Last night was a long night. We spent the evening at Evan's parents and had supper. On our way there, Ardyn's cough started getting worse, and continued into the gagging cough. When she tried to eat anything solid, she continuously choked and gagged when it got in her throat, and coughed so hard for so long that she got a bloody nose. That freaked me out.
I ended up calling he pediatrician on call and they suggested if she got worse, or saw no improvement that night, that we take her to the ER and have them listen to her chest, do a chest Xray, and perhaps nebulizer treatments.
We got home from Evan's parents around 7:30. Ardyn was just beside herself between coughing fits and feeling icky. I gave her her Zyrtec. Then at 9pm I gave her a cough supressant. I told myself that if she was still awake in an hour, and it hadn't helped, that we would go to the ER. I called my friend Cari and got info, and Ardyn and I stood in the bathroom with the steamy shower going and I clapped on her back and let her breathe in steam. It didn't help much, maybe a little. At 10:15 I called Evan home from band practice because she had been lying down for almost a full hour and still couldn't sleep through coughing fits, which were still pretty serious. We took her to the ER and got a good Dr (yay!) who checked her out. They said her chest sounds pretty good, but she has an ear infection in her right ear, and started her on antibiotics right there and sent us home with our remaining doses. They told us to keep up with the Zyrtec and follow up with her pediatrician.
I was SO HUNGRY afterwards, Evan got me a value meal at McDonald's and I enjoyed fries, two cheeseburgers, and a coke. Ahhh. When we got home, he put Ardyn in our bed and got her to sleep. Then I crawled into bed with her and did the toss, turn, adjust thing while she coughed from about 1am till 5am. Around 7am she was actually so silent that I kept checking her to see if she was breathing. Apparently the worst of the coughing was over. Then by 9:30 or 10am she was awake! She rolled over, looked at me, and said "throat." I asked Evan to get her some ice water. She took one drink, handed it back to me and croaked "Popsicle." So she started out her day with a grape popsicle.
She really did well today, no serious coughing except when napping. We spent the whole day at Evan's grandparents' new house, with his parents. We ordered pizza, salad, and breadsticks and had a REALLY nice family dinner. We lounged, we watched TV, we played with Ardyn. I gave her some ibuprofen because I saw ear tugging and crankiness here and there. But just with the antibiotic dose last night, we saw vast improvement today. She was very tired this afternoon, and let me rock her to sleep (finally!) in the recliner at Grandma's... and really was doing well until the constant coughing spells kept waking her up during her nap. She slept on my upright and then Grandma Sue took over and held her for another 30 minutes or so while I went to the bathroom and stretched.
Tonight we got home later than usual, and so I started diapers and put Ardyn to bed, after giving her all her various medicines. I also typed up new directions for washing and drying diapers, in case I need someone to do that for me while in the hospital or when I get home.
I have a Dr appointment tomorrow with my midwife and then I plan on doing a few things like getting milk and eggs, etc. then I suppose I will catch up on laundry. Hopefully I will get some sleep tonight. I have Ardyn in her bed, but she's still alternately coughing and crying, so who knows if anybody will be able to sleep. I hate to put her in my bed AGAIN, because that's just bad bad bad if she starts to get used to that, but at the same time, when she's coughing that bad, if she wakes up alone she cries. Ugh.
Take care.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
In 5, 4, 3, 2.......
Being pregnant makes you do strange things. And the closer to your due date, the stranger and more urgent these things become. In the last two or three days it has been my goal to seperate out medications... our apothecary jar has medication for both toddlers and infants, and I am incredibly paranoid that someone will give the wrong kid the wrong medication, so I decided to put Ardyn's medication in her closet up high, and Marek's in the apothecary jar in the nursery. So I need a container to put Ardyn's medication in, and I always see those locking ones at the One Step Ahead Website, but seriously, the caps are ALL Childproof, it will be higher up in the air than she can reach and she won't be able to climb to it, and what parent wants to get up in the middle of the night and go through a locked box AND childproof caps to try to medicate a sick child? I can barely see straight enough to make sure I get the right doseage, let alone unlock a stinking lockbox to get the medicine. I can already see that if that was the case, the medication would NOT be in the lockbox where it would belong, therefore defeating the purpose. And I have already taught Ardyn that the medication is just that "MEDICINE" and that only moms and dad's touch the medicine spoons and the bottles. I'm not saying I am leaving them unattended, but she knows just the same, and I keep them out of her reach.
So now that I know where I am going to put them, I have a picture in my mind of the exact handled snap top tote that I want to put her medication in, and I want to go to Wal-Mart RIGHT NOW in the pouring rain, with no gas in the van, just to get that $3 tote that will fit all of her medication. LOL. Seriously. It's like the most intense nesting drive. I must. Have. That. Tote! It's that feeling of wanting everything "perfect" before the baby gets here. This morning I revised Ardyn's list of medications and doseages (I keep one typed up for reference) and also the Emergency Contact List with her physician's information (office/on call) and with all her family member's information. Then I laminated them all and made little information squares for each diaper bag, one for the medicine container, and another for the fridge. It's uber-preparedness at it's finest.
So we are scheduled to get 6 inches of snow (4-8, depends on who you listen to) by sometimes tomorrow, starting at about midnight tonight. My midwife has always told me that if there is a blizzard or a tornado there is always an influx of babies being born as the mom's bodies adapt and react to the weather. Just look at all the babies born during hurricanes! I figure that with my luck (oh and my condition) that there is a chance that I could be nearing labor. With my due date only 5 days away, I texted her (my midwife) this morning and asked if she was ready for an unexpected run on baby catching. I also told her that I am hoping to hold Marek in until March goes "out like a lamb." LOL. Her text back let me know that the weather was on her mind too.
It's strange, because I feel very motivated to do mental things, but not physical things. I should be in the sewing room, but that would mean I would have to walk down, turn on the heater, get things all ready, and sew, and that seems like SO much work suddenly. Why is that? Perhaps it's because both Evan AND Ardyn are napping (and have been for about an hour) and I am the only awake one in a completely silent (except for Evan's snoring and Ardyn's coughing spells) house, that is surrounded by the pitter patter of rain on the windows and roof.
Last night I was sweating alot in my sleep, but Ardyn kept waking herself up coughing (and me) and at 4am it was the gagging, can't catch my breath cough, so I went and got her, gave her sips of ice water, and then a cough supressant. She said "Change my butt" and so we changed her diaper and then she came into my room where she spent the next two hours alternately kicking me and cuddling with me, and insisting that her head be on MY pillow and her body halfway on top of mine. She has this way of "half spooning" that she does where the side of her face must touch the side of my face on the pillow, and I must then rub her hair or her face or her arm or back while she gets every inch of her as close to every inch of me as possible. She lays her back on top of my shoulder and chest, and cuddles up as close as she can. She must have her dog in one hand and a very soft blankie at the appropriate chest level. Now that she differentiates between "mommy's" pillow and Ardyn's pillow, and "mommy's" blanket and Ardyn's blanket, she will throw hers aside and declare that she needs to lay on Mommy's pillow and Mommy's blanket. Luckily we both slept from 6am till about 9:30am, when I heard her and woke up to her sitting next to me with her butt on her pillow, grinning. Now instead of saying "yes" to something (I think she has only said YES once to me) she cheers "YAY!" So she said she wanted a drink, and when I appeared with milk and cheerios, she said "YAY!" and when I turned on the TV so I could wake up slowly while she ate and entertained herself, she said cheered "YAY TV!" LOL.
Today while we were waking up, I was crocheting Marek's baby blanket, and I said "What's this?" and she said "Blanket! Beeeautiful!" Ha ha. (she's never said Beautiful before that I have heard) and then I said "whose blanket is it?" and right away, very seriously, she said "Marek's." Then later on she was telling daddy that the toys on the bouncy seat were "Marek's" and when we were getting dressed in the nursery she asked "where's Marek?" and looked out the window by the crib. I told her he's not here yet but he will be soon. She recently loves to talk about how he will have "tiny feet" and a "tiny nose." I can't remember if I mentioned it, but earlier this past week she and I were talking and I asked her what Marek would eat, and said that he wouldn't have any teeth and she looked at me with a mixture of confusion and horror (What DOES one eat without teeth?!) and then I said "Will he drink Mommy's milk?" and she got a HUGE Grin, leaned right in and acted like she was going to latch on to me (we were in the bathtub together,) and made a sucking sound, a big swallow, and let out a big, refreshing gasp... "Ahhh, nummy!" (her version of yummy!) like she just took a big drink of mom's milk herself. I love seeing moments of her remembering things like nursing. I love seeing how nursing is absolutely natural and normal to her, and in her mind. It makes me just glow inside. The innocent look on her face that goes along with that understanding is totally priceless.
Every day I become more and more confident that she will be the absolute best big sister she can be, and that she will be helpful and excited about Marek's arrival.
Yesterday we received an awesome and unexpected gift in the mail from our friends Wanda and Roger in the St. Louis area. Roger and my dad worked together for years, and are good snowmobiling buddies, and Wanda and I connected via the internet several years ago and are able to keep tabs on each other. She sent some super cute things for Marek. I took pictures and hope to upload yet this weekend. She also sent some things for Ardyn, who was SOOOOO excited I thought she was going to explode. She loved the curly pink ribbons and the pink gift bags and the tiny bunny and cupcake card, before she even SAW what was inside the packaging. She got a cute Dr. Seuss Board book and *gasp of total excitement* Three Dora the Explorer Figures that she is permenantly attached to already. I was going to take their picture but she HAD to have swiper with her while she napped today! The figures are Dora with her backpack, Boots the Monkey, and of course Swiper the Fox. All last night she had them lined up on the coffee table, and this morning they made their way into our bed. She just adores them. Perfect Gift! Thanks so much Wanda (and Roger and family!) We love everything. I think the little Jittery car in brown and blue is my absolute favorite. Evan said that the car things made him think of Grandpa Dave. LOL.
Another thing I want to be doing is hoarding food. Food is so damn expensive! We just can't seem to keep enough of it in stock around this place. I have been in the hoarding mood. When I get to a store I buy things like Nut-filled energy mixes, and dried fruit mixes, and pringles (my newest craving) and things that I can snack and munch on. I am really starting to remember the early days of breastfeeding (okay, wait, all the day sof breastfeeding) where I just COULD NOT get enough to eat and I kept eating and eating and kept losing and losing weight. I am thinking that I might starve to death here, with a toddler and a nursing infant. So if you come to visit, bring snacks. I'm good for anything! Crackers and Cheese! Veggies and Dip! Brownies. (I love me some brownies!) and granola bars, pop tarts, cans of soup, pretzels, etc. I am really feeling like I should have like CASES of food stored up, and I have 5 days left and no food in the house. After I had Ardyn, I remember seeing "a baby story" on TLC, and this mom had hired a Doula, and the Doula came to her house after the baby was born, and MADE HER SNACKS! All the time! Like little cups of applesauce, and sliced fresh veggies with dip, and tuna salad with crackers! She put everything into little containers like you would be packing your lunch for school.... and then whenever the mamma needed a snack, the doula had already prepared all these goodies. I was like "WHAT?!" Do all Doula's do this? WHY Did someone not tell me this? THIS is what I needed. I needed someone to feed me. That bitch was eating fresh veggies and dip and I was surviving on peanut butter and jelly and ramen noodles!
I will never ever forget the people who brought me food. Evan and I still talk about meals that other people brought in when Ardyn was new. Grandma Moma's meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Mmmm. Anya brought me stuffed peppers that were to die for, and spaghetti pizza with Garlic Bread. My mom brought over food. I just loved the food bringing people. Yes, hold the baby while I EAT! LOL. I am a little concerned about what we will eat this time around. And I am already thinking of my first post-baby meal. When Ardyn was born my mom brought me a Tornado from the Spaghetti Place. And I am already craving that. I am craving the ability to call someone and say "BRING ME _______" and not have anyone question that I deserve a damn good meal of whatever I want.
All this food talk makes me hungry.... I'm gonna go to the fridge and break me off a piece of Evan's Kit Kat Bar. Chocolate in this house is fair game when I am pregnant. I don't care who bought it or what the purpose was. Pop, Chocolate, and Ice Cream are not to be left unattended here. Even attended, you are taking your chances.
Well, once Ardyn and Evan wake up, I am pretty sure we are going to visit his parents. That will get me off the hook of feeling like I should be DOING something on this rainy day. And maybe they have more food than we do. (Who am I kidding, everyone has more food than we do!)
take care. I will keep you posted! Even if I can't update on the blog, remember that I have facebook mobile, and that facebook is likely the first place you will hear/see any news!
So now that I know where I am going to put them, I have a picture in my mind of the exact handled snap top tote that I want to put her medication in, and I want to go to Wal-Mart RIGHT NOW in the pouring rain, with no gas in the van, just to get that $3 tote that will fit all of her medication. LOL. Seriously. It's like the most intense nesting drive. I must. Have. That. Tote! It's that feeling of wanting everything "perfect" before the baby gets here. This morning I revised Ardyn's list of medications and doseages (I keep one typed up for reference) and also the Emergency Contact List with her physician's information (office/on call) and with all her family member's information. Then I laminated them all and made little information squares for each diaper bag, one for the medicine container, and another for the fridge. It's uber-preparedness at it's finest.
So we are scheduled to get 6 inches of snow (4-8, depends on who you listen to) by sometimes tomorrow, starting at about midnight tonight. My midwife has always told me that if there is a blizzard or a tornado there is always an influx of babies being born as the mom's bodies adapt and react to the weather. Just look at all the babies born during hurricanes! I figure that with my luck (oh and my condition) that there is a chance that I could be nearing labor. With my due date only 5 days away, I texted her (my midwife) this morning and asked if she was ready for an unexpected run on baby catching. I also told her that I am hoping to hold Marek in until March goes "out like a lamb." LOL. Her text back let me know that the weather was on her mind too.
It's strange, because I feel very motivated to do mental things, but not physical things. I should be in the sewing room, but that would mean I would have to walk down, turn on the heater, get things all ready, and sew, and that seems like SO much work suddenly. Why is that? Perhaps it's because both Evan AND Ardyn are napping (and have been for about an hour) and I am the only awake one in a completely silent (except for Evan's snoring and Ardyn's coughing spells) house, that is surrounded by the pitter patter of rain on the windows and roof.
Last night I was sweating alot in my sleep, but Ardyn kept waking herself up coughing (and me) and at 4am it was the gagging, can't catch my breath cough, so I went and got her, gave her sips of ice water, and then a cough supressant. She said "Change my butt" and so we changed her diaper and then she came into my room where she spent the next two hours alternately kicking me and cuddling with me, and insisting that her head be on MY pillow and her body halfway on top of mine. She has this way of "half spooning" that she does where the side of her face must touch the side of my face on the pillow, and I must then rub her hair or her face or her arm or back while she gets every inch of her as close to every inch of me as possible. She lays her back on top of my shoulder and chest, and cuddles up as close as she can. She must have her dog in one hand and a very soft blankie at the appropriate chest level. Now that she differentiates between "mommy's" pillow and Ardyn's pillow, and "mommy's" blanket and Ardyn's blanket, she will throw hers aside and declare that she needs to lay on Mommy's pillow and Mommy's blanket. Luckily we both slept from 6am till about 9:30am, when I heard her and woke up to her sitting next to me with her butt on her pillow, grinning. Now instead of saying "yes" to something (I think she has only said YES once to me) she cheers "YAY!" So she said she wanted a drink, and when I appeared with milk and cheerios, she said "YAY!" and when I turned on the TV so I could wake up slowly while she ate and entertained herself, she said cheered "YAY TV!" LOL.
Today while we were waking up, I was crocheting Marek's baby blanket, and I said "What's this?" and she said "Blanket! Beeeautiful!" Ha ha. (she's never said Beautiful before that I have heard) and then I said "whose blanket is it?" and right away, very seriously, she said "Marek's." Then later on she was telling daddy that the toys on the bouncy seat were "Marek's" and when we were getting dressed in the nursery she asked "where's Marek?" and looked out the window by the crib. I told her he's not here yet but he will be soon. She recently loves to talk about how he will have "tiny feet" and a "tiny nose." I can't remember if I mentioned it, but earlier this past week she and I were talking and I asked her what Marek would eat, and said that he wouldn't have any teeth and she looked at me with a mixture of confusion and horror (What DOES one eat without teeth?!) and then I said "Will he drink Mommy's milk?" and she got a HUGE Grin, leaned right in and acted like she was going to latch on to me (we were in the bathtub together,) and made a sucking sound, a big swallow, and let out a big, refreshing gasp... "Ahhh, nummy!" (her version of yummy!) like she just took a big drink of mom's milk herself. I love seeing moments of her remembering things like nursing. I love seeing how nursing is absolutely natural and normal to her, and in her mind. It makes me just glow inside. The innocent look on her face that goes along with that understanding is totally priceless.
Every day I become more and more confident that she will be the absolute best big sister she can be, and that she will be helpful and excited about Marek's arrival.
Yesterday we received an awesome and unexpected gift in the mail from our friends Wanda and Roger in the St. Louis area. Roger and my dad worked together for years, and are good snowmobiling buddies, and Wanda and I connected via the internet several years ago and are able to keep tabs on each other. She sent some super cute things for Marek. I took pictures and hope to upload yet this weekend. She also sent some things for Ardyn, who was SOOOOO excited I thought she was going to explode. She loved the curly pink ribbons and the pink gift bags and the tiny bunny and cupcake card, before she even SAW what was inside the packaging. She got a cute Dr. Seuss Board book and *gasp of total excitement* Three Dora the Explorer Figures that she is permenantly attached to already. I was going to take their picture but she HAD to have swiper with her while she napped today! The figures are Dora with her backpack, Boots the Monkey, and of course Swiper the Fox. All last night she had them lined up on the coffee table, and this morning they made their way into our bed. She just adores them. Perfect Gift! Thanks so much Wanda (and Roger and family!) We love everything. I think the little Jittery car in brown and blue is my absolute favorite. Evan said that the car things made him think of Grandpa Dave. LOL.
Another thing I want to be doing is hoarding food. Food is so damn expensive! We just can't seem to keep enough of it in stock around this place. I have been in the hoarding mood. When I get to a store I buy things like Nut-filled energy mixes, and dried fruit mixes, and pringles (my newest craving) and things that I can snack and munch on. I am really starting to remember the early days of breastfeeding (okay, wait, all the day sof breastfeeding) where I just COULD NOT get enough to eat and I kept eating and eating and kept losing and losing weight. I am thinking that I might starve to death here, with a toddler and a nursing infant. So if you come to visit, bring snacks. I'm good for anything! Crackers and Cheese! Veggies and Dip! Brownies. (I love me some brownies!) and granola bars, pop tarts, cans of soup, pretzels, etc. I am really feeling like I should have like CASES of food stored up, and I have 5 days left and no food in the house. After I had Ardyn, I remember seeing "a baby story" on TLC, and this mom had hired a Doula, and the Doula came to her house after the baby was born, and MADE HER SNACKS! All the time! Like little cups of applesauce, and sliced fresh veggies with dip, and tuna salad with crackers! She put everything into little containers like you would be packing your lunch for school.... and then whenever the mamma needed a snack, the doula had already prepared all these goodies. I was like "WHAT?!" Do all Doula's do this? WHY Did someone not tell me this? THIS is what I needed. I needed someone to feed me. That bitch was eating fresh veggies and dip and I was surviving on peanut butter and jelly and ramen noodles!
I will never ever forget the people who brought me food. Evan and I still talk about meals that other people brought in when Ardyn was new. Grandma Moma's meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Mmmm. Anya brought me stuffed peppers that were to die for, and spaghetti pizza with Garlic Bread. My mom brought over food. I just loved the food bringing people. Yes, hold the baby while I EAT! LOL. I am a little concerned about what we will eat this time around. And I am already thinking of my first post-baby meal. When Ardyn was born my mom brought me a Tornado from the Spaghetti Place. And I am already craving that. I am craving the ability to call someone and say "BRING ME _______" and not have anyone question that I deserve a damn good meal of whatever I want.
All this food talk makes me hungry.... I'm gonna go to the fridge and break me off a piece of Evan's Kit Kat Bar. Chocolate in this house is fair game when I am pregnant. I don't care who bought it or what the purpose was. Pop, Chocolate, and Ice Cream are not to be left unattended here. Even attended, you are taking your chances.
Well, once Ardyn and Evan wake up, I am pretty sure we are going to visit his parents. That will get me off the hook of feeling like I should be DOING something on this rainy day. And maybe they have more food than we do. (Who am I kidding, everyone has more food than we do!)
take care. I will keep you posted! Even if I can't update on the blog, remember that I have facebook mobile, and that facebook is likely the first place you will hear/see any news!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Review: Cozi.com
I have heard alot about cozi.com so I thought I might try it out (Finally.) I really am an outlook cheerleader, and I love my PDA Phone and sync my calendar and contacts with cozi. I use plaxo to sync contacts and such, and even for my calendar, but it was missing the "family" aspect of things.
It allows me to create user info for all family members, and enter in their cell phones and email addresses. This is cool. It also allows those family members to login and see the calendar, etc. The downside to this is that I have yet to meet a husband who takes enough responsibility to not need constant reminders to even CHECK to see if he has reminders, or to look at the calendar. Mine totally sucks at that, so I don't know that he will ever use it. Oh well.
Cozi seems to be a neat feature. it allows me to send emails and text message reminders to family members, and also lists like To-Do Lists and Shopping lists, right from within my internet browser. It's free (ad supported) and so far it seems.... okay. It also syncs with outlook.
The one thing that instantly sticks out to me, is the lack of customization available. I want to customize my homepage. I want to tell Cozi what lists and calendars and such that I want to see on my homepage. And it doens't do any of that. I can put lists in an order, and it will show the first list on the homepage as a default, but it also doesn't list the TITLE of the list, so if my to-do list is the first one on the list, then when Evan logs in, he will see MY to-do list and not his. That I find very frustrating and not very user friendly.
The calendar has some neat features, mostly all similar to outlook, but also allows you to choose who in your family is required to be at which events, and then you can notify those people accordingly via email or texts if you choose. It will also send reminders at a specific time and date if you choose. It also sets up reoccuring appointments but I haven't done that in cozi yet... although I use it frequently in outlook and on my pda phone. I think there is lots of room for improvement, but I am not sure how much improvement to expect in a free service. They mention that some of their features (family journal) are Beta, and that they are looking for feedback, but I have yet to see the place to provide feedback.
I will elaborate this review once I have been using it a while!
It allows me to create user info for all family members, and enter in their cell phones and email addresses. This is cool. It also allows those family members to login and see the calendar, etc. The downside to this is that I have yet to meet a husband who takes enough responsibility to not need constant reminders to even CHECK to see if he has reminders, or to look at the calendar. Mine totally sucks at that, so I don't know that he will ever use it. Oh well.
Cozi seems to be a neat feature. it allows me to send emails and text message reminders to family members, and also lists like To-Do Lists and Shopping lists, right from within my internet browser. It's free (ad supported) and so far it seems.... okay. It also syncs with outlook.
The one thing that instantly sticks out to me, is the lack of customization available. I want to customize my homepage. I want to tell Cozi what lists and calendars and such that I want to see on my homepage. And it doens't do any of that. I can put lists in an order, and it will show the first list on the homepage as a default, but it also doesn't list the TITLE of the list, so if my to-do list is the first one on the list, then when Evan logs in, he will see MY to-do list and not his. That I find very frustrating and not very user friendly.
The calendar has some neat features, mostly all similar to outlook, but also allows you to choose who in your family is required to be at which events, and then you can notify those people accordingly via email or texts if you choose. It will also send reminders at a specific time and date if you choose. It also sets up reoccuring appointments but I haven't done that in cozi yet... although I use it frequently in outlook and on my pda phone. I think there is lots of room for improvement, but I am not sure how much improvement to expect in a free service. They mention that some of their features (family journal) are Beta, and that they are looking for feedback, but I have yet to see the place to provide feedback.
I will elaborate this review once I have been using it a while!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Diapers in the New Dryer. RIGHT. This. minute.
Well, we are feeling better today. Ardyn came home last night with a 102.5 temperature, and has had one ever since, but Ibuprofen seems to be keeping it down... so that's a good thing. She and I took a three hour nap this evening, which was not our intention, but apparently was entirely necessary. I woke up much like I did this morning, in that state where you are all drooling and sloppy and don't know what day it is.
This afternoon I made up my midwife appointment and got a "labor pep talk" which I needed, especially after I had been previously feeling all centered and ready, and then got so sick that it really threw me off track. I think that being 39 weeks pregnant tomorrow is both shocking and exciting.
Something incredible is going on in my laundry room right now. I am using my new Kenmore HE dryer to dry the first load of cloth diapers. Ahhh. We will see how it goes. I had a nice big load to wash, so hopefully it will be large enough to dry efficiently. I am super excited, especially because it's also my first load with the fabled Ecover Fabric Softener. Can't wait to see if the Goodmamas come out all fluffy and magical again. I hope so, because that means that the MEOS will also be magical when I wash them.
I am air drying PUL covers and wetbags upstairs on the chrome drying rack. I usually like to air dry them if possible. I FINALLY got myself a second pail liner, as part of my diaper layaway for Marek. I am super excited about that. I don't know why I put myself through the stress of only having one for the last 16 months. Seriously, it is $20 some odd dollars well spent. It's so exciting to have a spare, it's like Christmas every time I do a load! Yay! I use the Monkey Doodlez Pail Liner with the Elastic top, and it's my favorite because of it's generous size, sturdy construction, and most of all, it's PUL is invisible, so you almost NEVER get that sweaty pail or sweaty wetbag syndrome that you get when the PUL is in contact with your pail. It's fab.
Another part of my layaway was a on the go wetbag from Luving Mamma Diapers- Booty Hugger Line. I LOVE it already and I haven't even gotten to use it. it's about identical in size to my Goodmamma Medium Wetbags (of which I have three) and it has a cool Retro Word Search Print. I also adore that there is a seperate pouch in the front, with the same wetbag lining, that you can use for clean wipes, or if you are an eco-savvy mamma like me, for your own mamma pads. Yaay! It also has a cottony tag sewn into the lining of the PUL that you can use to put some essential oil on, to help keep down smelly diapers on a long day out.
I was excited to see how clean these diapers were after washing. They were on my list to wash on Saturday morning, but then Evan was sick and Ardyn and I fled to my moms, and the rest was history. So when I wanted to wash them was actually three days before I actually GOT to wash them. Ugh. That's never good. But no one who is sick with the stomach flu thinks that washing diapers is a good idea. Assuming that I would have even been able to function to wash (which I wouldn't have.)
I ended up doing a prewash, then a hot hot soak overnight with my usual detergent and Oxyboost, then another prewash, then a hot hot wash with a double rinse in colr with the same detergent, oxyboost, and Ecover. As I was prepping those diapers for washing, I was thinking about how nice it will be when Ardyn is potty trained and I have no more poopy toddler diapers to wash. I think that's the first time I had really thought of that, so you can see how it's not fun to wash diapers that have been sitting longer than desirable. LOL.
Ardyn's newest thing is that she doesn't WANT to sit on her potty chair. I got the seat for the toilet, and she thinks that's cool, but when I put her up on it, she instantly says "Done." and then "Down?" and I tell her that we have to count to 10 before we can get down. She never GOES on the potty, but right now we are working on sitting on the potty at least once a day, usually before bathtime first thing in the morning. I hope to get her closer to potty training when Marek hits about 6 weeks old and we can actually function again.
When we woke up today we saw the grass was really starting to green up. I am so anxious for our fence. SO anxious. No one can out up a fence fast enough for my taste.
Of course it's been rainy for a few days. We really didn't do much today. I was exhausted most of the day, so Ardyn and I lay around in our pajamas until about 12:30. I did take a bath at like 9am and we were up at 8am, but we were lazy in bed with Dora the Explorer and Sprout's morning show, eating cheerios and drinking milk. It was good. I think I fell asleep for another hour in there somewhere, Her fever was spiking and I had started to get a headache, so we both took our medicine and snuggled up. For lunch Ardyn had Vegetable Beef Soup with Alphabet Noodles. She thought it was pretty cool to find a letter and eat it.
It was also nice to not be sick anymore, because I finally got a chance to USE my new dryer. It had been there since Friday, and I really hadn't touched it. I have learned a few things so far, and maybe I will get better at it as I dry more clothes.
It dries really quickly, if you use the high heat (heavy duty) or jeans cycle. Sometimes 25-38 minutes a load. But, if you use the regular normal setting, it takes at least 49-60 minutes to dry a load. I have discovered that it isn't ALWAYS correct on sensor. It has a hard time with small loads. The smaller the load, it actually seems to take LONGER to dry. If it's a big load, it almost always senses correctly. Just like my previous dryer, it has an issue with wrapping kind sized bedding up inside itself and I have to go down periodically and untangle it. However, I was able to fit my king sized comforter in it, which I couldn't with my previous dryer, and after about three 60 minute cycles and continuous untangling, it was sry enough to sleep with (a few damp areas by my feet, but nothing serious.) I am using it with my 9 dryer balls, and I think that helps, especially with clothes and things that are small (diapers, Ardyn's size clothes, etc.) Those are the types of loads that it has a hard time sensing. Small objects of clothing and loads that aren't full sized. I think the more that I get the hang of what clothes need what setting, the more efficient it will be. Especially when I can use the timed dry setting efficiently and see just how dry the clothes get, and set the time myself. I do really like the settings for low or no heat, when you just want to fluff something up or dry something like PUL or Bras that you don't want to expose to heat. And the Wrinkle Guard feature is pretty cool, because when your load is done, the dryer will periodically toss the clothes to prevent wrinkles from setting in.
I recently needed to get some refill blades for my Fiskars paper trimmer, and bought a couple (which I knew in the store looked DIFFERENT) and of course they don't FIT and I can't find the ones that I need. So now i am trying to figure out of I need to upgrade my trimmer (which wouldn't be the END of the world, but still is frustrating) in order to get refill blades that fit. So now I have no sharp blades, except two that don't fit. I saw this trimmer online and kinda liked it... it's a newer version of mine, so I don't know what to do.
My friend Keli took a cute picture of her toddler, and the "fun with a pen" that she had while Keli was taking a shower. it made me snicker. In other news, Ardyn now says "I love you" and her other new phrases are "my stuff" and "C'm here!" She's also really increased her singing. The Wheels on the Bus and Happy Happy Birthday are constants around here. And suddenly everything is "wellow" (yellow) when she previously knew colors really pretty well. He he.
Ardyn's new thing is to yell at me because her hair is in her eyes. But we have the discussion 500 times a day that if she would STOP TAKING OUT HER HAIR CLIP she wouldn't have unruly hair. She gets it. But she doesn't care. Some days she will wear her clip all day and never touch it. The past week has not included one of those days.
Well, off to check on the diapers. Can't wait to see if they are dry or fluffy or all of the above!
This afternoon I made up my midwife appointment and got a "labor pep talk" which I needed, especially after I had been previously feeling all centered and ready, and then got so sick that it really threw me off track. I think that being 39 weeks pregnant tomorrow is both shocking and exciting.
Something incredible is going on in my laundry room right now. I am using my new Kenmore HE dryer to dry the first load of cloth diapers. Ahhh. We will see how it goes. I had a nice big load to wash, so hopefully it will be large enough to dry efficiently. I am super excited, especially because it's also my first load with the fabled Ecover Fabric Softener. Can't wait to see if the Goodmamas come out all fluffy and magical again. I hope so, because that means that the MEOS will also be magical when I wash them.
I am air drying PUL covers and wetbags upstairs on the chrome drying rack. I usually like to air dry them if possible. I FINALLY got myself a second pail liner, as part of my diaper layaway for Marek. I am super excited about that. I don't know why I put myself through the stress of only having one for the last 16 months. Seriously, it is $20 some odd dollars well spent. It's so exciting to have a spare, it's like Christmas every time I do a load! Yay! I use the Monkey Doodlez Pail Liner with the Elastic top, and it's my favorite because of it's generous size, sturdy construction, and most of all, it's PUL is invisible, so you almost NEVER get that sweaty pail or sweaty wetbag syndrome that you get when the PUL is in contact with your pail. It's fab.
Another part of my layaway was a on the go wetbag from Luving Mamma Diapers- Booty Hugger Line. I LOVE it already and I haven't even gotten to use it. it's about identical in size to my Goodmamma Medium Wetbags (of which I have three) and it has a cool Retro Word Search Print. I also adore that there is a seperate pouch in the front, with the same wetbag lining, that you can use for clean wipes, or if you are an eco-savvy mamma like me, for your own mamma pads. Yaay! It also has a cottony tag sewn into the lining of the PUL that you can use to put some essential oil on, to help keep down smelly diapers on a long day out.
I was excited to see how clean these diapers were after washing. They were on my list to wash on Saturday morning, but then Evan was sick and Ardyn and I fled to my moms, and the rest was history. So when I wanted to wash them was actually three days before I actually GOT to wash them. Ugh. That's never good. But no one who is sick with the stomach flu thinks that washing diapers is a good idea. Assuming that I would have even been able to function to wash (which I wouldn't have.)
I ended up doing a prewash, then a hot hot soak overnight with my usual detergent and Oxyboost, then another prewash, then a hot hot wash with a double rinse in colr with the same detergent, oxyboost, and Ecover. As I was prepping those diapers for washing, I was thinking about how nice it will be when Ardyn is potty trained and I have no more poopy toddler diapers to wash. I think that's the first time I had really thought of that, so you can see how it's not fun to wash diapers that have been sitting longer than desirable. LOL.
Ardyn's newest thing is that she doesn't WANT to sit on her potty chair. I got the seat for the toilet, and she thinks that's cool, but when I put her up on it, she instantly says "Done." and then "Down?" and I tell her that we have to count to 10 before we can get down. She never GOES on the potty, but right now we are working on sitting on the potty at least once a day, usually before bathtime first thing in the morning. I hope to get her closer to potty training when Marek hits about 6 weeks old and we can actually function again.
When we woke up today we saw the grass was really starting to green up. I am so anxious for our fence. SO anxious. No one can out up a fence fast enough for my taste.
Of course it's been rainy for a few days. We really didn't do much today. I was exhausted most of the day, so Ardyn and I lay around in our pajamas until about 12:30. I did take a bath at like 9am and we were up at 8am, but we were lazy in bed with Dora the Explorer and Sprout's morning show, eating cheerios and drinking milk. It was good. I think I fell asleep for another hour in there somewhere, Her fever was spiking and I had started to get a headache, so we both took our medicine and snuggled up. For lunch Ardyn had Vegetable Beef Soup with Alphabet Noodles. She thought it was pretty cool to find a letter and eat it.
It was also nice to not be sick anymore, because I finally got a chance to USE my new dryer. It had been there since Friday, and I really hadn't touched it. I have learned a few things so far, and maybe I will get better at it as I dry more clothes.
It dries really quickly, if you use the high heat (heavy duty) or jeans cycle. Sometimes 25-38 minutes a load. But, if you use the regular normal setting, it takes at least 49-60 minutes to dry a load. I have discovered that it isn't ALWAYS correct on sensor. It has a hard time with small loads. The smaller the load, it actually seems to take LONGER to dry. If it's a big load, it almost always senses correctly. Just like my previous dryer, it has an issue with wrapping kind sized bedding up inside itself and I have to go down periodically and untangle it. However, I was able to fit my king sized comforter in it, which I couldn't with my previous dryer, and after about three 60 minute cycles and continuous untangling, it was sry enough to sleep with (a few damp areas by my feet, but nothing serious.) I am using it with my 9 dryer balls, and I think that helps, especially with clothes and things that are small (diapers, Ardyn's size clothes, etc.) Those are the types of loads that it has a hard time sensing. Small objects of clothing and loads that aren't full sized. I think the more that I get the hang of what clothes need what setting, the more efficient it will be. Especially when I can use the timed dry setting efficiently and see just how dry the clothes get, and set the time myself. I do really like the settings for low or no heat, when you just want to fluff something up or dry something like PUL or Bras that you don't want to expose to heat. And the Wrinkle Guard feature is pretty cool, because when your load is done, the dryer will periodically toss the clothes to prevent wrinkles from setting in.
I recently needed to get some refill blades for my Fiskars paper trimmer, and bought a couple (which I knew in the store looked DIFFERENT) and of course they don't FIT and I can't find the ones that I need. So now i am trying to figure out of I need to upgrade my trimmer (which wouldn't be the END of the world, but still is frustrating) in order to get refill blades that fit. So now I have no sharp blades, except two that don't fit. I saw this trimmer online and kinda liked it... it's a newer version of mine, so I don't know what to do.
My friend Keli took a cute picture of her toddler, and the "fun with a pen" that she had while Keli was taking a shower. it made me snicker. In other news, Ardyn now says "I love you" and her other new phrases are "my stuff" and "C'm here!" She's also really increased her singing. The Wheels on the Bus and Happy Happy Birthday are constants around here. And suddenly everything is "wellow" (yellow) when she previously knew colors really pretty well. He he.
Ardyn's new thing is to yell at me because her hair is in her eyes. But we have the discussion 500 times a day that if she would STOP TAKING OUT HER HAIR CLIP she wouldn't have unruly hair. She gets it. But she doesn't care. Some days she will wear her clip all day and never touch it. The past week has not included one of those days.
Well, off to check on the diapers. Can't wait to see if they are dry or fluffy or all of the above!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Home from the Hospital.... Feeling better!
It's been a rough few days!
Saturday Evan woke up with the stomach flu. Again. It was not a good day. Ardyn and I packed up and went to my mom's. I scrapbooked there all Friday afternoon while Evan got our new dryer picked up and installed, and then I just continued scrapbooking on Saturday and my mom played with Ardyn. I got about 40 scrapbook pages done in those two days.
Saturday night, Evan was still sick, so Ardyn and I decided to stay at my parents. I really really really did not want us to all be sick again, especially with all the crampy, contraction, pelvic spreading I had been feeling recently. All I can think of is being sick with the stomach flu AND in labor, and I don't think that's something anyone wants. I had JUST been feeling great again, and like myself, and had lots of motivation and energy. Well, we stayed at my mom's until Sunday afternoon, when Evan was feeling better. When we got home I was so tired, Evan played with Ardyn while I took a nap. That night we all ate supper together. Ardyn was a little out of sorts, and after she went to bed I went to bed shortly after. I was really having a hard time being comfortable and sleeping, I kept burping and my stomach was really crampy. Well, by morning I was all out sick, and had intense nausea and alternating constipation and diarrhea. It was bad. By noon I was cancelling my Dr. Appointment. By 12:30 I called my mom begging her to come take Ardyn. I was so so sick. Evan was still sick. by 3pm I had been having gagging and dry heaving episodes and by 3:30 was calling my midwife telling her I was worse and getting scared. She had me come into the hospital as an outpatient. We were there for several hours (5 maybe?) and I got anti-nausea meds, anti-diarrhea meds, and pumped full of IV Fluids. The anti-nausea meds actually worked, but only lasted about two hours, and then I was miserable again. I was able to sleep there for about an hour and a half while the last 2.5 hours of IV Fluids went in, and felt a little better when we left. They did fetal heart tones and all that jazz, and when Evan took my home he settled me into bed with water, remote controls, iPod, and some applesauce. I think I was able to get down about 3 bites of applesauce in about 6 hours. Ugh. I was pretty nauseous still, and miserable until about 1am, and then I was able to sleep. I was sweating something fierce all night, I would wake up and my hair nad pillow would just be drenched, and my nightgown soaked and stuck to me. Luckily I was able to sleep till about 9:30 this morning and woke up feeling almost 100% better. Today I have had a few handfulls of dry cereal and also a cup of applesauce. That's all I have eaten since Sunday night, but those IV Fluids sure helped me feel normal again.
So today my mom took off work to take care of Ardyn, since she spent the night. I woke up and started the day off with a good toothbrushing and a bath. Ahhh. I even shaved my legs. Then I started to do some disinfecting, alternating with relaxing on the couch. I washed all of Ardyn's bedding, all of our bedding, opened the windows (it may be windy and raining but it is 65 degrees out) and then I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. I took lysol spray to every light switch, toilet, sink handle, bathtub handle, doorknob... you name it, it's been lysol treated. I washed the throw and the throw pillows off the couch, I vacuumed the living room, dining room, kitchen, and front porch, banned the dogs to their kennel and steam mopped all those floors. I tried to alternate all of this with rest, so as not to overdo it.
I am so sick of people saying "Why do you all keep getting sick" because it makes me feel guilty (as if mommy guilt isn't bad enough already) and makes me feel like they are insinuating that I am not doing enough to keep us all healthy. But after the last time we were all sick I disinfected and steam mopped and washed bedding and we still got sick again, twice now. I think this is just volatile shit going around, and daycare doesn't help, and on top of all that I am pregnant and my immune system isn't what it should be. And I think this has been a long long winter and germs just keep circulating and incubating and we need some good fresh sunshine to kill off these germs that keep lingering and circulating. Today I even went as far to decide that I need to scrub the dog bowls. As if we eat out of them ourselves. LOL. I even put all fresh towels and rugs out in the bathroom. Seriously, what more can I do?
At this point I am not only trying to prevent us all from getting sick again, but hoping with a vengeance that Ardyn does not get this.
I still want to wash a load of towels and good clothes, and a load of diapers tonight. But besides that I feel like I have done more than enough for an almost 39 week pregnant chick who just came home from the hospital late last night.
What really sucks is that I feel guilty that other people are going to get it. For example, I canceled Ardyn's allergist appointment today, and my endocrinologist appointment tomorrow. I canceled my OB appointment. And what is really ironic is that there are so many people in this world who don't know how to just stay home when they are sick, and are probably the reasons that we keep getting sick. Ugh. When Ardyn and I were sick before, mom came over like a week after we were sick, and after I had disinfected, and still got sick. My sister did too. But I don't know for sure if they got it from us or other sources. But I wouldn't wish this on a non-pregnant person, let alone someone like me! Ugh!
Since we have all been under the weather, the mail has been rolling in and we haven't been able to get it! Today Evan picked up the mail and had to have me meet him at the backdoor to carry it all in. I had ordered a few bulk items from Amazon grocery... Ecover Fabric Softener (safe for cloth diapers and said to be the best for OBV items) and Some Ian's organic nilla wafers in little pouches for Ardyn. They are dairy free and cost less to order from Amazon than to buy at Toys R Us (not to mention I got the free shipping.) I also had an order of postpartum mamma pads arrive, which I am estatic and especially pleased with.
Since the Serger broke, I knew I wouldn't be getting mine done, and I was panicking about how SOON this baby might get here. I got seven beautiful pads and four winged fleece bases they snap to.... and I have another set of 10 more regular pads coming for when the heavy bleeding slows. I can not wait to have postpartum without plastic-y pads under me. Ahhh. At this point I am just happy to have postpartum altogether. I am not looking forward to labor. I am looking forward to the baby, and spring, and postpartum to me means all of that. I also feel like my body is ready for postpartum, because I am hoping I will be better able to fight off sickness and all that when I am supporting this life OUTSIDE my body, instead of inside. Although there is the lack of sleep part. Which I hope will be better this time around because I will have already been there done that. And the horrific acne and hair falling out part, which I am not looking forward to.
The wind has REALLY picked up and gotten wicked here since I sat down to blog. Wow! I had to go out to the porch and shut the windows because they were slamming open and closed. I had two dog beds sitting on the front steps and they had already blown into the driveway. Ugh.
Evan and I hung up the strips from the container store in Ardyn's closet tonight, to organize her hair things. I had one from my scrapbook room that we were using, but wanted a couple more, and Angela picked them up for me the last time she was on her way "home" to visit. I am super thrilled with them. I can't get enough of organized things~
My parents are taking Ardyn out to eat supper and then bringing her home. I can't wait to see her! I have missed her, but boy was I glad that she wasn't here. I am going to sit down now and eat my first "meal" in 48 hours. Wish me luck!!!
Saturday Evan woke up with the stomach flu. Again. It was not a good day. Ardyn and I packed up and went to my mom's. I scrapbooked there all Friday afternoon while Evan got our new dryer picked up and installed, and then I just continued scrapbooking on Saturday and my mom played with Ardyn. I got about 40 scrapbook pages done in those two days.
Saturday night, Evan was still sick, so Ardyn and I decided to stay at my parents. I really really really did not want us to all be sick again, especially with all the crampy, contraction, pelvic spreading I had been feeling recently. All I can think of is being sick with the stomach flu AND in labor, and I don't think that's something anyone wants. I had JUST been feeling great again, and like myself, and had lots of motivation and energy. Well, we stayed at my mom's until Sunday afternoon, when Evan was feeling better. When we got home I was so tired, Evan played with Ardyn while I took a nap. That night we all ate supper together. Ardyn was a little out of sorts, and after she went to bed I went to bed shortly after. I was really having a hard time being comfortable and sleeping, I kept burping and my stomach was really crampy. Well, by morning I was all out sick, and had intense nausea and alternating constipation and diarrhea. It was bad. By noon I was cancelling my Dr. Appointment. By 12:30 I called my mom begging her to come take Ardyn. I was so so sick. Evan was still sick. by 3pm I had been having gagging and dry heaving episodes and by 3:30 was calling my midwife telling her I was worse and getting scared. She had me come into the hospital as an outpatient. We were there for several hours (5 maybe?) and I got anti-nausea meds, anti-diarrhea meds, and pumped full of IV Fluids. The anti-nausea meds actually worked, but only lasted about two hours, and then I was miserable again. I was able to sleep there for about an hour and a half while the last 2.5 hours of IV Fluids went in, and felt a little better when we left. They did fetal heart tones and all that jazz, and when Evan took my home he settled me into bed with water, remote controls, iPod, and some applesauce. I think I was able to get down about 3 bites of applesauce in about 6 hours. Ugh. I was pretty nauseous still, and miserable until about 1am, and then I was able to sleep. I was sweating something fierce all night, I would wake up and my hair nad pillow would just be drenched, and my nightgown soaked and stuck to me. Luckily I was able to sleep till about 9:30 this morning and woke up feeling almost 100% better. Today I have had a few handfulls of dry cereal and also a cup of applesauce. That's all I have eaten since Sunday night, but those IV Fluids sure helped me feel normal again.
So today my mom took off work to take care of Ardyn, since she spent the night. I woke up and started the day off with a good toothbrushing and a bath. Ahhh. I even shaved my legs. Then I started to do some disinfecting, alternating with relaxing on the couch. I washed all of Ardyn's bedding, all of our bedding, opened the windows (it may be windy and raining but it is 65 degrees out) and then I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. I took lysol spray to every light switch, toilet, sink handle, bathtub handle, doorknob... you name it, it's been lysol treated. I washed the throw and the throw pillows off the couch, I vacuumed the living room, dining room, kitchen, and front porch, banned the dogs to their kennel and steam mopped all those floors. I tried to alternate all of this with rest, so as not to overdo it.
I am so sick of people saying "Why do you all keep getting sick" because it makes me feel guilty (as if mommy guilt isn't bad enough already) and makes me feel like they are insinuating that I am not doing enough to keep us all healthy. But after the last time we were all sick I disinfected and steam mopped and washed bedding and we still got sick again, twice now. I think this is just volatile shit going around, and daycare doesn't help, and on top of all that I am pregnant and my immune system isn't what it should be. And I think this has been a long long winter and germs just keep circulating and incubating and we need some good fresh sunshine to kill off these germs that keep lingering and circulating. Today I even went as far to decide that I need to scrub the dog bowls. As if we eat out of them ourselves. LOL. I even put all fresh towels and rugs out in the bathroom. Seriously, what more can I do?
At this point I am not only trying to prevent us all from getting sick again, but hoping with a vengeance that Ardyn does not get this.
I still want to wash a load of towels and good clothes, and a load of diapers tonight. But besides that I feel like I have done more than enough for an almost 39 week pregnant chick who just came home from the hospital late last night.
What really sucks is that I feel guilty that other people are going to get it. For example, I canceled Ardyn's allergist appointment today, and my endocrinologist appointment tomorrow. I canceled my OB appointment. And what is really ironic is that there are so many people in this world who don't know how to just stay home when they are sick, and are probably the reasons that we keep getting sick. Ugh. When Ardyn and I were sick before, mom came over like a week after we were sick, and after I had disinfected, and still got sick. My sister did too. But I don't know for sure if they got it from us or other sources. But I wouldn't wish this on a non-pregnant person, let alone someone like me! Ugh!
Since we have all been under the weather, the mail has been rolling in and we haven't been able to get it! Today Evan picked up the mail and had to have me meet him at the backdoor to carry it all in. I had ordered a few bulk items from Amazon grocery... Ecover Fabric Softener (safe for cloth diapers and said to be the best for OBV items) and Some Ian's organic nilla wafers in little pouches for Ardyn. They are dairy free and cost less to order from Amazon than to buy at Toys R Us (not to mention I got the free shipping.) I also had an order of postpartum mamma pads arrive, which I am estatic and especially pleased with.
Since the Serger broke, I knew I wouldn't be getting mine done, and I was panicking about how SOON this baby might get here. I got seven beautiful pads and four winged fleece bases they snap to.... and I have another set of 10 more regular pads coming for when the heavy bleeding slows. I can not wait to have postpartum without plastic-y pads under me. Ahhh. At this point I am just happy to have postpartum altogether. I am not looking forward to labor. I am looking forward to the baby, and spring, and postpartum to me means all of that. I also feel like my body is ready for postpartum, because I am hoping I will be better able to fight off sickness and all that when I am supporting this life OUTSIDE my body, instead of inside. Although there is the lack of sleep part. Which I hope will be better this time around because I will have already been there done that. And the horrific acne and hair falling out part, which I am not looking forward to.
The wind has REALLY picked up and gotten wicked here since I sat down to blog. Wow! I had to go out to the porch and shut the windows because they were slamming open and closed. I had two dog beds sitting on the front steps and they had already blown into the driveway. Ugh.
Evan and I hung up the strips from the container store in Ardyn's closet tonight, to organize her hair things. I had one from my scrapbook room that we were using, but wanted a couple more, and Angela picked them up for me the last time she was on her way "home" to visit. I am super thrilled with them. I can't get enough of organized things~
My parents are taking Ardyn out to eat supper and then bringing her home. I can't wait to see her! I have missed her, but boy was I glad that she wasn't here. I am going to sit down now and eat my first "meal" in 48 hours. Wish me luck!!!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
I adore Organic Cotton.
Today didn't go QUITE as planned. Basically my big plans of doing lots around home, completely failed. Maybe not completely, but mostly. I hardly got any sleep last night, and I can't really remember WHY, but I know my mind was racing racing racing all the time, and I kept waking up and laying awake and having to make bathroom breaks, and having contractions, and getting kicked endlessly. This morning I was exhausted but couldn't sleep anyway. Ardyn and I took our bath and got semi-dressed.
We did take a 45 minute nap this afternoon, which helped. I got several loads of laundry done, including the diapers that I am washing tonight. Last night I finally got the dining room table cleared and the tablecloth changed.
Then I got all the pictures sorted and the layouts prepared (which I blogged about last night a bit.)
Tonight Ardyn and I popped out of the house and went to Hobby Lobby. We were there for TWO HOURS picking out paper to match all the layouts. I think we did pretty well. I was pleased, and then I got to the checkout and saw how much the paper was and HOLY MOLY- it's time to insure the scrapbooks. But overall I am pleased and excited because now I can get scrapping and get Ardyn's album completed. The only thing I didn't buy was more adhesive. But I have to go to Sterling soon to pick up my Serger (which is unrepairable) and they are the only town in an hour radius that carries the Duck Permanent Adhesives which are the only ones I actually like to use.
I am watching Family Guy, and it's hard to pay attention to the blogging because it's an episode that I actually have not seen. An old lady at the mall gave Peter a titty twister to get away with the last pair of sparkly dragonfly hair clips that he was trying to get Meg for Christmas (after he gave away the family's presents.)
Is anyone else addicted to Organic Cotton? Seriously I never thought there was a noticeable difference, until I went to the green expo last year and bought two pair of B Green Lounge pants. I was instantly addicted. Then I discovered that Hanes was making organic cotton sleepwear, my favorite being the V-neck sleep shirt, and they are now on clearance for $5 each, so I have three of those. I would be thrilled if I could find someone who actually SOLD B Green clothing, because I would never buy another pair of stretchy or lounge pants again, unless they were their organic cotton ones. I bought the last two pair they had in my size at the Expo, and there is just no retailer for the clothing. Some online retailers sell their underwear....
Tomorrow=Pedicure. YAY.
Here are a few pics to share.... of Ardyn's closet, now that Evan and I are sharing the one in the master bedroom and she has one all to herself in her big girl room. The organizer was already there, so all I had to do was add her clothes!
the door organizer is new, we have one on the nursery door that used to hold all her goodies, but left that there for Marek and got another for her.
I watched the episode of Grey's Anatomy tonight that was tivo'd and it was really good. The ending was awesome, and I heard a rumor that Patrick Dempsey was being interviewed and said that they all have two years left on their contract, and that Kathryn (Izzie) wouldn't be leaving the show soon if at all. I haven't investigated that online, at this point it's a rumor I heard. everything I have looked at online does say that there is nothing solid that suggests that she will be leaving at all.
I am watching the Ace of Cakes on my TIVO where Duff makes GIANT replicas of Girl Scout cookies out of cake, and it makes me so sad because NO ONE asked us to buy cookies this year and therefore we have none. So sad. My first year, EVER, in my ENTIRE LIFE without girl scout cookies. Well, maybe as an infant I didn't eat them, but my mom and aunt were Girl Scout Leaders and I was a Girl Scout for over 10 years, so maybe I did. I dunno. I am sad.
It's almost 1am and I NEEEEEED to go to bed. I think I had to much coca cola tonight. LOL. Caffeine doesn't usually effect me, but when I've had this much, it probaby does. Ardyn has school tomorrow so the morning is going to get here sooner than I am prepared for. But at least I have her clothes laid out and also have her bag packed. That's some time saved. But I hope to make myself look a little presentable tomorrow also. maybe. I hope.
Well, have a great night. Gotta take my bazillion pills and then go to sleep.
We did take a 45 minute nap this afternoon, which helped. I got several loads of laundry done, including the diapers that I am washing tonight. Last night I finally got the dining room table cleared and the tablecloth changed.
Then I got all the pictures sorted and the layouts prepared (which I blogged about last night a bit.)
Tonight Ardyn and I popped out of the house and went to Hobby Lobby. We were there for TWO HOURS picking out paper to match all the layouts. I think we did pretty well. I was pleased, and then I got to the checkout and saw how much the paper was and HOLY MOLY- it's time to insure the scrapbooks. But overall I am pleased and excited because now I can get scrapping and get Ardyn's album completed. The only thing I didn't buy was more adhesive. But I have to go to Sterling soon to pick up my Serger (which is unrepairable) and they are the only town in an hour radius that carries the Duck Permanent Adhesives which are the only ones I actually like to use.
I am watching Family Guy, and it's hard to pay attention to the blogging because it's an episode that I actually have not seen. An old lady at the mall gave Peter a titty twister to get away with the last pair of sparkly dragonfly hair clips that he was trying to get Meg for Christmas (after he gave away the family's presents.)
Is anyone else addicted to Organic Cotton? Seriously I never thought there was a noticeable difference, until I went to the green expo last year and bought two pair of B Green Lounge pants. I was instantly addicted. Then I discovered that Hanes was making organic cotton sleepwear, my favorite being the V-neck sleep shirt, and they are now on clearance for $5 each, so I have three of those. I would be thrilled if I could find someone who actually SOLD B Green clothing, because I would never buy another pair of stretchy or lounge pants again, unless they were their organic cotton ones. I bought the last two pair they had in my size at the Expo, and there is just no retailer for the clothing. Some online retailers sell their underwear....
Tomorrow=Pedicure. YAY.
Here are a few pics to share.... of Ardyn's closet, now that Evan and I are sharing the one in the master bedroom and she has one all to herself in her big girl room. The organizer was already there, so all I had to do was add her clothes!
the door organizer is new, we have one on the nursery door that used to hold all her goodies, but left that there for Marek and got another for her.
I watched the episode of Grey's Anatomy tonight that was tivo'd and it was really good. The ending was awesome, and I heard a rumor that Patrick Dempsey was being interviewed and said that they all have two years left on their contract, and that Kathryn (Izzie) wouldn't be leaving the show soon if at all. I haven't investigated that online, at this point it's a rumor I heard. everything I have looked at online does say that there is nothing solid that suggests that she will be leaving at all.
I am watching the Ace of Cakes on my TIVO where Duff makes GIANT replicas of Girl Scout cookies out of cake, and it makes me so sad because NO ONE asked us to buy cookies this year and therefore we have none. So sad. My first year, EVER, in my ENTIRE LIFE without girl scout cookies. Well, maybe as an infant I didn't eat them, but my mom and aunt were Girl Scout Leaders and I was a Girl Scout for over 10 years, so maybe I did. I dunno. I am sad.
It's almost 1am and I NEEEEEED to go to bed. I think I had to much coca cola tonight. LOL. Caffeine doesn't usually effect me, but when I've had this much, it probaby does. Ardyn has school tomorrow so the morning is going to get here sooner than I am prepared for. But at least I have her clothes laid out and also have her bag packed. That's some time saved. But I hope to make myself look a little presentable tomorrow also. maybe. I hope.
Well, have a great night. Gotta take my bazillion pills and then go to sleep.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Caught up on Laundry, 49 more scrapbook pages planned!
I am SO caught up on laundry that it's scary. having this rental dryer is a godsend. I can only imagine how much better it will be when we have our new one, which is supposed to arrive at Sears tomorrow.
I always have that backlog of things that I only get to on occasion. Like the spare sheet set, or a couple of throws from the living room, or perhaps that load of bathroom towels that always builds. Or rugs. I am caught up on all of that. I am so caught up that I couldn't find anything else to wash when I emptied all the hampers tonight, and I actually took all my clothes and my underwear and bra off tonight while loading the washing machine. Might as well have everything clean! LOL. I'm actually washing clothes BEFORE the hamper gets full, BEFORE I need underwear, and BEFORE we are out of diapers. He.
I am desperately trying to keep up with everything here, but being gone for several hours each day is starting to get a little annoying. It's nice to be outside and about sometimes, but by the time we get home I am TIRED and just want to nap. For three days I have wanted to change the dining room tablecloth, but I just keep getting the table about 3/4 of the way clean and then get distracted. This evening I did put diapers away, and reorganize Marek's clothes now that Ardyn has her own closet. I have done four loads of laundry already tonight, and am excited to use our new bathroom rugs. I just bought some cheap ones at Wal-Mart. All the rugs that we have (with the exception of one that we received as a wedding gift) I bought before we ever moved in together, on clearance from Wal-Mart. So they are about 10 years old. And when you have a toddler who likes to pee when she gets out of the tub, you wash alot of bathroom rugs. So the old ones are really worn, and I was pleased to grab two new cheap ones and am excited. The rug needs to be big enough for both she and I to sit on in the morning when we get ready to take baths. And I can only imagine how much space we will need when there are three of us taking baths each morning. We also got a new bathroom cup. The one that we have been using is about 8 years old and was getting pretty funky. Okay. It was beyond funky and won't come "clean" from all the toothpaste scum. So we got a new one. I told myself that $1.88 was okay to spend when you have used the same $2 plastic cup for 8 years. LOL.
I feel guilty sitting here writing, when there is so much to DO. Although, tomorrow I have NOTHING TO DO outside the house, and I hope that no one calls and wants to visit or get me into anything, because it will be a good day to do lots of organizing and picking up, and I hope that I can do so uninterrupted (if you count a toddler around as uninterrupted.)
I have to say that Ardyn has been a very good girl lately. The more sentences she puts together, the easier it is for the two of us to communicate, and the better our day goes. Fewer tantrums. Mostly none at all, but today was a harder day. I think she was just tired tonight, and we had to go get weighed in at WIC and she was just not thrilled with anything there. She wanted to have rubber legs the second it was time to measure or weigh her. She didn't even flinch at her finger stick, but she cried hysterically when I tried to hold cotton over the finger (not because it was painful, but because she didn't want her finger held at all.) This evening her cup ran out of milk, and she was tired, and she said "Drink Drink" and I handed her her cup, and she made a HUGE Dramatic deal over putting the straw in her mouth and spitting it out and screaming at me. I scolded her and told her that she needed to use her words to talk to me. Lately she really does understand when scolded, or when my voice changes, and she gets upset and cries and comes at me for a hug. She came and climbed up on my lap and I said "Why are you being naughty? What do we say when we want MORE." and she said... "More Drink Please." Just like that. As long as she isn't tired of frustrated, she does really well communicating.
Well, I just finished a couple more loads of laundry and then sat down and did more page planning for Ardyn's first year. I now have 49 more pages (25 total layouts) sorted and planned, with the pictures cropped and lists for shopping for the correct amounts of papers to match my layout designs. I am super excited about this! Next week when I have my Dr's appt in Peoria I hope to hit Michael's and JoAnn/Hobby Lobby to get all my paper quotas met and then hopefully I can crank out pages before the baby gets here. If not, at least I will be more likely to get something done SOMETIME after he is born.
Everyone have a great night and a great Thursday, it's officially Thursday now I guess so off to bed with me!
I always have that backlog of things that I only get to on occasion. Like the spare sheet set, or a couple of throws from the living room, or perhaps that load of bathroom towels that always builds. Or rugs. I am caught up on all of that. I am so caught up that I couldn't find anything else to wash when I emptied all the hampers tonight, and I actually took all my clothes and my underwear and bra off tonight while loading the washing machine. Might as well have everything clean! LOL. I'm actually washing clothes BEFORE the hamper gets full, BEFORE I need underwear, and BEFORE we are out of diapers. He.
I am desperately trying to keep up with everything here, but being gone for several hours each day is starting to get a little annoying. It's nice to be outside and about sometimes, but by the time we get home I am TIRED and just want to nap. For three days I have wanted to change the dining room tablecloth, but I just keep getting the table about 3/4 of the way clean and then get distracted. This evening I did put diapers away, and reorganize Marek's clothes now that Ardyn has her own closet. I have done four loads of laundry already tonight, and am excited to use our new bathroom rugs. I just bought some cheap ones at Wal-Mart. All the rugs that we have (with the exception of one that we received as a wedding gift) I bought before we ever moved in together, on clearance from Wal-Mart. So they are about 10 years old. And when you have a toddler who likes to pee when she gets out of the tub, you wash alot of bathroom rugs. So the old ones are really worn, and I was pleased to grab two new cheap ones and am excited. The rug needs to be big enough for both she and I to sit on in the morning when we get ready to take baths. And I can only imagine how much space we will need when there are three of us taking baths each morning. We also got a new bathroom cup. The one that we have been using is about 8 years old and was getting pretty funky. Okay. It was beyond funky and won't come "clean" from all the toothpaste scum. So we got a new one. I told myself that $1.88 was okay to spend when you have used the same $2 plastic cup for 8 years. LOL.
I feel guilty sitting here writing, when there is so much to DO. Although, tomorrow I have NOTHING TO DO outside the house, and I hope that no one calls and wants to visit or get me into anything, because it will be a good day to do lots of organizing and picking up, and I hope that I can do so uninterrupted (if you count a toddler around as uninterrupted.)
I have to say that Ardyn has been a very good girl lately. The more sentences she puts together, the easier it is for the two of us to communicate, and the better our day goes. Fewer tantrums. Mostly none at all, but today was a harder day. I think she was just tired tonight, and we had to go get weighed in at WIC and she was just not thrilled with anything there. She wanted to have rubber legs the second it was time to measure or weigh her. She didn't even flinch at her finger stick, but she cried hysterically when I tried to hold cotton over the finger (not because it was painful, but because she didn't want her finger held at all.) This evening her cup ran out of milk, and she was tired, and she said "Drink Drink" and I handed her her cup, and she made a HUGE Dramatic deal over putting the straw in her mouth and spitting it out and screaming at me. I scolded her and told her that she needed to use her words to talk to me. Lately she really does understand when scolded, or when my voice changes, and she gets upset and cries and comes at me for a hug. She came and climbed up on my lap and I said "Why are you being naughty? What do we say when we want MORE." and she said... "More Drink Please." Just like that. As long as she isn't tired of frustrated, she does really well communicating.
Well, I just finished a couple more loads of laundry and then sat down and did more page planning for Ardyn's first year. I now have 49 more pages (25 total layouts) sorted and planned, with the pictures cropped and lists for shopping for the correct amounts of papers to match my layout designs. I am super excited about this! Next week when I have my Dr's appt in Peoria I hope to hit Michael's and JoAnn/Hobby Lobby to get all my paper quotas met and then hopefully I can crank out pages before the baby gets here. If not, at least I will be more likely to get something done SOMETIME after he is born.
Everyone have a great night and a great Thursday, it's officially Thursday now I guess so off to bed with me!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Beautiful Day!
Today was a really nice day. I was SO happy to not be working! I love spring! Of course this is probably just a taste that will slip away soon, but at least we are getting closer. We HAVE to get Ardyn's sandbox soon. She is so into digging in the rocks and dirt, and getting filthy doing it... I would just feel better knowing that it was cleaner dirt (is there such a thing? LOL) instead of the dirt that is in the driveway.
Today we took our morning baths and I put the diapers in the dryer. Then we packed up and grabbed lunch, and off to my midwife appointment. Before we went to the midwife, I wanted to drive through the park and see if they had opened it yet, because i was hoping we could stop to play afterwards, as soon as we saw the park was open, Ardyn started chanting "SWING SWING SWING" and we had about 20 minutes till the appointment so we stopped. And she ran right for the swings. We ran into my lactation consultant out with her kids, and then we went swinging. She was so excited, and the breeze was nice and warm and blew through her hair and she giggled and said "Whee" and "swinging!" over and over and over. When she was done, she got down, and I said "Let's go for a ride to see the Doctor" and she was right on board. We got back in the van and went to the appointment. Per usual, the baby is measuring nicely, heartbeat is nice, and he has partially dropped, which I was fairly confident of because of feeling my pelvis spreading so much in the last week. She said she could still rock his head a bit above my pelvic bone, so he isn't completely down yet, but this is still a good thing! According to my count I will be 38 weeks this Thursday. We talked about labor, and about where my head is, and where her head is, and we have decided to not check my cervix from here on out. I think that last time, having me walk around at a 6 for so long enticed us into believing that Ardyn was coming early, and then when she didn't, it prompted the induction, and she said she doesn't think we need to know where I am. In some ways I totally agree, but at the same time, it's hard to be able to check and just "not know" when I am so curious. But I can completely see the benefits of not knowing too.... so that's the plan. And now, we wait!
Then Ardyn and I visited some friends at my old work, and had a snack with them, and then headed to the salon to chat with my friend Trish. I made a pedicure apt for this Friday because I really wanted to get my toes painted at least ONCE during this pregnancy, and the closer to delivery the better... and also they aren't exactly easy to reach now. Plus her polish lasts much longer than mine, and the longer it lasts into postpartum, the happier I will be. So I've had my "last massage" and I will have my "Pre-labor pedicure." All will be ready. He he.
Today Ardyn and I both wore green and both wore dresses. The weather was so nice we could not resist. When we got back from our afternoon out and about, she fell asleep in the van. When we got home, Evan was cleaning the garage some, so I sat out in the sun and she sat parked in the van with the door open, and took a nice nap in the breeze. When she woke up, she cruised around the garage in her cozy coupe and her other coupe car, and dug in the rocks, and played in the dirt. She chatted with the dogs and put rocks in a bucket. I love to see her outside, but it's terrifying at the same time because this road is SOOOOO busy and we are SOOOO Close to it. I have to watch her like a hawk and be ready to chase in a second. Sometimes she listens to "No, come back here" and other times, not so much. All it takes is one time. I am so anxious about getting the fence in. It's insane because I think I say, either out loud or to myself, that I can't wait to have the fence up, at least three times a day. And I honestly probably think of at leaast 5 times a day. I wish that men understood how much a mom worries, and how dangerous it is, so that we could get a jump on things. I try to not be a nag, but man does it bug me. If I had the resources, I'd be out there digging postholes and driving posts myself, even 9 months pregnant.
I find myself doing things this pregnancy that I NEVER would have probably done when this pregnant with Ardyn. Sometimes I am finding myself scolding myself, other times I just think "Hey, I could be a slave, or in a third world country, working in a rice patty.... so moving the coffee table by myself is no big deal." I think it helps keep me in shape. He.
The funnest part of my day is when Ardyn starts chanting "eat eat eat" and I have to explain that daddy is on his way home and she has to wait until he gets here. Her attention span is short. Even if I DO get through to her, 2 minutes later she starts her campaign again.
Today she said lots of new phrases, starting with "ready set go!" and when in the bathtub she lay back into my arms to rinse her hair, smiled up at me and said "I got you!" because that's what I always say to her when she gets antsy or nervous when lying back in the water. LOL. Then this afternoon she started "Swiper no Swiping" and "Oh Maaaan!" from Dora the Explorer. Now she's sitting on the couch reading books waiting for daddy and she looked at me and said "Oh, Chicken!" Supper is still on her mind. But she doesn't know yet that we are having hot dogs on the grill with all the accessories of a summer cookout. LOL. I don't dare tell her until the hot dogs arrive. We just called Grandma and Grandpa and mom was watching Dancing with the Stars so she's gonna call us back. I told Ardyn that it was Grandpa and she said "Grandpa? What's he doing?" and I said "He's getting ready to take his bath, because he gets tired and needs to go to bed!" and she said "Grandpa tired. Night Night Grandpa." This kid blows my mind. You just can't get enough of her sometimes.
We saw lots of motorcycles out and about. One crew was completely decked out in harley gear and leather, and it cracked me up because they were talking to a girl standing in a parking lot, wearing plaid pajama pants at 2 in the afternoon. That kinda takes the Harley Edge off their image, KWIM? Ha. It had me picturing all them in pajama pants.
Now Ardyn got Evan's big big bag of Haribo gummy bears. She's big into naming her colors now. She does especially well with Orange, Yellow, Red, and Green. Purple and Blue she gets mixed up sometimes. She calls the gummy bears "fruit!" I bite them in half so she won't choke (although she doesn't, it's a worry with something so gummy) and She doesn't even CHEW the things so I have to cut her off soon.
She's playing with a stray dryer sheet and dropped it, then repeated "Damn it" over and over. Ugh. How does a person stop that without getting her to realize that it's a big deal. And when she says "Frog" it sometimes sounds like "Fuck" to untrained ears (ie, not parents) Oh boy. She doesn't need to hear Damn it to repeat it, she just acknowledges that it means frustration, and I am sure that when I am pregnant and drop things, that probably comes out of my mouth because I know I have to bend over and get it. I am waiting for daycare to hear her say it. Oh boy.
Well, supper has arrived, so I have to go.
Today we took our morning baths and I put the diapers in the dryer. Then we packed up and grabbed lunch, and off to my midwife appointment. Before we went to the midwife, I wanted to drive through the park and see if they had opened it yet, because i was hoping we could stop to play afterwards, as soon as we saw the park was open, Ardyn started chanting "SWING SWING SWING" and we had about 20 minutes till the appointment so we stopped. And she ran right for the swings. We ran into my lactation consultant out with her kids, and then we went swinging. She was so excited, and the breeze was nice and warm and blew through her hair and she giggled and said "Whee" and "swinging!" over and over and over. When she was done, she got down, and I said "Let's go for a ride to see the Doctor" and she was right on board. We got back in the van and went to the appointment. Per usual, the baby is measuring nicely, heartbeat is nice, and he has partially dropped, which I was fairly confident of because of feeling my pelvis spreading so much in the last week. She said she could still rock his head a bit above my pelvic bone, so he isn't completely down yet, but this is still a good thing! According to my count I will be 38 weeks this Thursday. We talked about labor, and about where my head is, and where her head is, and we have decided to not check my cervix from here on out. I think that last time, having me walk around at a 6 for so long enticed us into believing that Ardyn was coming early, and then when she didn't, it prompted the induction, and she said she doesn't think we need to know where I am. In some ways I totally agree, but at the same time, it's hard to be able to check and just "not know" when I am so curious. But I can completely see the benefits of not knowing too.... so that's the plan. And now, we wait!
Then Ardyn and I visited some friends at my old work, and had a snack with them, and then headed to the salon to chat with my friend Trish. I made a pedicure apt for this Friday because I really wanted to get my toes painted at least ONCE during this pregnancy, and the closer to delivery the better... and also they aren't exactly easy to reach now. Plus her polish lasts much longer than mine, and the longer it lasts into postpartum, the happier I will be. So I've had my "last massage" and I will have my "Pre-labor pedicure." All will be ready. He he.
Today Ardyn and I both wore green and both wore dresses. The weather was so nice we could not resist. When we got back from our afternoon out and about, she fell asleep in the van. When we got home, Evan was cleaning the garage some, so I sat out in the sun and she sat parked in the van with the door open, and took a nice nap in the breeze. When she woke up, she cruised around the garage in her cozy coupe and her other coupe car, and dug in the rocks, and played in the dirt. She chatted with the dogs and put rocks in a bucket. I love to see her outside, but it's terrifying at the same time because this road is SOOOOO busy and we are SOOOO Close to it. I have to watch her like a hawk and be ready to chase in a second. Sometimes she listens to "No, come back here" and other times, not so much. All it takes is one time. I am so anxious about getting the fence in. It's insane because I think I say, either out loud or to myself, that I can't wait to have the fence up, at least three times a day. And I honestly probably think of at leaast 5 times a day. I wish that men understood how much a mom worries, and how dangerous it is, so that we could get a jump on things. I try to not be a nag, but man does it bug me. If I had the resources, I'd be out there digging postholes and driving posts myself, even 9 months pregnant.
I find myself doing things this pregnancy that I NEVER would have probably done when this pregnant with Ardyn. Sometimes I am finding myself scolding myself, other times I just think "Hey, I could be a slave, or in a third world country, working in a rice patty.... so moving the coffee table by myself is no big deal." I think it helps keep me in shape. He.
The funnest part of my day is when Ardyn starts chanting "eat eat eat" and I have to explain that daddy is on his way home and she has to wait until he gets here. Her attention span is short. Even if I DO get through to her, 2 minutes later she starts her campaign again.
Today she said lots of new phrases, starting with "ready set go!" and when in the bathtub she lay back into my arms to rinse her hair, smiled up at me and said "I got you!" because that's what I always say to her when she gets antsy or nervous when lying back in the water. LOL. Then this afternoon she started "Swiper no Swiping" and "Oh Maaaan!" from Dora the Explorer. Now she's sitting on the couch reading books waiting for daddy and she looked at me and said "Oh, Chicken!" Supper is still on her mind. But she doesn't know yet that we are having hot dogs on the grill with all the accessories of a summer cookout. LOL. I don't dare tell her until the hot dogs arrive. We just called Grandma and Grandpa and mom was watching Dancing with the Stars so she's gonna call us back. I told Ardyn that it was Grandpa and she said "Grandpa? What's he doing?" and I said "He's getting ready to take his bath, because he gets tired and needs to go to bed!" and she said "Grandpa tired. Night Night Grandpa." This kid blows my mind. You just can't get enough of her sometimes.
We saw lots of motorcycles out and about. One crew was completely decked out in harley gear and leather, and it cracked me up because they were talking to a girl standing in a parking lot, wearing plaid pajama pants at 2 in the afternoon. That kinda takes the Harley Edge off their image, KWIM? Ha. It had me picturing all them in pajama pants.
Now Ardyn got Evan's big big bag of Haribo gummy bears. She's big into naming her colors now. She does especially well with Orange, Yellow, Red, and Green. Purple and Blue she gets mixed up sometimes. She calls the gummy bears "fruit!" I bite them in half so she won't choke (although she doesn't, it's a worry with something so gummy) and She doesn't even CHEW the things so I have to cut her off soon.
She's playing with a stray dryer sheet and dropped it, then repeated "Damn it" over and over. Ugh. How does a person stop that without getting her to realize that it's a big deal. And when she says "Frog" it sometimes sounds like "Fuck" to untrained ears (ie, not parents) Oh boy. She doesn't need to hear Damn it to repeat it, she just acknowledges that it means frustration, and I am sure that when I am pregnant and drop things, that probably comes out of my mouth because I know I have to bend over and get it. I am waiting for daycare to hear her say it. Oh boy.
Well, supper has arrived, so I have to go.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Feeling sleepy....
What a nice day outside today! After our morning Baths, I packed a picnic lunch and the cozy coupe and Ardyn and I headed for Grandma Deb's house. We had a picnic lunch in the yard and then played outside, with bubbles and sidewalk chalk. Then we watched Ardyn play with dirt, rocks, and sticks... and grandma and I (mostly grandma) pushed her around in the cozy coupe. When grandpa got home from work, we all went in the truck into the pasture to check the cattle. Ardyn loves to see the cows. We were deciding if the cows were going to have their calves before I have Marek. It will be neat if Ardyn is at Grandma's (while I am in the hospital) when the calves are born, and can go see them when they are little.
We all had supper together and then I worked on planning my upcoming scrapbook pages, that I would like to get done before Marek gets here. I got through her 1st Thanksgiving, 1st July 4th, and our trip to the Chicago Green Expo. That leaves photos from her first Christmas and first Easter, which I already have printed. Then after that I have just the photos from each month, and I will have her first year complete, and be CLOSE to caught up. She was ready to go to bed early tonight, before even leaving grandma's house. She said "Mommy, go night night. Bye Grandma. Bye house." LOL.
She came home and went RIGHT to bed. I started diaper laundry and now I am watching my TIVO'd Desperate Housewives and deciding if I want to work on sorting those photos from the last two holidays tonight, or maybe take a break until tomorrow. Although tomorrow I have my midwife appt and will take Ardyn with. It's supposed to be 75 degrees, and she has a cute green sundress and a green tiara from the Target $1 bin that I think we will put on her for fun.
I am really feeling the pelvis stretching today. I am super sore tonight! My back hurts, and my legs, and my butt. I think I will sleep well tonight.
I am hoping that tomorrow will also bring my diaper layaway that I recently paid off, and maybe even the name labels for Marek's bottles/sippy cups. And Ardyn and I each got new flip flops from Old Navy coming, and I got three clearance tank tops. I am excited about Ardyn being able to wear flip flops this summer. I got the ones with the straps on the back for toddlers, and I hope that she doesn't fall in them. :)
Well, I need to wind down for bed, and put soap in the diaper load, so have a great St. Patrick's Day!
We all had supper together and then I worked on planning my upcoming scrapbook pages, that I would like to get done before Marek gets here. I got through her 1st Thanksgiving, 1st July 4th, and our trip to the Chicago Green Expo. That leaves photos from her first Christmas and first Easter, which I already have printed. Then after that I have just the photos from each month, and I will have her first year complete, and be CLOSE to caught up. She was ready to go to bed early tonight, before even leaving grandma's house. She said "Mommy, go night night. Bye Grandma. Bye house." LOL.
She came home and went RIGHT to bed. I started diaper laundry and now I am watching my TIVO'd Desperate Housewives and deciding if I want to work on sorting those photos from the last two holidays tonight, or maybe take a break until tomorrow. Although tomorrow I have my midwife appt and will take Ardyn with. It's supposed to be 75 degrees, and she has a cute green sundress and a green tiara from the Target $1 bin that I think we will put on her for fun.
I am really feeling the pelvis stretching today. I am super sore tonight! My back hurts, and my legs, and my butt. I think I will sleep well tonight.
I am hoping that tomorrow will also bring my diaper layaway that I recently paid off, and maybe even the name labels for Marek's bottles/sippy cups. And Ardyn and I each got new flip flops from Old Navy coming, and I got three clearance tank tops. I am excited about Ardyn being able to wear flip flops this summer. I got the ones with the straps on the back for toddlers, and I hope that she doesn't fall in them. :)
Well, I need to wind down for bed, and put soap in the diaper load, so have a great St. Patrick's Day!
Friday, March 13, 2009
Seriously?
I am really not superstitious... but this Friday the 13th was kinda icky. Of course even though I needed to be up at 7:30, I couldn't get to sleep till about 2am.
Everything went well in the morning, I was cranky, but Ardyn got to school, I got my prescription, I cleaned in the kitchen and ran the dishwasher, and then hung the load of diapers on the line. I called the Rent-A-Center near us and found that renting a dryer was about $20 a week. Completely worth it for a weeks' worth of sanity. they even offered to have it here TODAY and worked around my appointments to be here when we could be here. THAT Put me in a good mood. the irony was that we were getting a Whirlpool Cabrio, which is the EXACT machine that we almost got, until Best Buy told us all they had left was the floor model.
I thought I would get the diapers some fresh air and sun and then fluff them in the dryer when it arrived at 2pm. then I spent an hour and a half on the phone with Sears (AGAIN) to give them the rental information so that they could start a rental reimbursement request. Of course, they couldn't find me in their system. They could find no record of my call last night to the retail support line, and they told me that they don't do reimbursement requests unless I have purchased a warranty/service agreement from Sears. I told them that we DID purchase one, but the dryer hadn't gotten here yet (LOL.) Fortunately persistence and some patience paid off, and we are to take our rental paperwork to the Sears store when we pick up the dryer and we will be "reimbursed by Bob or Damien, store managers." The same store managers who were unable to do anything for us originally, except saying "it was a mistake and we are sorry."
So, with that finished, I went BACK to town to get the oil changed in the van. And it took 1 hour. AND I read three magazines. So then I headed home (late) to find my husband and two very puzzled Rent-A-Center delivery people, with the back door off the house, and the back panel being removed from the Cabrio. turns out, the Cabrio is deeper and wider than your average dryer, and the back panel sticks out to cover up the vent system, which also protrudes from the dryer and makes it larger than most appliances. So although we took our fridge, dishwasher, stove, a chest Freezer, a LARGE Upright freezer, and about three washers and three dryers in and out of that back door.... the cabrio would NOT fit. No matter what. Evan and I could not believe it, and we were thanking our lucky stars that we did NOT get the cabrio at Best Buy, or we would have had a situation all our own to deal with.
So while they were trying to maneuver the thing in the back door, I was shoveling in a sandwich before my prenatal massage appointment, and when I left to go BACK to town for the third time today, i realized that the Van was stuck IN our front yard in the mud... because I had to pull over to the side a bit to let the delivery van through. So Evan had to come out and (unfortunately) tear up the yard to get the van out. So then I was about 10 minutes late for my massage, my jaw was permemantly clenched in frustration, I still had no dryer, and I was TIRED of all the hassling.
So the Rent-A-Center people loaded the dryer back on the truck and took it back to the store, and called a couple of hours later with an alternative, front loading Whirlpool Duet, which they ALSO brought back the same day, installed, and got us up and running.
My massage was WONDERFUL per usual, and I kept falling asleep on the table and waking myself up snoring. attractive. I followed the massage up with a free hot fudge Sundae (I had a coupon) and then picked Ardyn up just in time to head home and meet the Rent-A-Center people and watch them slide the new dryer in, no problem, and start drying a load of jeans. Ahhh. So we are in business with a rented front load dryer until our NEW Dryer comes in at Sears- HOPEFULLY this coming Thursday night.
Ardyn had a good day at school, brought home a penguin craft, and a shirt full of paint, food, and mud. I love when I can see that she had a great time, and her play clothes get some real PLAY. We fed her supper, took a family shower (alll FOUR of us) and then I just put her to sleep about 40 minutes ago. Tomorrow we have a family dinner that I am looking forward to, but besides that our weekend is FREE and it's supposed to be about 50+ degrees all weekend, so we are really looking forward to that!
After our shower tonight, I was trying to coax Ardyn into the nursery to get her diapered and in her pj's, and she peed on the floor. It was hilarious, because she looked at me and said "Uh-Oh, I spilled!!!" OMG Too funny. I have to find a way to scrapbook that. kids are so cute!
Everything went well in the morning, I was cranky, but Ardyn got to school, I got my prescription, I cleaned in the kitchen and ran the dishwasher, and then hung the load of diapers on the line. I called the Rent-A-Center near us and found that renting a dryer was about $20 a week. Completely worth it for a weeks' worth of sanity. they even offered to have it here TODAY and worked around my appointments to be here when we could be here. THAT Put me in a good mood. the irony was that we were getting a Whirlpool Cabrio, which is the EXACT machine that we almost got, until Best Buy told us all they had left was the floor model.
I thought I would get the diapers some fresh air and sun and then fluff them in the dryer when it arrived at 2pm. then I spent an hour and a half on the phone with Sears (AGAIN) to give them the rental information so that they could start a rental reimbursement request. Of course, they couldn't find me in their system. They could find no record of my call last night to the retail support line, and they told me that they don't do reimbursement requests unless I have purchased a warranty/service agreement from Sears. I told them that we DID purchase one, but the dryer hadn't gotten here yet (LOL.) Fortunately persistence and some patience paid off, and we are to take our rental paperwork to the Sears store when we pick up the dryer and we will be "reimbursed by Bob or Damien, store managers." The same store managers who were unable to do anything for us originally, except saying "it was a mistake and we are sorry."
So, with that finished, I went BACK to town to get the oil changed in the van. And it took 1 hour. AND I read three magazines. So then I headed home (late) to find my husband and two very puzzled Rent-A-Center delivery people, with the back door off the house, and the back panel being removed from the Cabrio. turns out, the Cabrio is deeper and wider than your average dryer, and the back panel sticks out to cover up the vent system, which also protrudes from the dryer and makes it larger than most appliances. So although we took our fridge, dishwasher, stove, a chest Freezer, a LARGE Upright freezer, and about three washers and three dryers in and out of that back door.... the cabrio would NOT fit. No matter what. Evan and I could not believe it, and we were thanking our lucky stars that we did NOT get the cabrio at Best Buy, or we would have had a situation all our own to deal with.
So while they were trying to maneuver the thing in the back door, I was shoveling in a sandwich before my prenatal massage appointment, and when I left to go BACK to town for the third time today, i realized that the Van was stuck IN our front yard in the mud... because I had to pull over to the side a bit to let the delivery van through. So Evan had to come out and (unfortunately) tear up the yard to get the van out. So then I was about 10 minutes late for my massage, my jaw was permemantly clenched in frustration, I still had no dryer, and I was TIRED of all the hassling.
So the Rent-A-Center people loaded the dryer back on the truck and took it back to the store, and called a couple of hours later with an alternative, front loading Whirlpool Duet, which they ALSO brought back the same day, installed, and got us up and running.
My massage was WONDERFUL per usual, and I kept falling asleep on the table and waking myself up snoring. attractive. I followed the massage up with a free hot fudge Sundae (I had a coupon) and then picked Ardyn up just in time to head home and meet the Rent-A-Center people and watch them slide the new dryer in, no problem, and start drying a load of jeans. Ahhh. So we are in business with a rented front load dryer until our NEW Dryer comes in at Sears- HOPEFULLY this coming Thursday night.
Ardyn had a good day at school, brought home a penguin craft, and a shirt full of paint, food, and mud. I love when I can see that she had a great time, and her play clothes get some real PLAY. We fed her supper, took a family shower (alll FOUR of us) and then I just put her to sleep about 40 minutes ago. Tomorrow we have a family dinner that I am looking forward to, but besides that our weekend is FREE and it's supposed to be about 50+ degrees all weekend, so we are really looking forward to that!
After our shower tonight, I was trying to coax Ardyn into the nursery to get her diapered and in her pj's, and she peed on the floor. It was hilarious, because she looked at me and said "Uh-Oh, I spilled!!!" OMG Too funny. I have to find a way to scrapbook that. kids are so cute!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
TGIF. My Cervix Hurts and Sears screwed up our Dryer.
You know, I don't think many stay at home mom's say TGIF. To me the weekend isn't a whole lot different than the weekdays. Except for the fact that I don't have to spend it frantically trying to cram everything in so that I can go back to work on Monday. My job is to be a mom every single day.
But today, was quite possibly, the longest day with the most messed up events. I guess I should say that it started Wednesday afternoon when we waited from 2:15 until 4pm to see the Pediatrician for a Well Child Visit. Not a huge deal, because Ardyn is easily able to entertain herself, I had made sure that she was well fed (she woke up chanting for Pizza) and we took her new Dora backpack stuffed with snacks and toys and books. As a matter of fact, she was fabulous. But I was getting increasingly uncomfortable. Cramps. Contractions, that pressure that you just can't escape. And then I had to poop. BADLY. And then I was just even more crampy. The pediatrician visit went well. Ardyn is growing nicely. She loves her Doctor, and even though he was running behind, he stopped to read her the book she handed him when she tried to climb into his lap. Now that is a GOOD Doctor. We have referrals to see both a Pediatric GI and an Allergist about her Dairy Allergy, to see the types of options we have, and to monitor how her tolerance is as she grows older, and get an idea of when we may be able to try to introduce dairy back in to her diet.
After that appointment, we had to run to the Evil Wal-Mart. But we went to the one farther from home, which is much larger and newer. We needed specific garbage bags, and totes to contain all my nesting. Our local Wal-Mart is reorganizing and remodeling, so their new motto is apparently "don't re-order anything, lest we need to move it" and therefore they are out of almost everything we have needed lately. We spent some time in the mart. We spent some money too. We got what we needed. We headed for home. We picked up supper. Evan had band practice. I was starting to feel really crampy and pressured and uncomfortable. I was having the "I'm really hungry" feeling followed immediately by "I can't eat that because food makes me feel nauseous" which was kinda strange. It was almost like my body was revolting food in case I went into labor. I know that when Ardyn was born, I hadn't eaten ANYTHING in 28 hours straight. I remember them cleaning her up and me BEGGING for food and them making me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and me sitting there naked eating it. And then like 8 hours later realizing that I had been holding a bloody cheesey newborn who had POOPED in my hand as soon as I held her, and them wiping my hand down with a cavacide wipe, and me not being coherent enough to even remember to wash my hands before shoving that PB&J in my mouth. And it was the best PB&J I have ever eaten.
So anyway, Ardyn is tired and cranky, I'm at home and we are eating supper, and I have alerted Evan to be on standby because I am not feeling well. He's calling or texting to check on me. I get Ardyn to bed ASAP and then I soak in the tub. The Second bath of the day. But I needed to soak. My back was hurting, I was having shooting pains and muscle pains and contractions. When I got out of the bath I just lay naked in bed and watched TV. I couldn't sleep because of contractions and pressure, and I had to pee literally every 30 minutes. i didn't get to sleep until almost 2am, and then I was up every hour, including from 4-5am with Ardyn and her coughing episodes, giving her ice water to drink and situating her propped up on her pillow again and again until she slept again.
Fast Forward to 7am. Time to get up. So now it's Thursday. I need to get myself ready, and Ardyn ready. We had to have a WIC weigh in at 9am, and pre-register at the hospital's OB unit at 10am, and an oil change at 11:15am. I was so uncomfortable. I alternated between peeing, and sitting naked on the bathroom floor in front of the heater for a good hour. I was so exhausted and sore and tired I wasn't sure how I was going to do ANYTHING today, let alone all those things. I finally decided to just start moving, and got my hair wet down from it's morning "sticking up all over" mode, and then realized that I was going to need help. I asked Evan to get up and help get Ardyn ready for me. To which he headed for the bathroom. I was dressed and had my hair dried. I ended up waking up Ardyn, changing her diaper, getting her dressed, doing her hair, and then thinking that if he could just FEED her, I could do my hair and put on shoes and socks.... and then I looked at the clock and it was 5 till 9. Um. Late. hello. So Evan made toast for Ardyn and I and I called WIC and let them know that I wouldn't be able to make it and we rescheduled for next week. In the afternoon (after they told me 8:30am and I nearly had a heart attack out of frustration.)
So as we are eating toast, I think that maybe it would be better if we just went to the hospital a little early so they could put me on a monitor and see what the hell was going on. The contractions had subsided to the point of being non painful. But I was still feeling pressure, and really crappy. My cervix just HURT. It's hard to explain feeling your cervix, but I just know that's where the hurt was. I called the OB department and they tell me I should come in early. So Ardyn and I load up everything, and head to the hospital, march on up to the OB, and I get on a monitor. Ardyn was SO INCREDIBLY GOOD. She got out her backpack, and entertained herself for two whole hours. There were contractions, but not enough to cause concern. My blood pressure was so LOW that it caused an alarm on the Monitors. LOL. I think 120/45. So they called the midwife and she wanted to have my cervix checked. So they checked my cervix, which for some reason was EXTREMELY painful and about sent me through the roof. I told her it was really sore and tender and she said I was still at a 1 but so so soft it was surprising. The midwife ordered a urinalysis and sure enough, UTI. Caused from the Antibiotics that I am on from the Strep Throat that I am getting over. So that explains all the pressure, and the pain, and the general crapola feeling. So now I only have 3 days left on my antibiotic run, but I get to start a new one tomorrow, for 10 more days. Yaaay!
So this took so long, that I got registered, signed all my consents and paperwork, but had to reschedule the oil change because I couldn't make it there on time either.
So Ardyn and I grab lunch (she's chanting "NUGGETS" at me by now) and head for home. That afternoon Evan was cleaning out the remaining parts of his closet so that we could move Ardyn into the closet. Ardyn was refusing to nap, so I had him watch her while I lay down and took a two hour nap. That was wonderful.
When I got up, I started to move everything into Ardyn's new closet. It is FABULOUS and so nice! I am so happy! I will share pics later...
You may recall that today was also the day that the dryer was supposed to arrive. No phone call from Sears. So Evan calls and is told the truck hasn't been unloaded and to call back after 4m. I call, give them our salescheck # and ask if our DRYER is in. They say yes, it's there, and Evan takes the van and heads off to pick it up. He's worried that while he's gone I am going to go into labor or have an emergency while he is driving the vehicle with the two carseats in it and that is reliable. I tell him to go and not worry, we will be fine. He calls me about an hour later, absolutely FURIOUS. I could tell that he was trying not to SNAP and go postal at Sears. When they got the dryer out to load it, they realized it was a WASHING MACHINE. So here we have waited all week, and come to find out, the chick mis-ordered (and mis-charged) us for a washing machine and not a DRYER. We didn't even LOOK at washing machines. Oh boy. But the bad news, is that we have to wait another SEVEN DAYS for a dryer to come in, and then we have to DRIVE ANOTHER 40 minutes back to the store AGAIN to pick it up. Third trip to the store for this freaking dryer.
So Evan gives me a Sears 800 number and our salescheck number. I proceed to spend the next TWO and a HALF HOURS on the phone with Sears. Now, you know I don't mind exaggerating numbers for fun now and then, but I want to be PERFECTLY CLEAR that these are the exact numbers..... I was disconnected FOUR TIMES, Spoke with THIRTEEN PEOPLE (who were likely from 9 different nationalities), called THREE DIFFERENT PHONE NUMBERS, and was told twice that I don't exist in their system. I was also given the wrong phone number (after almost two hours) for the customer complaint line, and after three calls and speaking with three representatives from the wrong department altogether, was given the correct one. I was told that Sears customer service reps are not allowed to make any outgoing calls, even to customers who they have been disconnected from. I was told that they could give me their name and information but if I had to call back due to disconnection, I would not be able to be transferred to someone I had already spoken with, even if i DID have their name and badge Id. Finally at 8:01pm I reached someone who spoke clear English, was polite, didn't try to transfer me, never put me on hold, and was from the CORRECT Department. He spent about 30 minutes on the phone with me and in that time checked six other Sears stores for the dryer that we were looking for, checked the backorder status of the dryer in those stores, and also looked at similar models of dryers and their availability. In the end, he couldn't find anything FASTER but he did send us a $50 Sears gift card for our trouble, and asking me to contact our local Rent A Center tomorrow and getting a quote on renting a dryer for 1-2 weeks, and then calling Sears back to see if they will reimburse us for a rental appliance, which they do upon occasion. So tomorrow I call RAC.
And all this Sears BS is going on while my daughter is chanting "EAT" and I am making our supper, feeding it to us, changing her diaper, giving her a BATH, and getting her ready for bed.
THAT is how my day went. So then I had to scrounge around for the last 5 clean cloth diapers, and pack them for school tomorrow. And then I started diaper laundry, knowing full well that it might not be DRY until tomorrow night, because the dryer is taking THREE 180 minute cycles to dry a load, and we feel it's too dangerous to let it run unattended. Maybe the diapers will be going to the laundromat dryer tomorrow. But tomorrow I have to get Ardyn to school, make up the lost oil change, pick up my new antibiotic, and get what will likely be my very last and VERY MUCH DESERVED prenatal massage, which should help with my achey body and put me in a state of mind that helps me cope with all this crap and last the 3 more weeks till my due date.
So How has your day been? LOL.
But today, was quite possibly, the longest day with the most messed up events. I guess I should say that it started Wednesday afternoon when we waited from 2:15 until 4pm to see the Pediatrician for a Well Child Visit. Not a huge deal, because Ardyn is easily able to entertain herself, I had made sure that she was well fed (she woke up chanting for Pizza) and we took her new Dora backpack stuffed with snacks and toys and books. As a matter of fact, she was fabulous. But I was getting increasingly uncomfortable. Cramps. Contractions, that pressure that you just can't escape. And then I had to poop. BADLY. And then I was just even more crampy. The pediatrician visit went well. Ardyn is growing nicely. She loves her Doctor, and even though he was running behind, he stopped to read her the book she handed him when she tried to climb into his lap. Now that is a GOOD Doctor. We have referrals to see both a Pediatric GI and an Allergist about her Dairy Allergy, to see the types of options we have, and to monitor how her tolerance is as she grows older, and get an idea of when we may be able to try to introduce dairy back in to her diet.
After that appointment, we had to run to the Evil Wal-Mart. But we went to the one farther from home, which is much larger and newer. We needed specific garbage bags, and totes to contain all my nesting. Our local Wal-Mart is reorganizing and remodeling, so their new motto is apparently "don't re-order anything, lest we need to move it" and therefore they are out of almost everything we have needed lately. We spent some time in the mart. We spent some money too. We got what we needed. We headed for home. We picked up supper. Evan had band practice. I was starting to feel really crampy and pressured and uncomfortable. I was having the "I'm really hungry" feeling followed immediately by "I can't eat that because food makes me feel nauseous" which was kinda strange. It was almost like my body was revolting food in case I went into labor. I know that when Ardyn was born, I hadn't eaten ANYTHING in 28 hours straight. I remember them cleaning her up and me BEGGING for food and them making me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and me sitting there naked eating it. And then like 8 hours later realizing that I had been holding a bloody cheesey newborn who had POOPED in my hand as soon as I held her, and them wiping my hand down with a cavacide wipe, and me not being coherent enough to even remember to wash my hands before shoving that PB&J in my mouth. And it was the best PB&J I have ever eaten.
So anyway, Ardyn is tired and cranky, I'm at home and we are eating supper, and I have alerted Evan to be on standby because I am not feeling well. He's calling or texting to check on me. I get Ardyn to bed ASAP and then I soak in the tub. The Second bath of the day. But I needed to soak. My back was hurting, I was having shooting pains and muscle pains and contractions. When I got out of the bath I just lay naked in bed and watched TV. I couldn't sleep because of contractions and pressure, and I had to pee literally every 30 minutes. i didn't get to sleep until almost 2am, and then I was up every hour, including from 4-5am with Ardyn and her coughing episodes, giving her ice water to drink and situating her propped up on her pillow again and again until she slept again.
Fast Forward to 7am. Time to get up. So now it's Thursday. I need to get myself ready, and Ardyn ready. We had to have a WIC weigh in at 9am, and pre-register at the hospital's OB unit at 10am, and an oil change at 11:15am. I was so uncomfortable. I alternated between peeing, and sitting naked on the bathroom floor in front of the heater for a good hour. I was so exhausted and sore and tired I wasn't sure how I was going to do ANYTHING today, let alone all those things. I finally decided to just start moving, and got my hair wet down from it's morning "sticking up all over" mode, and then realized that I was going to need help. I asked Evan to get up and help get Ardyn ready for me. To which he headed for the bathroom. I was dressed and had my hair dried. I ended up waking up Ardyn, changing her diaper, getting her dressed, doing her hair, and then thinking that if he could just FEED her, I could do my hair and put on shoes and socks.... and then I looked at the clock and it was 5 till 9. Um. Late. hello. So Evan made toast for Ardyn and I and I called WIC and let them know that I wouldn't be able to make it and we rescheduled for next week. In the afternoon (after they told me 8:30am and I nearly had a heart attack out of frustration.)
So as we are eating toast, I think that maybe it would be better if we just went to the hospital a little early so they could put me on a monitor and see what the hell was going on. The contractions had subsided to the point of being non painful. But I was still feeling pressure, and really crappy. My cervix just HURT. It's hard to explain feeling your cervix, but I just know that's where the hurt was. I called the OB department and they tell me I should come in early. So Ardyn and I load up everything, and head to the hospital, march on up to the OB, and I get on a monitor. Ardyn was SO INCREDIBLY GOOD. She got out her backpack, and entertained herself for two whole hours. There were contractions, but not enough to cause concern. My blood pressure was so LOW that it caused an alarm on the Monitors. LOL. I think 120/45. So they called the midwife and she wanted to have my cervix checked. So they checked my cervix, which for some reason was EXTREMELY painful and about sent me through the roof. I told her it was really sore and tender and she said I was still at a 1 but so so soft it was surprising. The midwife ordered a urinalysis and sure enough, UTI. Caused from the Antibiotics that I am on from the Strep Throat that I am getting over. So that explains all the pressure, and the pain, and the general crapola feeling. So now I only have 3 days left on my antibiotic run, but I get to start a new one tomorrow, for 10 more days. Yaaay!
So this took so long, that I got registered, signed all my consents and paperwork, but had to reschedule the oil change because I couldn't make it there on time either.
So Ardyn and I grab lunch (she's chanting "NUGGETS" at me by now) and head for home. That afternoon Evan was cleaning out the remaining parts of his closet so that we could move Ardyn into the closet. Ardyn was refusing to nap, so I had him watch her while I lay down and took a two hour nap. That was wonderful.
When I got up, I started to move everything into Ardyn's new closet. It is FABULOUS and so nice! I am so happy! I will share pics later...
You may recall that today was also the day that the dryer was supposed to arrive. No phone call from Sears. So Evan calls and is told the truck hasn't been unloaded and to call back after 4m. I call, give them our salescheck # and ask if our DRYER is in. They say yes, it's there, and Evan takes the van and heads off to pick it up. He's worried that while he's gone I am going to go into labor or have an emergency while he is driving the vehicle with the two carseats in it and that is reliable. I tell him to go and not worry, we will be fine. He calls me about an hour later, absolutely FURIOUS. I could tell that he was trying not to SNAP and go postal at Sears. When they got the dryer out to load it, they realized it was a WASHING MACHINE. So here we have waited all week, and come to find out, the chick mis-ordered (and mis-charged) us for a washing machine and not a DRYER. We didn't even LOOK at washing machines. Oh boy. But the bad news, is that we have to wait another SEVEN DAYS for a dryer to come in, and then we have to DRIVE ANOTHER 40 minutes back to the store AGAIN to pick it up. Third trip to the store for this freaking dryer.
So Evan gives me a Sears 800 number and our salescheck number. I proceed to spend the next TWO and a HALF HOURS on the phone with Sears. Now, you know I don't mind exaggerating numbers for fun now and then, but I want to be PERFECTLY CLEAR that these are the exact numbers..... I was disconnected FOUR TIMES, Spoke with THIRTEEN PEOPLE (who were likely from 9 different nationalities), called THREE DIFFERENT PHONE NUMBERS, and was told twice that I don't exist in their system. I was also given the wrong phone number (after almost two hours) for the customer complaint line, and after three calls and speaking with three representatives from the wrong department altogether, was given the correct one. I was told that Sears customer service reps are not allowed to make any outgoing calls, even to customers who they have been disconnected from. I was told that they could give me their name and information but if I had to call back due to disconnection, I would not be able to be transferred to someone I had already spoken with, even if i DID have their name and badge Id. Finally at 8:01pm I reached someone who spoke clear English, was polite, didn't try to transfer me, never put me on hold, and was from the CORRECT Department. He spent about 30 minutes on the phone with me and in that time checked six other Sears stores for the dryer that we were looking for, checked the backorder status of the dryer in those stores, and also looked at similar models of dryers and their availability. In the end, he couldn't find anything FASTER but he did send us a $50 Sears gift card for our trouble, and asking me to contact our local Rent A Center tomorrow and getting a quote on renting a dryer for 1-2 weeks, and then calling Sears back to see if they will reimburse us for a rental appliance, which they do upon occasion. So tomorrow I call RAC.
And all this Sears BS is going on while my daughter is chanting "EAT" and I am making our supper, feeding it to us, changing her diaper, giving her a BATH, and getting her ready for bed.
THAT is how my day went. So then I had to scrounge around for the last 5 clean cloth diapers, and pack them for school tomorrow. And then I started diaper laundry, knowing full well that it might not be DRY until tomorrow night, because the dryer is taking THREE 180 minute cycles to dry a load, and we feel it's too dangerous to let it run unattended. Maybe the diapers will be going to the laundromat dryer tomorrow. But tomorrow I have to get Ardyn to school, make up the lost oil change, pick up my new antibiotic, and get what will likely be my very last and VERY MUCH DESERVED prenatal massage, which should help with my achey body and put me in a state of mind that helps me cope with all this crap and last the 3 more weeks till my due date.
So How has your day been? LOL.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Nesting Madness
Today was uber-productive. I should be asleep but instead I am sitting here looking at the "other" half of the bed, which is still full of crap that I haven't found a home for. You know when you clean closets and such and you find those socks that you KNOW have a match SOMEWHERE in your house, and that pair of shoelaces that you aren't sure what to do with, and a bunch of misc things like unidentified keys and hairclips and ankle braces and suddenly half your bed is full of crap and you just can't sleep until you either pile it all into a basket (which you will find 6 months later and regret) or find a home for every last piece? Ugh.
So I guess you could say that "nesting" has finally kicked in, although I think that I am the type of person that is almost always in nesting mode. But today it was pretty intense. I cleaned my closet. Condensed two full bars of clothes into ONE bar of clothes. Packed away maternity clothes (97% of them) and brought out my "regular" clothes. Condensed SEVEN Dresser drawers into FOUR (bras, underwear, socks, pajamas) and them moved all of Evan's closet and his 3 dresser drawers into the master bedroom. In the past he had the closet and drawers in the spare bedroom, but now that is Ardyn's room and it's not only time for her to have a closet, but also time for Evan to be able to get dressed, even if Ardyn has gone to bed or is taking a nap. he he. So we are officially a couple and we now share a closet. Will this end in inevitable divorce? Only time will tell. But really, at this point in time, since i am staying home anyway, Laundry tends to be my job, and if I want to clothes put away, that's my job too, so I guess there is a much higher chance that the closet will remain clean since it is all my domain now. In the past I would have killed him over closet space, but we may be able to get through this. For the sake of our poor innocent children.
So after the cleaning of closets and drawers, I also cleaned our bedroom. I had cleaned one CORNER of the bedroom recently, but that was all the farther I got. This was a full on cleaning, with the only remaining mess being one clothes basket of crap that I need to either sell or part with, and the make-up table that needs cleaning. I just ran out of energy around 4:30, when Ardyn hit naptime and Grandma Deb left us. I really got a TON done in the morning, had totes filled and the closet and dresser already cleaned out, but Grandma Deb came over in the afternoon to rescue Ardyn from her boring morning existence of watching Cartoons in Mom and Dad's room and eating dry Kix from our bed. This allowed me to finish the "cleaning" of the room, and vacuum, steam mop, and move the bed out. Under the bed I found two things that told me it had been a while.... specifically- a pacifier (which Ardyn has been weaned of since about 9 months old, so June of 2008) and the directions for a pregnancy test (which we know was taken almost 36 weeks ago, so July of 2008.) This also tells me that the cleaning people I had who were so anal about everything else never cleaned UNDER my bed. I have cleaned under the bed since then, but hadn't removed the two rolling totes from under the bed AND cleaned at the same time, and apparently the two items in question were found BETWEEN the two totes. So, I can't blame them too much. he he.
So under the bed is clean. NOW a baby can come. Well, not really yet, because I haven't moved Ardyn's clothes from the Nursery to her bedroom. Initially they were all going to stay in the nursery, but she has more clothes, and I want the ability to access them if Marek is napping, and also want to be able to have enough space to seperate her play clothes from her good clothes, etc etc. Now I need to figure out what to use for drawer organizers. I use baskets in the nursery drawers, but these drawers are much deeper, so it may have to be some measuring and figuring out what will fit the best.
I burned some Tangerine Essential oil in the bedroom tonight, so it smells especially fresh. Tomorrow is Ardyn's 18 month appt and she will get shots. not a big deal, but her coughing has started again in her sleep, and was terrible last night and at naptime today, so I medicated her tonight. Poor kiddo. I'm still on antibiotics, but she hasn't had any yet, and I am thinking it's time.
I have still been trying to do laundry, and every time I go down to the laundry room I get that infuriated feeling, because the dryer still SUCKS ASS and I can't wait for the new one to get here. If I wasn't very pregnant there is a damn good chance I would do a dance to the dryer gods around the laundry room when I put my first load in. I may do that anyway. in 20 minutes, the dryer is just over 32 hours away. Assuming that I can get it INSTALLED the same day that it gets PICKED UP. (go evan go!)
I'm feeling especially well, with this new surge of energy. Anyone this pregnant who can get all this cleaning done, and organizing, AND run the dishwasher, make lunch, etc... must be nesting. I feel like this is my last hurrah before this entire house falls completely to hell. I told my mom today, I am just trying to let myself deal with the fact that everything is about to be a total disaster. I told her it's already become incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to keep things clean and tidy, and I am pretty sure that this is the end of every attempt at clean that I have left in my body. I often wonder if anyone besides me (and my poor guests) realize just how badly the toilet needs cleaned AGAIN. I swear I just did it! Damn!
My crotch, hip, butt, and belly muscles hurt so much tonight.... I may need all of tomorrow to recouperate. I should be wearing my belly in a sling.
Throwing everything on the bed into a basket is looking more and more promising every minute. In fact, let me just do that right now. Ahhh. Better. when cleaning in my closet I found two VCR Tapes with no jackets, and thought, hmmm.... is this porn that I forgot I had? And then realized sadly that it was a stray copy of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and a Product Demo tape from Microsoft. Ah, well. That's what happens when you get old.
It is SO windy out tonight. It sounds like it could be the middle of a blizzard. It also sounds like I live at a grain elevator that has all their dryers going.... but no, it's just the wind.
I am also forcing myself to buckle down on the "going through the magazines" thing. I got through all the Scrapbooking ones, and I was so pleased with myself. Now I have a basket full of parenting magazines, with a few decorating magazines for good measure. Well, the basket started to overflow, and then it was a basket and a giant stack. And then the stack got so big that it slid over sideways, so tonight I got through about 6 of them, and tore out the few ideas and recipes that I wanted to save... and put them in the file that is "to file" when I get through them all. I got a few good tips.... like putting a few bendy straws into a plastic toothbrush holder to take with you to restraunts, so your toddler can easily drink... (woot!) and creating a portable sandbox by filling shallow plastic tote with sand and sandbox toys, snapping the lid on, and tossing it in the back of the van when going to the park, a reunion, or to visit friends and family this summer.
I found myself a diaper bag big enough for two in cloth diapers.... and it was only $20 and made by Jeep. nothing fancy LOOKING, but very nice and sturdy, with TONS of room, and it opens nice and wide, which is a pet peeve of mine for most other diaper bags. I posted pics on Flickr if you want to see it in all it's glory.
Ardyn also got a Dora the explorer backpack on clearance for $7, and I can't wait to use it. She wore it all last night and for about 2-3 hours today. Tomorrow we will take it to her Dr. appointment- filled with her magna doodle, some crayons, her two newest easter books, and a few toys. And I will probably throw in some organic vanilla wafers and a diaper and wipes. It will be nice to have her carry her own things! LOL. She is SO proud of the backpack.
Well, it's tomorrow now, so off to bed with my sore butt.
Have a fun Wednesday!
So I guess you could say that "nesting" has finally kicked in, although I think that I am the type of person that is almost always in nesting mode. But today it was pretty intense. I cleaned my closet. Condensed two full bars of clothes into ONE bar of clothes. Packed away maternity clothes (97% of them) and brought out my "regular" clothes. Condensed SEVEN Dresser drawers into FOUR (bras, underwear, socks, pajamas) and them moved all of Evan's closet and his 3 dresser drawers into the master bedroom. In the past he had the closet and drawers in the spare bedroom, but now that is Ardyn's room and it's not only time for her to have a closet, but also time for Evan to be able to get dressed, even if Ardyn has gone to bed or is taking a nap. he he. So we are officially a couple and we now share a closet. Will this end in inevitable divorce? Only time will tell. But really, at this point in time, since i am staying home anyway, Laundry tends to be my job, and if I want to clothes put away, that's my job too, so I guess there is a much higher chance that the closet will remain clean since it is all my domain now. In the past I would have killed him over closet space, but we may be able to get through this. For the sake of our poor innocent children.
So after the cleaning of closets and drawers, I also cleaned our bedroom. I had cleaned one CORNER of the bedroom recently, but that was all the farther I got. This was a full on cleaning, with the only remaining mess being one clothes basket of crap that I need to either sell or part with, and the make-up table that needs cleaning. I just ran out of energy around 4:30, when Ardyn hit naptime and Grandma Deb left us. I really got a TON done in the morning, had totes filled and the closet and dresser already cleaned out, but Grandma Deb came over in the afternoon to rescue Ardyn from her boring morning existence of watching Cartoons in Mom and Dad's room and eating dry Kix from our bed. This allowed me to finish the "cleaning" of the room, and vacuum, steam mop, and move the bed out. Under the bed I found two things that told me it had been a while.... specifically- a pacifier (which Ardyn has been weaned of since about 9 months old, so June of 2008) and the directions for a pregnancy test (which we know was taken almost 36 weeks ago, so July of 2008.) This also tells me that the cleaning people I had who were so anal about everything else never cleaned UNDER my bed. I have cleaned under the bed since then, but hadn't removed the two rolling totes from under the bed AND cleaned at the same time, and apparently the two items in question were found BETWEEN the two totes. So, I can't blame them too much. he he.
So under the bed is clean. NOW a baby can come. Well, not really yet, because I haven't moved Ardyn's clothes from the Nursery to her bedroom. Initially they were all going to stay in the nursery, but she has more clothes, and I want the ability to access them if Marek is napping, and also want to be able to have enough space to seperate her play clothes from her good clothes, etc etc. Now I need to figure out what to use for drawer organizers. I use baskets in the nursery drawers, but these drawers are much deeper, so it may have to be some measuring and figuring out what will fit the best.
I burned some Tangerine Essential oil in the bedroom tonight, so it smells especially fresh. Tomorrow is Ardyn's 18 month appt and she will get shots. not a big deal, but her coughing has started again in her sleep, and was terrible last night and at naptime today, so I medicated her tonight. Poor kiddo. I'm still on antibiotics, but she hasn't had any yet, and I am thinking it's time.
I have still been trying to do laundry, and every time I go down to the laundry room I get that infuriated feeling, because the dryer still SUCKS ASS and I can't wait for the new one to get here. If I wasn't very pregnant there is a damn good chance I would do a dance to the dryer gods around the laundry room when I put my first load in. I may do that anyway. in 20 minutes, the dryer is just over 32 hours away. Assuming that I can get it INSTALLED the same day that it gets PICKED UP. (go evan go!)
I'm feeling especially well, with this new surge of energy. Anyone this pregnant who can get all this cleaning done, and organizing, AND run the dishwasher, make lunch, etc... must be nesting. I feel like this is my last hurrah before this entire house falls completely to hell. I told my mom today, I am just trying to let myself deal with the fact that everything is about to be a total disaster. I told her it's already become incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to keep things clean and tidy, and I am pretty sure that this is the end of every attempt at clean that I have left in my body. I often wonder if anyone besides me (and my poor guests) realize just how badly the toilet needs cleaned AGAIN. I swear I just did it! Damn!
My crotch, hip, butt, and belly muscles hurt so much tonight.... I may need all of tomorrow to recouperate. I should be wearing my belly in a sling.
Throwing everything on the bed into a basket is looking more and more promising every minute. In fact, let me just do that right now. Ahhh. Better. when cleaning in my closet I found two VCR Tapes with no jackets, and thought, hmmm.... is this porn that I forgot I had? And then realized sadly that it was a stray copy of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and a Product Demo tape from Microsoft. Ah, well. That's what happens when you get old.
It is SO windy out tonight. It sounds like it could be the middle of a blizzard. It also sounds like I live at a grain elevator that has all their dryers going.... but no, it's just the wind.
I am also forcing myself to buckle down on the "going through the magazines" thing. I got through all the Scrapbooking ones, and I was so pleased with myself. Now I have a basket full of parenting magazines, with a few decorating magazines for good measure. Well, the basket started to overflow, and then it was a basket and a giant stack. And then the stack got so big that it slid over sideways, so tonight I got through about 6 of them, and tore out the few ideas and recipes that I wanted to save... and put them in the file that is "to file" when I get through them all. I got a few good tips.... like putting a few bendy straws into a plastic toothbrush holder to take with you to restraunts, so your toddler can easily drink... (woot!) and creating a portable sandbox by filling shallow plastic tote with sand and sandbox toys, snapping the lid on, and tossing it in the back of the van when going to the park, a reunion, or to visit friends and family this summer.
I found myself a diaper bag big enough for two in cloth diapers.... and it was only $20 and made by Jeep. nothing fancy LOOKING, but very nice and sturdy, with TONS of room, and it opens nice and wide, which is a pet peeve of mine for most other diaper bags. I posted pics on Flickr if you want to see it in all it's glory.
Ardyn also got a Dora the explorer backpack on clearance for $7, and I can't wait to use it. She wore it all last night and for about 2-3 hours today. Tomorrow we will take it to her Dr. appointment- filled with her magna doodle, some crayons, her two newest easter books, and a few toys. And I will probably throw in some organic vanilla wafers and a diaper and wipes. It will be nice to have her carry her own things! LOL. She is SO proud of the backpack.
Well, it's tomorrow now, so off to bed with my sore butt.
Have a fun Wednesday!
Monday, March 09, 2009
Monday. Clean teeth.
I hear the tinkling of a xylophone. Ardyn is supposedly napping, but I know better. I hear the occasional pitter patter of little feet, and then the tap tap tinkling tap on the caterpillar xylophone. It was a $4 deal from the resale shop on Saturday. I love how the antenna are your little sticks.... and store on top of his head. Totally cute, and a great bargain price.We are still all on a wonky sleep schedule. The time change really messed with us this time, perhaps because we didn't see it coming. We didn't know the time changed until about 12 hours AFTER it did. So today we had to go to the dentist at 1pm for all of us to have cleanings/checkups. Ardyn woke up at 11:52am. LOL. And I woke up when she did, and said "We have to get going! We're supposed to leave in less than an hour and we have to shower and get dressed, all three of us!" So we ran around and amazingly were all ready and out the door on time. We arrived at the dentist with 8 minutes to spare. i got my teeth cleaned and got my usual "perfect teeth" report. I have never had a cavity and consider myself exceptionally lucky- although I also have a toothbrush with me all the time and brush my teeth twice a day. Evan got his cleaned for the first time in like 5 years, and has two teeth with decay, that will need fillings in the next two weeks. Ardyn just squealed and ran around and checked the place out. We brought her Magna Doodle and Dora The Explorer Fruit Snacks.
After the dentist we had to pick up our two cases of Rice Milk from Sullivan's and also some dog food, and we went to McDonald's for a very late lunch. On the way home Ardyn fell asleep in the van, and did her usual tricky ploy where she's asleep until the SECOND you lay her in her bed. Then she was up playing, and I couldn't decide if I wanted to really push the nap issue this late in the day, or would I prefer to just let her run around and skip the nap. I figured I would type a blog post, and if she is still awake after that, I will let her roam free and forget nap time. It's already starting to sound quiet in there though. I may be triumphant.
I am working with my limping along dryer, getting caught up with laundry before the new dryer arrives. I just washed ANOTHER Load of Ardyn's clothes. I think this is the 5th load in the last four days. I have gotten all her clothes switched over. Because Ava is moving away, Anya has been passing down a few cute girl clothes to us as she packs and discovers things. She just sent over a couple of REALLY Cute dresses, and I have gotten lots of play shoes and play shirts from her also. It's a good feeling to be going into a muddy Illinois Spring with some play shoes and clothes. LOL. When Ardyn and I went to the resale shop on Saturday, we were looking for pajamas, but there weren't any in 2T. Lots of 3T though. When we went dryer shopping that night, we found that there were lots of cute Carter's PJ's at Toys R Us that were by 1 get one 50% off, so I got two pair of those and a 3 piece set of Minnie Mouse PJ's that had the shorts with shirt and pants also. I love those sets, but they are much more expensive. So I got all those washed and dried last night and just folded them all. I plan on putting them away when she "wakes up" but I am about OUT of room for her clothes. It's been tough to fit both kids clothes in a room with no closet. I have done it okay so far, but last night after putting away a big load that had lots of hand me downs, and lots of sweatshirts and sweaters.... I was realizing that we probably need to kick Evan's clothes out of Ardyn's big girl room and give her that closet to herself. Not to mention it would be great to store toys and things in the closet there as well. So this means that I need to pack away my maternity clothes (which span two seasons) and get out my regular clothes so that Evan and I can consolodate and share a closet in the master bedroom. If I could get that closet ready for her, I would also have enough room to seperate her play clothes from her "good clothes" which would be good for the future when I see her being dressed by my husband and my mom more often than me perhaps.
I feel like I am up to my eyeballs in clothing right now. every day I get closer to getting a handle on things.... and I think if i could just get my maternity clothes packed up, I might feel better. I really only wear a handfull of them at this point in my pregnancy, and with 3 weeks left to go, it seems to make more sense to try to get them packed up and save my few outfits that I wear, and then have some clothes to wear when I come home from the hospital... since in the past I have come home lighter than my prepregnancy weight.... hoping that holds true this time around also.
When we were shopping, we picked out Ardyn's Sandbox. We knew that this year we wanted to get something for the yard, once the fence goes up, and we found one that incorporated a picnic table with a sandbox, which is great as far as space saving, and I can see her sitting at the table coloring, blowing bubbles, or eating a popsicle. It's perfect for two little toddlers, and we were satisfied with the reviews. We haven't bought it yet, but are pretty sure and in agreement that this is the one we want.
Tonight we will probably lay low and do laundry. I am hoping to do sewing again soon, but the sewing room is currently flooded so I stick to the high and dry laundry room when I am in the basement. I have a new iron that I want to try out and a project that I am sewing that would require the iron, but I can't get down to the sewing room to do anything until the water goes down. Ack.
I'm trying to resist napping myself today, so that I can get to sleep at a decent time and get us working well with the time change. I figure if I just keep washing and drying laundry... that might keep me awake. But I am already feeling the urge to lay down my head. LOL.
Take care. More later perhaps.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Random Toddler Collecting
I think that Ardyn is probably doomed to be a collector. Evan and I are both hoarders. We love to keep things. We love to find alternative uses for things. I watch her doing that Toddler "collecting" thing and it makes me giggle. She walks around with seemingly unrelated objects, and becomes very attached to them. It's hard to get her to leave the house without whatever she has in her hand at the moment. Tonight she was struggling to carry around her cabbage patch newborn, a stuffed dog, a 10x10 piece of cardboard, and ONE pink sketcher clog. She gathers these things up and puts them in her little red chair and sits with them to watch the Good night show on Sprout. She carries things like a keychain and a plastic seal from a milk jug, out the door with her and into the van. Small misc things (aka choking hazards) are her favorites. She's going to be that kid with the treasure chest under her bed that has all kinds of odds and ends inside. Bits of ribbon. Sticks. Things that sparkle or have an interesting texture. Her big thing now is that something is "acky" or "garbage" and she will find it, show it to me, and then I will say "yep, put that in the garbage for mommy" and she does that and amazingly walks away without digging out an old toilet paper tube, q-tip, or whatever else good she sees in the garbage.
We have launched into peanut butter, which is cool. She used to just eat sunbutter (sunflower seeds) but Just at 18 months I gave her peanut butter with no issues, and also allowed daycare to give her honey.
As I type this, I am doing laundry and running a load of dishes through the dishwasher. Our ppor clothes dryer has been slowly decining, forgive me for not remembering if I actually blogged about it, but it was to the point of drying one load to every three loads I washed. Totally not cool. We decided to finally just get a new one, and set off looking Saturday night. The in-laws kept Ardyn and we went to Best Buy and Lowes. We found the Whirlpool Cabrio 7.0cu foot that we wanted to get, it was on clearance, and then the Best Buy guy came out and said that it was the last one (floor model) and that he couldn't get any more. But they would give us a whopping $70 off the floor model (which was scratched and the door wasn't quite latching right.) We said no and left. Then at Lowes we saw SO many models that we liked, it was difficult to choose. Their prices were MUCH better than Best Buy, and so I guess it was a godsend that they didn't have any Cabrio's at Best Buy. We picked a HE Samsung, and got it all invoiced, the guy went to get it, and we went up to the cashier to pay, when we realized that the grand total was HIGHER than the daily limit on our debit/credit cards. OMG were we upset. We drove an hour from home, finally found the one we wanted, and couldn't get it. Our whole tax return was sitting in the bank account but we couldn't touch it! We felt so bad! But being a Saturday, and having a small town bank, we couldn't do anything about it. We grabbed supper at 9:30 pm finally, and then went to get Ardyn. It poured all the way home, and all overnight, and everything around here is flooded, creeks out of their banks, roads covered in water, etc.
Late last night Evan looked online and discovered that our local Sears (where I wanted to just go and get the dryer anyway, but whatever) had cheaper prices STILL, and we wouldn't have to pay the bigger city sales tax which ended up saving us $100! So we went to our family brunch today (although we were late because we didn't know the time changed) and then went to Sears, picked out a Kenmore Elite HE Dryer, and paid for it, and came home. I am so relieved. The dryer's consumer reviews state that the dryer does 16 pair of jeans completely dry in 23 minutes. I think of the kid's clothes, and our clothes, and cloth diapers for two, and king sized bedding, and I am so so excited. It will be in this Thursday. Our washing machine is probably about 3 years old or so, and we have had it repaired once, and we decided that when it quits, we will go get the matching HE Washer. In the meantime, the washer is at least King Capacity, and does a good job, so I am just thrilled to have a dryer that will keep up with the washer and can fit the size loads that I wash. We also bought the extended 3 year warranty, so that's a good thing.
When we got back home this evening, Ardyn and I were both EXHAUSTED and fell asleep together in bed. We slept for 2-2.5 hours and woke up at what I THOUGHT was 7:30, but I realized several hours later that it was actually 8:30 because we forgot to change any clocks at home. So I decided to let Ardyn stay up a little later, because we napped so late, but then I realized that it's already two hours past her bedtime and she is still going strong. I see bedtime in her immediate future, and then I need to get diapers washed so that there is a possibility of having them dry by tomorrow night. right now I am only one load of clothes behind, but that's because I was so frustrated with the dryer that I just quit washing so that I could catch up a bit. Luckily the diapers take a prewash, wash, and second rinse, so they take more time and will likely be finished in the morning when I can then easily switch them to the dryer.
Our sicknesses are pretty much tapering off, Ardyn is no longer "nigh-coughing" although I am. Last night I was able to sleep without tylenol or cough medicine, but had a headache STILL at 6am and ended up taking tylenol then.
Well, diapers are prewashing, and soon will need soap, and Ardyn's about ready for bed. Everyone have a good start to the week. We have an EXCEPTIONALLY busy week so you may or may not hear much from us. All three of us have dentist appointments, Ardyn has her 18 month checkup and shots, We have a weigh in appointment at WIC, an appointment to pre-register me at the hospital before the baby comes, an appointment to get the oil changed in the van, the new dryer coming in, hopefully attending the town's mayoral debate, and Ardyn goes to school and I get a prenatal massage. And that's all BEFORE the weekend!
We have launched into peanut butter, which is cool. She used to just eat sunbutter (sunflower seeds) but Just at 18 months I gave her peanut butter with no issues, and also allowed daycare to give her honey.
As I type this, I am doing laundry and running a load of dishes through the dishwasher. Our ppor clothes dryer has been slowly decining, forgive me for not remembering if I actually blogged about it, but it was to the point of drying one load to every three loads I washed. Totally not cool. We decided to finally just get a new one, and set off looking Saturday night. The in-laws kept Ardyn and we went to Best Buy and Lowes. We found the Whirlpool Cabrio 7.0cu foot that we wanted to get, it was on clearance, and then the Best Buy guy came out and said that it was the last one (floor model) and that he couldn't get any more. But they would give us a whopping $70 off the floor model (which was scratched and the door wasn't quite latching right.) We said no and left. Then at Lowes we saw SO many models that we liked, it was difficult to choose. Their prices were MUCH better than Best Buy, and so I guess it was a godsend that they didn't have any Cabrio's at Best Buy. We picked a HE Samsung, and got it all invoiced, the guy went to get it, and we went up to the cashier to pay, when we realized that the grand total was HIGHER than the daily limit on our debit/credit cards. OMG were we upset. We drove an hour from home, finally found the one we wanted, and couldn't get it. Our whole tax return was sitting in the bank account but we couldn't touch it! We felt so bad! But being a Saturday, and having a small town bank, we couldn't do anything about it. We grabbed supper at 9:30 pm finally, and then went to get Ardyn. It poured all the way home, and all overnight, and everything around here is flooded, creeks out of their banks, roads covered in water, etc.
Late last night Evan looked online and discovered that our local Sears (where I wanted to just go and get the dryer anyway, but whatever) had cheaper prices STILL, and we wouldn't have to pay the bigger city sales tax which ended up saving us $100! So we went to our family brunch today (although we were late because we didn't know the time changed) and then went to Sears, picked out a Kenmore Elite HE Dryer, and paid for it, and came home. I am so relieved. The dryer's consumer reviews state that the dryer does 16 pair of jeans completely dry in 23 minutes. I think of the kid's clothes, and our clothes, and cloth diapers for two, and king sized bedding, and I am so so excited. It will be in this Thursday. Our washing machine is probably about 3 years old or so, and we have had it repaired once, and we decided that when it quits, we will go get the matching HE Washer. In the meantime, the washer is at least King Capacity, and does a good job, so I am just thrilled to have a dryer that will keep up with the washer and can fit the size loads that I wash. We also bought the extended 3 year warranty, so that's a good thing.
When we got back home this evening, Ardyn and I were both EXHAUSTED and fell asleep together in bed. We slept for 2-2.5 hours and woke up at what I THOUGHT was 7:30, but I realized several hours later that it was actually 8:30 because we forgot to change any clocks at home. So I decided to let Ardyn stay up a little later, because we napped so late, but then I realized that it's already two hours past her bedtime and she is still going strong. I see bedtime in her immediate future, and then I need to get diapers washed so that there is a possibility of having them dry by tomorrow night. right now I am only one load of clothes behind, but that's because I was so frustrated with the dryer that I just quit washing so that I could catch up a bit. Luckily the diapers take a prewash, wash, and second rinse, so they take more time and will likely be finished in the morning when I can then easily switch them to the dryer.
Our sicknesses are pretty much tapering off, Ardyn is no longer "nigh-coughing" although I am. Last night I was able to sleep without tylenol or cough medicine, but had a headache STILL at 6am and ended up taking tylenol then.
Well, diapers are prewashing, and soon will need soap, and Ardyn's about ready for bed. Everyone have a good start to the week. We have an EXCEPTIONALLY busy week so you may or may not hear much from us. All three of us have dentist appointments, Ardyn has her 18 month checkup and shots, We have a weigh in appointment at WIC, an appointment to pre-register me at the hospital before the baby comes, an appointment to get the oil changed in the van, the new dryer coming in, hopefully attending the town's mayoral debate, and Ardyn goes to school and I get a prenatal massage. And that's all BEFORE the weekend!
Friday, March 06, 2009
I am a laundry machine!!!
It's been a busy day. And really it is far from over.
Ardyn's at school, and I spent the day organizing her clothes.... packing away all 18 months clothes and washing and finding homes for 24 months and 2T Clothes. Which really was alot, because the 24 months and 2T sizes will span several seasons, so she has shorts, skorts, capris, tees, tank tops, and then sweaters, sweatshirts, long sleeved shirts, and pants. I feel like I got alot accomplished. Switching to new clothes is exciting, especially when you have all kinds of cute stuff to put on her. It makes getting dressed in the morning lots of fun. In actuality, I had to buy 3T in the circo brand shorts, because there is just something about those things... they run small. The inseam is so short that you can see the kid's diaper and I always feel like they are up her little butt, which is not cool. she's not a teenager, she's a toddler! So I had 2T in the cart but when I held them up I thought "I don't think these will fit her now, let alone all summer long!" and so I grabbed 3T and sure enough, the 3T fit her right now. Silly, eh? She just turned 18 months old this week! Well, you have to figure that she has quite the cloth diaper bum to cover up, otherwise she might not have that issue.
I had a hard time deciding what to do about pajamas, she hasn't QUITE outgrown all of the 18 months ones, but sometimes I just like to pack the size away and be done with it... except I have No bigger pajamas except 1 pair of 2T and a few 3T that were hand me downs. So I really need to focus on getting some bigger PJ's, but I need to wait until they get some spring ones out and the winter ones go on clearance. I can buy winter ones for next year, like I have done every year so far, but I still can't believe they haven't put them on clearance. She wears a 2T already in a Gerber blanket sleeper, so I will need to get 3T for next winter. I should make a run to the resale shop and check out what they have there for pajamas. Problem is that pajamas usually tend to get ALOT of wash wear, and wear thin fairly quickly.... so there aren't very many used ones to be had.
I also worked on Ardyn's Big Sister shirt today. I can't remember if I posted before about having tried the iron on and it didn't work completely, and ruined a new shirt. I was angry. I got another shirt and tried an identical iron on today and had the same issues. I called the company, and they have offered to have me mail the shirts to them, and they will try to fix them and if they can't they will reimburse me the $ for the shirts and for the iron on's, in product. That sounds like a good deal. i got onery and started to crazy iron on the last shirt, just to see if more pressure and longer heat time would help. The iron in didn't turn out perfect, but it IS much better and useable. I am thinking that maybe the problem is that my iron is dying, and isn't heating evenly or hot enough anymore. I started to think, and I realized that my mom GAVE me that iron like 9 years ago, and she had already been using it before that, and when I mentioned it today, she laughed and said that that was one of the first irons she had ever bought, so it may have easily come from the early 80's. LOL. No wonder it isn't fab. So I decided that tonight, I will get myself a new iron. I am soooo stinkin excited about it. This iron hasn't steamed for AGES, and mom said "just keep your crappy one for when it's time to melt crayons or do other icky kid projects." That's my mom, always thinking. Where do you think I learned all my tricks?
I was especially pleased to get some blankets out on the line today. Ahhh. I am enjoying it while I can because when I have two kids there probably isn't a chance that I will get outside with a basket of clothes and two kids under 2 in order to hang stuff out. When Ardyn was little, I used to make THREE TRIPS to get a load hung up. First I took out the excersaucer. Then I took the basket of clothes and the clothespins. Then I carried Ardyn out and put her in the saucer while I hung up a load. Reverse all that for removing each load. it was tedious. The good news is that our yard will be entirely fenced in this spring, but the bad news is that I will lose my clothesline as it is right on the property line where the fence is going, and there really isn't anywhere else to put it. That makes me so sad. I love line drying, especially the cloth diapers.
I also decided today that I was going to wash the chair cover for Ardyn's land of Nod Chair. The directions say DRY CLEAN ONLY and MIL insisted that I must dry clean it, and after lots of debating, I decided that I don't want to pay money for someone to put chemicals on Ardyn's chair, that I don't want to get it dry cleaned each time she gets a mess on it (constantly!) and that I can buy a whole new cover for the cost of 2-3 dry cleanings, so it isn't worth it. I determined that it's just a polyester twill type material, and that a cold machine wash should be fine. So that's what I did. I didn't even have to stain treat it. Just my Charlie's soap alone took out any strange spots or stains, and I am line drying it outside in the sun. It looks good as new, so I am sure it will fit just fine on the chair. Yay for saving money! The only item that I own that I actually dry clean is a 5x8 foot braided wool area rug that I clean like twice a year. Otherwise, if I can't take care of it at home, I figure it probably isn't worth the time and expense.
Evan brought the swing and bouncy chair down last night, and put it where it goes, much to Ardyn's delight. Evan putt the cabbage patch baby in the swing and she squealed with glee "Swing! Swing!" and tried to push the baby. It was tooooo cute.
Well, time to get clothes off the line while it's still light outside, and get Ardyn from school. Hopefully she isn't bringing home anything plague-like this weekend. My antibiotics are kicking in and although i sound WORSE today, I feel better, and my throat is not nearly as sore. Her pink eye seems to be cleared, so I guess whatever we both had is being killed by the antibiotics. Thank GOD.
I called Singer today and have plenty more to report about the Serger situation, but I will wait for now and make that a post all it's own! Off to get more done!
Ardyn's at school, and I spent the day organizing her clothes.... packing away all 18 months clothes and washing and finding homes for 24 months and 2T Clothes. Which really was alot, because the 24 months and 2T sizes will span several seasons, so she has shorts, skorts, capris, tees, tank tops, and then sweaters, sweatshirts, long sleeved shirts, and pants. I feel like I got alot accomplished. Switching to new clothes is exciting, especially when you have all kinds of cute stuff to put on her. It makes getting dressed in the morning lots of fun. In actuality, I had to buy 3T in the circo brand shorts, because there is just something about those things... they run small. The inseam is so short that you can see the kid's diaper and I always feel like they are up her little butt, which is not cool. she's not a teenager, she's a toddler! So I had 2T in the cart but when I held them up I thought "I don't think these will fit her now, let alone all summer long!" and so I grabbed 3T and sure enough, the 3T fit her right now. Silly, eh? She just turned 18 months old this week! Well, you have to figure that she has quite the cloth diaper bum to cover up, otherwise she might not have that issue.
I had a hard time deciding what to do about pajamas, she hasn't QUITE outgrown all of the 18 months ones, but sometimes I just like to pack the size away and be done with it... except I have No bigger pajamas except 1 pair of 2T and a few 3T that were hand me downs. So I really need to focus on getting some bigger PJ's, but I need to wait until they get some spring ones out and the winter ones go on clearance. I can buy winter ones for next year, like I have done every year so far, but I still can't believe they haven't put them on clearance. She wears a 2T already in a Gerber blanket sleeper, so I will need to get 3T for next winter. I should make a run to the resale shop and check out what they have there for pajamas. Problem is that pajamas usually tend to get ALOT of wash wear, and wear thin fairly quickly.... so there aren't very many used ones to be had.
I also worked on Ardyn's Big Sister shirt today. I can't remember if I posted before about having tried the iron on and it didn't work completely, and ruined a new shirt. I was angry. I got another shirt and tried an identical iron on today and had the same issues. I called the company, and they have offered to have me mail the shirts to them, and they will try to fix them and if they can't they will reimburse me the $ for the shirts and for the iron on's, in product. That sounds like a good deal. i got onery and started to crazy iron on the last shirt, just to see if more pressure and longer heat time would help. The iron in didn't turn out perfect, but it IS much better and useable. I am thinking that maybe the problem is that my iron is dying, and isn't heating evenly or hot enough anymore. I started to think, and I realized that my mom GAVE me that iron like 9 years ago, and she had already been using it before that, and when I mentioned it today, she laughed and said that that was one of the first irons she had ever bought, so it may have easily come from the early 80's. LOL. No wonder it isn't fab. So I decided that tonight, I will get myself a new iron. I am soooo stinkin excited about it. This iron hasn't steamed for AGES, and mom said "just keep your crappy one for when it's time to melt crayons or do other icky kid projects." That's my mom, always thinking. Where do you think I learned all my tricks?
I was especially pleased to get some blankets out on the line today. Ahhh. I am enjoying it while I can because when I have two kids there probably isn't a chance that I will get outside with a basket of clothes and two kids under 2 in order to hang stuff out. When Ardyn was little, I used to make THREE TRIPS to get a load hung up. First I took out the excersaucer. Then I took the basket of clothes and the clothespins. Then I carried Ardyn out and put her in the saucer while I hung up a load. Reverse all that for removing each load. it was tedious. The good news is that our yard will be entirely fenced in this spring, but the bad news is that I will lose my clothesline as it is right on the property line where the fence is going, and there really isn't anywhere else to put it. That makes me so sad. I love line drying, especially the cloth diapers.
I also decided today that I was going to wash the chair cover for Ardyn's land of Nod Chair. The directions say DRY CLEAN ONLY and MIL insisted that I must dry clean it, and after lots of debating, I decided that I don't want to pay money for someone to put chemicals on Ardyn's chair, that I don't want to get it dry cleaned each time she gets a mess on it (constantly!) and that I can buy a whole new cover for the cost of 2-3 dry cleanings, so it isn't worth it. I determined that it's just a polyester twill type material, and that a cold machine wash should be fine. So that's what I did. I didn't even have to stain treat it. Just my Charlie's soap alone took out any strange spots or stains, and I am line drying it outside in the sun. It looks good as new, so I am sure it will fit just fine on the chair. Yay for saving money! The only item that I own that I actually dry clean is a 5x8 foot braided wool area rug that I clean like twice a year. Otherwise, if I can't take care of it at home, I figure it probably isn't worth the time and expense.
Evan brought the swing and bouncy chair down last night, and put it where it goes, much to Ardyn's delight. Evan putt the cabbage patch baby in the swing and she squealed with glee "Swing! Swing!" and tried to push the baby. It was tooooo cute.
Well, time to get clothes off the line while it's still light outside, and get Ardyn from school. Hopefully she isn't bringing home anything plague-like this weekend. My antibiotics are kicking in and although i sound WORSE today, I feel better, and my throat is not nearly as sore. Her pink eye seems to be cleared, so I guess whatever we both had is being killed by the antibiotics. Thank GOD.
I called Singer today and have plenty more to report about the Serger situation, but I will wait for now and make that a post all it's own! Off to get more done!
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