Lots going on.

I have so much to write about. I am not as concerned about the time it will take to write it all as I am about my memory’s capacity to not leave anything out. It has been a fairly busy week. Really, I can’t recall when the last time was that I wrote in the blog, and because we are going on three or four weeks without internet at home, I can’t even check to see what I wrote last.

I decided to just sit down tonight and write a bit while offline, and hope that I can publish this maybe on Tuesday. It’s Sunday night, and I really would normally be in bed by now. It’s about 11:15 and I just started diapers. It’s technically only four days of diapers, but again, I have two loads to wash because they won’t all fit into the washing machine. I can’t remember if I mentioned in my previous post that Ardyn is allergic to dairy, but we discovered that almost two weeks ago, and have had her on a dairy free diet ever since. Her diaper rash cleared up in 2-3 days but she still has the body rash, including new dots on her chest and temples/forehead that show up every single day. The Dr’s office assures me that is also dairy related and that when she has had the dairy out of her system for three weeks, it will also be gone. I am still not sure, because why would she be getting NEW breakouts? Hmmm. Not convinced. But only time will tell. I am worried that I will discover that she is allergic to something else…. And I don’t know if they can send a 1 year old for allergy testing. And I can’t get online and investigate, because I have no internet and when I DO get to the internet, my time is limited because I generally have Ardyn with me. So far, Soy milk equals MANY more dirty diapers than usual. The Dr. also assures me that this 4 poops a day routine will end once she is adjusted to the Soy. Again. Three weeks. SO we wait.

In the meantime, I wash an insane amount of diapers. I try not to put it off too long, but when you are pregnant, rinsing poopy diapers is not at the top of your to-do list. Especially newly stinky and pasty diapers.

Washing diapers does take a bit of time. Basically because it consists of a prewash cycle, and then you have to go add the soap and disinfecting stuff and then do a wash with a double rinse. Just takes the washing machine more time. And when you have two loads to do, well, you get the picture. And when you have lots of poopy diapers, that usually adds an overnight soaking to the list of things for the washing machine to accomplish. Tick Tock. So I am trying to stay awake long enough to get the first load of diapers prewashed, and then washed and rinsed, so that I can get them into the dryer and get the second load started on it’s overnight soak. Don’t know if I can make it that long.

So this past week I hosted a Bead Retreat Party, and was in my friend Lisa and Josh’s wedding. Thursday was the bead retreat party. I had 10 people attend, and 8 people came for Chili and Homemade Cornbread before the party. I had a great time eating with everyone. It was less stressful than Thanksgiving and really so nice. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy having people over. I got to use all the nice napkins and tablecloth, the nice dishes, the expensive wine glasses… It was the best. I am still about $100 short of my goal, and the party closes Tuesday. Not having the internet is not helping me much with rounding up orders, but I have three more outside orders that I am expecting, so everything pretty much hinges on that.

The other thing, is that we don’t have cable or a home phone right now, since it is all through the same company. It’s just too damn expensive and not a priority. We have been renting movies instead, and I am more caught up on movies than I have been in years. I doubt I can remember everything I have seen lately, but I know the list includes Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Lucky Number Slevin, The Bucket List, The Constant Gardner, The Astronaut Farmer, Baby Mamma, Then She Found Me, Wilderness (totally retarded), In the Land of Women, The Darjeeling Limited (don’t waste your time), and Mr Woodcock (which I will watch tomorrow.)

And that doesn’t include all the things that I watch with Ardyn, like Rolie Polie Olie, The Wiggles, Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, and The Little Einsteins.

Tonight Ardyn and I had to run to Wal-Mart and get dog food, and we also had to get a new DVD Player because we wore ours out. We just buy the cheap $29 model, it usually lasts a few years and that’s cool with us. We also bought some Halloween Cookie Cutters, and she said “Cookie” for the first time. And we got her a pair of Dora fleece lined clogs, and some Cheesecloth for part of her Halloween costume.

Other than that we accomplished a bath for me and a nap for both of us. That was nice. She has fallen asleep with me several times in the past couple of days. She is officially weaned, and she did it all herself. First she dropped the naptime nursing session, and then the bedtime session. Friday morning was her last morning nursing session and today I leaked a teeny tiny bit for the first time. No problem and really no pain. It was awesome to let her self wean. It couldn’t have gone more perfect. So I get to say goodbye to what was really the perfect breastfeeding relationship. She never had formula. I pumped through 5 months of full-time work, She breastfed for over a year, and I never had mastitis or a plugged duct and neither of us ever got thrush. I am so happy and proud, it is a major accomplishment!

So Friday was a great day too. Evan took Ardyn to his mom’s around noon. I went to town, checked my email, received a couple of paypal payments and sold all of my Size Medium Thirsties AIO Pockets to two mammas on diaperswappers. Then I turned around and bought four Goodmamas from a mamma on DS and they are from the hopscotch switch box. I can’t wait, they should be here this week. It’s insane that I can sell 12 used diapers and turn around with that EXACT money and buy 4 new ones. But that goes to show how badly the resale value is on those Thirsties AIO Pocket V1 when so many people have had issues with the leg gussets leaking, and Thirsties redesigned and came up with a V2. I am just relieved to have them out of my sight because they were really disgusting me, seeing them sitting here worth so much money and not being used. Ugh. So I mailed diapers, and then went and got my hair done for the wedding, and ran to Wal-Mart. I ate lunch and went home, where the house was ALL to myself and Incredibly quiet. I spent the next 2 hours listening to Tommy James and the Shondells, painting my toenails, and applying artificial fingernails, and then getting dressed and heading for the wedding. I picked up Josh’s sister and his nieces, and we drove to the home where the garden wedding was held. It was so nice, but the problem was the tiny biting black gnats. They had the garden sprayed that day, but nothing deterred those little bastards. Everyone wearing white (poor Lisa and the flower girls) were covered with the bugs. Everyone else was also getting eaten alive. I have so many bites that pretty much everything is still itching, and it’s terrible. I coat myself with Benadryl cream a couple of times a day to try to stop myself from itching. Just to give you an idea of how many bites I have, there are TWELVE on my left breast. And I was NOT naked at the wedding. They were in our clothes, down our backs, up our skirts, it was terrible. I was wearing Off, Cutter, Repel, Skin So Soft, and my Jason Natural Bug Repellent. I was also wearing Vanilla Oil that someone told me was a deterrent. Nothing kept them away. Nothing stopped them from biting. Luckily by the time the ceremony itself started, they were mostly leaving us alone. But that didn’t help us during the 2 hours of photos. The reception was nice too, I still think about the slices roast beef. Mmmmm.

So Evan’s parents kept Ardyn overnight on Friday, and had her for more than 24 hours, and it was FABULOUS. I felt so FREE! Seriously. We tried to sleep in but we ended up getting about 5 hours of sleep. We have a King Sized Sealy Posturpedic Mattress and Boxspring Set that we bought with tax return money in February of 2007. I was worried because the mattress can’t be flipped, and they assured me that it was designed to never NEED to be flipped. I am now absolutely sure that statement is a load of crap. We are so uncomfortable. Evan is sleeping on the couch and I am sleeping in the middle of the bed. We have tried rotating it, and it seems better for about two weeks. We have called the furniture store where we purchased it because it is under warranty. I am waiting to hear back from the “guy” who handles warranties. Of course I read the fine print and the warranty from Sealy states that the warranty does not cover “customer preference” and I will be infuriated if they try to tell me that our preference is the reason we don’t like the mattress. I really loved the mattress until about 5 months ago. The problems really started to become unbearable about a week ago, when I lay down on the mattress I feel like everywhere my bones touch, I have bruises. I can’t see the bruises, but if I touch my skin in those spots, it feels just like a bruise. Evan said the same thing a few days later. And because I am pregnant, I sleep on one side or the other, with a body pillow, so the same spot on my shoulder, leg, thigh, and Hip Bone always touches the bed. And I feel like I am covered in bruises. It is NOT a good thing and I sure hope that the furniture store or Sealy can help us and I mean FAST. Nothing is worse than being exhausted and pregnant and not being able to sleep because of your mattress. And I tell you, this is the FOURTH Sealy Posturpedic that Evan and I have owned. The Queen that we had last time was about 12-13 years old and we loved it. The twin that we have is about 9 years old, maybe 10, and it is in PERFECT shape and SO comfortable. As a matter of fact, that’s where I SHOULD be sleeping!

Hang on, let me go put soap in the diapers and get them started washing.

Well, now that is done, but it is almost midnight and I really can’t stay awake long enough for them to wash and rinse. Ugh. Oh well. Tomorrow is a different day, and I have a clear schedule. I did get the dishwasher run twice today, once for the china and wine glasses and once for the heavier dishes and the crock pot. It’s not like I did nothing all day. Not bad for a Sunday.

I also have everything from inside Ardyn’s crib to wash. Her sheet, blankets, mattress protector, toys… etc. When I was having the bead party, I had everything ready, myself cleaned up and dressed, the Chili ready and the cornbread in the oven, the table set, and was waiting for the hour to pass until the guests showed up. 15 minutes before the consultant was due to arrive, Ardyn woke up from her nap. I went in to get her and she was poop… head to toe. Under her nails, down her legs, in her hair, on her face, and on every area inside her crib… even the bars and the pouch of puppies that hangs on the side or the crib. I had to carry her at arm’s length to the bathtub and strip her down and give her a bath. Evan stripped the crib and scrubbed it clean and sanitized it, and put everything in the laundry room. We have been so busy that I haven’t got to wash it all yet. Ugh. Another fun task for tomorrow.

Have a great night.