the olden days

if you’ve read this blog at all, you’d probably get that i’m super nostalgic.  (especially since it seems i mention it in MANY of my posts).

and you may have gathered that i’m sad that jovie keeps doing that thing that babies do.  what’s that??  oh, um- growing.

if you’ve followed for a bit, you see that we’ve had some pretty good surprises when jovie decides to not freak out at certain new things.  (some examples:  eating baby food at first,  going to MOPS & the pool the first time).  so, i guess now that we have a happy toddler (!?!) and she’s been proving herself recently, The Mr. & i have made the dire mistake of just letting her experience something new without us prodding, practicing, and feeling apprehensive so we can be on our guard.

instead, we let our guard down.  cuz you know, (as we say over and over to each other) we finally have the kinda baby we thought we’d have way back then.

enter:  bubbles.  more specifically of the bath-sort.  as in a bubble bath.

oooohhhhh so those often longed-for olden days are back!  there’s the jovie we remember.  the one who detests bathtime to the point of screaming bloodymurder that even being downstairs with the tv on you can’t hear the tv.  those bathtimes.  the ones where, when she was a baby, would end up being messier than before b/c after you hoist her out of the bathtub (which she detested), she’d scream so violently that she’d poop all over the towel that, thank god, The Mr. (and not me) would be holding.

aaaaahhhhh the olden days.

so we have our baby back.

b/c we totally didn’t even think that a bubble bath would make her flip her freaking lid.  she LOVES bubbles, and it’s her favorite part of both library time & music class.  and “buh-boo” is one of her words. 

but even the very few bubbles we put in her low-filled bathtub was way too much, and she freaked out before she could even give it a chance.  FUH-REAKED out!

so i took the soap and erased* them & that wasn’t good enough.  so i drained the tub.  and that wasn’t good enough.  that was saturday.  sunday’s & monday’s baths (sans bubbles, no doubt) haven’t gone well, either.  oh please let this be a passing phase.  b/c bedtime around here used to be quite nice!

but, you know…. she more than makes up for it:

i love this walking gig

*am i the only one who knows how to erase bubbles with soap??  i remember being a kid and hating the washing part and saved till the water was borderline freezing b/c all the fun would disappear.

101.8

this is not jovie’s favorite radio station.  it is actually the reading on the thermometer a few days ago when she got her first fever.

one week shy of 11 months, and we finally got to see what kind of kid she’d be when she was sick.  you hear sometimes how being sick changes things…. personalities, routines, etc…

i’m developing a theory that it makes the family revert back to newborn times.  b/c that seems to be what happened to jovie.  instead of the nice naps we have grown acccustomed to, she decided to go back to the days where she wouldn’t nap, but for possibly 15min or 30 at most.  with lots of crying in the duration.  wait- did i say crying??  no, i mean ear-piercing-blood-curdling-glass-shattering-screaming.  

well, it wasn’t like that ALL day.  at least, not when we held her.  The Mr. picked a fine time to decide to work from home this week….   tho’ it is The Mr.’s fault that we have a fever at all.  he has the smallest of colds this weekend.  unlike last time- in february—where his whole workgroup got it, and it was BAD.  this time- pretty minor.  and we weren’t diligent this time about keeping him away from her.  we discussed it.  but, really-  she’s ~11mos old.  isn’t it about time we let that immune system work? 

so on tuesday (after sleeping all the way thru the night w/o any peep at all) i noticed after breakfast she had a little runny nose.  it began when she started to “snorfle” [for the potters in the group, that's what i call what haylee used to do]….  she wrinkles up her nose and sniffs in and out.  she does this not cold-related.  but this time, there was stuff to snorfle.

not a big deal, this runny nose.  just a little here and there; she even let me use the aspirator (which has rarely been needed).  she seemed fine.  was playing pretty good.  until she decided not to.  she would rather be held, please.

of course- i thought it was probably due to the fact that daddy was home.  she tends to change a few habits when this happens.  so when she refused to nap, i thought it was b/c of him as well.  by that time, her nose wasn’t even running very much.

as the day went on, just around the time she was grating on our nerves- what with the holding and the holding and the not-getting-any-work-done-here holding… i finally picked her up after she didn’t eat much dinner and i noticed she was quite hot.

so, poor baby.  but really- it was gone by yesterday afternoon, and she hasn’t had a runny nose much at all.  nor is it stuffy.

yesterday was a little ruf.  she was fussier in the early part of the day than she had been on tuesday when it all began.  again- going back to the reverting to newborn stage:  at one point the only thing that calmed her was my rhythmic swaying/shushing.  and she even wouldn’t go down for a nap until daddy held her and she slept in his arms first.  that hasn’t happened in many months. 

we’re glad she’s back to her newer old-self today.  happy, playful little girl who at this very moment is still sleeping!

<<<visualize an adorable picture of mommy & jovie watching baby einstein while holding flopsy under a blanket here.   daddy was too busy at work for me to ask him to take her first “sick” pic…… but wow, it woulda been cute!>>>

heaven & hell

unbelievable!  not only did the Hawks win their game, but Jovie was an angel!

gramma & grampa said that she barely even cried.  i think it totally helped that we were able to put her down for a nap before we left.  we (of course)left detailed instructions about feeding & entertaining this kid.  & i even mentioned about how to watch for sleepy signs if she needs another nap- they could try it.  (totally not expecting it)  and she napped again!

what??

we sooooo couldn’t have done this 6months ago. 

they let us know all the fun things they did and how well she played.  we were so relieved.  we had a good time ourselves.  and everyone said that the 4 1/2 hours didn’t seem that long at all.

so, thanks gramma & grampa!

so that’s the heaven.

the hell?  oh, that was yesterday. 

for about 6 months now (no kidding), people have told us/asked us if jovie’s teething.  what with the lakes of drool & hand always in her mouth.  even when we mention that she started waking in the night at 4mo.  we don’t consider that to be true, since it’s been almost her whole life! 

in december, we went to the dr. and she pointed out the little tooth pockets for these teeth that are bound to come…..

last week when i stuck my finger in her mouth, i could finally (sadly) feel the top little ridge come through.  so all week we’ve been checking and watching.  the tooth next door is also starting to come through.  but it was the weirdest thing that it poked it’s little head out w/o much ado.  she didn’t fuss particularly worse than any normal fussing time.  night wakings were the same.  we thought we had ourselves a brave little girl.

well, remember- i’m the one who thought how lucky i was that i began labor without the singlest smallest clue whatsoever.  HA.  i shoulda known….

yesterday was absolutely miserable.  i honestly thought i had my 3 week old baby back.  except she is much heavier. she demanded to be held all day long.   it was horrible to watch her.  tylenol didn’t seem to have much of an effect on her (but for 2 nights seemed to help her go back to sleep).

today she seemed much like herself again!

so, there’s only, what??  30 left to go?  not to mention these aren’t finished yet.   yikes!

t minus 10?

of course we can ‘t hold anything too firmly; but um, guys???—-  we’ve got 10 days left.

how’d that happen??     i remember the excitement of the last 10 days of school.  i remember saying to The Mr. there’s only 10 days until we get married!!!  (that was LOTSA 10 days ago!!!)  10 seems like a very quick number, no??

usually 10 days can fly by.  but i hope this won’t.  people ask me if it’s dragged on or gone quickly- and for once, i say that “it’s gone by appropriately”.  which is surprising.  The Mr & I talk a lot about “gosh: where’d the time go”…  yes. we’re already old fuddy-duddies.  but we were that way well before we decided to have a Little Bean. 

everything up to this point has been appropriately timed.  i hope LB will stay on schedule.  I really would be sad to miss out on my last 10 days of being w/ The Mr & by myself.  i want to enjoy my last 10 days just as i would before in the summers.  which is great.  b/c 2 weeks is about my limit for being in the house w/o going stir-crazy. 

i know i have been incredibly fortunate thru all this.  any complaint i can make is pretty minor.  i know there are lotsa women who want it to be over with by this point in their pregnancy.   they’re huge. uncomfortable. swollen. hot.  miserable… i consider myself very lucky.  i’m totally fine w/ carrying LB.  in fact, i may even miss it.  the bean has been very very good to me.

so— am i/are we ready?  sure. but that doesn’t mean we’re rushing it!!!         

 

a day late….

i wanted to post last night to mark the monumentous occasion that could possibly be ONE MONTH to go till Little Bean comes.  however, we didn’t get back from our 1st session of the childbirth class until 10pm.  between it being late, my swollen feet, and not having any energy…. you see where that got me.

i celebrated the “one month ’til” mark by buying 2 coming home outfits.   They are adorable.  sorta wish i had twins, b/c i don’t want to return either one.

we went to the doctor yesterday as well.  all’s well.  i had my strep test.  we now go back every week!  so we’ll find out next week how that went (hopefully well!)  the heart sounded really good.  ben was home to hear it & he liked that, too. 

i asked Heather when i could find out how much they think bean will weigh…  she said she could tell by the size & position it is probably ~6lbs.  she expects it to be ~8lbs or a little more.  at least that sounds normal. but a little bigger than i had hoped b/c newborn clothes stop at 8.  so the clothes i bought are 3 months…   i know it will swallow bean.   so i’ve decided to go buy some newborn outfits too and just hope for the best!  since i’m returning one set of clothes anyway i guess it doesn’t matter.

baby’s in good position. well, “good” is relative considering i’ve had pelvis soreness for about a month now. i’m fine when i don’t do ‘nothin.  but if i roll over or stand or sit….   it’s a little uncomf.  my feet are also starting to be more uncomf.  but i still consider myself lucky. so i’m really not complaining.

i’ll be back soon. i’d like to post on another topic.  but i’ll save it for it’s own………

 

s/he’ll be comin’….

can anyone else finish that lyric???…………….. ’round the mountain when s/he comes.

now, i don’t feel like racking my brain for other stupid lyrics. & i’m sure they’re out there.  but really?  isn’t that a dumb lyric?  of COURSE she’ll be coming—when she comes.   guess whoever wrote that wasn’t very concerned w/ accurate timing.       i can hear it now:    “hey! Joe- when’s mom coming home?”  “she’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes….  now bugoff!”

well, i guess whoever  wrote that song also invented the concept of maternity leave.

i’m sure i’m not the only one who finds it a little stressful to not know when little bean will come.  i’m not wanting to plan a c-section or anything—-  really!  but, man.  trying to figure out leave time on a bunch of “what ifs” can be quite difficult.  besides, i’m not wanting to rush it. i’m enjoying this time. i need to soak in more info. 

so you plan around the “magic” date; which we all know is rare.  but that’s kinda what you have to bank on.  & considering it’s vacation time that’s paid or sick days that are paid or short term disability, there’s a lot of banking here.

this is just one of many times i’ve asked in pregnancy:   just how DOES this work?

when we first got pregnant, i secretly hoped i’d meet Little Bean 3 weeks early so I could have a June baby.  now—  oh gosh, no! please!!!!  b/c i’m taking 2 weeks off before LB comes so i won’t go into labor at work and can have some time to myself.  because i want to be lazy get things done.  so if LB makes a june appearance, i’m screwed!

so, y’all- when’s baby comin’?   guess it’ll get here when it gets here.  just like the song says….

Surprise!

The fact that The Mr & I want to keep our baby’s gender a surprise should be no surprise to any of you; since we’ve faithfully used the moniker “little bean”.  I know it’s uncommon these days.  but i can’t imagine life any other way.

i truly think at this point, if i were to find out somehow, i’d be more upset about ruining the surprise than anything.

when people ask us what we’re having, i feel almost famous/saintly when we reply “we don’t know”.  it’s an amazing concept these days; especially for first-timers.  it’s a hilarious response.

sometimes i tell people about how it’s so natural for me to NOT know….  i used to wrap my own christmas gifts!!!!  & i was always sad for my (spoiled) friends that would always tell me what they were getting for xmas…. like in november!!! 

So- needless to say, when we went to the dr. for a routine visit & she heard a pause in the heart, we also were surprised by that.  so when she had us sit and wait for an ultrasound to be performed, we (i) immediately said:  WE DON’T WANT TO KNOW THE SEX!  (i’m a great mom:  not  “is it going to be alright?”)

the ultrasound also showed a pause.  so we were referred to a specialist.  appointment was on wednesday.

i laid off the caffeine for sure since they said it’s usually nothing. no big deal. brought on by caffeine sometimes (i’m a great mom:  that rare mt.dew tasted delicious during lunch IMMEDIATELY before the first visit) & it seemed to work.  the ultrasound tech didn’t detect a pause.  (WHEW).  oh yeah:  more declaring “we don’t wanna know” and turning our heads.

however, the dr. -after a while, mind you- did find just a few pauses… not like previous day.  but he wasn’t concerned and said sometimes that happens.  my impression is that if it happens again at the next visit, maybe they’d be more alarmed.  but the heart looks great.  and the beat is strong and “perfect” (when it’s beating)  so no need for worry.

wednesday night was my regular bunko game w/ my teacher pals, so i was looking forward to that now that i wasn’t too worried about baby bean.

and whaddya know—- they invited more people and threw me a SURPRISE! shower!

The Mr. apparently is great at keeping them!  i also was lucky to have a surprise wedding shower thrown by his mom, and he knew about this shower for months!  not to mention HE surprised me with a lovely mother’s day gift!

dang i love surprises!!!!!!        tho i hope i’m not surprised again at our next appointment. 

whew*

This week sucked.   Relay season is upon me!  Believe me, this is why i wanted this job…. but oh my god! 4?????  2 in the same night.  and i’m coincidentally starting to feel rather pregnant.

not that i’m complaining about my state.  my pregnancy has been pretty uneventful (not counting april fool’s day) & completely not what i’ve expected…   but, yes.  i’m starting to finally feel pregnant.  my big belly weighs me down if i’m standing or walking for a good bit of time.   um???  what????  standing? walking?  wait—- what’s Relay For Life?   ohhhhh yeeeahhhhhh……  American Cancer Society’s signature (and most fun) fundraiser!   job description:  walk around and “schmooze” all the team captains.  get to know them.  establish a relationship & see how things have gone/ will they return next year???   when i’m not “schmoozing”, i need to help the committee take care of whatever needs to be done.  yaddayaddayadda.   oh yeah.  and do this ALL. NIGHT. LONG.

but that’s ok.  i’ll manage.  my first one is next friday.  woohoo!  then 2 the next friday. (uh-oh)  then i have a week off and i finish on may 16th.  but all of this is making work quite stressful.

and i had my own stresses to deal w/ littlebean this week.   but YAY! my glucose test came back negative!!

yes. i was worried.  the stress has (i guess) helped me to not feel my best.  couple that w/ family history of gestational diabetes, and now diabetes.  add on that my last dr’s visit and they said i had glucose in my sample (but dr. said that was ok and normal…… still!)  to top it off, doctor measured my fundus (amungus) and said it was a little big.       THERE’S A SIGN.

but i’m so excited.  this job makes me travel. a lot.  to some rural counties that are no less than 45 minutes away.  so my eating habits are not the best when i miss dinners sometimes 3 or 4 nights a week (and who cooks on weekends?  i love sundays! if i’m not too tired).  and excercise??   how?  i’m sitting in a car for 2 hours at a time and sitting at my desk the rest of the time.

so even though i should have had to take the 3 hour test, i’m very thankful that i’m all clear!

so littlebean is happy.  but a little big (by a week. i asked this time)

so this post letcha know how things are.  and hopefully let you know why, exactly, i’ve been silent.  and likely will be for a little longer…   i’m even working sunday.  but we’ll see braves vs. dodgers tomorrow w/ The Mr.’s parents.  (can’t wait.  hot dog & boiled peanuts…..   yum)

i couldn’t do all this w/o The Mr. !     Time for me to get some much needed excercise….

Thanks for checkin in.   talk to you later!

9 months

i’ve wondered for a while how it could be “9 months” to have a baby.  especially now that we’re pregnant.  do the math.  40 weeks divided by 4 weeks/month= 10 months.

well, in any case… i’m glad it’s 9 (or 10) months to prepare you for having a baby.  even us….  carefully thought out.  but let me just say- my short visit in the hospital:   UMMMMMMMMMM  yeah.  not quite ready.

seriously.  yes.  littlebean has a crib (thanks, gramma & grampa!) & a car seat.  so, sure. we can bring LB home.  but getting him/her here?  i am not even whining about the labor.  (tho yes, i’m sure that’s part of it).  just the thought.

sitting in that hospital room with just The Mr & myself…  i felt completely small.  and i didn’t fit.  not since i was 4 w/ pneumonia have i ever been to the hospital where i wasn’t visiting someone.  happy occasions & sad…  but it was just as visitor.  i’m there to cheer someone or to meet someone else’s newborn. 

i didn’t feel like i belonged in an empty room.  i even sat on the couch b/c i was unsure of what to do.  when they showed me our room, they told me to get undressed (!).  however, since i knew i was getting that oxygenation clip on my finger, i felt no need to put on a gown w/ a slit in the back.  the nurse set me straight tho’— esp. since they needed my leg free for the ultrasound.

lots of beeps persisted & heartbeat monitor for LB.  ben even said there was the contraction monitor (no contractions).  all of these noises interfered w/ whatever gameshow was on tv at the time.  ok. no big deal. i’m not really here.  then nurse comes back to put my seatback comfortable, told me how to work the tv and where we could get juice if needed and that if i needed to go to the bathroom, get her b/c i was all strapped in.   (!!??) 

The Mr. seemed a little out of place.  (tho i asked- he didn’t feel odd). i guess to me, he didn’t really belong there, either. so i laughed a lot.  i just didn’t get the whole thing.  and man, when they came w/ the wheelchair?  never in my life have i been in one.  i was fully capable of walking.  and by that time, felt completely normal.

in any case, this big, empty room:  it was nice enough.  the maternity ward is only a little over a year old.  so the hardwood floors and “furniture” seemed nice.  (not sure what i was expecting).  and over to the left of me was the plastic bassinet.  um, it doesn’t take a geeenius to figure out what THAT is supposed to be for.  it all just felt pretty surreal.

The Mr & i got bored w/ the jeffersons.  he looked thru all the cabinets and things.  we joked and laughed.  but i really didn’t even feel as though i belonged.

hope i will in a few months.  cuz next time, people will be in that room to cheer me on. and to see US.  hey, dr- can i have about 9 more months, please?

smorgasbord

can i just say that’s such a fun word??  go ahead- say it out loud.    i now remember that word is in a disney movie…. which was it?  beauty & the beast?   i love when fun words are also in lyrics.

i digress……..

this will be a smorgasbord of topics.  no good title to fit it; a smattering.  odds & ends. whatever.

The Mr. is the clever one.  I feel like as I get bigger I get less funny!  But i know some of you are reading this to know how things are going.  we leave the humor to dad. 

in a nutshell (& the reason why there isn’t a post every day) i/we’re doing great.  i definitely have a pregnant belly.  so i’m growing.  i can’t imagine being 3 months bigger!  (course i couldn’t really imagine being this big, either)

i am starting my 3rd trimester today.  (!!!!???!!!!)  ok.  say that with me:  (!!!!???!!!!) 

i know i’ve mentioned wanting to feel little bean.  s/he’s a good listener b/c i am.  even The Mr. can enjoy the kicks and things.  he likes to listento LB.  says it sounds funny to hear baby move.  in case you didn’t catch it from before, LB has even kicked daddy!  that was hilarious. i think we both just stared at each other cracking up.  i mean- what else couldja do?

we all enjoyed a fantastic easter.  we appreciate Little Bean’s gramma & grampa very much for the gifts!  LB now has a place to sleep….  a beautiful crib that fits well and looks perfect in the nursery.  But the importantthing (according to grampa) is the bike trailer he bought ben for his birthday!  and it’s big enough that i’m sure LB could sleep in that as well. 

between the crib and the glider that aunt jo-jo & aunt kelly lent us—-  that kid will be very prepared to sleep.

we have an understanding.  mommy likes to sleep.  Little Bean is living in mommy (therefore learning from her) so LB will also enjoy sleeping in!  that IS how it works, right?  The Mr. thinks i should be able to talk to baby telepathically.  you know, since we’re connected and all.  so surely it will develop sleeping patterns from me. (and please not daddy!!!  who else in this world can hear cat paws on carpet????)

so, we’re all doing well.  we have a dr’s appt on tuesday.  hopefully there will not be any april fool’s jokes goin’ on. 

guess that about wraps up things to share. thanks for reading!