Holding down the fort

We stayed home ALL day today. Well, we cheated & went to Popeye's for lunch, but that was our one outing until J got home and we went for burritos tonight. We did lots of playing, a little napping, and some destructing in the house. We have a playdate tomorrow, but I've got to tell you- I'm exhausted!!! V can wear anyone out and she's learned to climb onto our counter-height kitchen table from the back of the couch. Talk about scary! What do you do with a monkey child? Ankle chains to the floor? Gymnastic mat flooring? Trapeze training wires attached to her joints? She's terrifying- it only takes her 30 seconds to climb on top of anything. Tomorrow is the beginning of a long weekend, so maybe we'll get some unpacking done. I don't know though- what's left is complicated. We've got some school shopping to do, as V starts school (Mother's Day Out) next week. She needs a nap mat and backpack or lunch box. There's been lots of talk and debate about the new stroller, so I don't know about that. I wonder how old kids have to be to go to gymnastics. V would be good at that- perhaps I should look into circus classes too. We're going to be inheriting a piano, and since V inherited my bizarrely long fingers she'll be taking lessons as soon as someone will sacrifice themselves to teaching her. I find myself wondering if Little C will look like V or if she'll be drastically different. As we all know V looks like J's clone with my fingers and toes, so it will be a miracle if I manage to pass anything more substantial to Little C. I am starting to get a little excited about her though. Off to bed while V is quiet (Rare in this house).

p.s. I do know how to use grammar, punctuation, and paragraphs. I think less linearly than that- so that's why this blog just runs together like a jumbly mess.

The beat goes on....

Deb wants to know why there aren't any blog updates. It's actually hard for me to sit and figure out what exactly to say. I want to sound witty, and interesting, and full of exciting information. V has quit napping. She hasn't napped for the last two days and as we speak I have her in her pack & play trying to lull her into a nap. I think we're going to go looking at baby stores this afternoon. I want to compare a couple of stroller models. I went to the nurse midwife yesterday and I liked her. She was very nice and took a good while to talk to me. J & V went with me and that was, frankly, a disaster. You just can't really take her anywhere lately- she's too busy. It makes life very interesting. I bought a book called the "Insert City Name" Mama's handbook which has lots of useful information on my surroundings. It has chapters on things to do, places to shop, museums, libraries, etc. for kiddos to go. We're getting some ideas from that. I'm pretty psyched about all the great CNN I've gotten to watch lately. The DNC is going on and I have it on CNNHD round the clock, with the exception of V's playhouse disney from 7-9 in the mornings and Crossing Jordan in the afternoon for an hour. I took V to the mall playplace the other day, and that was different. She wasn't really sure at first and later was a wild thing, climbing and running and jumping. The most interesting turn of events was the fact that she decided to hit any kids who came to visit with her. This makes me nervous about her starting MDO next week. Hopefully it's not something she'll continue to do. We're trying to figure out how to make her stop, but I'm running out of ideas. We have some playgroup meetings in the next couple of weeks and hopefully J & my mothers will visit in the next few weeks. We'll see about that! My Dad says he can come for a week when little C is here- yay!!! We only get to see them a couple of times a year, so we're always excited when they want to come hang with us for a few days! It's always nice to have help with the hyena.

Controlled, Disastrous, Chaos

So J and I have 2 styles of cleaning. I truly couldn't care less if something is "clean" in J's sense of the word- I just want everything organized and picked up. J could spend hours dusting and vaccuuming and then throw his clothes in a pile in the floor and move on. He perpetually has a stack of mail and papers he refuses to throw away, put away, or do anything with- which he thinks should live on the dining room table. This renders the table somewhat useless, but seeing as he thinks it's not for eating (tv trays satisfy that need) it's not really a problem to him. Anyways, this all comes into play regarding the unpacking of all the boxes in my house and the usage of our closet. J manages to take up 2/3 of the closet and still has a large wardrobe box of clothes that don't go anywhere. This is because he refuses to get rid of any clothes (which I did when I got pregnant this time, sketchy halter tops in a size 00 probably aren't going to happen as a curvier mother of two). He also refuses to put seasonal items (i.e. sweaters and corduroy or coats) upstairs in another closet or in storage containers (again, I did this when I found out I was pregnant in an attempt to consolidate closet space). So we are still living in chaos with boxes in every room. It's hard for me to do much since I can't hang anything on the walls or carry heavy boxes around. Trust me, I've done some stuff I probably shouldn't have while pregnant, both last time and this time, but I"m not carrying heavy boxes up a flight of stairs. That's beyond my capabilities. Then, there's still all the crap from his office and storage in the garage, which the dogs recently decided to start destroying. They of course tore into a box of books (mine) and shredded them. Why are they still in the garage? Because the storage facility had a bug problem and I refuse to bring that in this house- I HATE bugs. Also, the dogs are still living in my garage so unpacking the boxes is somewhat pointless as I can't use it anyways (surrender to the power of the dogs that were apparently here before me and thus pull rank). How am I going to solve all of these problems? I suppose I'll hang some pictures myself, how hard could that be? I"m going to get J some storage boxes and pack up his clothes for him and the dogs- well they are soon to be moving into kennels so that I can reclaim my garage (and try to salvage my backyard which they have started digging up and destroying). I know this post sounds bitchy, but that's where I am today. If you can't blog about it what's the point?

A New Week

V is better and went to her 15 month appointment today. She's 26.2 pounds and 32 inches tall. Both of these values fall in the upper 90th percentile, not that we should be surprised. She's been in that range since week 2. She seems to be normal and the pediatrician said we needed to switch her to 2% milk, or even 1% if we want. Apparently some information came out a few weeks ago that suggested that 2% or 1% is more acceptable. I think I heard about this study- and it involved children in the upper percentiles and the rates of obesity later in life. If it's the same study, it suggested dietary changes for infants to try and bring the percentages down, but in reality if her height and weight match isn't that healthy? Surely he would have said something if he though she were on the heavy side, we just like to call her "full figured" and healthy. After all, skinny babies look sad. Someone should give them a cookie every once in a while. J let her drink out of his coke at lunch and she immediately didn't want anything else, especially her milk. The only thing that made her happy was pizza and mandarin oranges. The delightful Aunt M turned us onto the pizza thing, and V sure does appreciate it!! She had pizza sauce all over her and was certainly pleased with her lunch. We went shopping a† the outlet malls this afternoon. I wanted to get a Coach diaper bag and found a couple I liked. They weren't true diaper bags, but then again all that's required is space. I've decided with little C I'm just going to stop carrying a purse and get a nice diaper bag that doesn't look babyish. It's too much of a pain to juggle two bags with V, much less V and little C in a carseat, etc. I got them matching outfits (several) and some Halloween onesies that say "I love my mummy and my mummy loves me". How cute is that? I contemplated getting a newborn sized halloween costume (ladybug or giraffe) for little C, but again, they all are fleece and long sleeved and who needs that here? Anyways, V also got some school shoes since her feet have suddenly had a growth spurt. She was measured by the girl at the keds/striderite outlet and needs a 5.5 WIDE!!!!! I was shoving her poor feet in 3's and 4's. I bought her some 6's in an attempt to avoid any further strain on the ends of the shoes. I'm quite pleased with her interest in shopping- she just likes the people and attention really. I finally made an appointment to see the OB, after throwing a mini-fit (nicely of course) and physically going to the office and demanding to see someone. It's a nurse midwife, not an OB, but V was such a routine delivery, I have hopes this one will go the same. They mentioned an ultrasound so maybe I'll get to see her next week!!!! Poor J hasn't been able to see her since 10 weeks, but I don't think he gets as big of a kick out of it as I do. He says he'll see her soon enough. Bizarre thought that in 9 weeks I'll have two children. Scary thought, actually. I don't know that I'm good at having one yet. I'm really trying to enjoy staying at home, but it's hard. V doesn't really provide stimulating conversation and since I've been feeling puny and so has she, it's been rough. Hopefully this week will be better so everyone should quit worrying- although we would enjoy visitors if anyone wants to take a humid, rainy vacation!

Sick, Sick, Baby

V is sick. She's been running a fever for a couple of days and it's just sad. She's usually such a hyper little punk, but when she doesn't feel good she gets whiny and just wants to lay on my chest. I feel so awful for her. They can't figure out what's wrong, so we're just trying to keep the fever down and wait it out. On a better note, we got a gate for the stairs today so I can relax a little bit. We also cleared out a few more boxes so maybe all the cardboard receptacles will be gone soon!!!!

Exploring the Lands

So V and I have been doing some exploring for the last couple of days. I'm not the best driver and interstate driving across 5 or 6 lanes is very intimidating- but we've managed okay. I've done some shopping for little C's room since, in theory, she could make her grand entrance in 6 or 7 weeks. V has also done some interesting things the last few days, including taking her diaper off in a corner and running around the living room like a banshee. She also has discovered she can climb on all the furniture- including the computer chair. She likes to get in the computer chair and "type" on the keyboard, hard at work. She also has started wanting to eat whatever I do, and throws some awesome fits if she doesn't get what she wants. She is awfully cute though. We're supposed to be going to meet up with a playgroup tomorrow. I'm not the most social individual but V loves, loves, loves other people! I guess we must bore her. It'll be good for her to be around some other kids- she used to be around a couple every day before we moved. I'm not making much progress on the unpacking front. Most of it is crap that needs to be thrown out anyways, but J is a bigger packrat than me and he refuses to budge. My guestroom is going to turn into his dumping ground and be as big of a disaster as the office was in the other house. Perhaps one day while he's at work I should just throw it all out? That seems awfully inconsiderate though! I hate junk but we seem to accumulate quite a bit of it. I need to get a bed for the guest room anyways, so that someone can actually stay and not have to sleep on the couch. I would like to put little C's room together and see what it looks like so far. I'm attempting to make some lampshades for a chandelier- I saw one I like for $1000 and that's just plain silly. We'll see how it turns out. I like to think I'm moderately crafty and can do this. I made the letters for her wall and V's lampshade for her room. I'm trying to find someone on etsy to do the birth announcements this time though. I just don't think I'll feel like doing it and I want something super cute. I want it to involve owls, they're cute and V has poodles as her thing. Of course, poodles are much easier to find than owls. Speaking of poodles, V needs a halloween costume. I was thinking a butterfly maybe. Why are all costumes designed for cold weather climates? It will likely be warm here. Oh well, I'll have to figure something out....

Introductions of sorts

So I've decided to start blogging about my exploits as a SAHM (Stay at Home Mom). This way I can feel like everyone else hears about the chaos that is my chasing a toddler and soon a newborn around. V is 15 months old and the best way I can describe her is a hyena. She climbs and runs and jumps and does lots of baring her teeth in defiance. She also screams and throws tantrums, making me wonder what I've done to deserve this. She and I should have some interesting battles over the next 30 years or so. We'll be adding to our "pack" soon with little C in October, so I'm thorougly exhausted and pretty anxious about the whole thing. We just went through a move and now are settling in and trying to figure out some kind of routine. As is to be expected, the only part V cares about is the food part, but I'm worried about everything else to fill the day. Well, I should nap while she naps- or at least put some clothes away.