketcase, and it doesn't take much to make the tears flow. And I seem to be in a neverending grouchy mood, but I am trying to hang in there and be pleasant and happy.

2 Weeks To Go

2008-01-23T15:03:00.000-08:00

Today is 2 weeks exactly until Baby Day. I am soooooooo very excited. Oddly enough, most of my excitement is revolving around not being pregnant anymore. Other than for a 3-month break in between having Addy and getting pregnant again, I basically have been pregnant since May of 2006. That's over a year and a half. And anyone who has had a baby knows that 3 months is barely long enough to get through the post-partum stage, it's certainly no break.

Actually, I find it very strange that still at this stage it hasn't really sunken in that I am going to have another baby. That in 2 weeks I won't just be not pregnant anymore, but that I will have a newborn. With Addy, every time I saw a baby or a picture of a baby I would get excited because I knew I was going to have one, but this time, it just hasn't seemed to click. Sometimes it does, but for the most part it doesn't. I suppose that probably has to do with the fact that this pregnancy has brought on so many mixed emotions. I certainly was not ready to get pregnant and have another baby, so the adjustment to the idea of adding to our family again so soon has been a difficult one.

I have been having alot of B.H. contractions today. They're very irregular and vary in intensity and length, but they are definitely noticeable. My low back and hips are also alot more sore than usual today as well. And every so often I get this pain in my lower abdomen. It's like a stabbing pain and I know it is my muscles going through hell and letting me know. Not so pleasant.

Today we went and met with the lady who did our wedding cake and my baby shower cake about getting her to make Addy's birthday cake. The plates, cups, napkins, invitations, etc we got are all pastel colors with a teddy bear, and the streamers and balloons are all pink, purple and yellow, so we ordered a 9x13 inch cake that will be white with pink, purple and yellow decorations and say 'Happy 1st Birthday, Addy" and then for her individual cake we ordered a 3D teddy bear. It's fairly big (she said it's about as much cake as a 9x13) but it's so cute I couldn't resist. So that will be pink. One of the pictures she had was actually the bear on a 2-tiered cake and it was really hard for me to resist getting that, but that would just be too much cake.

So the party is a week from Saturday. The dogs are going in to be groomed 4 days beforehand so I think I will pick up what party food I can that day, and that will give Jamie less to do on the morning of. His list for that morning is already long...Pick up the cakes in town here, go to Veg to get a haircut, the rest of the food and the helium balloons. And then of course there is the cleaning up and decorating to do at the house as well as getting all the food ready. So it will be a busy day, but she's only going to turn 1 once, so it is definitely all going to be worth it.

Anyways, the laundry is calling so I'm off to take care of it.

TGIF

2008-01-18T20:07:00.000-08:00

Finally, it is Friday and I am soooooo happy. It will be so nice to get to have Jamie around for a few days and help me out. And after today, I really need the help. I had a rough day. Started out good and I felt fine, but at about 11:00am I went to do some laundry and as I was moving the stuff from the washer into the dryer, I started to feel really dizzy and like I could pass out. I went and laid down for a bit to see if it would help. I was feeling a little better and wanted to get the laundry done before Addy finished her bottle, so I got back up, started and it came back worse than before. So I checked my blood pressure and it was fine, but my pulse was in the 140's. I don't get why my pulse is always so high when I am pregnant. But that is high even compared to what it has been and I really wasn't doing anything. I mean, there is not alot of exertion is moving clothes from the washer to the dryer. I felt like my heart was going to burst right out of my chest.

And after that I just felt like crap the entire day. Luckily Addy slept a looooooooong time this afternoon after having slept in late, so I got to lay down and even was able to fall asleep once my sciatica calmed down. I haven't had any problems with my sciatica in probably close to a month, but today it came back with a vengeance. But after laying down and switching positions and tossing and turning and cursing for about an hour, it calmed down enough that I could relax and fall asleep.

Today Jamie's car also had a little incident. I hate when new cars break down. He was on his way to work and he said about 10 minutes out the heater crapped out on him, and when he got to work and tried to see if he could figure out what was wrong, all the antifreeze was gone. So maybe a hose blew or something? I don't know. Fortunately we have roadside assistance so he had it towed and it is sitting in St. Paul waiting for them to take a look at it.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day because we have to take the Torrent into Veg for an oil change for 9:00am, and then I have some shopping to do and then, if all goes well, we will get to drive all the way to St. Paul to pick up the car. So I imagine I will be exhausted by this time tomorrow.

And then Sunday is my birthday. We're having a little dinner thing at my mom's. Nothing big, just enough so we can say we celebrated. That's all I wanted and Jamie and Mom were happy with that.

Monday I see the doctor again. I have to go to the hospital first for an NST and then over to the clinic from there. Hopefully everything still looks good and we can continue with the plan for the c-section on February 6th. Only 19 days to go!

Only Wednesday?

2008-01-16T10:54:00.000-08:00

I think today is, or is going to be, one of those days. I am feeling exhausted already, Addy is kind of crabby and I just want it to be the weekend already.

I am feeling full of aches and pains today. As usual, my hips, back and pelvis are all killing me, but this morning I also woke up with incredibly sore thighs. I feel like I ran a marathon. There is also a limb of some sort sticking up into my ribs and it hurts. This part of pregnancy really sucks.

Tonight I will have to cope without Martina. I am hoping my mom will stay and help me get Addy into bed. I do okay until bathtime rolls around. It is virtually impossible for me to bathe her with my back feeling the way it does. And even if I managed to get through the bath, I doubt afterwards I could pick her up or carry her. So we will see.

She is supposed to be napping right now, but being the stubborn girl she is, she's resisting. So I think I'll go get her out of bed and let her have lunch and we can try again afterwards. That way, I might get to have a little snooze too.

Still Alive

2008-01-15T12:44:00.000-08:00

My blog has been suffering lately because I have been feeling very rundown and Addy has been keeping me busy. I was not expecting it to be so hard to get used to looking after her again, but after almost 2 weeks and spending that time resting all day, it has been challenging.

I had an appointment with Dr. Potgeiter yesterday and all is good. No protein and my blood pressure was in the 120/70 range, so nothing to complain about there. We scheduled the c-section for February 6th and he sent me up to the hospital for bloodwork, a non-stress test and to fill out the paperwork for the surgery with the nurses. I have to go for weekly bloodwork and NST's now but I was expecting that so it was no surprise to hear it. I went through all the paperwork with one of the nurses and got all my instructions and we're good to go. They checked my blood pressure at the hospital and it was high (like 164/91 high) but I said it was fine at the office and I wasn't surprised it was high because I was having to be out and about instead of resting (both of which were true) so she didn't seem so concerned then.

We had planned to have Addy's birthday party on her actual birthday because we were expecting the baby to be almost 2 weeks by then, but because of when they had to book my ultrasound and working around that for the surgery, I will probably still be in the hospital on her birthday. So I originally thought we'd have it 2 Saturdays before, but Jamie wants to have it on February 2nd, so that's when it shall be. Ironically, that was the day I was sure she was going to be born on. So I have lots of prep work for that, but I have lots of help so that's good.

I have been feeling not too bad. Very tired and rundown, but that's to be expected. It's hard enough to be this pregnant, let alone having another baby to care for. And I feel huge. My back always hurts, my hips and pelvis are killing me, and no one (not even the nurses at the hospital) can believe I am only as far along as I am. This is going to be a big baby.

But anyways, as long as I rest and take things easy, I feel not too bad. And that's what the doctor said to do. He didn't say bedrest, just to take things easy, and that's what I have been doing ever since I got home.

So the countdown is on. 22 more days until the baby arrives (assuming everything goes smoothly and he/she doesn't have to come early) and 25 days until my baby girl turns 1. *sniff sniff*

First Full Day Home

2008-01-10T21:08:00.001-08:00

These last 2 weeks have been such a crazy and insane whirlwind, I don't even know where to begin. After going to walk-in at the clinic on the 27th, I found myself stuck in the hospital in Viking with pre-eclampsia...AGAIN. Didn't I suffer enough the first time? Apparently not.

I was stuck in Viking until the following Wednesday. At that point they decided I was too high risk and likely to have to deliver early and because I was only 33 weeks along, they were just not equipped to deal with me. My doctor wanted to send me to either the Grey Nuns or the Royal Alex, but as "luck" would have it, the only hospital in the city with a bed for me, and a bed for the baby in the NICU was the Misericordia. Where I spefically said I did not want to go. But my doctor promised he would do everything he could to not send me back to the moron I had last time, and off I went.

The day we got there, I met with the OB I was referred to, Dr. Tsui, and she said that she could not see me going even a week without having to deliver. She had recommended to my regular OB before sending me that I get the 1st of the two steroid shots to develop the baby's lungs. She gave a clear impression that she was figuring the baby would be born on Friday, which would give the steroids just enough time to work.

Thursday morning I had an ultrasound and found out that the baby was breech, and also very big. It's measuring 2 weeks ahead in size. We met with a pediatrician specializing in preemies that day as well, and got an overload of information on what to expect from a baby at 33 weeks gestation, but it really was not as bad as either of us were thinking.

And then we got to wait. And wait. And wait some more. I ended up there until yesterday, which was one week after I had arrived. They let me go home because my labs had improved and my blood pressure had been stablized (thanks to the meds they started me on in Viking). It was so bizarre to be leaving the hospital still pregnant when we had been assured that the baby would be born by this time.

Actually, it was bizarre to just be at the Mis period. They had me in the post-partum wing and the last time I was there was when Addy was born. I spent a fair bit of time in labor and delivery too getting what seemed like a million non-stress tests, and it was really bizarre to be over there as well. This year has flown by, and being there and having all the memories of Addy's birth and her first few days of life come flooding back was overwhelming and made it that much more obvious how quickly time really is passing.

Anyways, Martina spent last night here with me and is spending tonight too to help me out with Addy. I am so huge and uncomfortable and my back is constantly killing me, that I have a really tough time moving around and it is really difficult for me to carry Addy, so she has been helping me while Jamie is on nights. The days have been okay. Yesterday afternoon the 3 of us just slept, and Martina came over after work so I didn't have to deal with Addy alone. And today Addy was quite content to spend most of the day playing in her playpen, and when she wasn't doing that she was either in her high chair for a meal or in bed napping. She let me get a good nap in this afternoon so that was nice, and then Martina was back over after work.

It feels so good to be home. Yesterday when we got here, Addy went down for her nap right away, and Jamie needed to get some sleep before his shift and I was tired as well, so him and I crawled into bed and I just started crying. I did so well when I was in the hospital (only cried twice and that was thinking about how much I missed Addy) but once I got home I realized how homesick I really had been and how grateful I was to be home (plus, I really wasn't expecting to be able to go home), and I just couldn't hold it it.

But now I am here and I'm very grateful to be able to be at home and I have been cherishing the time I am getting to spend with Addy. Until I was hospitalized, we had never been apart for more than a few hours and never overnight, and it was so incredibly hard to be away from her. So now I am so appreciative of the time I am getting to spend with her, even if I am dealing with a nasty headache (which I have had for the last 2 weeks) and am so pregnant I feel like I could explode. It was really important to me to get to spend some quality time with her, just her and me, before the new baby arrives, and I am very happy that we are getting to do that.

I see my regular OB on Monday, so we will see what his plans are with the baby's arrival. Because it is breech and because of my now high blood pressure, I know it will have to be a c-section, so I am anxious to find out when it will be. He had said before they transferred me that hopefully I could stay pregnant and have a section in Viking at 37 weeks, but I am kind of hoping he will go with 36 weeks. I would rather go earlier than later so that I have less chance of ending up in the hospital on bedrest again, and also I don't know how much more of carrying around this baby my body can handle. I am already feeling like an 80 year old with killer arthritis.

I'm Baaaaaack!!

2007-12-28T09:55:00.000-08:00

Holy crappers has it been a crazy week! Christmas was great, albeit hectic. I was exhausted and not feeling well (I had contractions starting on the 23rd that didn't let up until yesterday evening) but it was really an enjoyable few days.

We arrived at my mom's on Christmas Eve and Jamie's dad, stepmom and brother got there later that day. It was really nice to have them around. And even though they were there, we still had alot less people than usual and although I missed everyone else who wasn't there, it was nice to have a more quiet holiday than we usually do.

The 3 of us were spoiled rotten on Christmas. We all got a ton of stuff (I actually got all but 1 thing off my wish list), but we did our share of spoiling too. Our moms loved the gifts we got them, and that was a huge relief to me. We got Jamie's mom a grandmother's ring that she will be able to add to, and we got my mom a necklace with little boy and girl charms of all her grandchildren. Hopefully she will have room to add to that because only 1 of the 4 of us are done having kids (1 hasn't even started yet) and it's already pretty full.

Addy was spoiled even moreso than I thought she would be. And I was actually incredibly surprised at how well-behaved she was. She didn't get crabby or whiney or anything less than happy and excited the entire day, and it was alot for such a little girl to have to take in. She unwrapped her stocking with me, but after that she kind of lost interest in anything except playing with the paper and Grandma's stocking stuffers.

Boxing Day was spent at Jamie's mom's and the spoiling continued there. Although that day Addy wasn't quite as happy. The lack of sleep caught up to her, I think, plus she started teething again so she was feverish and vomiting alot. Which is still happening today, so I'm hoping that clears up soon and the tooth hurries up and arrives.

Her and I went to see the doctor yesterday. Her because she's constipated and prune juice is not helping, me because of the contractions and some bloody show I had on Monday. She got a prescription and I was told everything was fine with me until they did the pee dip. Although my blood pressure is fine, there was a lot of protein (between 3+ and 4+) so I got sent to the hospital for lots of labwork. No bedrest, though, so that's a relief. I am trying to come to terms with the idea that I am most likely going to have to have a c-section, though. But we will see how the labwork comes back and what my OB has to say about it all when the doctor from here talks to him.

The Vegreville hospital called this morning to book my ultrasound that the OB wanted to send me for. That was just to see if we're okay to go ahead with the VBAC, so I don't know, he may end up cancelling it. It's for January 31st which is about 2.5 weeks before my due date, so if we do have to go ahead with a section because of this protein, who knows, I may already have had the baby by then.

Almost Christmas

2007-12-23T13:13:00.000-08:00

Well, we are only 2 sleeps away from Christmas now, and I am finally getting into the Christmas spirit. And I'm almost ready for the day too! lol We've been working on cleaning the house today because it's a huge mess and I hate coming home to a dirty house. Plus, when we come home we'll be bringing all of our Christmas gifts, so that alone will create a mess.

This will probably be my last blog entry until after Christmas. Tomorrow at around lunchtime we're going to head out to my mom's and won't be back until the morning of Boxing Day, and we're planning on spending that day at Jamie's mom's.

We had our washing machine looked at and the seal on the pump is what's leaking. The guy said if we had our washer and dryer in the basement with a drain close by, we could have kept using it that way for years, but because it's upstairs (and on my hardwood no less) with no drain, we can't use it until it gets fixed. Which could be tomorrow (which would be awesome!) but it likely won't be until the new year. So Jamie is at Gary and Verna's right now doing a load of our laundry so we have clothes to pack, and the rest I guess I shall bring to my mom's and get done tomorrow afternoon. As if I don't have enough stuff to haul over there already. Oh well.

I finally got a memory card for my digital camera. It only took a year. I really wanted to get one before Christmas so we can get some good quality pictures of Addy's first Christmas and then we'll also have it for in the hospital when the new baby is born. When Addy was born, we had to use the lowest resolution and the pictures suck. I have some that I took on the old camera, but I underestimated how many pictures we would want to take, so we didn't have enough film. But you live and learn, I suppose.

Well, I guess I should get back to my cleaning. I want everthing to be done today, so tomorrow morning all we have to worry about is getting ourselves ready and doing our last minute packing like toothbrushes and stuff.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Washing Machine Woes

2007-12-21T16:26:00.000-08:00

I've always noticed when washing pillows, or if I set the washer to do a 2nd rinse that sometimes it will leak a bit. The drainpipe thingie on the basement floor will also sometimes back up, but nothing serious and that's the only times it's happened.

On Monday, though, Jamie put his insulated work coveralls in the wash and it leaked on the floor. He pulled out the machine and underneath my hardwood had some water damage but nothing much, so we didn't think much of it.

Today I was downstairs wrapping presents and just on my way up the stairs. The washer and dryer are basically directly above the doorway at the bottom of the stairs. As I was walking through there, I got dripped on. I looked up (the basement is only partially finished so there the ceiling is open) and see lots of water and damage to the plywood of the floor. I almost had a panic attack.

So my washer is, and has been, leaking for some time. Jamie called a guy in town to come look at it tomorrow. He figures it's the pump, but will know more when he comes to check it out. I can deal with it being the pump. I can't deal with "Sorry, your washing machine is a piece of crap." And what really chokes me up is this isn't even the new washer we bought when we moved it. That one wasn't as high-end of a model as my mom's, so when she moved and was leaving hers, we switched ours out with hers. It's only about a year older but if I had just stuck with my perfectly good washing machine, I wouldn't have a malfunctioning washer screwing me over right now.

Yaaaaaay!!

2007-12-21T10:29:00.001-08:00

It's finally Friday! WOOHOO!!!! I have been waiting for this day all week. Although this morning it still feels like any other day of the week because Jamie is sleeping. But not for long, sucker! lol

Apparently we are going to go out tonight. There's going to be a hypnotist at the bar and Jamie wants to go, so I am being a good wife and tagging along. I hate the bar. I hate sitting there with a bunch of drunk people, struggling to breath through all the cigarette smoke and still put on a happy face even though when I am there I am anything but. But I'm going, so I guess I better just suck it up. I can admit, it will be nice to get out without the baby, but I'd rather be going anywhere but there.

Last night I talked to the lovely Tammy from motherhood about booking a photography appointment for the new baby to get some newborn shots taken. I am so incredibly excited for it! And doing that made it seem so real that there really is a baby on the way and that soon we will have a new addition to our little family. So lets just hope that the baby is cooperative with the date we booked.

This afternoon I plan on Jamie and I finishing all the gift wrapping and then doing some visiting to deliver presents. And I would like to start tidying up the house. Tomorrow will be a busy day. We have haircuts booked in the morning in Veg and then have to do some grocery shopping (would you believe I haven't been grocery shopping in at least 3 months?) and pick up some last minute things for Christmas. So I'm not sure that come Sunday we will feel like having to do all the housework in one day.

I can't believe Christmas is so close. We have the weekend and then Monday we head out to my mom's. Now that it's only a few days away, I am starting to feel little twinges of excitement, but for the most part I still pretty much feel like The Grinch. Although I am excited to make my gingerbread house at my mom's. All the other grown-ups are being buttheads and not doing one, so it will just be Richard and me...And if that husband of mine thinks he gets to help decorate my house, he has another thing coming. lol

I am feeling overwhelmed at the amount of laundry I have to get done in the next 2 and a half days. I suppose I don't really have all that much to get washed, but I have a small mountain of clean stuff to be folded and put away. I guess I better get off to it.

Ooooops!

2007-12-20T17:45:00.001-08:00

Duh, I'm a big dope! I told about my appointment and the ultrasound thing twice. It's official, I have completely lost my mind.

One More Sleep!!

2007-12-20T12:43:00.000-08:00

Only one more sleep until Jamie is done work for the week and our weekend can officially begin. I could not be more thankful! lol

Actually, we had a pretty good night last night. Addy fell asleep kind of late but that had to do with getting home past our usual supper time because of my doctor's appointment. She had a bit of a difficult time falling asleep, but once she did she stayed sleeping until close to 11:00pm. Which doesn't seem like much, but after the last couple of nights, that in itself was huge. So when she woke up she had a bottle and went right back to sleep until just before 8:00am! If it weren't for the baby living on my bladder, I would have gotten a full night's sleep. lol

She seems to be feeling much better today, so I am really happy about that. Her cough was pretty yucky this morning still, but I haven't heard her coughing since before her morning nap, so I think she is on the road to recovery. And I feel awesome because I got to get some good sleep last night. I was alot later falling asleep that I wanted to be, but that was because one of my favorite movies was on tv and once I started watching it I couldn't turn it off.

So my appointment went good yesterday. Everything still looks great with the baby and with my blood pressure. I go back in 2 weeks, and at that time I should have an ultrasound scheduled for between 4-6 weeks from now. He told me that if we're going to attempt a VBAC that he needs to be sure that the baby is in the right position and isn't too big and that my placenta is out of the way. So it will be nice to get to "see" the baby again, but I'm nervous because there will be alot riding on what we find out that day. Plus, I am so dead against finding out the sex of the baby and Jamie really wants to. I keep thinking it'll be just my luck that those little legs will be spread wiiiiiiiide open and there will be no secrets. But my fingers are crossed that by that time (I'll be somewhere between 35 and 37 weeks) it will be too squishy in there to see any little bits. And I am going to hold my ground and not let Jamie find out. He is convinced he could keep it secret, but he is such a horrible secret keeper and I know he would tell other people and it would just end up next to impossible for someone to not slip up, even if it wasn't him.

Actually, I think it's kind of funny that this time I feel so strongly against finding out. With Addy, I was back and forth for awhile, but once we were there I just had to know, and I can't imagine how I would have gotten through the pregnancy and the bazillions of biophysical profiles (ultrasounds to check on the baby and fluid for those who don't know what that is) and not have found out. Of course, the whole time I was expecting a boy, but that's beside the point. There was no mystery behind it. And this time, I am so excited to not find out until he or she comes out into the world. I can't wait to have that special surprise. And I'm not tempted at all to find out beforehand.

I finally got my Christmas cards done today. All but one are ready for the mail, and that one is just waiting on being addressed. That's actually alot more of a stress reliever than I thought. I'm hoping that while Addy has her afternoon nap today I can get downstairs and get the rest of the gifts wrapped, and then other than delivering them everything will be done. But if not today, it'll get done tomorrow afternoon. And maybe once all that is done, I will feel less anti-Christmas and more excited for the day.

A New Belly Shot

2007-12-19T18:40:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of baby belly pictures. They were taken at 31 weeks and 1 day gestation. I seriously cannot imagine getting any bigger than I am now, but I know it's going to happen. Here's hoping my poor body can handle it and that when I do go for my ultrasound that they don't find 2 little bundles of joy in there!

Is it really only Wednesday?

2007-12-19T18:09:00.000-08:00

This has been such a long week and it's only half over. I am so ready for it to be done. Jamie has 2 more shifts and then he is off until January 2nd and I am so thankful for that. I am burning out. Addy is over 10 months old and I honestly can count on one hand how many times I have gotten to have a little break from mommy-hood. And each of those times was only for a couple of hours, and have not occurred since early summer.

Right now Addy is in her crib shrieking like a lunatic because she doesn't want to go to sleep. I don't know why she struggles and fights so much. If someone let me have a nice warm bath, a warm drink and then tucked me into a nice snuggly bed, I would be out like a light. You wouldn't hear a single argument from me. Not her.

I am praying for a good night tonight. The night before last she was up 5 times before morning. Last night, she didn't let me get to sleep until about 1am and that was after I gave up and brought her to my bed. And it is not a restful sleep with her in bed on a good night, but last night she was still up quite frequently so that made it even worse. At about 6am I finally put her back to her bed because she seemed alot better and I needed to get some restful sleep. She slept then until 10am, but I can't even count how many times she was up crying in those 4 hours.

So I am just exhausted and if I don't get a good (or at least decent) night's sleep tonight, I think I might just die. I am trying to be understanding of her because I know she isn't feeling well, but at the same time, she's had her motrin so the tired, crabby part of me is just ticked off that she won't go to sleep.

On a more positive note, we had another doctor's appointment today. Everything looks good and I am going to be going for another ultrasound in 4-6 weeks to make sure we're good to go ahead with the VBAC. My fingers are crossed that it goes well, and that we walk out of there not knowing the sex of the baby. I don't want to find out, and I don't want Jamie to be told and then end up ruining the surprise for me. I love my husband, but he cannot keep a secret.

Time For A Vent Session

2007-12-18T20:59:00.001-08:00

I have 2 options right now, I can either throw my version of a tantrum (which would entail lots of things getting either broken, damaged and/or ending up on the floor, more screaming than I care to admit to and the stupid moron dog I have locked outside getting beaten) or I can vent here.

Today has been a difficult day. Addy was up so many times last night and my sleep was so interrupted that by the time morning rolled around, I already knew I was not going to be a happy person. Then Addy's bad night continued on to a bad day. She was whiney and fussy and crabby all day long.

Joey has been even more infuriating today than he usually is. He has always, always, always been a difficult dog. If I wasn't such a firm believer in following out your committment when you take on a pet he would have been long gone about a week after we got him.

So poor Addy has a hell of a time falling asleep tonight because she has a nasty cough and it's obvious she isn't feeling well and she wakes up crying about an hour ago. So I go into her room to find a crib full of barf. I don't do barf. I can handle spit up, I can handle poop, I can handle anything but barf. And not only is her bed and bedding covered in it, she is covered in it. So I take her out, get her cleaned up, get the crib stripped and the grossness into the laundry hamper and I take Addy into the living room to try to calm her down and get her comfortable.

When I finally get her to a point where I think she can fall back to sleep, I go into her room and what do I find? I find Joey, the sheet half pulled out of the hamper and a big hole chewed into it. This is the second time he has done this. And he couldn't chew holes in any of the old dayhome sheets I have that don't properly fit the crib. Noooooooo, he chews holes in the good sheets. The pretty ones. The ones that match the freaking nursery. So now I only have one good sheet left, it doesn't match the nursery, it isn't overly pretty and it's one from the dayhome so it is well used, to say the least. So now I get to go shopping for more crib bedding which infuriates me even more because I was planning on moving Addy to a toddler bed in a few months and getting the new baby his/her own bedding so I have to buy Addy new sheets that will get used for only a couple of months. And that's if the dog doesn't chew those ones up too.

I am getting to the point with this dog that I have no patience. I am mad at him all the time, even when he is actually being good, because even if he's good for the time being, there is something he has done in the recent past that has me pissed off at him. I am so mad at him right now I am shaking. I am so frustrated I could cry. I don't know what to do with this dog. He just never learns. He really needs obedience training but I just don't have the time for that.

And don't even get me started on Casper. I disappear for 1 hour for a stupid, measly bath and the little shit pees 3 times in the house. 3 times! I'm pregnant, even if I drank 10 litres of water in 2 minutes I couldn't pee 3 times in an hour. And I let the stupid dogs out to pee before I got in the tub so he shouldn't have had to pee at all.

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

It Feels Like A Monday

2007-12-18T09:13:00.000-08:00

Last night was a rough night. Addy was up 5 times. Yep, count 'em, 5 times. I am just at a loss as to what to do. Our sleep plan is working great as far as getting her into bed at naptime and in the evening at a good time and her self soothing herself to sleep, but it seems that whenever we seem to be making progress with how often she is waking up in the night, it all goes to the crapper and we go back to where we were before (or, in the case of last night, worse than where we were before). I am absolutely exhausted today.

Addy woke up this morning about the time Jamie got home from his night shift and he gave her a bottle so I didn't have to get up. She was happy enough with the bottle for about 20-30 minutes, but then started to fuss. I told Jamie to turn off the monitor so the noise didn't keep him up when I got up with her, which he did, but then I thought, "Just a couple more minutes," and I fell back asleep for like 40 minutes while she was in her room pissed off. Bad Mommy.

I need to get the Christmas cards done and in the mail today. And I really don't have that many to do, it's just a matter of getting my ass in gear and taking a half hour or an hour, but I just haven't been in the Christmas-y spirit for the last little while. All the anticipation for the day has gotten to me and now I am just sick of all the preparations and everything and want to be done with it. And I don't think I've ever felt this way before. I'm especially surprised by it because it's Addy's first Christmas and I thought I'd be more into it this year than usual. I guess the problem is I've also been looking forward to it for longer than usual. Now I just feel like the grinch.

Blah Blah Blah

2007-12-17T17:14:00.000-08:00

I don't have anything interesting to say today. Not that I'm overly interesting any other day, but today I'm definitely not.

Jamie is back working close to home, and he is on nights this week so he was home for the day. I wish the bugger would have slept, but he didn't. Unless you count an hour long nap at about 4:00pm, which I do not. He is going to be one tired man tonight at work. And I feel especially bad because when Addy got up this morning I made him get up with her because I figured I could sleep in and he'd take her for the morning, and then he would be able to sleep all afternoon. Which he could have, but he did not. Oh well, his fault, not mine.

I just smashed my head against the chair rail in Addy's room and ouchies! Unplugging her fibre-optic angel my mom bought her. Why the damn angel does not have a switch, I do not know. So while trying to unplug it (and wouldn't you know it the outlet is behind the dresser), I smash the top of my head on the chair rail. But from the sounds of it, she's sleeping now. It's a little early, but she was tired and I am done for the day, so it works. Now if only I could get the kitchen to clean itself and put away supper, and the bottles to magically become clean.

I see the doctor again on Wednesday, so we'll see how that goes. I've been bad about remembering to take my heartburn pill, but the pain has stayed away so that's good at least. I need to get back into the habit of taking it before bed. I think my body has begun the long journey to labor, but I won't share those details with all of you. We'll just wait and see what my doctor has to say.

Good-bye, Weekend!

2007-12-16T18:32:00.000-08:00

It turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable weekend, although I can't honestly say I'm 100% recovered from my bug.

Saturday we did a small, small amount of shopping in the city, before going over to my in-law's place. We had a little visit, got ready to go out and left for the ballet. Addy wasn't the best girl for her Grandma (poor teething baby), but I think Velvet enjoyed her evening with her anyways.

We went out to dinner at Chianti's and just barely made it from there to the Jubilee in time for the ballet. We were seconds from missing the first act, but we made it and the 3 of us enjoyed in immensely (although it was sweltering hot in there).

We spent the night in the city because we were all tired and didn't feel like a long car ride home. Plus, the idea of waking a sleeping baby in the midst of teething was not exactly appealing.

This morning we had a big breakfast at Jamie and Velvet's (or I guess I should say Addy, Mom and Jamie did...I was still not feeling very well) and then hit the road. We stopped in Veg at Walmart to do a bit of shopping and were home by mid-afternoon.

Jamie goes on nights this week, but Friday is their last day before they go on break for Christmas. Addy and I will have him all to ourselves until January 2nd.

Speaking of Christmas, it's only 9 days away. I am no longer enjoying the anticipation. It seems like there has been a ton more work that usual this year, and I am just ready for the day to come already. I'm looking forward to spending this Christmas at my mom's and not having to play the part of the hostess. Jamie, Velvet and Richard are coming out too, so that will be nice, and it sounds like Charlie might be there too, which would be great.

Tomorrow I will be 31 weeks into this pregnancy. 9 weeks from my due date, although I have a feeling this baby will be arriving before then. I am beginning to feel very done with this pregnancy. That may be due to the rough week I have had, or it may just be that I have basically been pregnant for a year and a half and want to not be pregnant for awhile. Each time a stranger (or someone who just doesn't know) says to me "Well it won't be very long now!" I groan inside (or sometimes aloud). I feel very large. This baby belly of mine is protruding like crazy. My poor body is definitely feeling the strain of the pregnancy. Is it done yet?

Just My Friggin' Luck

2007-12-14T21:06:00.000-08:00

So, things had been going surpringly well around here lately. No sickness (which is a big thing around here), no real stress (other than the usual holiday stress), just relaxing and enjoying things going well.

Wednesday night when I went to bed I was feeling a little queasy but I didn't think anything of it. I just rolled over and went to sleep. But at 5:30am I wake up with this incredible pressure in my chest and the odd stabbing pain right around the diapragm area. I tried to ignore it and go back to sleep and was actually successful for awhile, but then the queasiness came back and all of a sudden out of nowhere, full on stomach flu. Yuckies.

So at about 11am I decided to go up to the hospital because I was still having the chest pains. My mom came over to watch Addy and I went up. The chest pains got chalked up to just being related to the tummy woes and all the lovely cramping, but I was so dehydrated I had to spend the entire day in the ER on that stupid uncomfortable bed/stretcher thingie hooked up to an IV. And I forgot to tell the nurse that I'm allergic to the medical tape so now I have a big ugly rash all over my arm everywhere the tape was touching. And I developed a fever while I was there. Well, technically, I already had it seeing as my normal body temperature is around 34-35C and it was 36.something when I got there, but by the afternoon it was up in the high 38C range.

Today I feel alot better, although definitely not fully recovered. But now Addy has a nasty fever and is not feeling well. She also has a bit of a bum rash, so at this point I'm just going to assume teething. I just really hope she doesn't get what I have/had because she's so tiny I'm sure she'd end up in the hospital.

The ballet is tomorrow and although I think I should be fine to go, I'm a little concerned with my girlie. She is supposed to go to her grandparents' house but if she's sick and not feeling well I don't know how I feel about leaving her in a strange environment with people she isn't overly familiar with.

Growing Impatient

2007-12-12T09:04:00.000-08:00

For these last few weeks, I have been able to keep my mind off the excitement and impatience of the baby coming by concentrating on Christmas. I have been quite successful at it, actually. But now that the shopping is done, the wrapping of presents is almost completely finished, the baking is done and the decorating is done, I don't have anything to concentrate on except counting down the days. And counting down the days to Christmas isn't nearly as exciting as counting down the days until my due date.

I can't wait to meet this little baby, see if it's a brother or a sister for Addy, to cuddle him/her and see what kind of personality it will have. I know of a few mommas who have either just had babies or are about to, and seeing them is making me so incredibly excited (and impatient, very impatient) for my time to come to have this little one.

I woke up this morning able to breathe and with a very differently shaped belly. I'm pretty sure the baby has dropped already. Seems very early to me for the baby to drop (I'm only in week 30) but I feel so much more comfortable so I'm not going to complain.

Last night Addy was again only up once! She was sleeping by 7:00pm and slept right through until 6:00am. There were a couple of times when I heard her cry out and fuss in her sleep and I thought she might wake up, but she didn't. When she woke up at 6:00am she had her bottle and went right back to sleep until 9:00am so I am a very well rested momma today. Which is good because I was a slacker yesterday and my kitchen is a mess and I'll need my energy to make it look habitable again.

Jamie thinks he might be home tomorrow night. They're moving their equipment to a new site (the one close to home) and they're starting to take everything down tonight. Which means that at some point tomorrow he should be working at the new site and will get to come home after his shift. Yay!

Aaaah, sleep!

2007-12-11T09:02:00.000-08:00

Last night Addy only got up once. Once! I couldn't believe it. She was sleeping by 6:45pm, and she was up at 12:30am, and then not again until 8:00am. I'm almost scared to say it and jinx myself, but I think we are finally on the road to sleeping through the night again! There have been a few nights lately where she has only been getting up twice, and the very odd one where she's only getting up once, so I guess we will see how it goes tonight. My fingers are crossed that she won't get up at all, but I don't know if I should expect that. She usually sleeps from between 6:30-7:00pm until 8:00-8:30am (with her awakenings, of course) but that seems like an awfully long time to me for a baby to go with nothing to eat. I would be happy with a consistent 1 awakening per night so I know she isn't in there with a hungry tummy.

I got so much done yesterday I can't even believe it. Laundry galore, cleaning and lots of baking. I also made rice krispie squares and it has been not so easy to stay away from them. lol

Today I have about 2 loads of laundry to do, and 1 still from yesterday to fold. I also have to take out the garbage, package up a Christmas parcel to mail and I still need to add the chocolate layer to my nanaimo bars and that is it on my to do list. Lots of free time to play with Addy, maybe wrap some presents, but that is it.

It's Monday! groans

2007-12-10T10:49:00.000-08:00

Actually, although I usually hate Mondays, today is not so bad. Jamie is back to work but everything seems to be going smoothly. The house is clean (and decorated for Christmas, I might add), Addy is napping after a very happy morning and those aren't always found in an abundance around here, I am feeling pretty good today and the sun is shining! I love winter, and I think it's so pretty when it snows, but sometimes you just need some sunshine.

I do not know where this weekend went. Which is surprising because it was actually less busy than usual, but it seemed to just fly by. I had my prenatal on Friday, and that evening we had dinner at my mom's for my brother's birthday. Saturday was spent finishing Christmas shopping. That was not exactly a picnic, but I was by myself so that helped to speed things along a bit. Yesterday we cleaned and decorated the house, went to the community Christmas concert and had my mom over for dinner. And at 6pm when Addy went to bed, I was ready to join her, but I didn't want to be up for the day at 3am.

Today I am vowing to stay caught up with the laundry (my hubby got me caught up on Saturday...Woohoo Jamie!), and I think I am going to make nanaimo bars and if I really feel ambitious, I might make a batch of Tollhouse Cookies too. Yum! And then that will be the finish of my Christmas baking.

Another Weekend Here Already

2007-12-08T20:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had my second prenatal appointment with my ob/gyn. It went extremely well. Everything looks good and he doesn't foresee me having any problems with my blood pressure seeing as I'm almost 30 weeks along and haven't had any signs show up to indicate that there could be trouble. And I now get to go have a prenatal every 2 weeks instead of once a month, so I guess things really are progressing along.

Today was not as fun of a day. We went out for breakfast and then I headed to Veg to finish up my Christmas shopping. I was in a very busy, crazy Walmart for at least 2 hours trying to find everything I needed. By the time I got home I was tired, cranky and just plain miserable. I don't even know how I'm not in bed right now. But I'm done. Until next year anyways.

Tomorrow we're finally going to decorate the house for Christmas. I am very excited about that. And the community Christmas concert is also tomorrow afternoon. Savannah and Alicia are in it and asked if we would come watch so we'll be going to that too. As long as Addy doesn't have a change in schedule tomorrow, it shouldn't interfere with her afternoon naptime, so that's good news.

Monday morning Jamie is back to work but it's his last week in Camrose until spring, so we're both thrilled about that. The only downside is that when he is on nights, he's going to have to sleep through the daily household noise. And we got new blinds in our bedroom that don't keep the light out very well, so he'll have to deal with that too. But he will be home at some point every day, and that's the most important thing. I imagine it will be a big adjustment for me having him home during the week but once we get into a routine, it will be great.

Welcome back, Braxton Hicks!

2007-12-06T10:37:00.001-08:00

Yes, my lovely friend Braxton Hicks has returned to my life yet again. This morning I have been plagued with BH contractions. Not as bad as I know they will get, but bad enough that I still know they are there. However, after experiencing real labor (and back labor at that) I know these are nothing compared to what I am hoping to be able go through, so I shall smile, suck it up and hope that in a few short weeks they turn into the real thing and I get to push this baby out!

It is naptime once again at our house and I am vowing to never mess up our sleep plan again! Addy has been having a tough time getting back to the point where she was at before the weekend when she was putting herself to sleep so easily. Although, last night I decided to be tough momma with the bottle, and when she woke up at 11pm I tried getting her to go back to sleep without it. I wasn't successful at that, but once I did give her it and then put her back to bed, she slept straight through till 5am, and I think the only reason she woke up then was because she heard me get up to pee. But not having that middle of the night awakening was such a treat!

Tomorrow morning my hubby will be home! I can't wait. And then he only has one more week in Camrose and he will be working close to home again, and will be home every night (or day, depending on his shift). So that is very exciting.

Today is my baby brother's 19th birthday! I find it hard to believe he is that age already. I know I've grown up, but I don't know when all these other people did. I hope you have a happy birthday, Charlie Man!

Happy Humpday!

2007-12-05T10:45:00.000-08:00

Only 2 more sleeps until Jamie comes home!! This is only the second day without him here but it feels like forever. I am definitely aware I am in my 3rd trimester because I have had to go back to napping in the afternoons in the last week. It seems I had just gotten past the point after Addy was born of having to still nap (still as in from the 3rd trimester with her) when I got pregnant again and was in that lovely phase of exhaustion that comes along with the 1st trimester. Oh well, at least I got that little break in the 2nd one, right?

So yesterday Addy stood all on her own. She was digging through a drawer and pulled out something especially interesting. So interesting, that she felt the need to let go of the drawer and use both hands to check it out. She stood there totally balanced for a good 10-15 seconds before she just plopped down on her bum, like it had been no big deal. It seems as though every time I turn around she is doing something new that she couldn't do the day before. It's really exciting to watch her grow and develop and learn new things, but at the same time it does make me really sad because it seems like it was just a couple of weeks ago that she was born. Sometimes I just don't understand where the time has gone and how she has transformed from this newborn who didn't do anything but eat, sleep and poop to this little girl that she is today. And this is only the beginning. I'm only going to be shocked more.

Right now I am struggling with her to get her back on the sleep plan. She did so great last week with putting herself to sleep on her own, but after the hellacious weekend we had, she is having troubles again. It's taking her alot longer to fall asleep and I'm not entirely sure if she is just overtired or if she is choosing to fight it again. The only good thing that seems to have come of it this week is the fact that once she does fall asleep at naptime, the naps tend to be longer than they were last week, so that's good. She's still getting up way too much in the night, though. Once before I have gone to bed, once in the middle of the night and once in the early morning. I could understand the early morning wakening because that's about 12 hours after bedtime and it makes sense that she would be hungry (assuming, however, she weren't waking up to eat 2 other times in between), but the other 2 are just flabbergasting me. What happened to my baby who slept through the night since 4 weeks that she is getting up 3 times in the night now? I am so desperate to get this worked out and get her sleeping through the night again because I am becoming increasingly aware of my approaching due date and I know that I will be up with the new baby every 3 hours for feedings and if Addy is also waking up 3 times in the night, I don't know how I will cope.

Yawn

2007-12-04T10:31:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was insane. Jamie always ends up with a long weekend at this job because if he's coming off nights, he's home for the weekend Friday morning, and if he's going onto nights, he doesn't go to work until Monday night. And it is really starting to take a toll on me.

Saturday was his birthday and he really wanted to go to the waterpark at West Ed. Normally I wouldn't have been thrilled with the idea what with it being so close to Christmas and me being so pregnant (who wants to get in a bathing suit when you're this pregnant?), but it was his birthday and it was what he wanted to do instead of getting a gift from me (although it didn't end up happening that way) and I figured I could take the opportunity to get some more Christmas shopping done, so I agreed.

We shopped and shopped and shopped. And we only spend about an hour in the water park because it was freezing in there. The air, the showers, the pools...All icey cold. Not great for a baby. And to top it off, I was so cold when we headed back to the change rooms that I decided to skip the ice shower and I ended up with a red, itchy, incredibly painful rash from head to toe that is only now going away.

And by the time we got out of the mall, we were both exhausted and it was starting to rain, so we decided we'd just spend the night at Jamie's dad's place. We stopped at Walmart to pick up toothbrushes for the 3 of us and pj's for Addy and by the time we got out of there the ice fog had set in, so we knew we had made the right choice to stay.

I was supposed to go to Veg on Sunday and get a birthday present for Jamie from Addy and groceries to do the big family birthday dinner that night, but we figured we might as well do the grocery shopping ay Stupidstore. Still had to stop at Walmart in Veg, though, to get the gift from Addy, but somehow I got coerced into getting Jamie his aquarium, which was supposed to be his Christmas present. But oh well.

Then lots of company for dinner that night (my kitchen has still not fully recovered) and we went over to the firehall for a bit because the food drive was also that night. Which, by the way, created a whole other mess at our house because when I asked Jamie to get the stuff ready for when they came past our house, he said they don't come down our street. Which they do (and I knew that) and they came down our street first, so in the rush to get the stuff for the food bank together, an entire bottle of olive oil got spilt on the kitchen floor.

Yesterday is kind of a blur. We had to go back to Veg because we forgot to buy formula for Addy, and of course Jamie had to get fish for his aquarium. And the afternoon was spent in bed sleeping by all.

Is it Friday yet because I need another weekend to recuperate from this one?

I was supposed to have a prenatal in Viking tomorrow but Jamie really wants to go to them, and he obviously can't tomorrow, so I rescheduled it for Friday afternoon. Which I'm glad I did because I am way too tired to make the trip by myself and have the joy of figuring out what to do with Addy while my belly is poked and prodded.

I am now in my 29th week. Only another 76 days to go, which is starting to stress me out. I made up my list of the things we need to buy for this baby, which is really quite short seeing as we have practically everything baby-related from Addy. I just keep thinking, though, that I could have this baby in as little as 8 weeks, which scares the hell out of me. I am not ready.

Come next Monday, the pregnancy will be 3/4 of the way done. But I am also not ready for that. I know the last 10 weeks will be tough. Christmas should distract me from it, but once that's over, I will still have, at the very least, 5 more weeks to go (8 till my due date) and I know they will be long and uncomfortable, but at least Jamie will be home every night.

Finally Friday

2007-11-30T11:00:00.000-08:00

Although this week has flown by, I have really missed Jamie so I am really happy it's finally the end of the week. Plus, I'm pretty excited for this weekend too.

Addy's new sleep plan has been going really well. Today was the first time in a couple of days that I had to go into her room while trying to get her to go down for her nap. I blame that on us sleeping in a half an hour later than usual and then me pushing the nap back that extra 30 minutes. I think we should have just stuck with the usual 10:30am naptime, but oh well. She's sleeping now.

I have determined that we need to buy a new baby gate. Seeing as Addy has been hating being confined to the playpen while I get stuff done (and when I'm too tired to chase her around the house), yesterday I started putting her in her room to play and putting the baby gate up in the door. But then this morning while I was tidying the kitchen I heard her grunting and groaning and getting frustrated, so I go to peek in on her and the little butt is climbing the gate. How in the world a nine-month-old baby can climb a freakin' baby gate, I do not know, but she can. So it's time to invest in a different gate that she can't climb. Hopefully we can find something.

Today there is lots of laundry to be washed, folded and put away, so that should keep me pretty busy. Plus I need to bake Jamie's birthday cake too. Hopefully I can keep Addy occupied long enough to get it all done. Maybe I should go get the other baby gate from downstairs and double them up, then she shouldn't be able to try to climb out.

Big Changes

2007-11-28T12:03:00.000-08:00

There are have been some incredible changes around here this week. As I mentioned before, we started the empathic sleep teaching technique and I have tweaked our sleep plan and it is going so well. Addy is going down easily in her crib with very little crying and fussing. Now we just have to work on lengthening her naps and getting her sleeping through the night again. I think, though, that that'll come with time as she gets used to being back in her own bed at every nap and each night and relearns how to self-soothe and put herself to sleep.

Another big change is my expanding belly. It seems to me that it is getting bigger every day. I can barely get my winter boots on, not because my feet are swollen but because I can barely bend over to pull them on. I may be back to runners soon. This baby is also very active and I am always getting kicks but they are usually always directed at my ribs or my bladder, so it's very rare that you can feel them from the outside with your hand or see them.

My nesting has also kicked in hardcore. I notice something being dirty or think "I haven't cleaned or organized that in awhile," and I can't not do it. It will just eat away at me until I get it done. And I have been baking and actually cooking every day, which is unusual for me.

I won't be going to visit Jamie this week at work. It's been snowing like crazy there and he doesn't want me coming down if the roads might be crappy, so no visit this week. That's maybe a good thing, though, seeing as we're working really hard on the sleep plan and I don't want to jeopardize our progress with a night away from home.

A Lovely Weekend

2007-11-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

This weekend was surprisingly un-busy. Usually we don't stop all weekend, so this was a nice change. We did a little shopping, got some stuff done around the house, went swimming today, but for the most part we just enjoyed having a lazy weekend and I think we all needed it. Especially because next weekend will be hectic. It's Jamie's birthday so I'll have a big family dinner to take care of, I'll have to have the house clean, we'll have to do his shopping for the work week (and possibly finish up the Christmas shopping that weekend too) and it's Christmas decorating time. It will be busy for sure.

As I said, we went swimming today and Addy loved it! We've taken her swimming a few times before and she's always enjoyed it, but never as much as today. She was splashing around, trying to blow bubbles in the water (not to mention drink the water...lol) and moving around like crazy. It was alot of fun to watch her enjoy herself so much.

Well, I have been complaining about Addy's sleep issues for some time now, and knowing it was time to do something about it, I checked out Darcie French's ebook on Empathic Sleep Teaching. I really love the principles it teaches. I find that letting Addy cry it out is too aggressive of an approach that is detrimental to her, but always comforting her and basically parenting her to sleep is way, way, way too passive. This method lets you comfort baby, but still teach him/her to self-soothe and fall asleep on their own. So I read through the book and we now have a sleep plan that we are working on and it's been really good. Only one difficult bedtime so far. The one problem we have with her, though, is the parenting her to a drowsy state. Jamie not as much, but it seems that whenever I'm around, the horns come out and she refuses to be calm and relax like she needs to. But we'll get there. She is still waking up in the night sometimes, but not all the time and not nearly as often as she had been (knock on wood). Hopefully we'll get past that in the next few weeks (days would be ideal, but I'm not going to be naive about it).

Jamie has sold the Cavalier. I am sooooooooo happy! That thing has been sitting and sitting and sitting ever since we got the Fusion (which was the beginning of August...Ugh!), but that was mainly because he has been lazy about advertising it. I made him fliers to put up close to a month ago (at least) and he finally put them up about a week ago and I also posted it on Facebook and Kijiji as well and now it has a buyer. Finally! Tomorrow it will go to its new home. Jamie is being kind of a baby about it, but I guess that's just a guy thing, being attached to their cars. Although, I don't understand how having a shiny new car doesn't make the imaginary man pain of selling the old car go away, but apparently it doesn't.

Anyways, I'm off to enjoy the rest of the evening with Jamie because bright and early tomorrow morning (actually, it won't be bright yet, but it will certainly be early) he's off to work for the week. Bye for now.

Bored and lonely...

2007-11-22T14:29:00.000-08:00

As Addy becomes more independant and wants to play and discover things on her own, I am becoming more lonely. I'm not able to play with her, and being this pregnant I just don't have the energy (or the back) to chase her around all day. Which makes for a loooooooong day because she is not usually happy to play in her jolly jumper, exersaucer or playpen.

I suppose it doesn't help that I'm stuck home alone all day. And to make that worse, I don't really like going anywhere. It's a pain in the ass to pack up all of Addy's things, get her in the car and go to someone else's house that is even less Addy-proof than my own. I see my mom most days at lunch, but other than that it's just the baby and me. Jamie is gone during the weeks, his mom once in awhile comes to visit but she usually just wants to take Addy for a walk so I don't get much adult interaction there.

I have to say, I really am hating living in this town. I don't really know anyone here and I kinda feel like the people I do know never think to include me. Just because I have a baby and am pregnant, doesn't mean I don't still like to go out. No, I can't drink, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the company of others. Yes, I have a baby but I am still the same person I always was, I am just also a mom. It really ticks me off that people don't seem to get that. I guess all I'm saying is it would be nice to live somewhere where there were people I have things in common with and who aren't just looking for another drinking buddy.

And it'd be nice to have my husband home more often than just on the weekends. Only a few more weeks, I guess.

Thank goodness for moms!

2007-11-21T18:58:00.000-08:00

Today was a rather hellish day. The dogs (mainly Joey, but the other 2 are not blameless) and the cat have been monsters, tearing around the house and driving me nuts. Addy is still feeling yucky from teething so she was challenging today, either wanting to be held or else crawling around on the floor getting into anything and everything.

Late this morning I decided to bake muffins for Mom and I to have for dessert after our lunch. I preheated the oven and made the muffins but when I opened the oven door to put the muffins in, smoke came billowing out. It turns out that when Jamie was refilling the flour cannister on the weekend and had spilt more of the flour than went into the container, he also somehow managed to get some into the oven and it was burning and smoking and just plain nasty. So I spent about an hour with the kitchen window open turning the house into an igloo and getting up and waving the teatowel under the smoke detector (at least I know it works good) every 5 minutes.

Then there was the matter of my doctor's appointment. I haven't gone anywhere in the truck after the big snowfall on the weekend. So 15 minutes before I have to be at the clinic, I go out, start the truck, get Addy into her carseat and start looking for the snow/ice scraper. Only it is nowhere to be found (I also should mention that I wore my runners so my feet were wet and freezing after 2 minutes out there and I had to come in and squeeze my soggy and swollen feet into my winter boots.

So no scraper. I had to wait almost 20 minutes for the ice to loosen up enough that I could use my bank card to scrape it off. This was, of course, after I had to knock all the snow off the windshield by hand because the wipers were frozen solid.

So I was late for my appointment. And when I got there my blood pressure was up (which was no surprise) but I also had some protein in my urine, so off to the lab I was sent.

Fortunately my mom came over after work, brought supper and watched Addy for a couple of hours for me. I was able to go to the post office, the bank, the store and the lab all without a baby to contend with, and then I came home to a clean kitchen, laundry in the washer and the opportunity to have a nice, long soak in the tub. She even bathed Addy for me before she left.

So now even though I had a hellish day, I feel much better thanks to my mom!

Today is my pity party...

2007-11-20T09:51:00.000-08:00

This morning I'm not so sure that I agree with the name of my blog. Life is seeming more miserable than wonderful. Addy is either sick or teething again and I am well aware that I have entered into my third trimester.

Pregnancy really is a cruel thing. You have your first trimester and you're sick, you're exhausted, you're an emotional roller coaster and about a million other things I won't go into (if you've been pregnant, you know, if you haven't been, my continuing could quite possibly keep it that way...lol). But then your second trimester rolls around and you feel great. Those annoying early pregnancy symptoms disappear and you have energy again, you feel great and it really is a nice time.

Enter third trimester. IT SUCKS!! I have another 13 weeks to go and already I can't breath (although the good news is that the baby likes to be in my rib cage so much that perhaps that means we won't have the struggle with him/her in the crib like we do Addy...It already likes the bars). And I just feel rotten. Achey, tired, heartburn, the sciatica has returned...

Okay, I'll stop the pity party.

I was bad last night. I brought Addy into my bed. Bedtime was more hellish than usual and with the teething I just knew she would be up alot in the night (and I was right) and the idea of getting out of bed to go to her room every half an hour was not appealing. But of course today I regret it because I know that come bedtime tonight she is going to be really pissy when I put her in her crib and she'll cry and whine and throw a tantrum because she thinks (or maybe knows is the better choice of words) that Mommy will bring her into her bed.

Is it Friday yet?

I need a break!

2007-11-18T18:56:00.000-08:00

This weekend was loooooooooong. It's only 8:00pm and I am ready for bed. Yesterday we spent the entire day shopping in the city. We were out of the house by 9:00am and not back until about 9:00pm. Today wasn't as busy and I did get to sleep in, but it still drained me.

Addy is becoming, it seems, increasingly difficult in the evenings. She is crabby and it's very obvious she's tired, but she fights it and refuses to sleep or even play in her crib. I'm hoping really badly that we gets her sleep issues straightened out before this new baby is here because I don't know how I will deal with a baby who is a monster at bedtime and naptime (and is up 1-2 times a night at least) and deal with a newborn. Not happening.

Anyways, I'm off to maybe sneak into bed or at least get a rest in.

Is it the weekend yet??

2007-11-16T14:48:00.001-08:00

Today sucks. I feel yucky. Not enough sleep last night (Addy is lucky she's so cute), the drive home from Camrose this morning and some bug are ruining my day. Fortunately Jamie thinks he might be home as early as 6:30pm so that won't be so bad. Better than 8:30 or 9:00 anyways.

I almost had a heart attack this afternoon. I had gotten my glucose screening done earlier in the week (you know, the test that indicates whether or not I have gestational diabetes) and today the doctor's office phoned. Thankfully they just wanted to know if I had had any prenatal bloodwork done this time around (which I have not, so I imagine I'll be getting another lab req at my next appointment...Yay me...Bleagh) but as soon as I saw the number on the call display I thought "Oh crap!" But false alarm. I've dodged that bullet for the time being. I could handle the whole diabetes thing if it were diet and exercise controlled, but if I had to take insulin...That I could not deal with. And I was already told that if anything goes "wrong" this pregnancy (ie high blood pressure, baby gets to big, gestational diabetes, etc) then I have to have a c-section and I don't want a c-section so I will not be happy if my results come back abnormal. I so badly do not want one a section that I will cry if they tell me I have to have one. Those women who schedule c-sections because they are afraid of the pain of labor are nuts. I had 12 hours of labor and a c-section, the c-section is way worse.

Anyways, I'm babbling again.

I wish it would snow this afternoon. Then I would be happy. I want some snow already! And not just a little bit, I want lots. It's ugly and grey and everything looks dead outside. Maybe I'll go dig out the Christmas decorations and start decorating the house...That would make me feel better. Is it too early to turn the outdoor lights on?

Catch-up

2007-11-15T13:28:00.000-08:00

Apparently I am not a very good blogger. I have been doing updates in my pregnancy journal, which really is more a journal while I am pregnant because it isn't just about the pregnancy, but I shall try to update here too.

Anyways, this has been a fairly busy week. I am now 26 weeks and 2 days along with this baby. So as you can imagine, I am tired, I have heartburn, my hips, legs and back are killing me, I am dealing with sciatica, I have to pee what seems like every 5 minutes because there is a baby on my bladder and I have hormones with a capital H, but I am loving it. With my last pregnancy, I just felt rotten all the time because of my blood pressure troubles, but this time it has been totally different. Yes I am dealing with those "normal" pregnancy symptoms, but those are to be expected and are fairly easily dealt with. I am getting to experience a healthy pregnancy and am able to enjoy all the wonderful parts of it without them being overshadowed by something very serious, scary and just plain sucky.

Okay, I got side-tracked. Busy week. Jamie is working away again so I am home alone with Addy. Because of Remembrance Day, Jamie didn't go to work until Tuesday morning. I don't even remember Tuesday, to be honest, other than I had to go do my glucose tolerance screening. Yoi. For anyone who has done that, you remember the orange drink. I remembered the orange drink. As I took my first sip of it I though to myself "Hmmm, this isn't as bad as I remember." I got through the first 1/4 of it fairly easily, and then I also remembered thinking the same thing as I had started last time. IT IS THAT BAD! It is gross and sweet and so thick it is like syrup. Yuck. Anyways, I got through it, they took the blood and now I get to wait and see if everything is normal or if I have to go back and drink more of the nastiness.

Yesterday the dumbass by-law officer showed up over Jamie's stupid car. Yes, the plate is off it, yes, I will get it back on. Now go annoy some other person. But nooooooo. So I got to deal with that crap all afternoon. And to top matters off, just as he showed up Addy was dozing off for a nap and I so badly needed a nap but he had to show up, screw up my only opportunity to sleep and ruin my afternoon. So by the time we had to go to Veg I was tired and annoyed and crabby and it was not pleasant for anyone around me.

Today we're going to see Jamie. I need to get away and have some help. Everyone always says "If you need help just call," but it isn't the same as having your husband. So I am glad we're going for our visit.

Tomorrow I get to clean the house. It's neat and tidy, but when Jamie is home it goes to hell (sorry, hunny!) so I like to have it as clean as I possibly can before he comes home because then come next week there is less to do to make it presentable again.

Saturday is my momma's birthday! Her, Val and I are going to spend the day Christmas shopping in the city and then meet up with Jamie and Addy for supper at the Olive Garden. Yummy.

Speaking of Addy, I hear her babbling away, so naptime is officially over. I'm off for now.

Revelations

2007-05-04T12:44:00.000-07:00

Isn't it funny how when you become a mom you start to feel guilty for all of the things that you put your mother through? I think about some of the things I said and did when I was younger, and I can't even imagine how heartbroken I would be if Addison were to treat me that way.

And then there are the funnier things. When I was a kid and my mom was sick I still for some absurd reason thought that she should continue on as if life were normal. And now I am a mom and I am sicker than a dog, and I feel sooooooooo rotten for bugging my mom all the time when she was sick. Addy is only a baby and she doesn't bug me, she just requires attention and that is hard enough. I'm surprised my mom didn't tie me to a chair and put duct tape over my mouth when I used to bug her all the time when she was sick. Poor Mommy.

Yesterday wasn't so bad because Jamie was also home sick from work, but today I'm here all alone and I am way worse than I was yesterday. Thankfully it's Friday so he will be around all weekend to help me. And my fingers are crossed that by Monday I will be starting to get better but I just don't know. I thought it was just a cold, but apparently it is sinusitis (says the doctor from yesterday). The doctor today says it's irritating my lungs which is why I have no voice and can't inhale. So I am on antibiotics, a nasal spray and 2 inhalers (which, by the way, could potentially dry up my milk).

I think I may just have to have a pity party.

The Evil Sucky

2007-04-05T14:25:00.000-07:00

I have spent most of my day today walking to Addy, putting the soother back in her mouth and walking away only to hear her squawking and whining for the soother a minute later because she has spit it out. It's times like these where I wish she could talk so I could ask Why do you spit it out if you still want it? or Are you only doing this to bug me? The irony in it is that this is one of the very reasons that I didn't want to give her the soother in the first place. Number 1: Didn't want a nasty habit to have to break. Number 2: Didn't want to spend my days (and inevitably my nights) putting the soother back in her mouth when she has spit it out or dropped it.

But the thing is, I wouldn't change it for the world. Funny how that works.

It's A Wonderful Life

New Blog

It's been awhile!

Another Interview

Still Here!

An Update!

Christmas 2008

I am a bad blogger!

Yay Me!

Another Long Weekend Is Here!

My New 'Do!

1 More Sleep!

Happy Hump Day!

What is wrong with people?

Another new week.

Some photos!

One Of Those Days

Friday Yet Again

My Lucky Girls and Their Wonderful Daddy

Mondays Suck

My Girls

6 Things.

Not Computer Savvy

Still Kicking

Another Week

Welcome, Weekend!

It's Been Awhile

Happy Friday!

Halfway there!

My Little Mischief Maker

Oh Yuck!

Another Monday

Some (Overdue) Pictures From Easter

Pictures!

Oh the emotions!

An update...

My New 'Do

Happy Humpday!

A Free Minute!

3 weeks today!

Another long day.

Happy Valentine's Day

Back once again!

Introducing...

My last entry for awhile.

"The" Week

The Birthday Party

Tomorrow is party day!

Oh boy...

Ultrasound Update

A Week To Go

Today Sucks

In The Homestretch

2 Weeks To Go

TGIF

Only Wednesday?

Still Alive

First Full Day Home

I'm Baaaaaack!!

Almost Christmas

Washing Machine Woes

Yaaaaaay!!

Ooooops!

One More Sleep!!

A New Belly Shot

Is it really only Wednesday?

Time For A Vent Session

It Feels Like A Monday

Blah Blah Blah

Good-bye, Weekend!

Just My Friggin' Luck

Growing Impatient

Aaaah, sleep!

It's Monday! *groans*

Another Weekend Here Already

Welcome back, Braxton Hicks!

Happy Humpday!

*Yawn*

Finally Friday

Big Changes

It's Monday! groans

Yawn