Highs and Lows 2/27/2012

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Lows

• My blog was all jacked up for who knows how long. Went to check it, and thanks to "being too popular", Photobucket wasn't showing any of my buttons, just a bunch of ugly icons, and said I had to upgrade to Pro. Wow, thanks Photobucket for the warning. Luckily, Lover is a web guy, so now he's hosting them on his server. But what a pain. 

• I hate the Attorney General. I've been divorced from my ex for 5 years, and felt it was time to have the child support adjusted. So, instead of paying a lawyer $1500, my friend said that she goes thru the AG and it's free. So I filled out the form online, and figured that was it. Well, apparently there is some "Affidavit of Direct Payments" form that I didn't know I was supposed to fill out to show he's been paying me directly for the past 61 months. So since we've never gone thru the AG, they didn't have any proof that he's paid me. So, rather than call me, they sent him a lovely letter saying he owes $38,000, they were going to intercept his tax return, and they sent it to collections which dropped his credit score by 100 points. So, of course, I felt like shit, even though it wasn't my intention to open that can of worms, and while I spent a lot of time on the phone crying about it, he wasn't too upset and said it was an honest mistake, that we'd get straightened out and we'd laugh about this in two years. So I spent this morning driving 45 minutes to Dallas to get the form notarized, and then went to the AG office to drop it off and close the case. The lady said that it takes up to 20 days to update the case, so we'll see if my ex gets his tax return next week like he's supposed to. I really hope he does, he's using that money to come down this summer to pick up the girls, and they are so excited about it. Oh, and trust me ladies, his reaction surprised the crap out of me. That was not the reaction of the man I was married to for 3 years. Not at ALL.

• Arielle played softball last year, and she loved it. So we signed her up for it this year, but there weren't enough girls her age that signed up, so they can't make two teams. We offered to let her play soccer, but she was really bummed. We're looking into signing her up for the city, but it costs quite a bit more. So we'll see. 

• I might have to be a mean mommy and get rid of my daughter's hamsters. They were given to us by a neighbor (who's dad got tired of cleaning up after them). It's two girl hamsters, which I thought girls weren't supposed to smell as bad. We split them up and Arielle has one in her room, and Jasmin has one in her room. Arielle's is fine, but Jasmin's stinks to high heaven. I can't change the bedding anymore (makes me gag) so Arielle changes it once a week. Even so, not 2 days after it's changed, Jasmin's room STINKS like pee, even with a room neutralizing deoderant gel thing that I bought. I'm already spending $23 a month on the bedding, which lasts us one month. So to change it twice a week, I'm looking at $50 a month on bedding. FOR A HAMSTER. Which is can't justify spending $300 a year on something that the hamster pees on, when we're a soon to be family of 6 on a single income. We always said that we'd never have our house smell like animals, and when I got home today, the house reeked of pee and foulness.

Highs

• The constant nausea is getting better! I seem to be tossing my cookies more often (like 2-3 times a week instead of 0-1) but I much prefer this. 

• Did dinner with a newish friend and her husband last night. Her husband and my husband seemed to hit it off, which is awesome. Ya know how you meet people, and really want to get to know them better? That's how this is. But how do you do that as an adult? Things were easier as a kid. 

• Had a lovely dinner with the family at Red Lobster last Friday. I heart RL. Have you ever tried their Boston Ice Tea? It's half ice tea, half cranberry juice, and a orange wedge. I get two orange wedges, squeeze those bad boys in there, and add 4 packs of sugar. YUM.

• I spent so much time sleeping this weekend, and it was FREAKING AWESOME. Slept from 7:30-5am on Friday night, then took a nap from 2-6pm, then went to bed at 8:30 on Saturday, woke up at 5am, and then took a 2 hour nap. It was glorious. 

• Luckily, this morning at the AG office took me all of 15 minutes. The one time I called them, I was on hold for 35 minutes. I was terrified that it was going to be like the DMV, but I was in and out. Filed out a form, made a copy. Wham bam thank you ma'am, I was done.  

• I've had some feedback lately on my blog that's been a real high. A reader sent me a lovely email, some have left comments. Apparently you like me, you really like me. :)

It was a hectic week, but I can't complain. I feel like I've spent all damn week on the child support issue, but thankfully I've done all I can do at this point and now we're just waiting for it to be closed. 

InstaFriday. I'm on time, suckas!.

I'm actually posting a post on THE day it's SUPPOSED to be posted. What what!

My absolute, favorite part of the day. Ava LOVES bath time. When you say "Do you want to take a bath?" she'll start to squeal and try and take off her clothes.

We all know how much I love Ava's curls. I just didn't realize how long they were getting. 

 

Ordered some cake pops from a friend. Ava loved hers!

 
Going thru my phone for pics for InstaFriday, you'd think I only have one kid. But with the older girls in school all day, I hardly get a chance to take pics. So I snapped these this morning. My kitchen is messy, blah.

 

Jasmin's fake smile always makes her look a little drunk. 

Ava LOVES to play with Arielle, and always ends up wearing some of her stuff. 

 
Do you think that dogs can tell when you're pregnant? Titan has been stuck up my butt lately. 

One of my favorite parts of this week? Seeing our bebe. I'm measuring 3 days ahead, so things are right on track. 

 
The nurse asked me what vitamins I'm taking, and I told her that I'm taking a one-a-day, but I was having a hard time with how big they are. So she told me that she'd give me a sample of some different ones. I was expecting a couple of boxes, but she gave me enough for a month. I heart free stuff. And I like these. 

Ava and I are twins today. Who doesn't love pink penguin jammies? 

 

Again, Titan, won't leave my side.

Why, hello there, little bebe!

I had my first OB appt yesterday at 1:30. We found a new dr for this time around, a few of my friends recommended her, along with a bunch of the NICU nurses that we know. Plus, she does a sonogram at every appointment, plus she's willing to let me try a VBAC. 

So we get there, the nurse takes my blood, ask me a bazillion questions and puts me in a room while I wait for the dr. The Dr comes in, does the normal checks and then she has the nurse get Lover and she starts the sonogram. We got to see our bebe, just chillin' with a heartrate of 176. She said that you want a really high heartrate at this point of pregnancy, so that's all positive news.

I felt really bad, Lover came in the room and he was pretty upset that he had to sit in the waiting room the whole time. He's very involved with our pregnancies, and while the dr normally keeps the husbands in the waiting room during the breast exam/pap, I wish I would have asked to have him in there. 

I asked her about the VBAC, and she told me that since I didn't labor before I had the c-section with Ava, that my uterus was still really thick when they cut me and sewed me back together (as opposed to laboring for hours and thinning out the uterus, and they sew something super thin back together). She said that there would be a uterine pressure monitor on me during labor to make sure my uterus was doing okay, and we'd go from there. So I was pretty excited that it's a real possibility. 

I had a rough time with my c-section. Just laying there, motionless, while everyone else in the room knows what is going on except for you. Just felt so removed from the situation, like I wasn't a player in the game. So I'm hoping for a VBAC. Fingers crossed!

I left the appointment feeling refreshed. It's like, I knew I was pregnant, but I've just been so miserable with nausea that it was hard to be excited about it. But seeing that little baby on the sonogram just reminded me that it's all for a purpose. Plus, she gave me a prescription for Zofran to help with the constant nausea. Fingers crossed it works!  

We are officially due October 1st, but I'm measuring a few days ahead. I'm so excited to meet this baby. Both my older girls were born at 39 weeks and 7ish pounds, Ava was of course born early due to her birth defect, but they said that if she had gone full term, she would be been a ten pound baby. Eek. 

Highs and Lows 2/20/2012

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Lows

• I thought that Arielle had been a really good girl lately. We'd had issues for months (lying, being sneaky, etc), but the past couple of weeks, it seems to have turned around. Last week, her teacher sent home a note, saying that they were out of treats in class, so if you could send in a bag of Hershey's kisses, she'd really appreciate it. So I bought a small bag, gave it to Arielle on Thursday night and told her to give it to her teacher on Friday. Our conversation on Friday afternoon (after she had homemade rice krispy treats for a snack, and just asked me for some of my hershey kisses)

Me: "Did you give the bag of candy to your teacher?

Arielle: "yesssssssss"

Me: "Why are you answering me in a weird tone?"

Arielle: "I dunno"

Me: "So I can call her right now and ask if she got it?"

Arielle: "No"

Me: "Why not?"

Arielle: "Cause I don't want you to."

Me: "So what happened to them then?"

Arielle: "I hid them in my desk and ate them."

Me: "You ate an entire bag of Hershey kisses by yourself?"

Arielle: "Well, I gave one to my friend."

 

It was just horrible timing, since we were about to walk out of the door to go to her first ADD appointment, which we were trying to make a positive thing. Grrrrr. Her punishment? She got popped for lying to my face. And we had planned to take her to Cici's after her appointment for one on one time with us. Oh, we still went to Cici's for dinner. But she got to bring along a peanut butter sandwich and eat that, while Lover and I had pizza, since you obviously already had your treats for the day. And she had to write a note to her teacher, telling her what happened and apologize for stealing from her. That child had the nerve to ask me for dessert that night. You ever see that skit by Bill Cosby about kids being brain damaged? I think that was written about Arielle. 

• The morning sickness is still ever present. Some days it's just nausea, some days are spent tossing my cookies. I understand my suffering is for a greater purpose, but dang. 

 

Highs

• Arielle was officially diagnosed with ADD. I do consider that a high, since I know that she's not just a bone head and I'm not just a shitty parent. The dr put her on a low dose of meds, and we'll try that for a month and see how it works, So far, it's just made her REALLY chatty. Yowzas.

• I love that Lover always remembers to get the girls something for Valentine's day. He got them each a little box of chocolates. Love that man. 

• My mom. Is. AWESOME. She came over on... some day last week (darn this pregnancy brain, I can't remember anything) and she cleaned the entire house. Swept, vacuumed, did all the laundry and dishes. The house has been NEGLECTED since all I do lately is sleep. Plus she made me two different Korean dishes that I've been craving. 

• My husband has taken on so many more responsibilities since I've been pregnant. He's basically playing the role of single parent. He gets home from work, takes over with making dinner (since by then, the smells are probably making me nauseous), then feeds the girls (at this time, I'm probably headed off to bed right after dinner). Then he handles checking homework, playing with Ava, getting the girls ready for bed, reads to them, straightens up the house and then does freelance. Love that man.

I think that's it. My day revolves around laying on the couch and trying not to fall asleep so Ava doesn't, ya know, die or set fire to the house. 

InstaFriday, a day late. Oops.

So, last week, my friend Lesley did a post, linking to another blog that hosts InstaFriday. And since I've been playing with my new iPhone 4S a crap ton, I thought I'd play along. I meant to do this post yesterday, but I spent most of the day, laying on the couch. The joys of morning sickness. 

Started off my Valentine's Day at Jasmin's school party. They had an ice cream bar, which Ava loved. I love Jasmin's teacher, it's the same teacher she had in Pre-k. Every two years, the pre-k teacher and one of the kindergarten teachers trade grades, and we just lucked out and had her teacher during the switch.

That was immediately followed by Arielle's school party. They had a coke/root beer float bar. Arielle had chocolate ice cream with strawberry syrup in root beer. Ummm, gross?

Went to my mom's on Thursday to do paperwork for my dad. My mom had a gift card to Starbucks, so we went there. I don't drink coffee, but did have a slice of cake. Ava picked out a cake pop.

I spend every morning snuggling with this crazy haired little girl. It's my favorite time of day. 

I'm not the only one who loves snuggling with baby girl in the morning. 

 

I eventually am somewhat able to tame those curls. Kind of. They are crazy but I love them. Lover's hair is curly, so I hope Ava doesn't outgrow hers. 

And I know that everyone thinks their husband is the sexiest person. But Lover is seriously the sexiest person I know. He's been doing a new workout program that he's been loving. He's always worked out 5 days a week, but he's really cranked it up, and he's excited about the changes. He texted me this pic after his workout. Holy crap, I can't believe he's mine. Him being a hottie is probably what caused my pregnancy, which led to this super fun morning sickness. Jerk. :P

I made rice crispy treats with a recipe from my blogging buddy Julie. Lover said I'm trying to sabotage his workout. 

So that be's my week. No pics of yours truly. Between morning sickness and growing out my hair and living in a hat, I look like crap, and I won't subject you to pics of me. You're welcome.

Highs and Lows 2/13/2012

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Lows

• Nothing to report that was bad. The nausea comes and goes, but at least it's not all freaking day long like it has been. It's only made me toss my cookies three times, one of those times being a few minutes ago. Usually I have some warning, but this time, I could barely make it to the kitchen sink. Ugh. 

Highs

• Ava had her evaluation with ECI on Monday. They were here for about an hour, seeing what she could do. This is how she measured up (based on her adjusted age of 15 months, she's 18 months now). 

self help= 20 months old
social skills= 20 months old
fine motor= 28 months old
communication= 23 months old
cognitive= 18 months old
gross motor skills= 10 months old

Holy cow! Minus the 10 months old on gross motor skills (i.e. walking), she's so far ahead. Every parent thinks their baby is smart, and while we've always thought that it's nice to see it. We declined services for now, and said that if Ava isn't walking in two months, we'll call them back. 

• This was Ava last night. Up until two days ago, she's only taken one or two steps, and her max was 6. Ummm, OMG! You tell her "Ready, Set...." and she'll say "GO!" and start walking. It's not the best video, my oldest recorded it on my cell phone, but OMG! So proud of that girl.

• Lover surprised me on Saturday and said that we were doing an early Valentine's Day. I thought it was weird that my mom insisted on keeping all three girls, all day Saturday and overnight, when she had been out of town all week and didn't get home until 2am on Saturday morning. We went and saw Safe House (SO GOOD!) and then went to Texas de Brazil. It was awesome! I had never been there before. There is a huge salad bar, and the staff walks around with huge skewers of meat and you pick which ones you want. I ate three big plates of salad and cucumbers, and three filets. Pretty good for the chick who's stomach is all testy and weird when I'm pregnant. I'm a dork and forgot to take any pics, but holy crap, I love that man. 

• Last week, I was craving some chips and salsa from Chipotle. Darn you, person on Pinterest who posted a recipe about Chipotle salsa. I put up a sweet status on FB, basically asking hubby to bring some home or I would die.

An hour later, I get a text from a new friend, and it said "Check your front porch". And this is what I found. 

Isn't that so sweet? And they were the best chips I've ever had. Amazing what joy $2 and a few minutes out of your day can do for someone. Thank you Elizabeth!

• Spent some much needed time with Lover this weekend. I feel like we haven't seen each other at all in the past few weeks. I go to bed so early, or I'm zoned out on the couch. We did our date day on Saturday, and then Sunday we had donuts for breakfast, Five Guys for lunch, and Panda Express for dinner. Holy crap, so much eating out! But I heart eating out, and my stomach handled it well. So yay!

• I've been on GREAT terms with my ex husband lately. We've been.... questionable over the years. But he's made huge efforts in the past year to keep in contact with the girls, remember to send them presents on birthdays and holidays. And he even took it upon himself to set up an increase to the child support when I asked (and saved me the hassle of going to court), since it's been 5 years since we got divorced. The girls are going to spend two weeks with him this June, and they are so excited. Fingers crossed things stay kosher. I hate fighting with people you're stuck being in contact with until the kids are 18. 

I think that's it. It's been a good week. 

Updates and Going-ons

I swear, when this year started, I had all sorts of plans to blog more often. And I've been crafting and keeping busy (when I'm not zonked out on the couch) but just haven't had the time to post. 

I'm 6 weeks and some odd days pregnant today (7 weeks on Monday), and I already have a good sized bump. What the heck? I know they say that you show earlier with each pregnancy, but what the heck. The baby is the size of a chocolate sprinkle, and here I am, looking 3-4 months pregnant.


Although I can't complain completely. I wish I ate the way I am now when I'm not pregnant. Soda makes me sick. So does sweet tea. And I can't even look at my treasured sea salt and vinegar Lays. I've been drinking a crap ton of water. And I've been craving fruit and veggies. My new favorite thing just might be lemonade from Chic-Fil-A. 

I have been feeling better than in the past couple of weeks. The all day nausea is finally starting to subside, and I'm able to stay up until 8:30 instead of falling asleep at the dinner table at 6. But with feeling better, always comes those nagging feelings of worry. Why am I feeling better? Is everything okay?  I think with being a mom, it always comes with a side of worry. Is this pregnancy okay? Is the baby growing? Is my toddler eating enough? Is my kid doing okay in school? Is she picking the right crowd to hang out with? 


We have our first OB appt on Feb 21st, and those appointments are always exciting, mixed with fear. The dr that we're using this time comes highly recommended by our personal friends, and by the NICU staff at the hospital that Ava was at for those billion days. She does a sono at every appointment, which I'm excited about. But it's so scary, cause I haven't had the best luck with first sono appointments. I was previously married a bajillion years ago and had three miscarriages, right in a row. But my body never gave me any signs of it, it wasn't until I went in for my first appointment, they can't find the heartbeat, they whip out the sono machine, and oh so sorry, bad news. 


But I'm just keeping busy, and trying not to worry so much, even though that's part of being pregnant. 


I've been pinning a billion things for my sister's wedding. It's been nice to have a distraction. She loved one of the flower girl dresses that I pinned and said it's another thing checked off of her list, so that's a good feeling to know I helped. 


I've started taking a Mom's study up at the church on Wednesday mornings. It's supposed to help you be a better mom with help of the Bible, scripture, etc. So far I'm kind of whatever, but we are just two classes in, so I'm staying positive. One of my good friends invited me to the class, and another two ladies that I really like are in the class, so that's been fun. 


Hubby started a blog, but I'm not going to link to it for now. It's about fitness and working out. Manly stuff like that. He joined some magazine fitness competition, and the winner gets a year of free supplements. So while he doesn't expect to win, it's been fun to read. Plus he brags on what an awesome wife he has, so that's been fun to read too. :) 


So I think that's it.

Highs and Lows 2/6/2012

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Lows

• Nausea. Constantly. It's worse if I'm hungry, or if I eat too much, or I'm in a car. But it's constant. I didn't have any morning sickness with the older girls, and tossed my cookies for months when I was pregnant with Ava (but wasn't nauseous). This is awful. 

• Pregnancy brain = SUCKS. I can't remember anything these days. I went to Kroger for deli meat. Left the roast beef on the deli counter. Remembered it while I was paying for my other meats. Went back to the deli, got it, took it to self check out, paid for it, and LEFT IT AT THE REGISTER. Grrrrrrrr. 

Highs

• Lover and I FINALLY got new phones. Our tax return hit our bank account, and while it was all going to go towards bills, we decided to treat ourselves  to a little present. So we went from the iPhone 3GS (Lover had the even older model, the 3G) to the iPhone 4S. Oh em gee, is it possible to be in love with a phone? Our old phones were SO SLOW. Sometimes they wouldn't open, sometimes they'd open and immediately close, the camera would take 30 seconds to open.... they were old and archaic, and it's so nice to have a new one. I ordered a case online (since the ones at At&t are so freaking expensive, and I'm just waiting for it to come in). However, until then, I'm terrified that I'm going to drop it. Eek. 

• Got a package from my sister Sam. She asked us if the older girls could be in her wedding in November. Love that she asked us first, in case we had to say no. But of course, we said yes. The girls are so excited, they said they're going to start practicing. She sent them Disney princess stickers (Sam is having a Beauty and the Beast themed wedding, OMG!), ring pops, and a rose printed notebook. 

• Another part of the package was a package for me, which I was totally NOT expecting. I figured that since she asked up on Skype about the girls being in the wedding, that she would have just asked me then if she was going to. But she said that it wasn't something she wanted to ask on the phone. She put together a little notebook for me, and the last page of it was this.

Did I mention that she changed her WEDDING DATE so we could be there (her original wedding date was only 5 days after my due date) so she rescheduled it for a month later. So sweet! 

• A continuation of the notebook? A description of my bridesmaid duties. Being pregnant and 700 miles away makes it a little nerve wracking when you think of all the bridesmaid duties. Bridal shower, bachelorette party, etc. But Sam thought of all of that. 

"I hear weddings can become a lot of work for bridesmaids. Please don't worry about showers or bachelorette parties, or anything like that. Your presence on my wedding day is all I need. Truly. 

As my bridesmaid, your only job is to:

• feel beautiful
• hold some gorgeous flowers
• wipe away my happy tears
• understand how much your presence is appreciated
• know how much I love you"

Holy crap, I love her so much. I've known her for 9 years, and to see the woman she's become is such an honor. I love you Sam! 

• Ava took 6 steps on her own! Just let go of the coffee table and took off across the living room. Yes, that might not be a big deal for a toddler who will be 18 months old in 4 days, but considering that Early Childhood Intervention is coming out today at 3pm to evaluate her on why she's not walking yet, it's a huge deal. 

• I always knew that Lover was a great husband, but he's even blown my mind with how he's been during this pregnancy. Cooking dinners when I'm too tired, doing homework with the girls when I don't have the energy to do it. Even last night, I was craving Burger King (why????) so we went thru the drive thru and then went to Freebirds for Lover to eat. Of course, Burger King messed up my order (apparently "no pickles or cheese" means throw those right on there). So I'm almost in tears (hey, I'm pregnant, I'm allowed to cry over cheese and pickles) and he gets up, drives back to Burger King, has them fix my order, and even gets them to throw in two pie slices for their mistake. All this BEFORE he ate his dinner. And anyone who knows Lover knows that if he doesn't eat, it's not a good time for anyone. 

• Taking a "Mom's Study" at church on Wednesdays. A good friend of mine, Erin, invited me, and turns out another two ladies that I like are in the class too. Our table leader is slightly wacky though, but hey, it'll be interesting. 8 weeks, topics like kid stuff, household topics, even sex. 

I think that's it. I can't remember a damn thing these days.