Stuff

Friday night, DH wanted to move stuff out of the garage so I could park in it. How sweet is my husband?? So his best friend came over to help him. He and his wife ended up hanging out with us til midnight (dumb idea on my part - sooo tired already and needing a good night's sleep). They are house hunting, too, and were telling us about this house that they loved but there were a couple of drawbacks, one being that it has a really small yard. Then they said there was something about it they wanted to talk to us about first. We were like, okaayyy.... Then his friend said, "Well, it's close. I mean, really close." I said, "What, next door?" And he said, "No, but about 5 blocks over." I said, "That's cool, but I think you are the ones who need to think if you really want to be that close to us." :) Of course DH would love it if they moved there. We'll see what happens.

Saturday I had arranged for a play date for S for two hours before her nap so I had hopes of about a 4 hour stretch to work on unpacking. But I had completely forgotten that my MIL had tickets for us to go to her company picnic. S really enjoyed it; they had a big blow-up slide and a moonwalk. She went on the slide a few times. There were clowns making balloon animals and doing face painting and a sno-cone maker and games. Then I got her home and down for a nap, and a friend came by to see the house, so I didn't really get anything done that day.

Saturday night I was trying to get S to sleep (it was 10pm before she FINALLY went down!), and I was lying in bed with her, and she was holding Elmo. I heard her say, "Elmo, go time out. No, time out. Two choices, Elmo: time out or spank a bottom. Elmo, time out or spank a bottom. Two choices, Elmo. Time out - Spank a bottom!" And she spanked him. I was trying so hard not to laugh, I had to cover my mouth. That must be what happens with my dad. I do spank her once in a blue moon, but there's no discussion. I just tell her one time to quit it, or she's getting spanked and then she gets it.

Sunday, I relived my college days and headed to Mom and Dad's to do a load of laundry to get us through til our new washer and dryer get delivered today. I planned to leave S there napping and go home and get work done, but she wouldn't go to sleep, so that didn't work out either. DH has been sick, so he wasn't feeling up to doing much, so ultimately, we got very little done on the house this weekend which is frustrating. But I think I'm going to try to go home at lunch every day this week. Getting the washer and dryer will help a lot. A bunch of the boxes are clothes.

After we left there, I took S home and she took a short nap, and then we went to a friend's house for a bit. I dropped off some gently used kids shoes for a fundraiser she's doing, and she loaned me some maternity clothes. And we got to see their baby girl! We hadn't seen her for a long time - she's six months old now - time flies!

I had my glucose test this morning - yuck. It's hard to do something like that that requires exact timing when you have a toddler who runs on her own schedule. :) But it's over with. For now, anyway. I'm sure I failed it and will have to do the three hour one. I also got my paperwork to send in to the hospital. Crazy to think it's time for that already!

Home Sweet Home!

Love, love, LOVE our house. After moving Saturday in nearly hundred degree weather, we were wiped out, but glad to be home. Thank goodness we have such good friends to help us. I keep discovering more things about the house that I adore. It's funny because when we were looking for one, we'd see ones I'd like and DH would say it just didn't feel like home. I kept telling him it wouldn't til we moved in. But then we found this one, and it just feels meant to be. I'm so glad I listened to him. :)

Poor S - things were such a whirlwind for her. Saturday I took her to my in-law's to nap, but she was too wound up, so she didn't nap that day. On Sunday afternoon, I took her to my parents' house to nap, so I could get some stuff done at the house, and she didn't sleep then either. The hand-me-down washing machine we moved in ended up not working, so when I went to pick her up, I brought the bed sheets and some towels to wash at my mom's so we'd be set for the night and morning since that was our first night in the house. In the meantime, I'd asked DH to hang a curtain in S's room (she really can't sleep when it's so light out), but he couldn't find the drill bits. So I asked my dad if I could borrow his. He couldn't find his either since stuff had been shuffled when we moved our stuff in. So I asked my half-sister if I could borrow hers. She was fine with it, but was in the middle of something, so it was 6:45 before we could meet up. So, I took S to meet her, and on the way, she fell asleep. I got the drill bits, took the laundry home, got there, and DH was gone. I didn't want S to wake up, so I left the car running and stayed out front with her. I had to wait for DH to get home to put up the curtain and make the bed. Finally got that done, carried her upstairs and she woke up when we put her in bed. Poor kid was disoriented - last time she'd been in there, there was no curtain, and she didn't know where she was. I told her we were in her new pink room, and it was night-night time, and she started crying saying she wanted to sleep at Papa's. I finally got her settled down and to sleep. But she woke up in the night, so I just stayed in there with her. So I didn't get a very good sleep. Plus she woke up at 5am Monday morning. Ugh. Tried to get her back to sleep for an hour, but gave up at 6am and got up. But the two or so hours I spent in my bed, were heaven! Back to a queen instead of a full, nice firm mattress, ahhhh.

Last night she did better, but it was about 9pm before she fell asleep. She stayed that way til about 5am, though, and then I went in and laid down with her for about an hour. She slept til 7am - yea! Hopefully it will only take a couple more nights for her to get on track. Some of it is legitimate, but some is just her getting better at stalling. Either she really developed a fear of the dark overnight (which I have heard can happen) or she was just messing with me last night. She wanted her nightlight on, then the door left open, then the hall light on, etc. And every... single... step... of our routine was stalwarted in some way. Amazingly I was very patient with her. I had not been the previous Thursday night. The "one time" stall has been going on for quite awhile, but lately she's been wanting to give everything kisses good night. Which is fine, but the box her toys were packed in? I don't think so. I was trying so hard not to laugh at her different farfetched attempts.

I'm Not a Proud Mama, Or Anything...

Ok, I know I'm constantly going on about things S says, and I can only imagine how annoying I am to other people. I try to reign myself in, but I'm not very good at it. Anyone who knows me, knows I pretty much talk about everything. And maybe with R, I'll be less likely to expound on every single detail of her life, but I just find it so amazing to see S develop and learn and grow. You really do get to be a kid again through your kids. God certainly knew what he was doing giving us this second chance to see the world through their eyes.

That said, here are the three things S said this week that I feel are noteworthy:

"It'll go away." - This is a result of me trying to keep her from being a wimp. When she falls down, I cringe inside and want to run to her and make it all better, but I say, "Whoops! You're all right. Shake it off. Be tough." And if she says she has an owie, I tell her I'll kiss it but not to worry, "It'll go away." So the other day I bumped my head, which really hurt, by the way, and she said, "Mama bonk head. It'll go away." Got a taste of my own medicine.

"Drive careful." - My mom always tells us to drive careful when anyone leaves the house. So yesterday I guess my dad told S he was going to the bank and when he came back they could go to the store together. She replied, "Ok, Papa. Drive careful!"

"cooperating" - This morning my dad called and said that my mom was trying to get a fly with the flyswatter and she kept missing and said, "This fly is just not cooperating." And
S said, "Fly not cooperating." Those words are just getting bigger and bigger....

Birthday Party and Painting New Rooms

I didn't have the energy to post more on S's actual birthday, but she had a good day. That morning I told her I'd take her to get a donut for breakfast to celebrate. She was so excited about it that when I asked her what she wanted for dinner, she said donut, and then later if she wanted ice cream instead of cake since we were having cake Saturday, she said donut again. So cute.

That evening we went to watch DH play softball for a little bit. She enjoys going and the weather was beautiful. We only go to his early games and just stay for the first two innings so she can get to bed on time, but he hadn't had an early one for awhile. We got to see him get a base hit before we left, and when he got home he told me he had driven in the game-winning RBI! Way to go, baby!

Friday morning I went out to the car to discover a flat tire. Boo. Luckily, my father-in-law was able to put the spare on for me. We thought we could patch it, but I knew I needed to get new tires and that happened to be one of the old ones, so we decided I should just replace it. Nothing like big, unexpected expenses when you've just bought a house...

Friday night I baked cupcakes for the party - I had seen this cute idea online somewhere to do a balloon bouquet (see below), so I decided to just do a balloon theme in general this year, only with colors that were a little more girly. Since we were homeless I wanted to keep it simple, and S likes Sesame Street and Curious George, but I think she will still like them next year. So I went to my parents' house and whipped up some Magnolia Bakery cupcakes. I had made the frosting on Wednesday night, and had accidentally put tablespoons of vanilla in instead of teaspoons, so I'd already had to redo one part of them, so I was extra careful when mixing the cupcakes themselves. Unfortunately, I didn't look at the clock when I put them in the oven, just set the timer, and it never beeped when it got done. So the cupcakes were overdone. I didn't have the materials or time to remake them. I was so frustrated and tired, I just went to bed. But Saturday morning, I was in a much better go-with-the-flow mood and just bought some cupcakes at the grocery store. They didn't quite look like balloons since the frosting was white with sprinkles, but it was ok. The party was fun - just family at a park, and the weather was really nice, although a bit windy.

After the party we invited everyone over to see our new house! We got possession at 5pm Friday, so we were able to show it to them which was nice since my sister and brother-in-law and DH's sister were all in town.

That night S and I spent the night at my parents' house since my in-laws were having a Jimmy Buffet party. I thought it would be a good introduction to sleepovers at Grandma and Papa's since I was there, and we're going to start having her stay overnight once every couple of weeks so she gets used to the idea for when I'm in the hospital having baby R. It was awful. It took 3 hours for me to get her to sleep and she had one of the worst tantrums she's ever had. Plus my sister and half-sister were there and could hear everything, and Mom and Dad were trying to help but it just made it worse. I was so stressed out and exhausted and frustrated, and I know S could tell. It was 11pm before she fell asleep. And of course she was up at 6am. We were both wiped out Sunday.

Sunday morning, we went to the pool with my sister and then to buy paint - my half-sister and my mom offered to paint the girls' rooms in the new house! So sweet! Then it was back to the in-laws to celebrate DH's sister's birthday while she was here. DH, S, and DH's sister and I all went to the T-Bones game that evening - S's first game! She was really good (especially considering she only napped for an hour that afternoon after having hardly gotten any sleep the night before), and we left in the 6th inning so I could hopefully get her to bed more easily. It was MUCH better, but it was still 9pm before she went to sleep. At least there was no tantrum involved. I've got to get this kid sleeping before baby R gets here. Hopefully once we get moved and settled, that will resolve most of the issues. After that I went to the house to wipe down the walls in S's room and the nursery so they would be ready for Mom and my half-sister to paint. So by the time I got that done, got home, took a shower and got to bed, it was midnight. Whew!

So last night I had planned to just relax and hang out with DH's sister before she left town today. I went by the house after work to take dinner to Mom and my half-sister, and DH since he was waiting for the cable guy. Sam had a terrible tantrum when we left. She got to bed around 9pm again, but miraculously slept until 8:30am!! I was so excited! I let her sleep in and was a little late to work today, but it was worth it. I hope she can keep her time table and I can just shift her schedule back a bit.

Our Baby Is 2 Years Old!

It's late and I need to go to bed but I had to at least post something for her bday. I'll include details tomorrow. I can't believe she's already 2! Amazing... Thank you, God, for such a blessing.

Busy Bees

Things have been hectic this past week. Wednesday night, S woke up at 4:30am and was up until 6am, during which time she had a half-hour long temper tantrum. Thursday night she didn't go to sleep until 9pm, and was up between 3:30am and 5am. At least this time, she was calmer. Friday she didn't take a nap for my parents, though. I'm just praying that once we get moved, she'll get settled in and get back to a more frequent good sleeping schedule. I was SO grouchy Friday after two nights of limited sleep.

Saturday my friend from MN was in town, so S and I met her and some of our other friends at a park for lunch. We played washers, and S played on the swings and slides. It was really fun. That night we went to a friend from high school's house for a get together. After I read on a blog about a way to keep in touch with old friends by having a Party of the Month, we started it and have really enjoyed it. We take turns hostessing the POM, and boys and kids are allowed, and we just do a potluck. DH was nice enough to take S home to put her to bed so I could stay later and chat. One of the girls ended up leaving kind of early - her 6 month old wasn't feeling well and was really fussy. She's never fussy - she's the happiest baby I've ever seen. Poor thing. Saturday night, S slept through til morning - YES!

Sunday I took S to my parents' house to go swimming in their subdivision's pool. Then she took her nap, and we went to a friend's son's 2nd bday party. Unfortunately, she woke up from her nap in a bad mood and had a tantrum/cried for an hour - from the time she got up until we walked in the door to the party (half an hour late). Argh. DH hung out with the guys, and I got to chat with the girls while the kids all played which was nice. That night S had a hard time going down again - it was 9pm before she fell asleep. But she slept through til morning, so at least that worked ok.

Monday I dropped S off at her sitter's and she had gotten her a birthday present - I told her she didn't have to do that. She got a little cake, too. Very sweet of her. The bank called not long after I got to work, and we found out we're closing on Wednesday!!! SO excited. I've been slow at work which has been nice because I've had time to plan S's bday party and sketch out how I want to decorate her bedroom and where to put the furniture in the house when we move next week.

Last night I went over to a friend's and got to watch the 100th episode of So You Think You Can Dance. I missed it Thursday since S didn't go to bed til late, but luckily my friend hadn't erased it from the DVR yet. It was ok - they tried to cram too much into the hour - they should have made it a two-hour special. I wish they would have shown more of the old dances, but the new group numbers were really good. I was surprised with who was in the bottom. Only two weeks left - it will be interesting to see what happens.

Tonight I'm going to my friend's for a party with a lady who advises about the different baby slings that are available. I'm excited to hear her suggestions. I really want to get one for baby R since I know I'll need my hands free for S a lot, but I don't know much about them. DH is supposed to go to the T-Bones game, but it's raining, so not sure they'll be playing.

We haven't had a lot of rain, but it hasn't been that hot, either. This summer has been so mild - aside from the one sweltering week when we moved to my in-laws. Overall it's been beautiful - mostly low-80's. There have been terrible droughts south of us and cold, wet weather north of us, but we've lucked out and been in the nice zone this year. Hope I didn't just jinx us for August...

We're Not Homeless Anymore!

After two weeks of negotiations, we FINALLY will be homeowners again!! They agreed to pay for the chimney repairs in full (they had come back initially offering to pay half) as well as take care of the other things. We take possession on the 1st and plan to move on the 8th. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise that the first house didn't work out - this is the perfect house for us. We're so excited!

That was our happy news last night, but this morning we had kind of a rough start. S woke up at 5:30 (ugh!), and I felt that her bed was wet, so I changed her diaper (in the dark so it ended up being on backwards) and laid down with her and tried to get her back to sleep. She was squirmy and wanted to take her shirt off. Finally at 6am I was tired and frustrated and gave up. Pause for bad mommy moment - I turned the light on and my poor baby had a huge rash with blisters all over her back to halfway down her bottom, on a shoulder, on her forehead, on the back of her left thigh. Here I was irritated with her for not going to back to sleep when she was itchy and uncomfortable! I felt terrible and was a little worried since I didn't know what was wrong exactly. I've never had poison ivy or poison oak, and I was little when I had hives so I didn't know if that was it or not. DH thought it was hives, and we waited til his mom got up at 6:30am (she was a nurse), to ask her. She thought it was hives, too, and by the then it was clearing up quite a bit. So I called the dr. office and left a message for them to let me know if I should bring her in or if there was something I should give her, but by 7:30am it was almost all gone. So I took her to the sitter's and we tried to figure out if she'd eaten anything new. She hadn't, but she had had a few allergenic things - eggs, shrimp and strawberry jam - so we're going to keep those out of her diet for a week or so and then reintroduce them one at a time. My MIL and I were also wondering if it might be the laundry detergent since it was all over her. But we've been using it for 3 weeks, so I would think it would have showed up already. Maybe not. The dr. office said to give her some Benadryl if it was bothering her but not to worry as long as she didn't run a fever.

As for baby number two, I had a dr. appt. today, and R was kicking while I was waiting, but when it was time to listen with the heartbeat monitor, we couldn't find her. So the dr. moved me to a room with an ultrasound machine and we saw her then. Dr. N told me to tell R not to be such a pain in the ass next time. :) I told her I'd give her a little lecture before my next appt. :) I love my OB. She's very direct about everything and doesn't sugar coat it, but always tries to do everything possible to benefit the patient whether it's popular or not. When I had S, I was allowed to eat right away and do other things that are not usually done with C-section patients. The nurses gave us the impression that she's a bit of a renegade. She's had C-sections, too, so I think that helps that she knows what we're going through and can be a real advocate for us.