If i survive the last four weeks of the first trimester, I will consider it a monumental achievement. I am miserable...MISERABLE. At this point, if I encounter anyone who tells me how much they love being pregnant, I may punch them in the face. Healthy food makes me want to puke (heck, just being conscious makes me want to puke, and that's even with my double strength Zofran prescription), I can't so much as peel a banana for Ava without dry heaving. The only healthy food I can stomach at this point is smoothies (frozen fruit, yogurt, fruit/veggie juice, and a touch of honey...so it really is healthy) and grapefruit juice but I don't know how long that will last. I'm not getting adequate sleep because Ava--who is in a regular bed because the crib was no longer keeping her contained--wakes up crying every night and runs into our room, insisting she needs to sleep in our bed. We compromise by one of us sleeping in her room, otherwise nobody gets any sleep. This is fine except when Craig is out of town and I'm stuck losing sleep the entire week when I have to get up at 5am. The urge to drug the kid to sleep is very strong right now and I may actually call the pediatrician to see if there's anything homeopathic I can give her to help her stay asleep. One of us also has to sit in her chair until she falls asleep....usually this takes about 35-40 min, but I've been in here an hour now and she is still not asleep! Before anyone suggest just locking her in here, we already tried that approach and it was a total disaster, she seriously freaked out and then ransacked her room and peed on the carpet. Tough love doesn't work on anxiety. Hopefully this will pass soon, because I really want to feel happy about being a parent right now, instead of frustrated and depressed.
Anyhow, the one still in utero seems to be fine, to the best of my knowledge. Had a doc appointment on Thurs...oops, I thought that's what it was supposed to be, but it was just paperwork and drawing SEVEN vials of blood from my arm. I did surprisingly well, considering my fear of needles, but I wish before they'd taken my blood and credit card they'd have at least checked up on the little bean sprout, ya know? :-/ Ah well....in 8 days we see the doctor so if all goes well, we will henceforth make the pregnancy public knowledge.
Well, I'm off....I think the beast is sleeping so I'm going to go fight the urge to vomit in the comfort of my own room now.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Backtracking
Friday, Sept. 24th
If you are reading this, it's after the fact and you already have a good idea what's going on in our lives. You aren't actually reading it on 9/24 because I'm saving it to draft so we can maintain some secrecy for the next few weeks until we let the general public know our business yet again: Haynor Baby #2 will be arriving on our around May 17, 2011...yeah!!!!!! I'm writing because I'm practically exploding from a need to talk about this, but not wanting to let people know too early. Here's what happened...
Since about spring, we've been tossing around the idea of having another kid and trying in the fall. We had no expectations since getting Ava wasn't easy, but weren't really feeling any pressure. Worst case scenario, if we weren't able to have a second one, we knew we were blessed with one pretty awesome kid. We finally narrowed it down to September to begin the process, just because that would work out nicely with my work schedule. Anyhow, for well over a year we've been following natural family planning (I didn't like some of the things chemical birth control did to me) and it's been a piece of cake. Then, in August, I somehow miscalculated the days. Didn't think about it too much because, what, was I actually going to get pregnant without any effort? Yeah, right. So imagine my surprise a few weeks later when I took a pregnancy test (just to rule it out, I was very convinced I was just late for some other reason) and it came out positive!
We're pretty crazy happy right now...yesterday we went to the doctor and they confirmed it, and we saw the lima bean on ultrasound, it's little heart beating away so things are good. :) I'm also feeling pretty miserable physically....which is a good sign, but it doesn't make me any less nauseous. Like with Ava, I feel miserable 24/7 EXCEPT in the morning--even waking up at night because of it--but I don't throw up. I gag a lot and go between wanting to eat everything in sight and not being able to stand the sight of food. Ironically, I also have an aversion to ginger, which is everyone's #1 suggestion for relieving morning sickness. Soooo......THANK HEAVEN FOR MODERN MEDICINE AND DOCTORS WHO DISTRIBUTE IT FREELY! I have a prescription for generic Zofran which knocks out the nausea, and another prescription that's apparently a combination anti-nausea/sleeping pill. Probably won't take that one but it's good to have anyhow, since feeling like crap has literally made me lose sleep.
That's about it for now...more later!
Monday, October 4th
I forgot just how much I loathe being pregnant...how is that even possible, to have forgotten how awful this is? No, not the part about having another baby (okay, sometimes when Ava is acting psycho I kind of wonder what on earth I've gotten myself into), but all of the symptoms that accompany the first trimester (the only one of which I'll speak in this blog is the "morning" sickness). Yeah, right....morning is about the only time of day I don't wish I were dead. The nausea, while not as bad as it was with Ava, is still pretty miserable and I have aversions to most foods right now: vegetables (especially salad), ginger tea and ginger ale, cake (why???), pork...and even the fruit I was craving recently has started to bother me, maybe because I've eaten so much of it. About a week ago, Craig ate some really garlicky pasta and the once it was in his system, I could smell it just as strong as if I'd shoved a whole freaking clove of garlic up my nose. He reeked of it so bad I was gagging and had to sleep in a different room that night. I swear I could still smell it the next day.
Oh, and yesterday when I went to pick up more of my Zofran--the only thing that gets me through the horror that is the first trimester--it turns out insurance has gotten really stingy with it...instead of receiving my 30 pills (which last between 10-15 days for me), I was only allowed 12 and my doctor has to contact the insurance company and explain to them exactly why I need it. Let's see...because I'm bordering on underweight to begin with and even with the meds I can hardly choke anything down, which means I'm not even able to eat for one, let alone for two? SEEMS LIKE A PRETTY GOOD REASON TO ME. Ugh...clearly, there are no women (or at least no women who have ever been pregnant) working at the insurance company. I bet they don't give this much grief to men who are prescribed Viagra, because the system is totally unfair like that. And don't even tell me it's because insurance companies are bad and government-run health care would take care of it, because I can pretty much guarantee that no one in the government would deem this medication a necessity for me. Again....people who've never been pregnant. If I get desperate, the meds are $100 for 30 pills. If it comes to that, I'll do it because I'd probably be able to get away with only filling it once more, but I'm hoping the doctor can straighten things out. I have approximately 6 more weeks to get through before I leave behind the worst of the symptoms and actually reach the part of pregnancy that I will admit I like. :)
If you are reading this, it's after the fact and you already have a good idea what's going on in our lives. You aren't actually reading it on 9/24 because I'm saving it to draft so we can maintain some secrecy for the next few weeks until we let the general public know our business yet again: Haynor Baby #2 will be arriving on our around May 17, 2011...yeah!!!!!! I'm writing because I'm practically exploding from a need to talk about this, but not wanting to let people know too early. Here's what happened...
Since about spring, we've been tossing around the idea of having another kid and trying in the fall. We had no expectations since getting Ava wasn't easy, but weren't really feeling any pressure. Worst case scenario, if we weren't able to have a second one, we knew we were blessed with one pretty awesome kid. We finally narrowed it down to September to begin the process, just because that would work out nicely with my work schedule. Anyhow, for well over a year we've been following natural family planning (I didn't like some of the things chemical birth control did to me) and it's been a piece of cake. Then, in August, I somehow miscalculated the days. Didn't think about it too much because, what, was I actually going to get pregnant without any effort? Yeah, right. So imagine my surprise a few weeks later when I took a pregnancy test (just to rule it out, I was very convinced I was just late for some other reason) and it came out positive!
We're pretty crazy happy right now...yesterday we went to the doctor and they confirmed it, and we saw the lima bean on ultrasound, it's little heart beating away so things are good. :) I'm also feeling pretty miserable physically....which is a good sign, but it doesn't make me any less nauseous. Like with Ava, I feel miserable 24/7 EXCEPT in the morning--even waking up at night because of it--but I don't throw up. I gag a lot and go between wanting to eat everything in sight and not being able to stand the sight of food. Ironically, I also have an aversion to ginger, which is everyone's #1 suggestion for relieving morning sickness. Soooo......THANK HEAVEN FOR MODERN MEDICINE AND DOCTORS WHO DISTRIBUTE IT FREELY! I have a prescription for generic Zofran which knocks out the nausea, and another prescription that's apparently a combination anti-nausea/sleeping pill. Probably won't take that one but it's good to have anyhow, since feeling like crap has literally made me lose sleep.
That's about it for now...more later!
Monday, October 4th
I forgot just how much I loathe being pregnant...how is that even possible, to have forgotten how awful this is? No, not the part about having another baby (okay, sometimes when Ava is acting psycho I kind of wonder what on earth I've gotten myself into), but all of the symptoms that accompany the first trimester (the only one of which I'll speak in this blog is the "morning" sickness). Yeah, right....morning is about the only time of day I don't wish I were dead. The nausea, while not as bad as it was with Ava, is still pretty miserable and I have aversions to most foods right now: vegetables (especially salad), ginger tea and ginger ale, cake (why???), pork...and even the fruit I was craving recently has started to bother me, maybe because I've eaten so much of it. About a week ago, Craig ate some really garlicky pasta and the once it was in his system, I could smell it just as strong as if I'd shoved a whole freaking clove of garlic up my nose. He reeked of it so bad I was gagging and had to sleep in a different room that night. I swear I could still smell it the next day.
Oh, and yesterday when I went to pick up more of my Zofran--the only thing that gets me through the horror that is the first trimester--it turns out insurance has gotten really stingy with it...instead of receiving my 30 pills (which last between 10-15 days for me), I was only allowed 12 and my doctor has to contact the insurance company and explain to them exactly why I need it. Let's see...because I'm bordering on underweight to begin with and even with the meds I can hardly choke anything down, which means I'm not even able to eat for one, let alone for two? SEEMS LIKE A PRETTY GOOD REASON TO ME. Ugh...clearly, there are no women (or at least no women who have ever been pregnant) working at the insurance company. I bet they don't give this much grief to men who are prescribed Viagra, because the system is totally unfair like that. And don't even tell me it's because insurance companies are bad and government-run health care would take care of it, because I can pretty much guarantee that no one in the government would deem this medication a necessity for me. Again....people who've never been pregnant. If I get desperate, the meds are $100 for 30 pills. If it comes to that, I'll do it because I'd probably be able to get away with only filling it once more, but I'm hoping the doctor can straighten things out. I have approximately 6 more weeks to get through before I leave behind the worst of the symptoms and actually reach the part of pregnancy that I will admit I like. :)
Thursday, April 1, 2010
April Fools!
I had no motivation to prank anyone today, sadly...oh well. At the moment, I'm relaxing on the back porch with the remnants of a puff-pastry-wrapped brie and a glass of wine--a work friend came by for a bit and we chatted and just chilled out, which was nice, but I'm not ready to go in yet (it's cooled down significantly and I'm wrapped in a blanket but I love it out here!) so updating the blog seemed like the thing to do.
Anyhow, a LOT has happened in the last few days: Craig's car broke down again (the clutch went out) but it could've been worse, Ava climbed out of her crib but got hurt (nothing bad, just fell and scared herself) and has not attempted it again, and--this is the worst--Ava's baby-sitter sold her house and will be moving in one month--still in the general area, but too far away for us to continue using her as a sitter. It's only "the worst" from our perspective because we love her! She's had her house on the market forever so I'm happy for them but sad we're losing such an awesome "second mom" for Ava, who has done so well and been very loved while in her care. So, after a lot of tears and panicking on my part for about 48 hours, I finally let it go and am in the process of trying to find a new caregiver--I was dead set on private care but we're looking into day care as well, just in case something good presents itself--the in-laws arrive tomorrow around noon so after Ava goes down for her nap, Craig and I will head to a new day care facility down the road to check it out. I'm comfortable with Ava being at day care at this point, but I'm trying to think ahead to when we have our second (AND FINAL) child...no, I'm not pregnant and we're not even trying, but I like to plan ahead. :) Ideally, I want to place Ava in a situation where we could add a second child and not have to uproot our firstborn again, be it private care or day care. I'm trying to just pray that the right person/place comes along and just trust that it will all work out, but I like to be in control of all the details and find it difficult to let go. I'm trying though, and some possibilities have presented themselves so we're waiting to see what happens. Honestly, I think Ava is waaaaay more adaptable than I give her credit for--I'm the one who thrives on routine and freaks out when anything changes. ;) But, I do think stability and routine is good for kids so hopefully she'll settle into something good and we won't have to change it on her for quite some time. Please pray that something wonderful comes along for us and for Ava! :)
Anyhow, in other news, it is BEAUTIFUL here in North Carolina!! As much as I miss my Illinois family and friends something awful, I LOVE living here. Last week when we returned from our vacation, I felt such contentment when we finally got back into NC...it's just gorgeous, even driving down the interstate. Today we went to Lowe's and got our yearly supply of plants: ferns to hang on the front porch, some pretty pink flowers (no idea what they are) to go on the stands by the front door, trailing petunias for Ava's window box above the garage, and seeds for my herb garden: basil, cilantro, oregano, and rosemary. I love growing my own herbs, it's so easy that even I don't screw it up! :) I think a vegetable garden would be nice but Craig is right: the deer would eat it. I'm wondering if we could built some kind of enclosure but I don't know if he'd really be on board with that...it would be nice though, and would go a long ways towards my "eating healthier" mission.
The in-laws arrive tomorrow for Easter weekend...looking forward to having family around! Not sure exactly what's on the agenda, I'd like to take Pat (mother in law) to the tea room in Wake Forest on Saturday, I'd like to dye eggs with Ava that evening, and do an Easter egg hunt the next morning before church. Then, I'll be cooking up a storm...can't wait! I love food...
That's about it for now. I should probably start thinking about bed, as it's 11pm and we still have things to do in the morning before they get here. Nite!
Anyhow, a LOT has happened in the last few days: Craig's car broke down again (the clutch went out) but it could've been worse, Ava climbed out of her crib but got hurt (nothing bad, just fell and scared herself) and has not attempted it again, and--this is the worst--Ava's baby-sitter sold her house and will be moving in one month--still in the general area, but too far away for us to continue using her as a sitter. It's only "the worst" from our perspective because we love her! She's had her house on the market forever so I'm happy for them but sad we're losing such an awesome "second mom" for Ava, who has done so well and been very loved while in her care. So, after a lot of tears and panicking on my part for about 48 hours, I finally let it go and am in the process of trying to find a new caregiver--I was dead set on private care but we're looking into day care as well, just in case something good presents itself--the in-laws arrive tomorrow around noon so after Ava goes down for her nap, Craig and I will head to a new day care facility down the road to check it out. I'm comfortable with Ava being at day care at this point, but I'm trying to think ahead to when we have our second (AND FINAL) child...no, I'm not pregnant and we're not even trying, but I like to plan ahead. :) Ideally, I want to place Ava in a situation where we could add a second child and not have to uproot our firstborn again, be it private care or day care. I'm trying to just pray that the right person/place comes along and just trust that it will all work out, but I like to be in control of all the details and find it difficult to let go. I'm trying though, and some possibilities have presented themselves so we're waiting to see what happens. Honestly, I think Ava is waaaaay more adaptable than I give her credit for--I'm the one who thrives on routine and freaks out when anything changes. ;) But, I do think stability and routine is good for kids so hopefully she'll settle into something good and we won't have to change it on her for quite some time. Please pray that something wonderful comes along for us and for Ava! :)
Anyhow, in other news, it is BEAUTIFUL here in North Carolina!! As much as I miss my Illinois family and friends something awful, I LOVE living here. Last week when we returned from our vacation, I felt such contentment when we finally got back into NC...it's just gorgeous, even driving down the interstate. Today we went to Lowe's and got our yearly supply of plants: ferns to hang on the front porch, some pretty pink flowers (no idea what they are) to go on the stands by the front door, trailing petunias for Ava's window box above the garage, and seeds for my herb garden: basil, cilantro, oregano, and rosemary. I love growing my own herbs, it's so easy that even I don't screw it up! :) I think a vegetable garden would be nice but Craig is right: the deer would eat it. I'm wondering if we could built some kind of enclosure but I don't know if he'd really be on board with that...it would be nice though, and would go a long ways towards my "eating healthier" mission.
The in-laws arrive tomorrow for Easter weekend...looking forward to having family around! Not sure exactly what's on the agenda, I'd like to take Pat (mother in law) to the tea room in Wake Forest on Saturday, I'd like to dye eggs with Ava that evening, and do an Easter egg hunt the next morning before church. Then, I'll be cooking up a storm...can't wait! I love food...
That's about it for now. I should probably start thinking about bed, as it's 11pm and we still have things to do in the morning before they get here. Nite!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Bad Blogger!
Ava playing in the fountains on Clematis in West Palm Beach, FL
Want to know why I don't blog much these days? Because I just typed a paragraph and the internet apparently swallowed it up. I don't have time for this crap! But, I feel guilty...this blog was a huge part of my life during my pregnancy and Ava's first few months and I'd hate to just delete it, so three months after my last post I'm attempting to resurrect it yet again. Craig mentioned starting a photo website of Ava (I guess sort of like a blog?) so maybe I can transfer my past posts over there if it ever happens, we'll see.
ANYHOW--Ava. She's now approaching 2 1/4 years old and holy crap is she growing! Not just physically--32 lbs and 36 inches at the two year appointment--but mentally and emotionally too. I don't know if she's slow, right on target, or advanced for her age because I have no basis for comparison, but she is constantly amazing us with what she knows. She can count to fourteen, and not just reciting the numbers, she can actually count objects. She can identify almost every letter in the alphabet--not just sing the song, actually point out and say the letters when she sees them. She's been identifying emotions (sad, happy, scared) and can name a few shapes. Colors...not so much. She knows green and purple so far and that's about it. ;o) She speaks in short sentences and makes up "songs"--this usually consists of saying the same phrase over and over in a sing-song voice (today in the car, it was "Mommy's otay! Mommy's otay!") about a thousand times. On the way home from our family vacation to Florida last week (more about that later) she pointed to the sign outside a Honda dealership and said, "Dada's car!" Craig drives a Honda Element (although that's probably changing later today, as he's in the shop with it yet again--it hit 200K miles and then just started to fall apart--not bad)...I have heard her say that when she sees another Element, but not just from seeing the Honda logo. All of the two year molars are FINALLY in, so crankiness in association to teeth is over but she can still throw down a tantrum like a pro. Kid is going to give herself a stroke if she's not careful...and usually it's over something stupid like not wanting to wear pants or sit in a car seat. Today she learned how to get out of her crib--not a good thing--and I think potty training is in our near future, as she now informs us every time she has a wet or dirty diaper. Hasn't quite managed to line that up with actually using the potty yet, but it's a start. I'm totally not pushing it...when she's ready, she's ready. Fine by me.
So--Florida. The three of us finally packed up and took a family vacation down to my parents' condo in West Palm Beach...yeah!!! It was warmish and VERY windy so we only made it to the beach twice, but Ava has NO FEAR (or sense) whatsoever and jumped right into the ocean. Thank goodness we had a life vest for her or I would've been terrified, even though there was always an adult next to her. We also took her to the fountains on Clematis and she went nuts playing in them! Wouldn't even get out when she fell down and skinned an elbow and both knees, just continued running through the fountains, crying and bleeding. My favorite part was when she told me that that "water is jumping" and chased after it, growling, "RARRRRRRRR!!!! RAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!" Awesome. We also got to spend time with my brother Mike and his girlfriend Gio while we were there, which was a lot of fun....Ava LOVED the attention. (Uncle Mike even babysat so Craig and I could go out one night!) I got to spend time with a few old friends, and we just did a lot of relaxing in general.
Right now I'm on spring break and other than our vacation, no huge plans. Craig's parents will be here for Easter and the weather is supposed to get gorgeous around here in a day or two so it looks like we'll be spending a lot of time outside....woohoo! I'm also trying to eat healthier these days: not a dessert-free type of diet or anything, just adding more healthy things: more fruit and veggies, less meat. Smaller desserts, if I can manage that. :) I just need to be healthier, you know? It can't hurt. So far I've done two healthy meals and I'm a little hungry but it could be worse. With the weather improving, I'm hoping to take more walks and I'm also going to attempt my Pilates abdominal workout again but that probably won't last, since I hate exercise. But it would be nice to see my abs again. Plus, if we do decide another child is in our future, I need to be in good shape...I figure if I have abs of steel (or at least not abs of jello like I have now), I can squeeze that sucker right out instead of taking two hours to push like I did with Ava. Slightly less fun than a day at the spa.
On that note...the kitchen needs cleaning and the TV needs watching (hey, I'm on VACATION) so I'm out! Hopefully be back again a little sooner than three months from now but don't hold your breath.... :)
Monday, December 21, 2009
VACATION!
Finally, it's Christmas break! Three weeks of only having one job: Mommy! Okay, two jobs: Mommy and wife. Well, Mommy, wife, housekeeper, cook. Nevermind, I still have eight hundred jobs, teaching just won't be one of them for the next few weeks. Except for my two workdays...you know what? Forget it. There's no such thing as a vacation.
Anyhow, I have been enjoying the last few days with the family: Craig and I have had a chance to catch up on TV shows together, and both of us have spent a lot of time snuggling with/chasing/reading to/building things with Ava. She's still randomly crying in her sleep but usually stops after a minute or so, and it's usually only once or occasionally twice a night: the fact that she's finally got two of her 2-year molars poking through (which means two more on their way soon) could be the reason...but she makes up for it by sleeping until 7-7:30 each morning...woohoo! We've also gone to lunch twice and she's been perfect...just to the Village Deli, but it gives me hope that we could try other places as well. We'll see...we should have a chance to test that theory sometime in the next few weeks. :) I'm LOVING Christmas as a parent right now...we're not getting Ava much right now since she doesn't know any better and has the attention span of a hummingbird on speed, but each of the gifts I've found for her have probably caused more excitement for me than they will for her. As much as I love the Christmas season and everything it entails (except for shopping), it's been hard to really get into some things: I have a wreath on the door and a rather sad looking tree, but that's the extent of our decorations...I just could not get out to do lights or anything else this year. Ava rips the ornaments off of the tree or runs in circles around out, tripping over the cord to the lights and knocking pine needles everywhere (Craig has promised me a nice, big, fake, pre-lit tree next year). I also would really like a sound system for our house, because I love me some classical Christmas music...I usually get my fix in the car thanks to Sirius radio but Ava is insistent on always listening Tom Petty. (She yells, "Tom-tom Petty! Free!" That means Tom Petty, Free Fallin' I guess, but she says the same thing for every song. Her latest favorite seems to be Don't Come Around Here No More...she especially likes yelling out, "STOP!" when Tom Petty says it in the song. HA!) But anyhow, we're looking forward to watching her open gifts, to see if she actually gets it this year.
Ava is still talking up a storm and every day we understand a little more. My favorites right now are when she laughs (or fake laughs) and then says, "That's funny!" Or when she hurts herself and we give her a kiss, she says, "All better!" And her most recent--when we sit down she climbs on our backs, hugs us around the neck, and says, "Hang tight!" Of course we then have to give her a piggy-back ride, but that's okay, it's too cute not to.... :) On a bad note though, she has been slapping me in the face when she's mad or wants me to pay attention to her, which usually just gets her a spanking, so hopefully that turns around soon.
Anyhow, to wrap things up, the last few weeks have been very stressful for a variety of reasons and very sad: a former student of mine who was diagnosed with ALS just about six months ago died on December 9th. Ben was one of my favorite students and one of the nicest people I've ever met. He had such a good heart and will be greatly missed...I'm glad I got to attend a beautiful memorial service in his honor last week. I'm including a couple of videos that were taken before his death because it's just amazing and inspiring that he was able to face his illness with such grace, courage, and faith in God.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Winding Down
This morning, I woke up feeling happy and well-rested. I didn't get any extra sleep or even a full eight hours (although the sleep I did get was uninterrupted so that had to help) and nothing in particular happened to make me happy, so I have no idea where it was coming from but I'll take it! It's been a crazy couple of weeks: Ava recovered pretty well from the pneumonia but still has a cough and a runny nose...last week I took her for her first H1N1 vaccination, which was a nightmare because the pediatricians decided to do it clinic-style at the Raleigh office, which is nearly an hour away. Ava had dinner at 4pm, we rushed and got there before the 5:30 start time and were #208 in line...what the heck???? Waited for 1 1/2 hours IN A LINE OUTSIDE IN THE DARK, and she had meltdowns the entire time....did I mention Craig was out of town and I was alone? I couldn't be mad at her, it was past her bedtime and she was screaming "Night-night!" because she just wanted to go to sleep. Looks like they're going to run it the same way for part two of the vaccination process....WONDERFUL!!! Because, you know, it worked so well the first time. I normally love our doctors but that really sucked on their part. Also, I had to cancel her seasonal flu shot for the third time since it just happened to be the same day as the clinic, and I didn't feel comfortable doing both at once (I've heard mixed opinions regarding doing them at the same time) and plus there was no way for me to do both appointments, the regular one was at the Wake Forest office. UGH!!!! I really hate inefficiency!
Anyhow, speaking of winding down, I think my body has finally stopped going insane from stopping the pill, which is nice. Had I known it was this easy to not get pregnant I'd have saved my money the past few years, jeez! At the same time, my stomach has been bad again thanks to the stress of the last few weeks, but hopefully that'll stop as well. At least now I have meds to help. The students have lost their everloving minds this year and are already acting like it's fourth quarter with their attitudes and slacking off but oddly enough, working is one of the things that keeps my stomach happy in spite of that: it's being on such a rigid schedule that helps. At any rate, I'm finally starting to feel like myself again, which hasn't happened in awhile, mostly I've just felt unhappy and stressed and generally insane.
All right, enough about me. In Ava news, her vocabulary and the things she's learning continue to amaze us every day. I don't even count the number of words she knows anymore! She's starting to put two and occasionally three words together, and sometimes she'll hold an entire conversation with me in gibberish, though I can pick out a few words here and there. :) Tonight she took my face in her hands, looked me in the eye, and let out a string of babble that ended with, "Shhhh! Dada fweep!" So I think I was getting lectured about being quiet so Craig could sleep. (No, Ava, Dada was killing zombies on his computer, not sleeping.... ;o) She sings along with me when I sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," and it sounds like, "Bababababa star! Babababababa sky! Babababa star!" She counts to ten, tries to share her snacks with the cats and with her Duckie (she's not big on dolls yet, but is very motherly towards her Duckie, which isn't even a real stuffed animal, just a duck head attached to a little blankie. But she brushes his beak with her toothbrush, combs his head with her comb, and tries to get him to eat and drink out of her sippy cup.) and of course loves feeding us. Lately, she also pets our heads and says, "Nice Mommy! Nice Dada!" LOVE IT!!
In addition to learning good things, she also is learning some not-so-good things: for example, if I fuss at her about something, she will lay down on the ground and cover her eyes, because she thinks I can't see her that way. Today she did something she knew she wasn't supposed to do, and she looked at me and covered her butt with her hand--SHE KNEW IT WAS WRONG AND THAT SHE'D PROBABLY GET SPANKED!!! She'll also do things--like throw Duckie or her sippy cup--and exclaim "Oh no!" in a really exaggerated voice so we'll think it was an accident...nice try, kid. Naturally she also throws tantrums but if she does it at home (where most of them happen, thankfully, as long as we're not waiting in stupid lines past her bedtime) I just put her in the crib for a minute or two and she mellows out immediately...I have to keep it brief though, she's about big enough to start climbing out of the crib and I saw her testing it out one day after she was put in there for punishment....EEEEEK! I have no idea what we will do when that day comes, maybe buy a really big dog kennel for her? ;o) Luckily she seems content enough to stay in at bedtime, even though more often than not she screams and cries out for Mommy when I put her to bed...at least she just lays there and doesn't try to get out. I'm telling you, it was so much easier to let her cry when she couldn't call for me! :( It breaks my heart leaving her, but it does help that usually after a minute the cries sound so forced it's almost funny, and then she stops.
All right, it's bedtime for me now...and I am NOT going to cry or attept to escape! Bring it on! :)
Ava, reorganizing the cabinets: she lined up all of the lids, counted them, and then put them away.
Eating a snack and looking cute....I love this dress on her!
Watching Dada hang something on the wall.
Dressed up as a Chicago Bear for Halloween 2oo9
DA BEARS!
A shot of the leaves changing in our backyard--I love autumn!
Anyhow, speaking of winding down, I think my body has finally stopped going insane from stopping the pill, which is nice. Had I known it was this easy to not get pregnant I'd have saved my money the past few years, jeez! At the same time, my stomach has been bad again thanks to the stress of the last few weeks, but hopefully that'll stop as well. At least now I have meds to help. The students have lost their everloving minds this year and are already acting like it's fourth quarter with their attitudes and slacking off but oddly enough, working is one of the things that keeps my stomach happy in spite of that: it's being on such a rigid schedule that helps. At any rate, I'm finally starting to feel like myself again, which hasn't happened in awhile, mostly I've just felt unhappy and stressed and generally insane.
All right, enough about me. In Ava news, her vocabulary and the things she's learning continue to amaze us every day. I don't even count the number of words she knows anymore! She's starting to put two and occasionally three words together, and sometimes she'll hold an entire conversation with me in gibberish, though I can pick out a few words here and there. :) Tonight she took my face in her hands, looked me in the eye, and let out a string of babble that ended with, "Shhhh! Dada fweep!" So I think I was getting lectured about being quiet so Craig could sleep. (No, Ava, Dada was killing zombies on his computer, not sleeping.... ;o) She sings along with me when I sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," and it sounds like, "Bababababa star! Babababababa sky! Babababa star!" She counts to ten, tries to share her snacks with the cats and with her Duckie (she's not big on dolls yet, but is very motherly towards her Duckie, which isn't even a real stuffed animal, just a duck head attached to a little blankie. But she brushes his beak with her toothbrush, combs his head with her comb, and tries to get him to eat and drink out of her sippy cup.) and of course loves feeding us. Lately, she also pets our heads and says, "Nice Mommy! Nice Dada!" LOVE IT!!
In addition to learning good things, she also is learning some not-so-good things: for example, if I fuss at her about something, she will lay down on the ground and cover her eyes, because she thinks I can't see her that way. Today she did something she knew she wasn't supposed to do, and she looked at me and covered her butt with her hand--SHE KNEW IT WAS WRONG AND THAT SHE'D PROBABLY GET SPANKED!!! She'll also do things--like throw Duckie or her sippy cup--and exclaim "Oh no!" in a really exaggerated voice so we'll think it was an accident...nice try, kid. Naturally she also throws tantrums but if she does it at home (where most of them happen, thankfully, as long as we're not waiting in stupid lines past her bedtime) I just put her in the crib for a minute or two and she mellows out immediately...I have to keep it brief though, she's about big enough to start climbing out of the crib and I saw her testing it out one day after she was put in there for punishment....EEEEEK! I have no idea what we will do when that day comes, maybe buy a really big dog kennel for her? ;o) Luckily she seems content enough to stay in at bedtime, even though more often than not she screams and cries out for Mommy when I put her to bed...at least she just lays there and doesn't try to get out. I'm telling you, it was so much easier to let her cry when she couldn't call for me! :( It breaks my heart leaving her, but it does help that usually after a minute the cries sound so forced it's almost funny, and then she stops.
All right, it's bedtime for me now...and I am NOT going to cry or attept to escape! Bring it on! :)
Ava, reorganizing the cabinets: she lined up all of the lids, counted them, and then put them away.
Eating a snack and looking cute....I love this dress on her!
Watching Dada hang something on the wall.
Dressed up as a Chicago Bear for Halloween 2oo9
DA BEARS!
A shot of the leaves changing in our backyard--I love autumn!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Pneumonia
Last Saturday night, I was hanging out at the house with a neighbor and watching movies when Ava woke up, sobbing, and saying, "Uh-oh, Mommy! Uh-oh, Mommy!" This is not normal waking-up-and-fussing behavior so I ran up to her room to find her, and her crib, covered in throw-up. Disgusting, but surprisingly I wasn't as grossed out as I think I should've been...we were too concerned about Ava to think about it I guess. Craig stuck her in the bathtub and I cleaned up the mess (isn't it amazing what parenthood can do? There is NO WAY I could've handled puke clean-up duty a few years ago....actually it's probably just because it's my kid that it isn't so bad, but still.) Anyhow she only threw up that once (well, she did spit up some water on Craig but I don't think it really counts) but was fevery, so we figure that's what caused the upset stomach. Called the doctor the next morning when her fever was about 102, and they said she probably had the flu. Ugh. However, she was in a good mood, ate well, and the fever went down all day and the only other issue was a wet-sounding cough so we ruled out the flu. I kept her home with me Monday and she went back to Christina's Tuesday after having no fever (but a not-so-good night due to the cough)....however, I got a call shortly after I got to work that the fever had returned so I called the doctor and took her in after work. The verdict? Pneumonia in her left lung. I have no clue where she got it, but luckily we caught it early and have antibiotics. Last night was ROUGH....she fussed so much I brought her to bed with me, that resulted in her thinking it was play time, and then finally I gave her some Benadryl--it helped--and got about 2.5 hours of sleep. Ugh. On the upside she does seem to be improving a little so I'm hoping for a better night tonight! That's it for now....I'll do a better update some other time. Nite!
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