Eve's 2 month check-up

Eve and I met with the clinic's new doctor on Thursday for her 2 month appointment. I was very impressed with Dr. Carpenter and think that I will request to have her as Eve and Josie's primary physician. The appointment went well, although we do have to go back on Tuesday so that Evie-do can get her shots. She has the sniffles and the doctor recommended that we try to wait until she's cleared up before getting her shots. Her stats:
Weight: 11 lbs. 3 oz.
Height: 22 1/2 in.
I don't remember what her head measurement was. Oh well. It's written down somewhere. She's in the 35th percentile for both height and weight.

Josie's stats at 2 months:
Weight: 11 lbs. 11 oz.
Height: 21 3/4 in.
Strange how fast memory fades. Here I thought Eve was so much smaller than Josie was. Guess not.

We had our first family outing to White Castle last night after going to Pat's cousin Alex's football game at Central High School. What a sight we must have been trucking into the one on University Ave (of all places!) all fair-skinned and red-haired with toddler and baby in tow. It was a lovely experience except for the customer who was threatening to kill the cashier when she got off her shift because they were too slow with the food. Good times. Gotta love the ghetto.

My Girls

Eve and Brewster












Smiley











To poo or not to poo... that is the question














Fun in the rain at Great Grandma Janet's











Our first family outing to a Twins game. Obviously, it was way past Josie's bedtime.

Finding Carol

I'm not going to lie. These past 8 weeks have been hard. Really hard. The second time around the childbirth track, I was thrown into a tailspin by how inadequate I felt. My emotions were all over the place and I found myself beating myself up over, well, everything. There is a societal expectation that once one gives birth, there is this euphoria, this glowing light that is "Motherhood." And I gotta tell ya, I was having trouble finding the light.

I think I mentioned before that I started to worry that perhaps I was dealing with a bout of postpartum depression. But after talking with my doc, we decided that I wasn't. And after an even more helpful appointment with my bookclub friends, accompanied by a couple of tasty margaritas, I realized that what I was dealing with was a case of unrealistic expectations. I expected newborn Eve to be like newborn Josie. She isn't, and shouldn't be. I expected to breastfeed this time. After all, I wanted it to work so badly. It didn't, and that's okay. I expected to have twice the motherly love now that I have two children. I guess that's not quite how it works.

It's funny how much difference a little perspective, and sleep, can make on a dreary outlook. And Eve turned a corner over the weekend. Even though she's far from sleeping through the night, she showed her exhausted parents that there is the possibility that she will sleep through the night someday, and that's good enough for me, for right now.

I had a "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" moment on Saturday. Eve had finished eating and I turned her so that she lay on my lap with her head by my knees, propped up, looking at me. She contemplated me with her big, blue eyes for a few minutes and I felt like she was trying to tell me something. Then, she gave me a genuine, ear-to-ear smile (no, it wasn't gas,) and I felt my heart grow three sizes that day. Of course, I've loved her since she was born, but in a primal "I have to take care of you because you're my offspring" kind of way. But that has changed. Now I can say that I have found "Motherhood" again. It's messy, and smelly, far from perfect and a heck of a lot of work, but it finally feels right.

Eve, if you ever read this, please know that none of this really had anything to do with you. It was me. You are exactly as you should be. And I am, too. It just took me a while to figure that out and forgive myself for it. I'm doing the best I can, and I always will.

If you think you've lost something, check under Pat's butt

I don't know about you, but I tend to look before I leap, I mean, sit. But I guess not everyone finds this a necessary behavior. Josie and I spent 10 minutes last night looking everywhere for her blankie. "Is it in your room, Josie?" So we toddle off to the bedroom to look. Nope. "Is it in the playroom, Josie?" We toddle off to the playroom to look. Nope. "Is it in the living room, Josie?" Back to the living room to look. Don't see it. And while I'm growing more confused because Blankie had just been present 15 minutes earlier, Josie is following behind throwing her hands in the air asking "where'd it go?" Finally, I'm standing in the living room wondering if the dog somehow managed to eat a 3' x 3' baby blanket when I see a glimpse of fabric underneath Pat's behinder on the couch. Ah ha. After Josie got over being upset that Daddy was on her blanket, she was awfully relieved to have it back.

And in Evie news, everyday she is more and more alert. She's having more awake time during daytime hours, and is smiling, cooing and searching for faces to entertain her. There's nothing quite like a baby's gummy smile. She'll be 8 weeks old next Monday, and I was quite excited to get a newsletter from her clinic in the mail today and see that they've hired a new doctor - a woman - who specializes in women's health and pediatrics. So I made an appointment with her for Eve's 2 month checkup, and hopefully, we like her. I've not been overly thrilled with the girls' temporary doctor since their regular physician left because she was pregnant with triplets (and already has 2 children - yikes.) And I'm guessing she's not coming back. I'll keep you posted on Eve's stats!

The joy of... saying goodbye?

We had a mini family reunion on my side of the family at my Gram's over the weekend, and even though Josie had been waving and saying goodbye for quite some time now, she really got into it for some reason on Sunday. As people were leaving, she zealously waved and said "BI-YEEEEEEEE," while they were leaving and even well after they were gone. As we left, she waved and said "BI-YEEEEEEE." And she continued to wave and say "BI-YEEEEEEE," all the way through Rochester on the way home. That's a solid half hour of farewells.

Then yesterday I took the girls in to work to visit with co-workers. You guessed it, we were saying goodbye to everyone we passed on the way out of downtown, and all the cars we saw on the highway on the way home. BI-YEEEEEE for now, more later!

Pictures, pictures, who wants pictures?

This is the story of a girl

As promised - finally, Eve's birth story.

Monday, July 17th, 2006.

A "normal" day on bedrest.

My sister, Kay, called me in the morning and asked if I was in labor. Um, no - I'm pretty sure I would know, right? She said that she just didn't feel good, and didn't know why. We have this weird, almost twin-like thing going on with one another sometimes. We show up at family events wearing identical outfits, one will call the other when the other was just thinking of the one and we both hit our heads at the exact same time when getting in the car together- that kind of stuff. Anyway, after my conversation with her, my day progressed in the same, exciting manner as all of my days on bedrest. I don't remember exact details, but I'm sure it consisted of some daytime television and a nap. I did feel a bit crampy, but didn't think anything of it.

5:30 p.m. I was getting antsy as Patrick and Josie were not home yet. Looking back, I was in a pretty crabby mood. Still feeling crampy.

5:50 p.m. Pat and Josie arrived home. We had supper, Pat made turkey burgers. I didn't feel that great, but was still clueless that anything was going on.

7:30 p.m. We were preparing to get Josie ready for bed. I was half sitting, half laying on the couch. Josie was playing by me, I did something that required leaning up, sneezed 3 times, and on the last sneeze felt a painful popping sensation "down there." Uh oh. I didn't gush, but knew that my water had broken. My water broke with Josie, as well, although this time it hurt. I head for the bathroom, and Pat takes Josie to her room for bedtime.

7:45 p.m. I took the phone with me to the bathroom and called the hospital. They said to head in as soon as possible. Pat called his mom, she had her bag packed and headed out the door to come to our house to stay with Josie. Thank goodness she didn't dawdle. I started to have contractions almost immediately after my water broke. Pretty big ones. Pretty painful ones. I paced the floor in the kitchen, stopping occasionally to hold onto the table or stove. Pat flew through the house finishing cleaning up the kitchen and feeding the pets while I got my bag and made sure we had everything we needed. Pat's mom arrives. We give fast and furious instructions for the pets and Josie.

8:05 p.m. We left for the hospital. Big, fat contractions the whole way there. I also was having severe back pain. I didn't experience this with Josie, thank goodness. It was not fun. We briefly discuss the fact that we don't have a name picked out yet. Crap.

8:15 p.m. Arrive at Woodwinds. It's after hours, so we have to use the emergency room entrance to the hospital. We get our room, our nurse, Betsy, and I get into my gown. I remember looking at the clock when I came out of the bathroom, it was 8:30. Betsy checked me, I was dilated to a 6 1/2. The back pain made things particularly unbearable. My breathing exercises were getting me through, and I think that if I was not having back labor, I probably would have made it without any drugs. Betsy asked me what I wanted to do. I wanted relief. She ordered the epidural. Pat and I give a weak attempt at resolving the name issue. Funny sidenote - as we're talking, he asks me something to the effect of "you thought the name Betsy sounded like a cow, right?" I shoot him a death ray look, and twitch my head in the direction of our nurse, who is standing right behind me. Oops. He apologizes profusely. Betsy takes it like a trooper. I find it even funnier considering 1. we were never seriously thinking of the name "Betsy," and 2. the cow is Bessie, not Betsy. I'm not sure where that came from.

9:00 p.m. The anesthesiologist arrives. I am experiencing pain like I have never felt before. Hypnobirth, schmipnobirth - pain is pain, and I was feeling plenty of it. The epidural is in by 9:15, but it takes 10 - 15 minutes to kick in. I'm starting to feel the urge to push. I tell Betsy this, she tries to hide the concern in her face and voice, but I see and hear it. She nonchalantly says that she'd better check me again - I'm fully dilated. My doctor has not arrived yet. She leaves the room discreetly and gets the charge nurse. She says it's just to see how things are going, but I know it's just in case Dr. Rolando doesn't make it in time.

9:30 p.m. Dr. Rolando arrives. I'm doing everything I can to not push. I think it's one of the hardest things I've ever done. I can feel the baby. The epidural finally kicks in. Too little, too late. At least I had it for the pushing part, and the stitches afterwards, but since I felt the contractions all the way up to a 10, I may as well have experienced the full gamut. Doc Ro suits up, sits down, and then we wait. The epidural is finally in full effect, and now I don't feel the contractions. I am still feeling a lot of pressure, so we just go for it. I started my first push at the end of one contraction. Waited for the next, got 2 good pushes in and baby was pretty much out. I guess there was part of the cord and an arm coming out with the head. Dr. Rolando asks if I want to wait for the next contraction, or just go for it. I say "let's just do it," and push. Baby is out. It's 9:46 p.m. It's a girl :) 7 lbs. 5 oz., crying loudly, 19 1/2 inches. No name. That came 2 hours later after much debate between Claudia and Genevieve.


Welcome, Genevieve Kathryn Daly.

God Bless You, Enfamil

Eve just wasn't buyin' what my body was sellin'. After some sleepless nights and tear-filled days, I decided to hang up the breastfeeding hat. And I have to say, thank goodness. Eve is now eating up and plumping up, and we're a much happier household overall. Her bouts of what we assumed was colic have lessened and basically ended, and she will sleep and eat with a little more regularity now. I was beginning to worry that my "baby blues" were possibly a bit more than that, but I think it was just the stress of the breast that was the cause of concern. Piled on top of next-to-no-sleep, and not getting to take a shower for days on end. No good. But things are looking up. They really weren't that bad to begin with, really.

Let's see - fun stuff in the past week:

My high school friend, Kari and her boyfriend, Brent were able to stop by for a visit last Thursday. Wonderful to see her and meet him.

We decided to take a day-trip and travel down to Chatfield for Western Days last Saturday. Josie loved the parade. And mini donuts. And french fries. And her first carnival ride. It was a blast.

Josie is now saying "thank you" all the time. And "all done." They're not perfectly clear, but I know what she's saying ;) And I think she said "bad puppy" the other day when Brewster laid on her blankie. She also will now shake her head up and down to indicate "yes." A very dramatic shaking of the head. She's so fun.

Most little kids enjoy music, as does Josie. But you usually will hear fun kid music from a house with toddlers, but that is not always the case around here. I don't know if I ever wrote about how she loved the song "Iron Man" when she was around 1 year old... and now her love for metal appears to continue. As I was leaving the house on Sunday (all by myself, I must add - wheeeee!) I left Pat and Josie in the kitchen listening to Quiet Riot's "Bang Your Head." *sigh* And yes, they both were actually banging their heads.

Who says a sleep deprivation chamber can't be cozy?

Eve is now 3 weeks old. At this time exactly 3 weeks ago, I was changing into my lovely hospital gown and sliding the belly band into place at Woodwinds, while having intense contractions. For those of you who currently enjoy the luxury of a full night's sleep... please enjoy some for me and don't ever, ever take this precious gift for granted again. :) Wowsers, I don't function well with only 2 hour or less chunks of sleep at a time. Hopefully we're as lucky with this one as we were with Josie and she takes to sleeping through the night at an early age. If not, hopefully I adjust soon. If that ever truly happens!

Let's see - what's new? We had our first Family of Four outing last Friday night and went out to dinner together. It went well - although I spent the last half hour or so walking around the restaurant holding Josie's hand, her new favorite thing to do, while Pat fed a screaming Eve. Perhaps I just have a short memory, but Eve seems so different from Josie. Which she has every right to, it's just weird. She has a very short fuse, and is quite temperamental. She wants what she wants when she wants it, end of story. Don't get me wrong, she's only 3 weeks and still sleeps a lot and is quite sweet... but when she's hungry or has gas, you and the next door neighbors are going to hear about it.

My Josie is adjusting to Life With Eve. She checks to see where she is constantly, and stops what she's doing and points when Evie starts to cry. She's been "giving" her sister things lately - I will find an extra blanket, nuk or activity book in Eve's infant seat or pack 'n play quite frequently. And Eve is now included in Josie's list of goodnight kisses. Pat pointed out that the years of poking have begun as Josie is constantly poking a forefinger at some part of Eve's body. How little sisters and brothers manage not to lose an eye to overzealous older siblings is beyond me.

Jo has been starting to add some words and phrases to her vocab in the last few days. She said "all done," "huggie," and "thank you," and is constantly saying something resembling "wowie" that I can't quite figure out. We spent some time coloring today and she's eager to "help" us whenever she can - for example, tonight she helped us clear the dishes from the supper table and put them in the sink. She adores the kiddie pool and thinks she's big enough to walk around stores on her own now. We spend a lot of time looking at the wheels on lawnmowers and pushing buttons on everything in stores that has buttons. She also has started to show interest in potty training - we put the potty in our bathroom, but my heart and patience and attention just isn't quite there yet. But I guess maternity leave would be the perfect time to get it done.


I know - it's a little late, but here is a preggo picture of me many of you requested. Oh man - I just tried to upload a bunch more pictures... and a blogger error hit. *sigh* Sorry. Ugh. More pictures to come later.
Eve is calling - gotta go for now. :)

Where to start?

Oh yeah - we had a baby. That's a good place to begin :)

On Monday, July 17th at 9:46 p.m. at Woodwinds Hospital in Woodbury, MN.
Genevieve Kathryn Daly.
We call her Eve.
She was 7 lbs. 5 oz., and 19 1/2 inches long.
She made her quick entrance into the world screaming at the top of her lungs.

I promise to have pictures to post and a full birth story, SOON. She is beautiful and perfect and healthy and everything we prayed for.

I am doing well, and feel pretty much totally healed already. We have been having struggles with breastfeeding, some successes and mostly failures, but we're plugging along.

Dad is doing well, coping with the lack of sleep quite well. Incredibly supportive of my swinging moods and raging hormones.

Big sister Josie is adjusting. It was a rough first couple of days. Sharing her world is not easy, but she is starting to realize that there is room enough for both of them on our laps and in our hearts.

I have a hungry baby to tend to. Hmm, I wonder when she had a diaper change last?... more to come.

Sunday, Sunday

And nothing to report. Contractions start, contractions stop. Cramping starts, cramping stops. And so we wait. I'd like to say that it will be soon... but I just don't know. I FEEL like it will be soon... but I guess the baby gets the final say. I need ice cream. That much I can control.

37 Weeks??!

Can it be? I've officially carried a baby to a point safely called "full term." Amazing!

I'm off the Terbutaline. It's been 2 doses not taken now... not that I'm keeping track or anything. :) All day yesterday I was having contractions off and on, nothing worth keeping tabs on, but having them nonetheless. And today I felt crampy - although it could have just been the anticipation of today's appointment and going off the meds.

Speaking of which - here are today's stats:
I'm dilated to a "stretchy 2."
BP 114/78
Belly - 36 cm
Baby heartbeat - 150
Weight - up 1 lb.

Dr. Ro freaked me out today when he checked me and said that not only was I at a 2, but that baby's head is "right there," and that whenever I go, he thinks it will be quick, so he'll have his running shoes ready. I know second babies can come fast - but hearing him say it put me even more on edge!

Oh - and he asked me if I wanted him to strip my membranes today. wh - WHAT??!! That took me by surprise, and I think I sat there for a few moments with my mouth hanging open. It was totally up to me, and I decided that going off the Terb was enough excitement for one day. If I'm still hanging on to this baby a week from now, then we can talk more about stripping. Membranes, that is.

So, here we are. Waiting for something to happen. I don't have to be technically "on bedrest" any longer - but I'm at the point where getting up, walking around and being on my feet in general gets a bit difficult. Baby has "dropped" (I think in the womb is the only time where it's acceptable to drop a baby!) as I'm feeling a LOT of pressure down low and have to visit the bathroom much more frequently. But taking a nice, deep breath is easier now, so everything has an upside.

Patrick took the afternoon off and we went to Snuffy's Maltshop for - of course, a malt, and burgers, then went to the cheapie theater to see MI3. Perhaps our last "date" for a few weeks??

Josie is very into combing her own hair lately, and tonight thought that our cat, Baxter, needed his hair combed, too. Stinkin' cute. :) Baxter was less than enthused, to say the least.

More to come - have a good evening!

Hallelujah!

THAT was the longest 2 1/2 weeks of my life. No e-mail. No blogs. No instant connection to my "blogosphere." Finally, with the help of a not-so-helpful data security department, Patrick was able to get the whole internet connection via work thing figured out and I'm back up and running. I feel like a kid in a candy store, I don't even know where to begin. But, if something should happen again, please be patient (this is mainly a note to myself!) and I'll be updating as soon as I can. The verdict on our home computer is not good right now, so we are going to get a second opinion, or have to buy a new one. So, no picture updates for a while, sorry.

Even though it's been a couple of weeks... there really isn't much to update you on. Bedrest is bedrest, and it pretty much blows goats. I try to nap, I read, I watch tv and I watch movies. And that's about it. For the sake of my back and hips, I have to get up and move around, so am naughty and still do a bit of laundry and such now and again. Don't even think about chastising me until you spend over 2 weeks laying around doing nothing! I'm trying to "enjoy" some time alone before the chaos of adding another child to our family begins. So I stop and listen to the quiet and take a bath now and again to remind myself of the simple things that I may not be able to do soon. But it is very hard to say goodbye to my husband and little girl every morning - I miss them terribly during the day and would much rather have them here with me.

Let's see... I had my 35 week doc appointment on June 30th. I had lost 1 lb. since the previous week, my belly still measured at 34 cm and my blood pressure was good. The doctor did not check me as his philosophy right now is to "leave well enough alone." I had not been having regular contractions and he's going to hold off checking to see what I'm dilated to until 37 weeks. Oh - and he gave me the option to decide whether I wanted to stay on the Terbutaline until 37 weeks, as well. Which I did decide to do to give baby the best shot at being able to latch on so we can successfully breastfeed, since Josie was not able to.

And I made it to 36 weeks! Yahoo! I had my check-up last Friday, blood pressure was 112/66, my weight was up 3 lbs. since the previous week and belly measured right on 36 cm. So far, so good. I was feeling some regular contractions before I got out of bed that morning, and had also felt a bit crampy on the 4th of July, so was a bit anxious as I waited to see my doctor, but all is well. I will be going off the meds this Thursday, and will have another doc check that day, too. And this time, he will check my cervix to see if anything is going on "down there." So... my nerves are a little rattled as we approach the big day. It's hard looking ahead to the next few weeks - and days - and not know what to expect! Although, we, or at least, I, am feeling ready. We're very excited to meet our new little one!

Miss Josie has been doing very well through all this. She's had a great time hamming it up with some of my family that has been able to come up and spend time with us during this fiasco. We're being challenged by her every day, and seeing new facets of her personality all the time. She is such a big girl now. She's sitting in a booster chair and loves to be at the table with us, and is getting pretty good at using a spoon and fork to feed herself. She loves to dance, and still relishes any time she can spend playing outside. Of course, along with that, the tantrums at having to come back inside have intensified, but we're trying our best to hold strong and ignore the fits. She's a riot running around the house yelling "go, go, go!" and has gotten good at putting books and toys away when we ask her to - most of the time. Still waiting for her to start using more words so we can understand what it is she's trying to tell us she wants, which usually ends up in a fit because we just don't get what she's pointing at and whining about :) The highlight of my day is hearing Daddy and Josie walk in the door and to see her run across the kitchen yelling "Mommom" coming to give me a hug. I could just eat her up.

That's probably enough for now. I'll do my best to keep the updates coming. Thank you all so much for your support and to all of you who have called, sent flowers, sent messages or stopped by.

Oh - and no, we do not have a name picked out yet. Sore subject. Perhaps we'll pass a street sign or something on the way to the hospital and be inspired with the perfect name. *sigh* :)

Love and miss you all terribly. Later - Carol

Well. THAT will teach me to keep my mouth shut. A 34 week update.

So. The last time I posted, I got to tell you how everything was going so well, I was feeling good, and would hopefully be hanging on for a few more weeks. That hasn't necessarily changed, BUT.

Let's back-up to Tuesday morning.

I posted. Then I went to the bathroom. Then I passed my "m.p." And I am not going to go into detail about what that is... if you know, great, if not - you'll have to do your own research. Sorry. Then I was feeling quite crampy for the next couple of hours and was having some lower-back pain that was different from any I had previously had. So I put in a call to a triage nurse at my clinic (my doctor happens to have Tuesdays off - how handy) who, after listening to my story, suggested that I speak with the Labor and Delivery department. So I retrieved the number from the list of "emergency" numbers stored in my head, and gave them a call. They wanted me to come in to be monitored right away. After a quick call to Pat, we were off to Woodwinds Hospital.

I was hooked up and being monitored by 4:00, where I remained until about 10:00. I was having contractions, and after what felt like a very in-depth check from nurse Joyce, who had been my nurse during my entire labor with Josie, it was declared that I had dilated to a 1 1/2. This is not that unusual for someone at my stage, but considering that I had just been checked last Thursday and was only a "fingertip," they were slightly concerned. Throughout the evening, I was given a couple shots of Terbutaline to increase the dosage in my system, and a shot of Betamethasone - a steroid to strengthen baby's lungs just in case something were to happen within the next 48 hours.

The time I spent off my feet along with the increased Terbutaline seem to do the trick. My contractions lessened, although they did declare that I have a "sensitive" uterus due to the fact that anytime I had any urine in my bladder, I would start contracting. So that means LOTS of trips to the bathroom for me. Oh - and did I mention that I am now on bedrest? Yup. Bedrest - again. *sigh*

So, Wednesday I got so speak with my own doctor, who thankfully rescinded the other doctor's directions for me to be connected to a Terbutaline pump, and I had to go back to L and D for my second shot of Betamethasone, and today I had a quick check-up just to listen to baby, measure my belly and see how things were going in general. Dr. Ro refrained from actually "checking" me since there's been enough poking and prodding going on in that general area recently. Thank goodness. :) My blood pressure was great at 100/60, I gained 1 lb. in the last week, and my belly measured right on at 34 cm.

The course of action for me for the next couple of weeks is the oral Terbutaline pill every 4 hours until I'm 36 weeks, along with strict bedrest, only up to go to the bathroom. And I am trying. I really am. It's a hard adjustment to make, especially with a toddler. I am blessed, truly blessed, with the most wonderful husband in the world. No offense to any of your respective significant others out there. :) But he is absolutely wonderful for stepping up and doing his best to make this situation easier for us all. And my support network of a-maz-ing friends and wonderful family gets me though each day. Thank you to all of you.

Sorry for the lack of updates the last couple of days - I was going insane as our home computer is still out of commission, and we couldn't get the internet connection through work for Pat's laptop to work. Ugh. Then I had to stop in to work this afternoon to drop off some paperwork and clean out my desk and whatnot, and they had already disabled my account at work, so I couldn't even log on and update there! But thankfully, we got the internet connection figured out at home, and there you have it. So please do not e-mail me at work for, oh, the next 5 months or so. You may use our home account, crazydalys@yahoo.com, if you have anything for me. Otherwise, I'll try to keep up-to-date on this site, and you can certainly reach me at home by phone. I'll be here. And I can give you the most current Days Of Our Lives update if you want. :)

Holy Cow!

What a whirlwind the past few days have been! Here's what's been happening with us:

Thursday, June 15th -
I had my 33 week checkup. Good news! Nothing has changed since my last visit 2 weeks ago. Whew! What a relief. I didn't realize just how stressed out about that visit I was until it was over. I'm kinda feeling like I'm sailing through uncharted territory, at least, as far as my pregnancy experiences are concerned. Sure, I'm still on the Terbutaline, but at 32 weeks with Josie, I was put on bedrest. So here I am at 33 1/2 weeks, still walking around and going to work like nobody's business! Yahoo! Here are my other stats:

BP: 130/76. High for me, but still not terrible.
Belly measurement: 32 cm
Weight: Up 1 lb.
Baby heartbeat: Doc was a little concerned at the fast pace of baby's heart. I think it was up between 160 and 170 when he measured - which is probably due to the Terbutaline. But he wanted me to stay and have a non-stress test, just in case. And the results were just fine.

So everything is going very well, and I'm feeling pretty good. The swelling is continuing to increase in my hands and feet, and sleep is hit-or-miss, but it certainly isn't anything I can't live with. I'm supposed to take the Terbutaline until I'm 36 weeks... so we'll take everything one day at a time and see what happens. But I'm hopeful that as long as I continue to not dilate that I'll be able to go full-term, or at least closer to it, this time around. I will have another appointment at 35 weeks.

And to top off my good news day, I got to meet a couple of friends for dinner and a movie. Bonus!

Oh - and just as a side note, I feel like we're back to square one with the name thing. My friend, Nicole, was kind enough to loan me this cool baby name book, and now we're not nearly as close to picking a name as we thought we might be. *sigh* But you know what, I'm done with the polls. No offense, but I've decided I really don't care what ya'll think. :) So whatever name we go with could be a complete surprise to you. Or not. You'll just have to wait and see!

Friday, June 16th -
Josie and I met Patrick at work where we bought a double stroller from a co-worker who had posted one for sale on our internal want ads. Another thing I can cross off my list! Then Jo and I ran a couple of errands - we got double whammied this weekend with Patrick's 30th birthday on Saturday and Father's Day on Sunday, so had some last-minute shopping to finish up. Home for lunch and nappy time, then that evening we went out to dinner, just the 3 of us. It was quite nice.

Saturday, June 17th -
Happy Birthday, Pat! Opened presents, cleaned house, played with Josie, ran errands and met Pat's family at Governor's for dinner. Then back to our house for presents, cake and ice cream.

Sunday, June 18th -
Happy Father's Day, Pat! A laid-back day. We even made it to church. The weather was quite nice, not nearly as humid as it had been the previous couple of days. Trust me, that means a lot to a 8 months pregnant woman, and to those who have to be around her! We went over to Pat's parent's house for a quick visit after Josie woke up from her afternoon nap.

And here we are. Well into another work week, and Josie has been just a delight lately. For every bit that she continues to challenge us, she is also just that much more fun and lovable and silly. We've been bombarded with kisses and hugs, pushed to the limit with defiance and meltdowns, and constantly amazed at how smart she is. Everything is to the extreme with her right now, and it's definitely keeping us on our toes.

Patience is a Virtue. Or so the saying goes.

And I'm going to test yours one. more. time. Vote for a girl name, again. Please. Sorry - I forgot that we're working on manners in our house.

As far as middle names... we're not sure. Katherine and Diane have been put on the table. Or not. Let's get the first name thing down first.

What about Baby Girl Daly? That has a nice ring to it. And it's probably going to be the one at the rate we're going...

Break my heart

So she finally did it. Josie cried big, fat, real tears and was reaching for us as we left her at daycare this morning. So far, she's always practically jumped into Betty's arms and given her kisses - which has always reassured me that we were doing an okay thing by having someone else watch her.

But we knew this day would come and we were dreading it. Now I know why.

Makes coming to work seem pretty meaningless.

I know it's a rollercoaster and there will be plenty of days when she's going to cry and not want to leave daycare. But at least we get to take her home after that battle.

My Life - In Lists

Things that Josie is up to lately:
1. Kisses. Lots and lots of kisses for Mom, Dad, Brewster and even a cat here and there.
2. Tippy-toes. Stop walking, up on tippy-toes. Reach for something, up on tippy-toes.
3. Reading. Okay - not really, but pretending. Very serious pretend reading out loud.
4. Stacking. Loves her stackable cups. Figuring out what fits in them, and what they fit in. On that same note - we'll find her cups in the garbage, her bath toys in the laundry hamper and her baby doll in my purse.
5. Grunting. I made the mistake of grunting and asking her, when she attempted to pick up my full water bottle, if it was heavy. So now she grunts when she picks up everything. Or bends over. You can probably guess why she's doing that, considering the difficulty I'm having in bending over lately. :)
6. Name that body part. Points to head, nose, mouth, ears, eyes, belly and expects you to name it. Can't quite say the body parts yet, but is getting close.
7. Nose-picking. Finger is constantly up the nose. Toddlers are such disgusting, but lovable, little creatures.
8. Pointing. At everything.
9. Question hands. She'll "say" something that sounds like a question, and put her hands up near her head.
10. Dirty feet anger. If she's walking around barefoot and gets something on the bottom of her feet, she has to stop immediately and examine them for the culprit.
11. Following directions. Ask her to do something, and she'll do it. For the most part.

Things to do before the baby comes:
1. Get my hair cut.
2. Trim my toenails. Not such an easy task any longer.
3. Use spa certificate to get prenatal massage.
4. Clean out and wash the van.
5. Clean basement. I know these don't really have anything to do with the baby - but I'll feel better when they're done.

Things to ask Dr. Rolando at next visit:
1. Why, when I take a deep breath in, do my hands tingle?
2. Is there pre-admission paperwork I need to fill out for the hospital?
3. When am I supposed to call the hospital when I go into labor the second time around?
4. There are a couple of other questions, but for the sake of decency and the fact that I think there are people that I don't really know all that well that read this, I'm going to omit them from this list :)

Last minute things to pack in hospital bag:
1. Contact supplies / glasses.
2. Blowdryer, comb, hair products.
3. Makeup. I know - I probably won't use it, but just in case.
4. Pillow.
5. Camera.

Things that make me chuckle today:
1. There is a company here called Doody Mechanical, Inc. We saw one of their trucks on the way to work. Doody. I always giggle.
2. People used to stare at my boobs. Now they stare at my belly. I wonder what they'll stare at next?
3. I got on the elevator this morning with a nervous-looking chap. I was tempted to accidentally hit the stop button and double over in fake-pain. Poor guy probably would have shat himself.
4. We have an ornery cat, Baxter. Josie likes to walk behind him and kick him in the butt. It makes him angry. It makes me laugh. I know I shouldn't. But she doesn't do this to the other, laid-back cat.

Just the facts, ma'am

In order to refrain from any sniveling, or whining, or excess self-pity, this post is purely fact, no emotional content what-so-ever. Or very little.

Per my doctor's request, on Monday morning I called my doctor's assistant to leave a message with details of how I did over the weekend. I said that I did just fine, had a few contractions here and there and was feeling a bit crampy Sunday night and Monday morning. I went to lunch, came back and there was a message from Rayanne (Raeann, Rayannne, Rayann, I'm not sure how she spells it) telling me that Dr. Rolando thought that since I'm still having some contractions and am feeling cramping that I had better go ahead and get started on the Terbutaline prescription he gave me last Thursday. I had Patrick take me at lunch on Tuesday to get the prescription filled, then drop me off at home for the afternoon since I anticipated feeling the ill-effects of the first dose. That was the right move since I did feel very shaky, anxious and restless.

***Sidenote - we had a great evening on Tuesday visiting with the Rosenbaum family - Becky, Adam and 1 month old Vivian at the Gronau residence. The Mathews - Tricia and Kevin, were also in attendance. :) It was the perfect distraction. And Viv is a perfect little doll. I forget so quickly how small they are when they come out.

I also gave myself the day at home today since I got virtually zero sleep last night and was still feeling very shaky. But I am doing much better this evening. So there you have it. One little pill, every four hours for the next few weeks.

Meltdown at the Sparky show

It was a beautiful weekend, although it went by much too quickly, as time seems to be doing lately. Sunday morning we decided to take Josie to the Como Zoo. We were having a lovely time, the weather was gorgeous and we got there right when it opened at 10:00 am, so wasn't overly crowded. Sparky, Como's resident trained sea lion, was putting on a performance at 11:30, so the timing was perfect to take in the "show." Well, Josie isn't the biggest fan of sitting still - especially when you're watching from an amphitheater full of fabulous steps and seats to be climbed. As I'm helping her climb up and down, up and down, I'm looking around with envy at all of the other children happily sitting and taking in the sights. I think a combination of factors - including, but not limited to: mom's frustration, hunger, and impending nap time, contributed to a major meltdown at the end of the show. Thank goodness, she waited until the end. And so ended our time at the zoo. At least it's free.

Josie is continuing to show her preference to sleeping in as late as possible in the mornings. Friday morning I had to go in and wake her at 9:45. Granted, she was battling the sniffles, but she still will sleep until well after 8:00, and sometimes 9:00 am if given the chance. Great for weekends, not so great for weekday mornings. So I felt like we had a shortened day on Friday, but we still had a good time picking up Daddy from work and going to grab Dino's Gyros for lunch and taking it to a local park. Then home for a nice nap, and that was pretty much our day!

Saturday we spent time getting a few household things done, and got much-needed grocery shopping done. Then we got to go to our friend Julie's 30th birthday party in the late afternoon, where Josie thoroughly enjoyed Julie's apartment building's nicely renovated pool! Daddy and Jo stayed in the water with the other kids and parents until her little lips were blue.

And so it's Monday morning. And I'm doing fine. Not too many contractions over the weekend. All I can do is take it one day at a time. Thank you all for your well-wishes and concerns. If you haven't posted a guess in the baby pool, you may want to do that - perhaps sooner rather than later :) But I promise, I don't have any inside info that I'm withholding.

A Familiar Road

Stats from yesterday's doc visit:

Weight: Up 2 lbs. from last visit 3 weeks ago.
BP: 114 / 66. Excellent.
Belly measurement: Right on 31 cm.
Baby heartbeat: Strong.
Fetal fibronectin test: Negative.

That was the good news. Not that there's bad news - just news. I have started to dilate. A little bit. Which is not abnormal at all for this far along and/or a second pregnancy, but considering my history, it's something to keep an eye on. So I have a prescription for Terbutaline in my bag, and have permission to fill it at any point if I feel that the contractions continue to increase in duration and intensity. But I'm not required to be on it. Yet. I also have orders to "take it easy." Which, following the miscommunication during my pregnancy with Josie, I got very specific clarification on this time around. Working is still fine. Butt on couch and feet up when at home. Call immediately if anything changes. Call next week to update on how I'm feeling. And see him again in 2 weeks. So things are feeling a little familiar. I don't mind if this one wants to come out early, too... but would very much like to avoid bedrest this time around.

Oh - funny tidbit from the visit yesterday. So there I am in all my glory on the table getting ready for the fetal fibronectin test, which is basically like a pap smear, when Dr. Rolando proclaims, "Oh no. Don't kill me. I don't have a test in here - I have to run out and get one." Yeah. Great - why don't you do that. So he bolts from the room, leaving me in pretty much the most uncomfortable position you could be in, WITH the door open, while he locates a test kit. Don't get me wrong - I really like this doc a lot, but I'm pretty sure a female doctor would have checked that beforehand :)

Uh oh

So I have to go see my doc today at 1:15.

I wasn't supposed to go in until next week... but, I've been having some pretty regular contractions since Tuesday evening, and have just been feeling a bit achy and crampy. Dr. Rolando gave me strict instructions to let him know if anything started to change... so I broke down and gave his assistant a call yesterday. They want to make sure that nothing is changing "down there," meaning that the contractions would be starting to work to soften and thin my cervix. It's so hard to know what is normal and what is not; the contractions I'm having could just be plain old Braxton Hicks and we're most likely just totally paranoid. But it's probably better not to take the chance. They definitely feel different than any I had been having, but I am 31 weeks - so who knows. Keep your fingers crossed for me that everything is still thick and closed!!

Congrats, Kari!

She's a big winner!! Congrats to Kari, who won over $60,000 during her Wheel of Fortune appearance. Tricia and I made the trek down to Rochester last night to attend Kari's Wheel of Fortune pizza party in the auditorium at Mayo Clinic with between 100 and 200 of her closest friends, family and co-workers :) It was a blast to see her on national television, bouncing, winning and bonding with Pat Sajak! She and her family did an excellent job of keeping her winnings a secret - not an easy feat with everyone trying to trick them into spilling the beans. No one deserves more success and happiness than Kari - a true friend, competitor and champion in everything she does. Great job!

Wheel Reminder

Tonight's the night! Watch the Wheel of Fortune tonight to see what kind of fortune my high school friend, Kari, won.

Think nice thoughts

Please send some nice thoughts to the families of my friends - Meg and Becky. Both lost loved ones over the weekend. Love you guys.

It was a weekend

It was hot. Pat decided to paint the rec room. A 1 day project turned into a 3 day project. Josie and I played. We ran errands. We went shoe shopping. Not an easy task for a little girl with thick and wide feet. But she liked it anyway. On Sunday, the three of us went to visit with a bunch of my family. It was hot. And windy. I know my blog wasn't displaying correctly. I don't know what was wrong. All I know - it was hot. No more babies in the summer. Ever.

Just call me Stinky

Okay, don't. I was just kidding.

But have you ever wondered mid-way through the day if you remembered to put on deodorant that morning? No? Okay. Nevermind. Me either.

Have you ever looked in the mirror after going to the bathroom and realized that you have a smidgeon of unidentifiable schmoozle on your chin and wonder A. how long it' s been there and B. how many people have seen it? No? Yeah - me either.

I'm a mess. But a waddling, 30 week pregnant mess, so at least I have an excuse :)

I feel puffy. Oh, so puffy.

Fingers like sausages and feet like concrete slabs.

The joys of the third trimester of pregnancy. I started to puff up a bit over the weekend - noticed I couldn't quite get my wedding ring off sometimes, and my feet were bugging me a bit more than normal, and today, it's pretty bad again. I try to drink more water - but to no avail. All that seems to do it send me to the bathroom twice as often. But otherwise, all is peachy.

I'll quit complaining now. :)

Josie is sleeping. Pat is at softball. I'm enjoying some quiet time when I probably should be doing laundry or dishes or... something productive. But then I remembered that in the not-so-faraway-future I'm not going to have a whole lot of quiet time again for a while. So here I sit, content in my selfishness.

I got Josie fed, and bathed, and in bed tonight between doses of her new favorite pastime... the chicken dance. That's right - a big, fat, sarcastic thank you to one of Patrick's old co-workers who gave him a lovely dancing turkey that plays the chicken dance and wears an apron that says "eat more chicken" last year for a gag gift. She loves the stupid thing, wants us to push the button all the time, and of course, we have to stop what we're doing and do the chicken dance.

Oh - the things we do for a laugh. I can only imagine what the neighbors must think if they can see us. Yet, I don't quite have the heart to hide it. She'd be crushed.

Holy crap. I'm watching the American Idol finale - and some sorry sap is up there freaking out and singing with Clay Aiken. They just had to bring him a stool so he could sit down. Wait - is that Clay, or kd lange? I can't quite tell. Oh yeah, it's Clay. :) Nice hair.

Gotta go. Battery is almost dead on ye ole laptop, and I don't feel like plugging it in.

Sometimes, pain is good

Like today. And okay, not really pain, but definite lethargy and exhaustion. But that just means that I had a reason to stay up late all weekend and enjoy the company of friends. And my stomach muscles hurt, but that just means that I had reason to laugh all weekend. I had the opportunity to spend a beautiful weekend at a cabin in Nisswa and was reminded that girl time is very much a necessity. It sounds like Patrick and Josie had a great time while I was gone, and enjoyed a fun-filled weekend of daddy-daughter time. So everyone in our house was pooped last night!

And in Josie news, she is now not only walking with confidence, and has been for at least a month or so, but also decided to break out in a run last Friday. Cheeks jiggling and arms held high in case of a fall, she was trotting through the house on a mission. A mission for what, I'm not sure, but she was on the run. Another tidbit to share, this morning as we were cleaning up the breakfast dishes and getting ready to leave, I, well, burped. Usually, this will bring about the "o" lips from Josie. This morning must have been especially impressive, because not only did I get the "o" lips, but I also got a round of applause! If she's going to clap every time I burp in the next couple of months, we're sure going to have a happy household, 'cause it happens a lot! :) Patrick put the sand in her sandbox over the weekend, and I'm hoping she "gets" what it's for soon, because right now all she wants to do is eat it. Yuck. Thank goodness for sandbox covers.

And in pregnancy news, well, I guess there isn't much. I'm over 29 weeks along, baby is moving and kicking constantly, and my old friend, heartburn is back. So the bottle of Tums is never far away. I'm up once or twice a night to visit the bathroom, and have started having trouble taking a nice, long, deep breath. But I'm practicing. I'm carrying baby pretty high, and my lungs are definitely feeling the effects. But all in all, everything is going quite well. We're getting closer!

Pick a date! And a name!

Just for the heck of it - I created a baby pool. Click on the link and give a guess, if you wanna. Date, time and weight. And just for the fun of it - throw in how long you think I'll be in labor this time around. (It was about 10 1/2 hours with Josie.) We'll keep it simple. No head measurements or length. Sorry, you're not going to win a fabulous prize, or fame or fortune, other than being forever known as the winner of the baby pool!

Oh - and I put up a new girl name poll. Again. Humor me, okay? :) I think I did it so you can only vote once, and can only pick one name. I think there may have been some shenanigans with the last one.

Braxton Hicks

And no, I'm not talking about the contractions. This is actually the new name that my husband has decided to call Taylor Hicks, the American Idol finalist! First, it was "Randy." I'm not sure why Taylor seemed like a "Randy" to him, especially since there is already a real Randy on the show, but that's what he insisted on calling him. Now this morning, I was giving Pat an AI update on the way to work, and "Braxton" Hicks is the new name he came up with. I think we might have pregnancy on the brain!

Now, you all know that I am a self-proclaimed reality tv show junkie. But last night was ridiculous. I didn't know what to do, with the season finales of America's Next Top Model and The Amazing Race on head-to-head at 7:00, then the final hour of The Amazing Race, American Idol results show AND Lost (okay - not a reality show, but still a must-see) all on at 8:00. Whew. That was a rough one. :) But I survived, so don't worry.

Miss Josie is a girl on the go these days. She loves to get her coat and hat and head out the door for the next adventure, whatever that may be. She has started to become quite stressed when one of us gets ready to leave and doesn't take her with. Last night she laid a major guilt trip on Daddy as he was rushing out the door to softball and she was standing at the screen door pressing her face up against it crying when he left. She schmooshed her little face as much as she could to watch him go down the sidewalk to the garage. Talk about heart-wrenching. And talk about stressful for me... especially as I gear up for a girl's weekend retreat with my bookclub friends. I'm completely torn between extreme emotions as I am sooooo looking forward to a weekend getaway with wonderful friends, but yet sooooo sad to miss an entire weekend of fun with Josie. I know - it's only one weekend and I deserve a much-needed break (at least, this is what I keep telling myself for justification purposes.) I just love waking up on the weekends to a happy girl that gets to sleep in and loves to see her mommy and daddy come in to get her in the morning. If you can't tell, this will be the first full weekend I've spent away from her. :( But on the other hand, alone time with my friends is hard to come by these days, and is only going to get harder with baby #2 on the way. So in the end, I am very much looking forward to a relaxing weekend of talking, laughing and sitting around enjoying some "me" time!!

Ramblings of a Mad Woman: An Editorial on the Subject of Opinions

I've entered a phase of my life where I can no longer have consuming thoughts roaming about in my head. I'm easily distracted and these thoughts will destroy any hope I have of accomplishing anything. Hence, I find myself making a lot of lists, having conversations with people to get things off my chest that have been bothering me and writing things down simply to get them out of my head. It's quite freeing. I find that I can go about my business with a clear mind after I've written down my Target list and made notes of all the things we need to buy before the baby comes.

This brings me to my point of why I'm writing today. I'm writing today to clear my head of consuming thoughts. I'm not going to go into detail about what events bring me to this point because, quite frankly, it doesn't matter. What matters is that I now have things bopping around in this skull of mine which are distracting to my efforts to get anything done at work and are in turn raising my blood pressure to unsafe levels. Read on. Or don't. I really don't care. This is my forum to express my thoughts and opinions and I'm happy to share with you. You may take what you read with a grain of salt and write it off to the mad ramblings of a pregnant woman with too many hormones raging through her body - and that's fine. It's your opinion, and you have a right to your opinion. I expect you to have an opinion.

What I don't expect is that you will actually tell me that MY opinion is wrong, and then list the reasons it is wrong, mainly because it differs from yours. There are a lot of people out there who work this way. And I find it quite infuriating. Perhaps I am a person who just does not derive any pleasure from the art of debate. I am so ingrained in the position that we are all entitled to think what we want that I cannot see the point of trying to persuade someone to my point of view. This is exactly why I am not good in arguments. And now that I think of it, perhaps I'm just not a very interesting person to have a conversation with, either.

Don't get me wrong - I AM a very opinionated person. I guess I don't know if I come across this way or not. I don't want you to mistakenly think that because I don't express my opinion in conversation that I don't have one. But I think what I think, and I don't really care to discuss it. You will never find me in a heated political discussion, especially after I find out that your opinion completely differs from mine. I can listen to you, I can try to see your point of view and I can try to see why someone in your situation would come to that opinion. But I will never try to tell you that what you think is wrong. You have a right to think it. Sure - I may think to myself that you're a moron, but I'm not going to tell you that. Unless you're drunk and won't remember anything I said in the morning.

On the flip-side, I'm quite wishy-washy on a lot of issues. These issues probably don't have much impact in my daily life. I will shamedly admit that I remain an ignorant person on many topics - most of national and international news levels, simply because it is easy for me to turn off the news or not pick up a newspaper and be confronted with these issues. But once something is going to have an impact on me or my family, I will have an opinion. Until that time, I remain blissfully ignorant. It's not an especially good stance to take, but it's my right to take it.

In all of my musings throughout the morning, I came to try to understand the WHY behind my inner-workings. Why don't I tell you why I think you're wrong? Why don't I throw my hat into the discussion ring? What am I afraid of?

I think I came to the conclusion that the point of origin for why I am the way I am is due to the fact that there weren't a lot of peers my age around growing up. I had a couple of cousins that I'd hang out with on occasion who were close to my age, but otherwise, we lived out in the country and until I was older and could drive, I was with adults most of the time. And I certainly wasn't going to speak up and voice my opinion to a bunch of adults, especially if it differed from theirs. So I think this lack of interaction with others my age started my shyness, which fed into a fear of rejection later on once I started interacting with kids my own age. I wanted to be liked and accepted, so didn't speak up. Which is quite possibly the same motivation behind my actions now, as an adult.

Now if you asked my husband, certain friends or certain members of my family about all of these ramblings - they'd probably proclaim that I'm too opinionated. I guess what it comes down to is that I have to have reached a certain comfort level with you before I'm okay to speak openly and freely with you. I have to know that you accept me unconditionally. Others, apparently, do not have this safety zone, are probably more confident in themselves, or just don't give a damn and feel okay saying anything to anyone. Which is fine. It takes all kinds.

I still don't understand how someone can just say whatever comes to mind without any thought for who it may affect or offend, but again, I guess it's their right to say it. I don't understand how someone can think that every action and opinion they've ever done or had is the correct one, but again, I guess it's their right to think it. I don't understand how someone thinks so highly of themselves that they push and give their advice to everyone, but again, I guess it's their right to give it.

I stand firmly in my positions on politics, abortion, mothering, breastfeeding, voting, women's rights, animal testing, the death penalty, guns, Heinz ketchup vs. Hunts catsup, and many other important topics. You may not know where I stand, and may never know where I stand. And that's okay. You may ask, and I will tell you. But I am not going to offer up my opinion merely for the sake of debate or dish out advice merely because I think I'm right. That's just not the kind of person I am. And I'm okay with that. You can think what you think and I can think what I think. It's what makes this country great. Or something.

If you've made it to the end of this - welcome to my ramblings. Now you know what kind of stuff is floating around in my head. I didn't really have much of a point to all of this except to clear my head, to get it out and written down so that I don't have to think about it anymore. Now I can get back to work. :)

Are you a Wheel Watcher???

Well, you'd better be on WEDNESDAY, MAY 31st! My good friend, Kari, from high school, got to live one of her dreams and be a contestant on Wheel of Fortune. We always knew she was destined for greatness! You can click on this link the week of May 29th for more info on the contestants appearing on the show during that week. For the local newspaper's coverage of Kari's exciting trip - click here.

I've been Snoogled!

And I'm loving every minute of it! I received the BEST GIFT EVER for Mother's Day. Of course, there's always the undying love of my husband and child - yadda, yadda, yadda - but what I'm talking about is the Snoogle Total Body Pillow. :) Patrick surprised me with this gift on Friday night (that's right, I got treated to a whole weekend of Mother's Day bliss!) because he had gone to buy it and was feeling really bad thinking that he would have this gift in the house that would help me sleep better and wouldn't be able to give it to me until Sunday. And let me tell you - he's going to have a hard time ever topping this one. I can't believe the difference it's made in my comfort level at night.

Besides the fabulous body pillow, I got treated to crepes and biscuits and gravy for breakfast, a salmon dinner, a date-night package promise for a babysitter / dinner / movie, AND got to spend all day Sunday with many members of my family (and neighbors who have become family!) for a birthday / Mother's Day celebration at Grandma Janet's. I can't think of a better way to spend Mother's Day weekend! I hope you all were able to enjoy good food, good company and good laughs as much as I was.

What's Up Pussycat?

This post would be a LOT cuter with a picture.

But here's the deal. I think our hard drive died. (Oh - I'm using Pat's work laptop, in case you're wondering.) I went upstairs a couple of weeks ago, and the power light on the hard drive was flashing, and it was making a clicking sound. I know, you may be thinking that was just me hearing things again, but it really was. So I turned the power off at the surge protector and left it so I could go take a nap. I was assuming we'd break out the manual or something and take a look at it after I woke up. Well, Pat decided to unhook everything from everything and carry the darn thing downstairs to the kitchen where he was going to "take a look at it." Considering all of his expertise in Computer-Related Things, I'm not sure what he was going to be looking at or looking for. So I gently urged him not to take it apart, and so there it sits, next to the stove, right where it belongs. Long story short, we have no way to download our pictures from the digital camera now, since the program is on that computer. I suppose I could be adventurous and go to Target or Walgreens or something, but I think we all know that's just not going to happen. So you'll have to stay picture-deprived for the time being.

Anyhoo. Josie was digging in her toybox before we left this morning, and found a headband with kitty ears that I had gotten at a bachelorette party a couple, okay - a few - years ago. She decided that kitty ears were exactly what she needed to complete her ensemble for the day and proceeded to put them on and wear them to daycare. Super cute. You'll have to trust me. Someday I'll have a picture to post to prove it :)

28 week update

Weight: Up 3 lbs. from last visit 1 month ago.
Belly measurement: Right on 28 cm.
Blood pressure: 122/70.
Baby heartbeat: 160.

Doc did decide to check me, and thank goodness, there's nothing going on yet. "Thick and closed," if you want an exact quote. As long as all continues to go well, I won't go back for another visit until 32 weeks.

Uffda

This was a harsh Monday morning for all of us. For Josie, because she was able to sleep in for the last 5 days in a row - and given this opportunity, she will sleep until 8:00 or 8:30. 6:30 in the AM does not bode well for my little girl after getting to sleep in. For Pat, because mornings are just hard. And for me, because I got up for a nightly bathroom visit at 2:30, came back to bed, and heard a noise. Not a loud, startling noise, but a constant, ticking or dripping noise. I thought maybe Pat was making this noise somehow (I guess I didn't really stop to think how he might be ticking or dripping,) and asked him if he was making noise. He wasn't. And not only was he not making the noise, he didn't volunteer to either get up and figure out what WAS making the noise, or to lie awake beside me in my misery and see if he could hear the noise. Jerk :) So I got to lie awake, listening alternately to Pat peacefully slumbering away and this mysterious noise - the cause of which has yet to be discovered. So, all of us were moving a little slow this morning. If Josie could talk, she would have told us to get the h-e-double-hockey-sticks out of her room and let her go back to sleep!

Let's see - what else is new with us...

Pat:
Hockey season is over. No more 10:00 pm ice times and coming home at 1:30 on a Tuesday night - well, Wednesday morning. For now. But softball has now begun, so instead, he'll be rushing to the fields from work to make 6:00 and 7:00 double-headers. He's even been hitting the batting cages this year - what's up with that??! I'll keep you posted on how many homers he racks up. Work is going well, and that's about it for him. Other than the aforementioned lactose intolerance, which is still a sore subject :(

Josie:
Like all little kids, she LOVES to be outside. So we spent a good portion of the weekend enjoying the beautiful spring weather. I don't know if this is normal or not, but all she wants to do outside is find things to climb on. Steps. Chairs. Plastic pool/sandbox turtles. We climb up the steps. We climb down the steps. Then back up. Then back down. Over. And over. And over. I even stopped at the park on the way home from a walk with her in the stroller, which has quite lovely play equipment, and all we did the whole time we were there was to climb up and down the steps in front of the community center. Her feet never even touched the sand in the playground. This isn't that big of a deal, except that she's not quite proficient at climbing down or off things yet, so mom or dad must be close by to prevent her little head from smacking the little concrete. We're successful most of the time. :)

You all know that Josie resembles her daddy very much, but she also takes after his mannerisms, as well. I have to laugh when sitting at the breakfast table with the two of them, and I look at Pat and he's staring blankly out the window, then I look at Josie, and she's staring blankly across the room, captured in whatever daydream has her attention at the moment. I also busted the two of them licking off their dinner plates one night a while ago. *sigh* Oh, and of couse, don't forget the "not-morning people" thing, too. Very much takes after daddy on that one.

Watch out if you're around her any time soon - she has a fascination with my belly all of the sudden, and is constantly lifting up my shirt to take a look. But then she's lifting up Pat's shirt and daycare Betty's shirt, and a tucked-in shirt won't stop her quest to see your tummy! She'll pat my belly nicely for a minute, but then gives a little pinch or scratch now and then, too. Why do I have a feeling this may be the way with the new baby, too?

At almost 16 months, she's in personality-plus development mode right now. She's developed quite a sense of humor, will laugh when we laugh and do things to "tease" us, dances all the time - music or not, will make funny faces and noises and "pretend" plays. Pat and I were cleaning yesterday, Pat had finished vacuuming and I was sweeping the kitchen floor when I found a empty roll from wrapping paper behind the garbage can. She took this great new toy and pretended to vacuum for the next few minutes. Of course, she also hit the dog with it and poked the cat, but that's a given.

Me:
Closing in on 7 months preggo, and doing fine. I think I was on my feet a bit much the last few days as I'm kinda sore today, but all in all, am doing well. Getting a bit uncomfortable from time to time, but I'm sure I felt the same way with Josie. I have a very short memory for that type of thing! I think I'm in full "nesting" mode as I am making lists of things to get done and constantly thinking about what the new baby will need. Offer Pat a kind word as I'm sure I'm already driving him up a wall. And we've still got a ways to go! I have my 28 week appointment on Thursday. My last doc checked me at 28 weeks and that's when she discovered that I was already dilated to a 1, but I'm not sure if this doc checks yet or not. Guess that will be a surprise. Since my only personal frame of reference is my experience with Josie, I am already mentally preparing myself for the same experiences I had with her, i.e., Terbutaline, bedrest and delivering a month early! It's going to be a rough end of the road if I end up going over 40 weeks with this one, but I'm hoping for a smoother last couple of months than I had last time. Time will tell, and of course, I'll keep you posted, whether you want me to or not! :)

Exhausted. But happy.

Whew. Patrick and I just spent the last two days purging the basement and closets of useless items that had been taking up valuable space for much too long. We did a good job. You can actually walk around the basement now without tripping over a box of my clothes from 1997.

I'm tired. My feet are tired. And my legs are tired. I think I'll go to sleep now. At least until my 1:00 am bathroom trip :)

P.S. Congrats to the Rosenbaums! Baby Vivian Jade made her debut this morning and I wish all three of them the best!

Everything That Is Lovely

To my sweet Josephine:

We're home from work now.
It's time to go inside.
You cry. You scream.
We wipe the tears away.
There are your eyes. They're lovely.

The meal is done.
Spaghetti sauce on your face.
Potatoes in your hair.
A moment to clean you off.
There is your face. It's lovely.

Your diaper needs to be changed.
Running, crawling, squirming, turning.
Fighting, twirling, wailing, laughing.
Quickness of a parent's hands.
There is your smile. It's lovely.

Playtime is here.
You walk and run, hide and seek, laugh and dance.
You fall.
You get up.
There are your hands. They're lovely.

Bedtime has come.
Lullabyes and a soft blanket.
Rocking and snuggling.
Your face against my cheek.
There is your breath. It's lovely.

You are my light. You are my love. You are everything that is lovely.

Random Stuff on a Rainy Monday

Yes, Daily Dose fans, I did find my stapler and my lowly box of belongings on the same desk where I left them last Thursday. Although I am still quite skittish, and only unpacked the bare necessities in case another move rears its ugly head any time soon. Which I think is not far from the truth since I saw a notice that a position has been filled in the department I'm sitting in, and I have a feeling that's going to result in my homelessness once again. Perhaps this time I'll put my belongings in a red kerchief and tie it to a stick. Or maybe if I started sneezing all over the desk all of the time, or wiping boogers on the cube walls or something, they'd decide just to leave me be. Hmm - I might have to brainstorm some good "leave me alone and don't make me move" ideas...

I have a crabby husband this dreary Monday. No, not because it rained all weekend and not because the Twins suck right now. Because it would appear that he is lactose intolerant. He saw a doc a couple of weeks ago, and was told, due to some stomach issues, to lay off dairy products and see what happened. Unfortunately, the stomach issues were not as much of an issue after a week of being dairy-free. We came to this conclusion after he binged on cheese yesterday and, sparing any disturbing details, was not in a happy place afterwards. It's going to be an interesting adjustment period for us as we consume A LOT of dairy products.

Josie has discovered Brewster's food and water dishes. The food dish isn't a big deal since it's always empty as our chow-hound consumes every niblet of food the second it's put in his dish. But the water dish has been a battle. We often will catch her being "sneaky" and going over to the dish, dipping her hands in, and licking the water off her fingers. Yummy. Dog drooly water. And of course, just for the heck of it, sometimes she has to tip the dish over.

Why do the makers of maternity-wear insist that every pregnant woman simply MUST want to show off her bountiful bosom every moment of every day? I was looking at the maternity shirts that I have, and almost all of them appropriate for the weather during spring and summer are v-neck and low-cut. Which would be okay if I had more "undershirts" with a higher, rounded neck. But I don't have that many. I do have some lovely cami-type shirts which work quite nicely, but leave a little more hanging out at work than I would really care for. And I really don't want to invest more money in more maternity clothes, but for the sake of coverage, will probably have to. I don't want to give people more to look at than my growing belly is already offering. :)

I'm quite excited as I only have a 2-day work week this week. Patrick and I are taking a couple of vacation days to get some projects done around the house while Josie is at daycare. Nothing really fun, just getting some closets cleaned out, cleaning the basement and perhaps staining the privacy fence, weather permitting. These are the projects on my "to do before-baby" list that just never seem to get done on the weekends. Oh oh - and we got to cross off an item on our "to buy before-baby" list as one of Pat's co-workers gave us a toddler bed. Yea!

I believe you have my stapler

It happened again.

So I received an email about 2 weeks ago letting me know that there were going to be some major rearrangements going on around the 5th floor, and lucky me, I was going to be part of the fun. No biggie - I've gotten used to not getting too attached to whatever desk I'm working at for the time being. My official "move date" was to be tomorrow, Friday, but oops, I don't work on Fridays. hee hee :) So I planned to have my whole, whopping, 1 box-full of stuff packed and moved by the end of today. Which I did. I was happily cleaning and rearranging my new desk, and unpacking my Dilbert calendar and sparkly pencils when the supervisor of the area I'm currently assisting walks by. We make some polite conversation, she leaves and I go about my business. She returns a few minutes later and looks a bit puzzled. Then she asks, "weren't you supposed to be moving into so-and-so's old desk?"

"Huh?" I replied.

"Uh, yeah," she says, "I think you're supposed to be over there because... blah blah blah..." I'll save you the boring explanation. Basically - it comes down to this - the department responsible for associate moves and changes was supposed to email me during the last 2 weeks since I received the first email about the move and let me know that my new location had changed.

Yeah. I never got that email.

My only response was "you've got to be kidding me."

This will be my 5th move since I started in this department in January. At least I'm moving closer to the department I'm working with, or I'd really be getting suspicious! I'm so paranoid now that I didn't even bother to unpack my box before I left today. I'll believe that's the desk I'm supposed to be at when I go in on Monday and my stuff is still there! Yes - I am thinking of changing my middle name to Milton. I'd give you my new extension, but I can't remember it. *sigh*

Getting a leg up

Josephine's time lately is mostly spent seeing what she is able to climb on. The objects she's attempting to climb now include, but are not limited to - the coffee table, couch, crib railing, kitchen chairs, footstool and dog. She assesses everything in her path for climbing suitability, then tries to throw her leg over it. She spent about 15 minutes this morning grunting and struggling to climb on one of the little chairs that goes with her kid-sized table. Although she never quite succeeded, I'm sure we'll be giving it another try tonight. She's a tenacious little bugger.

Oh - and she's entered a new stage of independence as she no longer wants us to hold her hand when we walk the sidewalk to Daycare Betty's house. This allows for maximum mobility as we pass by the front steps at Betty's that are, of course, perfect to climb on. I knew toddlers liked to climb and explore, but didn't know that is ALL she would want to do!

There's something just not quite right...

... about driving around Winona in a minivan. The big weekend has come and gone. We attended the 15 year anniversary celebration for Patrick's fraternity on Saturday night in Winona. Driving into the town with so many college memories (some crystal clear and some a bit fuzzy!) was strange - considering I haven't been back there in about 3 years, and driving back in a minivan made it even more strange! It was great to see the town again, to see the new stores and improvements made, to drive by campus and to have lunch at Bub's again. They have the BEST deep-fried cellar mushrooms you have ever tasted - yum! It was fun to catch up with people we haven't seen in years and to find out who has kids and who's getting or has already gotten married and divorced. I have to say it did feel a bit strange to be near the fraternity house with a baby bump... I couldn't quite bring myself to go in. It would be a little like taking a baby into a bar. Just not right.

A big thanks to my mom for watching Josie overnight on Saturday night. It was the cutest thing ever to drive back into the yard on Sunday and see mom pulling Josie along in the garden wagon, with Brewster not far behind, of course! Everyone survived - mostly unscathed. :)

Hey - if anyone has any pull in the building of cell towers - put in a good word for the community of Winona, would ya? It's like being in a black hole - can't get a cell phone signal in that place for nothin'!

Out of Commission

So the past 2 days have been a giant, sleeping blur for me. I came down with a nasty cold (thanks Miss Josie for bringing that one home from daycare!) and perhaps a bit of seasonal allergies on top of it. Big bummer not really being able to take anything for it. And Tylenol is for the birds. I suppose the anemia jazz didn't help with the run-down feeling, either... and I slept, and slept, and slept some more. I'm feeling back amongst the living, but still not quite 100%. But much better.

Otherwise, not much new going on. Heading out of town this weekend to my mom's, then Pat and I are off to Winona on Saturday for a fraternity anniversary thing while Josie-bean babysits Mom and Erwin. Someone's got to keep an eye on those two. Should be fun!

25 weeks today - and baby is kicking like a champ. Except now she's decided she should stay up at night and exercise instead of doing it during the much more acceptable afternoon hours. Oh, well. Gotta get used to not sleeping again, sometime!

Hey - Josie turned 15 months yesterday. Wasn't she just born??

Week 24 Update

24 weeks and all is well.

Weight: Up 3 lbs. from last visit 1 month ago.
Height: Oh, yeah. They don't check this.
BP: 124 / 78. Not too shabby.
Belly measurement: 24 cm. Right on.
Baby heartbeat: 150 bpm. Exactly the same every time. This kid's consistent.

Had the big, bad glucose screening this time. And passed. Whew. Less than 140 is good - and I was a 126. Yeehaw. I was nervous. Really didn't want to go back for that 3 hour torture test.

My hemoglobin was a 9.9. I have no idea what that means - except that it's low. Supposed to be a 12 or something like that. Gotta go do some research on that one. ***Did research. Ah ha. Possibly anemia... I should have known that one. I'm tellin' ya - pregnancy stupids. I'm sure my clinic will be giving me a call to talk about that. The low hemoglobin, not the stupids.***

Oh - and I have a "tall" uterus. I didn't know this was possible. Normally at this stage, the fundus (that's the top of the uterus, for you laypeople) is about an inch above the belly button. Well, I guess mine is a couple inches above that. Perhaps something to do with baby being breech? I dunno. But that does explain why I'm popping out up higher than I thought I should be at this point. (I'll get a picture taken... really, I will. I only think of it when Pat is gone... sorry!)

Doc Ro' said that he took a look at my u/s pix from last week - and everything appears to be just dandy. No concerns that he could see with baby's kidneys. Thank goodness.

Can someone please tell my why my darn tailbone hurts so doggone bad?? Man. I sit for more than a few minutes in one position and it feels like the sucker's going to poke right on out of there. No fun. That's it. No more gripin'.

Baby is kicking like an all-star. Josie did, too... and she hasn't stopped ever since. She has to either step on or kick everything in her path... including our cat, Baxter, much to his displeasure.

Good night - gotta go watch CSI!

You have to be smarter than the window

I just mentioned to Meg that I've had a pretty bad case of pregnancy stupids lately. That brought to mind the following example of such stupidity. Which, normally, one probably wouldn't want to share, but what the hey. We're all friends, here, right?!

Although... now that I think about it, Pat did the same thing, so I'm not sure what his excuse is. Except for having to put up with a wife with pregnancy stupids, which is plenty of excuse in and of itself.

So after we bought the minivan, Pat decided to take it to a full service car wash and have it fully cleaned and detailed. (Not that you can even tell anymore, but at least now I know the dirt on the floor is mine and not some strangers.) It was sparkling quite lovely, and the friendly people at the Downtowner ever so kindly cracked open the one of the third row rear windows (which is the type of window that ever-so-slightly opens outward from the vehicle) for us since you're supposed to leave a window open a tad for the first 24 or 48 hours or something after having the carpets cleaned.

The only problem was a torrential downpour which was going to happen within the aforementioned 24 or 48 hour timeframe.

Now Patrick and I, having never owned a fancy-schmancy minivan before, were having a lot of trouble getting that back window closed again. (You can probably see where this is going, right??) Pat tried and tried one morning in the parking lot before work, and just couldn't quite get the window closed. I tried and tried one evening while waiting to pick Pat up from work, and just couldn't quite get that window closed. That darn window latch was stuck open. In the process of yanking excessively on the window dealy, we got this greasy junk on our hands and proclaimed ever-so-wisely to each other that the window must never have been opened before.

Yes- that was it, we were not inept, it was merely stuck open due to lack of use.

Well, about a week ago, we had a gloriously warm, beautiful day. A day beautiful enough to have the windows open while driving around. I did exactly this while on my way to pick up Pat from work. While waiting for him, and adjusting the driver and passenger windows to allow for optimum air circulation without massive wind gusts which blow my hair all over the place and make me quite cranky, I noticed just below the driver and passenger window controls two more window control buttons.

"Well, isn't that strange?" I thought to myself. "Why would there be a second set of controls when minivans have sliding passenger doors that don't have power windows?"

So I pushed one of the controls, and heard this strange whirring sound and looked around, quite puzzled. I pushed it again, and still couldn't figure out where this sound was coming from. Hmm. Maybe they're just there and not connected to anything. I was in the process of pushing the other unexplained window control button when I caught a glimpse of something moving in the side mirror.

AH-frickin'-HAH. As I was pushing the mysterious buttons, the third row rear windows were opening and closing, just like they are supposed to - WITH THE POWER CONTROLS.

Wow. I got quite a kick out of showing Pat this fancy new trick when he got to the van. What will they think of next :)

More Josephine Pictures

We are SO lucky.

Overall, Josie is such a good girl. We dragged her all over the place over the weekend running various errands, getting her picture taken at Penney's, picking out new rollerblades for Pat, meeting friends for lunch... and she didn't complain at all. Granted, she is finding new ways to test us - rubbing food all over her head, dropping food on the floor (on purpose, all the while looking at us to see our reaction,) and throwing her leg repeatedly over the side of her wagon while on a walk after I freaked out that she was going to fall out. I know this is just the beginning, and I know that it's all in exploration of the cause - effect relationship to see what our, well, mainly MY, reaction will be. So I'm getting good, okay - better, at withholding my freaking- out response and trying not to give a reaction at all since that's all she's looking for. She's a stinker, but such a good-natured stinker :)

And yes... Peg and Becky... we will get a picture of my belly up here for you soon, I promise!

The Tree Man Cometh...

And the tree stays. For now. Pat called a tree service and had them come out and give us an estimate on taking down the birch. Can you say "holy moly!?"

After talking with the Tree Man, he said that he didn't think it was in that bad of shape. Yeah, it isn't as alive and vibrant as it could be, but give it a little pruning and should be okay. For now. He assured us that in his opinion, it's not going to fall on Old Crusty's house. We're in more danger of losing a limb or something in a big storm, which could cause damage, but doesn't pretty much anyone anywhere anytime have this danger if you have tree anywhere near your home? Sure, the nice, neighborly thing to do would be to pay the money to have it taken down, since the sum we'd pay is pretty much the same as the deductible we'd have to pay if it fell on Crusty's house. But you know what? I'm not feeling all that nice. Or neighborly. Toward her, at least.

Changing the subject, I uttered a phrase the other night I didn't think I'd ever say. "Honey, don't shove that broccoli up your nose." Josie has discovered her nostrils, and boy, are they are fascinating. The PERFECT size for little fingers and other objects. Geesh. Thought I had a while before needing to worry about nose-picking becoming an issue.

Changing subject again, we had our follow-up ultrasound yesterday afternoon. All is well. The tech said she didn't see anything that looked like cause for concern regarding baby's kidneys, but of course, the u/s pix will be forwarded to my doc to take a look at. I see him next Thursday so will have more info then. Oh - and no boy parts have appeared in the last month, so we're still going with girl gusto for the time being. Baby is breech right now, but has tons of time to head south for the winter. Or summer, in this case. Based on baby's size, the "guess date" is off by a day, but no biggie.

We took Jo for her first wagon ride today. A bit on the windy side, but she LOVED it nonetheless. I have a feeling we're going to be logging a lot of miles in ye ole wagon this summer.

More pictures to come soon. But maybe not this weekend - it took 6 minutes to upload this one picture on dial-up. Ugh.

Exercise your right...

... to help name our baby. There are new girl names to vote on. And you can now vote for more than one choice, if you wish. I thought this might be necessary since the list is getting longer instead of shorter. Ugh.

Again, we're still open to suggestions. But don't bother suggesting Sierra Misty, because Pat's brother already did - and I had to shoot him down. Sorry. But if you're pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant, please, feel free to use it. ;)

And let me explain my reasoning behind Eleanor. I think it's kinda classy - and before you say "wait a minute... Ellie Daly, I don't think so!," it wouldn't have to be Ellie for short, it could be just Elle. Which isn't so bad. Or Nora - which, yes, Pat doesn't like, so my chances of winning on this name are slim to none. But I still like it. So there.

Anyone know a good lawyer?

Because apparently our next door neighbor is going to sue us.

If the tree in our front yard falls on her house.

Here's the deal. We have a grouping of three birch trees in our front yard. Now - our house is "cozy" to put it nicely and there are a lot of improvements that an improvement-minded couple could undertake - but those birch trees and the size of the kitchen and the fireplace are what sold me on the house. I don't claim to be a... well... whomever it would be that would know a lot about trees, so I don't know, maybe the tree is dying. But is it going to fall over today? No. Tomorrow? No. Next month? Probably not.

Let's back up. Old Crusty, as we'll call our evil neighbor, first approached Pat last summer. They were having a conversation about whatever, and Pat mentioned that we needed to take out the row of poorly-maintained shrubs that separates our yard from Old Crusty's. And she agreed that would be great- they were unsightly and we hadn't touched them since we bought the place in 2001. I know we are not the most desirable of neighbors from time to time, our lawn tends to be a tad underwatered, undermowed and undertended in general. And we have a big dog. Who leaves big poops. But damn it, yardwork just isn't our bag, baby. And we live next to ALL RETIRED PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOTHING TO DO ALL DAY BUT WORK ON THEIR YARDS. So that makes us look even worse. Anyway - back to the story. So then a while later OC comes a-knockin' on our front door. I answered. She hands me a card for a tree removal guy and says that she just used him for a tree in her backyard and he was reasonable and we should use him for the birch because he said it was dying and she'd hate to have to sue us if it fell on her house. *crickets chirping* I wasn't sure what to say to that. So I just said "yes, Old Crusty, that would be too bad, wouldn't it?" And closed the door. ???!?! What the hell?

Fast forward to last Friday. I got the mail and noticed an envelope hiding at the bottom of the closet under one of Pat's shoes. I'm not sure how long it had been there, could have been there a while or could have been left that day. (Let me explain our mailslot... it goes from the outside of the house directly into our front closet. It requires acrobatics to make sure you retrieved all of the mail. Big fat pain in my big fat butt.) The thin envelope was simply addressed to "Pat" and contained one sheet of lined paper. This is what it said:

Pat,
Please take down that tree in the front yard. If it would come down on my house I'd have to sue you. It would be better to pay for the tree removal then damage to my home.
Old Crusty

I'm not *always* a completely unreasonable person. It would be unfortunate to have a tree come down on her house. I'm not begrudging her that fact. But what the hell is up with this suing us business?? That's the second threat we've gotten and if she thinks she's scaring us, she's sorrily mistaken. If anything her scare tactic is completely backfiring and we're going to leave the damn tree there just out of spite. AND if anything else, the part of the tree that leans the most toward OUR house may be the most damaged. I don't know, I guess we just need someone to come out and look at it, but I don't want to give OC the satisfaction of thinking that her harassment has worked. Ugh. I'm so incredible peeved. And sad - I really like that tree. Yes, it's a birch and it drops a bunch of twigs as birches tend to do, but it's pretty and I like it and I'm sad that we didn't water it as much as we should have a couple of summers ago when it was ungodly hot and we should have known better and watered more. I know it means a lot to get along with your neighbors, but I don't think I'm being unreasonable in being very annoyed at her threats. She never even asked us reasonably about the tree. So I let off some steam by writing her some nasty letters back - which I threw away, of course, and good thing since the nicest of them told her that she was old and so was the tree so we were just going to let nature take it's course with both of them - and now I guess we just sit and wait. And see which way the tree falls. So if you know a good lawyer, let us know, just in case the wind isn't blowing in our direction that day.

Alright, so maybe we'll give in and have the blasted tree removed... but we're sure as heck going to let her sit there and stew about it for a good while first. Oh yeah - stew away Old Crusty One, stew away.

The case of the missing sock

If anyone is mysteriously missing a sock - let me know - my dog probably ate it. So I walk into Josie's room on Friday afternoon to get her up from her nap, and Brewster, as always, joins me. She had taken off one of her socks, so I pick it up and am messing around with the dog, hitting him in the head and face with it while he opens up his mouth and tries to get it. This always gets a laugh out of Jos. Well, I stop for a second, Brewster grabs the sock and takes off across the room with it, and it's gone. I bolt after him and open up his mouth - and it was truly gone. He ate her sock. No report yet on whether a bright pink sock has shown up in our yard. Gross.

If you're up for a little Lawrence Welk sometime, stop on by. That is Josie's new favorite show. No Dora or Dragon Tales for my little girl. We like the classics. She had the remote on Saturday and was flipping through stations (one of her favorite things to do) when all of the sudden she stops at Larry, puts the remote down and smiles the biggest smile and starts dancing away! She didn't quite understand that if she continued to flip stations, she'd lose the tunes and would get very mad until we put it back on the station with the delightful polka melodies. She has turned into a music fiend lately and definitely has an affinity for classic rock over any of her "educational" music CDs.

Everything else is going just fine - I'm feeling good in my 22nd week. I have my follow-up ultrasound this Thursday. Feelin' a little groggy this morning due to the time change, but am sure looking forward to more daylight in the evening. BUT we do have to get darkening shades for Josie's room. Nighttime could be a battle until we do.