Highs and Lows 4.2.2012

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Lows

• Ava has decided that instead of crying normally, she needs to cry and scream "mom" over and over. And over. And over. It partly drives me batty, and mostly just makes me want to give her whatever she's crying about. 

• My tattoos are driving me insane. No, not in the "Oh my gosh, why did I get these things? I'll regret it when I'm 80." way. But they're so itchy all the damn time. Like, I want to scratch my skin off. I did some reading in Google, and apparently when you're pregnant, you can become "allergic" to the ink in your tattoos. Something about the different hormones in your body. Luckily, it's not all of my tattoos, just my back piece and my half sleeve. So of course, the two largest tattoos. 

Highs

• We had a fabulous weekend. Long, but fabulous. 

First there was an Easter Egg Hunt. I was a little irritated about how it was run though. They had three sections divided into ages 0-3, 4-8, and 9-12, which is great. But then they had all ages go at the same time. Meaning I didn't get a single pic of Jasmin and Arielle getting eggs, since I was helping Lover and Ava. Whoever was running the hunt obviously didn't have more than one kid. Plus, the egg hunt said it started at 10. Luckily we got there at 9:30 because the hunt started exactly at 10:05. Usually they start at like 10:20 or so, to let everyone get in place and so the stragglers can get there. We were finished at 10:15, and we saw some very unhappy kids and parents still walking up from the parking lot when we were leaving. 

Then we went to bloggy buddy Julie's daughter's birthday party. Ava LOVED the bounce house. My girls loved all the sugar. Arielle didn't get to get her face painted, since she's still getting over poison ivy, and I didn't want to possibly contaminate the face painters brushes. I'm not quite sure how it works. But she was totally fine with it. Luckily she seems to have gotten over her attitude issues from last week.

The girls spent the night at Grandma's house, so Lover and I went to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, and Chiloso for breakfast. Then my mom's friend was throwing a party for her husband, so we went to that. Thank goodness for heated pools.

• Got the green light from Lover on a few house DIY's that I want to do. Make a light cover for the ugly light we have in the kitchen. Redo our coffee table. Paint the front door. Finally make a starburst mirror. He tends to like things how they are, I always get bored and want to change things. I can't count the number of times I rearranged my room as a teen. You'd be amazed at how many arrangements you can come up with with just a bed, nightstand, desk and dresser.

• After 4 years of working there, Lover put in his two weeks at his work, and will be doing freelance full time. He has one main freelance client that he will be working with, and then he still has a bunch of repeat clients. Working at a church, even as a graphic/web designer, you just don't make what you should. But, with the lack of money, you do get the perks of the family friendly environment, like he's always able to come to OB appts with me, and they were INVALUABLE during our Ava/NICU ordeal. But it's hard for him to work there. Besides the money, there just isn't room for advancement. You have the worker bees, the two managers, and the head honcho. And unless one of the managers quits, you just can't move up. And he's too young in his career to be stuck. It'll be a change to have him home all the time, and I'm curious how Ava will do with him being home but not "available", but I'm excited for him.  

• One of my close friends, Candace, asked me if she could throw me a "Baby Sprinkle" this summer. I know, I know. Some people say that you can only have a baby shower with the first baby. I'm in the camp that says that each baby should be celebrated, but perhaps not as big as the first one. This time we're thinking just some girlfriends and a potluck. Any excuse for a party, right? So sweet of her to offer. She co-hosted my last shower.

• Took my mom to the Botanical Gardens on Tuesday. She has such a green thumb, her backyard seriously looks like a botanical garden. Meanwhile, I can't keep a cactus alive. We had fun, but Ava was not feeling it. Only wanted me to carry her, wouldn't get in the stroller. Butthead. I didn't realize the Botanical Gardens were so expensive? $15 per adult, plus $10 for parking. Luckily, Capital One Bank has a coupon for BOGO on Tuesdays. Then my mom took me out to Red Lobster. YUM!

• Pillow orders are still going good. I'm happy with 1-2 a week. I was really happy to have some money in my Paypal account so I could buy him some stuff without him getting any hints. Lover's birthday is on the 12th, and I hate when I have to buy him a present with the credit card. It really kills the surprise when he sees that I spent $xx at whatever place. 

I think that's it, dolls.