Well, it finally happened...our first trip to the ER. We had such a gorgeous day yesterday so Eric wanted to take Maddie to the park for the afternoon. We were planning to go to our neighbor's house for dinner so I needed to make some hummus and veggie dip for that but needed to get groceries. After the grocery store I dropped Eric and Maddie off at the park then headed home to make my yummies and was going to meet up with them after I was finished. Well, I had just gotten home and only started to prepare a few things (like juiced the lemons and rinsed the garbanzo beans) when my cell phone rang. It was Eric. He sounded pretty upset and asked if I could come pick them up because he thought he hurt Maddie's foot. So I jumped in the car and headed out. Thank God the park is only about a quarter mile from our house! I got there and Maddie was still pretty upset. She didn't want to get in her carseat. But I managed to get her in and took her shoes and socks off to see if there was any swelling. There was just a little, but no bruising so I didn't know what to think. Eric explained what happened on the way back to our house. He took Maddie to the top of the curly slide but she didn't want to go down it by herself (like she's done before). So Eric sat down, put Maddie on his lap and they headed down the slide. The slide is so narrow (it's at the playground to an elementary school...) that Maddie's foot got caught between Eric's leg and the slide. It twisted around funny and Maddie apparently let out a scream that instantly let Eric know something was wrong.
So, we went to a local emergency clinic but they told us we had to go to the ER because of Maddie's age. YAY! I thought we were going to be gone for HOURS as soon as they told us that. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, I imagined the place swarming with people who had "nice weather" accidents. Luckily it wasn't very busy at all. Unfortunately she didn't like when ANYONE looked at her, or especially when they touched her. It made for a stressful experience for Mommy and Daddy...as well as Maddie. She had to have x-rays and that about killed ME! I couldn't go in the room since I'm pregnant so I had to stand outside the room listening to her screaming bloody murder. It's one thing to be able to listen to her screaming and crying when I feel like I'm somewhat in control...but to be on the outside of the room and not being able to do anything was horrible! Eric said despite what I heard she actually did very well. There was only one time she moved and they had to retake the picture.
The result was there was no fracture (thank God!) but it's sprained. So we don't know how long it's going to be until she'll be able to walk again. She WANTS to walk, but it's just too painful for her to put her weight on it. We watched an episode of Go Diego Go the other day and they were crawling around like leatherback sea turtles. So I reminded Maddie of crawling like a turtle and she's gotten around like that a little. But then she seems to be impatient with how slow crawling is and tries to stand up and then remembers she has a boo boo. :( I hate seeing my baby in pain!
For now she's passed out on the couch so hopefully she's getting some much needed rest and will be a little happier when she wakes up later.
I'll keep you posted on her progress!
Oh, and yesterday we switched her to her big sister bed!! That was going to be the blog post for today but then the ankle happened... :)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Headaches
Tonight is the third night in a row that I've had a headache. Tuesday was pretty mild and didn't bother me too much. Yesterday was pretty intense and I just had to rest and ended up going to bed early. Today my headache started before 5pm and is so strong I can't even eat dinner. Headaches can be expected in early pregnancy due to progesterone levels going up. I had a few in early pregnancy with Maddie and took quite a bit of Tylenol for them. I can't remember what time of day they were, but it does kind of seem like it might have been the evenings...maybe I just need to get even more rest than I am now? I don't know if that's possible...
My concern with the headaches is my blood pressure. I wasn't worried about the headaches when I was pregnant with Maddie because I read all the books that said it was to be expected. But when I went in the day before my due date and my blood pressure was up, the nurse asked me if I had been having headaches. I had been...every evening around dinner time and they didn't go away when I went to bed. I'm going to get my blood pressure checked tomorrow. I have to run out to get Maddie's vaccination record (more on that later) so I might just swing by Walmart and use their machine by the pharmacy. Better safe than sorry! I certainly can't afford to have high blood pressure during this pregnancy! The baby will be scheduled to arrive on Sept 2nd and Eric will get home on Aug 31st. The baby CAN'T come before August 31st!!!
Now, about Maddie's vaccination record...
I stopped to pick up a packet to get Maddie in a Mother's Day Out program. Eric and I had been talking about this for a while and now that we're expecting again I'd like to be able to have some one-on-one time with baby #2. We'll start her enrollment in the summer so she's already established in going two days a week before her sibling comes. I don't know the exact start date, but it should be right around her 2nd birthday. In exchange for the MDO I'm probably going to have to give up the cleaning lady :( But that's ok...I'm kind of over it now anyway. When I clean my house, I KNOW it's clean. When someone else does it, I have my doubts. Anyway, back to MDO. Registration is on Monday (the 22nd) so I have to go tomorrow to get a copy of Maddie's vaccination record to include in her packet. Registration begins at 7:30am but this particular program is in such high demand that parents get there to get in line around 2-3am! Insane, right? They are opening the doors to the church at 5:00am so I won't get there before that. I'm going to shoot for around 6ish and pray that's early enough. It's not easy to entertain a 20 month old for an hour and a half, especially when you have to wake them up out of bed. I might take her in her pjs and I'll have breakfast packed to take along with us. Hopefully it will all go well and we'll be enrolled!!
My concern with the headaches is my blood pressure. I wasn't worried about the headaches when I was pregnant with Maddie because I read all the books that said it was to be expected. But when I went in the day before my due date and my blood pressure was up, the nurse asked me if I had been having headaches. I had been...every evening around dinner time and they didn't go away when I went to bed. I'm going to get my blood pressure checked tomorrow. I have to run out to get Maddie's vaccination record (more on that later) so I might just swing by Walmart and use their machine by the pharmacy. Better safe than sorry! I certainly can't afford to have high blood pressure during this pregnancy! The baby will be scheduled to arrive on Sept 2nd and Eric will get home on Aug 31st. The baby CAN'T come before August 31st!!!
Now, about Maddie's vaccination record...
I stopped to pick up a packet to get Maddie in a Mother's Day Out program. Eric and I had been talking about this for a while and now that we're expecting again I'd like to be able to have some one-on-one time with baby #2. We'll start her enrollment in the summer so she's already established in going two days a week before her sibling comes. I don't know the exact start date, but it should be right around her 2nd birthday. In exchange for the MDO I'm probably going to have to give up the cleaning lady :( But that's ok...I'm kind of over it now anyway. When I clean my house, I KNOW it's clean. When someone else does it, I have my doubts. Anyway, back to MDO. Registration is on Monday (the 22nd) so I have to go tomorrow to get a copy of Maddie's vaccination record to include in her packet. Registration begins at 7:30am but this particular program is in such high demand that parents get there to get in line around 2-3am! Insane, right? They are opening the doors to the church at 5:00am so I won't get there before that. I'm going to shoot for around 6ish and pray that's early enough. It's not easy to entertain a 20 month old for an hour and a half, especially when you have to wake them up out of bed. I might take her in her pjs and I'll have breakfast packed to take along with us. Hopefully it will all go well and we'll be enrolled!!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Happy Valentine's Day
I thought I'd share the story of how Eric and I met, got engaged, and got married in honor of Valentine's Day...
Eric and I met in the fall of 2002. I don't remember exactly what day, I kind of wish I had taken note :) Anyway, I was deployed to Bosnia with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and Eric was working for KBR (Kellogg, Brown & Root at the time). He was filling in in our transportation office while another contractor was on vacation. I was the section mail clerk...yeah, fancy, huh? I had the "pleasure" of going to get the mail every day and hand delivering it to each person in my section. Anyway, I went to take CPT Johnson his mail for the day and saw a MUCH smaller guy than usual sitting in Dave's chair. (Dave was probably about 6'5", 350 pounds or so. Obviously, Eric ISN'T that large). I thought I'd be funny and say "Wow, Dave, you've lost weight!" Eric spun around in his office chair and I couldn't believe this handsome guy looking back at me (I didn't notice the taper leg jeans until later...eeek!) CPT Johnson introduced us and was sure to point out that we were both single. I felt myself blush and soon left the office to deliver more mail. Eric and I kept running into each other here and there, he was part of our G4/S4 conference one day (maybe more, but I remember one specifically) and we had lunch afterwards with SGM Durand. We talked about working out (something we'd still like to be doing together) and set up a "date" to go to the gym. We consider our anniversary Dec 31, 2002...the day we shared our first kiss. Awww...
I redeployed back to the US in March 2003 and Eric and I couldn't stand being apart from each other. He found a job opening for me, I applied and by the end of May I was back in Bosnia to be with him. It was much different being there together as civilians. People could actually know about our relationship, which was kind of cool :) We had lunch together, we had dinner together, we worked out together, we played ping pong together, we played pool together, we hung out at Triggers a lot to eat pizza. We just had a really nice time getting to know each other without a lot of the "real world" interfering.
In August 2003 we planned our first R&R together and went to Italy. We rented a car and drove from Croatia, through Slovenia (where we met up with Eric's cousin Polona), and then on to Italy. We visited several cities including Venice, Verona, Naples, Lavorno (sp?), Florence, Milan and Rome (I may have missed some). I got to see where Eric was stationed and he showed me the sidewalk he helped put in...awww, how romantic :) When we were in Venice we definitely took a gondola ride. The gondolier gave us champagne and sang a little. We just took in the sites and relaxed after a long day of site seeing. I don't remember how it all happened but Eric asked me to marry him while we were on the gondola. He didn't have the ring :( It was being mailed to him in Bosnia but it didn't come in before we left for our trip so I had to wait until we got back to see it!!! I was tempted to not say "yes" until I saw the ring :) No, I said "yes" without hesitation...I knew this was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. The ring was an added bonus when we got back...1 1/2 carat emerald cut platinum. HELLO...WINNER! I still get compliments on my ring and I LOVE every minute of the attention it brings me :)
Now we were ready to get the wedding plans started!! I have to take you back to Feb 2003 for a second...the Stars & Stripes newspaper had this Valentine's Day thing where you could put a greeting for your special someone. Everyone who put in a greeting was entered to win two round trip tickets from anywhere in Europe to anywhere in the United States. You'll never believe it...WE WON! I was so embarrassed because they put a picture of us covering the entire page of the paper. So much for no one knowing we were an "item". Oh well, at least we got free airfare to our destination wedding in HAWAII!! We flew from Vienna, Austria all the way to Honolulu, Hawaii. I think the trip took 53 hours from start (from the time the van picked us up on Eagle Base) to finish. I could be wrong, but I do know it was exhausting. We had to stay overnight in Germany then we had several lay overs and plane changes in the US. We couldn't wait to get in to Hawaii and rest! The time difference was 12 hours (Bosnia being 12 hours ahead of Hawaii) so we thought we'd have a hard time adjusting. But let me tell you, with all that traveling we had NO PROBLEMS going right to sleep!
We got married on March 6, 2004 with only 12 people in attendance...my dad, my mom and her boyfriend at the time, my brother, my aunt cindy, uncle tony and their girls Steph and Sierra, Eric's sister Jennifer and her husband Joe and Eric's parents. It was a beautiful wedding and I wouldn't change a minute of it. We had a single violinist and some refreshments for after the ceremony (probably even some before since I was late to the wedding...oops!). The funniest thing that happened was there was a wedding going on in the lot adjacent to our wedding and they had a big ol' loud organ playing the wedding song (you know the one after they announce you husband and wife) and it was playing somewhere in the middle of our ceremony. It's the only thing you can hear on our wedding video :) After the wedding we went to a local Hawaiian restaurant that served traditional Hawaiian foods buffet style. We ate, drank and were merry :) It was a beautiful day and a beautiful experience over all! I hope Maddie wants to do a destination wedding when she gets married!
We spent 2 full weeks in Hawaii, one week with both our families there, then one week just for us to do some SCUBA diving and site seeing on our own. Eric went skydiving. I didn't. It was sad to have to return to Bosnia :( I find it funny that I don't remember how long the trip back took. I guess I didn't care since I wasn't in a hurry to get back, huh? I stayed in Bosnia until June 2004 and went back to the States when my contract expired. Eric headed over to Iraq in July 2004 and we didn't see each other again until Thanksgiving of that year. That was rough! But now it makes our 8 weeks apart seem like nothing compared to that!
Sorry for the long post :) I enjoyed this walk down memory lane...I can't wait to see my hubby again in 11 days!! He'll actually be home for our 6th anniversary :) YAY!
Eric and I met in the fall of 2002. I don't remember exactly what day, I kind of wish I had taken note :) Anyway, I was deployed to Bosnia with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and Eric was working for KBR (Kellogg, Brown & Root at the time). He was filling in in our transportation office while another contractor was on vacation. I was the section mail clerk...yeah, fancy, huh? I had the "pleasure" of going to get the mail every day and hand delivering it to each person in my section. Anyway, I went to take CPT Johnson his mail for the day and saw a MUCH smaller guy than usual sitting in Dave's chair. (Dave was probably about 6'5", 350 pounds or so. Obviously, Eric ISN'T that large). I thought I'd be funny and say "Wow, Dave, you've lost weight!" Eric spun around in his office chair and I couldn't believe this handsome guy looking back at me (I didn't notice the taper leg jeans until later...eeek!) CPT Johnson introduced us and was sure to point out that we were both single. I felt myself blush and soon left the office to deliver more mail. Eric and I kept running into each other here and there, he was part of our G4/S4 conference one day (maybe more, but I remember one specifically) and we had lunch afterwards with SGM Durand. We talked about working out (something we'd still like to be doing together) and set up a "date" to go to the gym. We consider our anniversary Dec 31, 2002...the day we shared our first kiss. Awww...
I redeployed back to the US in March 2003 and Eric and I couldn't stand being apart from each other. He found a job opening for me, I applied and by the end of May I was back in Bosnia to be with him. It was much different being there together as civilians. People could actually know about our relationship, which was kind of cool :) We had lunch together, we had dinner together, we worked out together, we played ping pong together, we played pool together, we hung out at Triggers a lot to eat pizza. We just had a really nice time getting to know each other without a lot of the "real world" interfering.
In August 2003 we planned our first R&R together and went to Italy. We rented a car and drove from Croatia, through Slovenia (where we met up with Eric's cousin Polona), and then on to Italy. We visited several cities including Venice, Verona, Naples, Lavorno (sp?), Florence, Milan and Rome (I may have missed some). I got to see where Eric was stationed and he showed me the sidewalk he helped put in...awww, how romantic :) When we were in Venice we definitely took a gondola ride. The gondolier gave us champagne and sang a little. We just took in the sites and relaxed after a long day of site seeing. I don't remember how it all happened but Eric asked me to marry him while we were on the gondola. He didn't have the ring :( It was being mailed to him in Bosnia but it didn't come in before we left for our trip so I had to wait until we got back to see it!!! I was tempted to not say "yes" until I saw the ring :) No, I said "yes" without hesitation...I knew this was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. The ring was an added bonus when we got back...1 1/2 carat emerald cut platinum. HELLO...WINNER! I still get compliments on my ring and I LOVE every minute of the attention it brings me :)
Now we were ready to get the wedding plans started!! I have to take you back to Feb 2003 for a second...the Stars & Stripes newspaper had this Valentine's Day thing where you could put a greeting for your special someone. Everyone who put in a greeting was entered to win two round trip tickets from anywhere in Europe to anywhere in the United States. You'll never believe it...WE WON! I was so embarrassed because they put a picture of us covering the entire page of the paper. So much for no one knowing we were an "item". Oh well, at least we got free airfare to our destination wedding in HAWAII!! We flew from Vienna, Austria all the way to Honolulu, Hawaii. I think the trip took 53 hours from start (from the time the van picked us up on Eagle Base) to finish. I could be wrong, but I do know it was exhausting. We had to stay overnight in Germany then we had several lay overs and plane changes in the US. We couldn't wait to get in to Hawaii and rest! The time difference was 12 hours (Bosnia being 12 hours ahead of Hawaii) so we thought we'd have a hard time adjusting. But let me tell you, with all that traveling we had NO PROBLEMS going right to sleep!
We got married on March 6, 2004 with only 12 people in attendance...my dad, my mom and her boyfriend at the time, my brother, my aunt cindy, uncle tony and their girls Steph and Sierra, Eric's sister Jennifer and her husband Joe and Eric's parents. It was a beautiful wedding and I wouldn't change a minute of it. We had a single violinist and some refreshments for after the ceremony (probably even some before since I was late to the wedding...oops!). The funniest thing that happened was there was a wedding going on in the lot adjacent to our wedding and they had a big ol' loud organ playing the wedding song (you know the one after they announce you husband and wife) and it was playing somewhere in the middle of our ceremony. It's the only thing you can hear on our wedding video :) After the wedding we went to a local Hawaiian restaurant that served traditional Hawaiian foods buffet style. We ate, drank and were merry :) It was a beautiful day and a beautiful experience over all! I hope Maddie wants to do a destination wedding when she gets married!
We spent 2 full weeks in Hawaii, one week with both our families there, then one week just for us to do some SCUBA diving and site seeing on our own. Eric went skydiving. I didn't. It was sad to have to return to Bosnia :( I find it funny that I don't remember how long the trip back took. I guess I didn't care since I wasn't in a hurry to get back, huh? I stayed in Bosnia until June 2004 and went back to the States when my contract expired. Eric headed over to Iraq in July 2004 and we didn't see each other again until Thanksgiving of that year. That was rough! But now it makes our 8 weeks apart seem like nothing compared to that!
Sorry for the long post :) I enjoyed this walk down memory lane...I can't wait to see my hubby again in 11 days!! He'll actually be home for our 6th anniversary :) YAY!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Prenatal Appt #1
Well, my doctor's office called and got me in sooner for my first appointment! I was pretty excited because I was so anxious to see the little baby growing inside me, but I was disappointed that the appointment took 2 HOURS! Grrrr. I had Maddie with me so thank God she was a trooper!
The results of the appointment were good. The baby has a perfect little heartbeat inside it's little .6 inch body. Isn't that just amazing that something the size of a raspberry can have its own little beating heart?!?! It was so cool to see. Other than that they didn't do much at the appointment. I'm measuring right at 8 weeks, 5 days and baby is measuring at 7 weeks, 6 days. I thought that was interesting :)
In other pregnancy news...the aversions have been getting stronger and stronger by the day. Yesterday I crossed chicken patties off of my list of foods I could eat. Then fish sticks (although I think maybe it was more the tartar sauce than the fish itself). Today I crossed off spaghettio's and scrambled eggs. That leaves me with blueberries, almonds and CRACKERS. BLAH. I'm drinking some ginger ale but that's not even settling well. I mostly have to stick with water or fruit juice. I've discovered a love for Ocean Spray's cranberry and concord grape juice. YUMMY! It settles my stomach pretty well but I have to be careful I don't drink the whole bottle in a day! It seems my "morning" sickness is more "afternoon/evening" sickness. Yesterday it hit me while I was watching the Biggest Loser. Today it hit me right after lunch. I'm feeling ok right now so hopefully I'll be able to get the house straightened up before bed...oh yeah :) Because I have a cleaning lady coming tomorrow!!! I can't wait for her to come but I just hope I can stay out of the house for 6 hours without getting sick and needing to come home...
In Maddie news...this little snot is really pushing the limits. She's testing me to see if I'll follow through on my "threats". As hard as it is to get up off the couch sometimes I still make sure I'm consistent with her. She had two time outs yesterday and three today. I'm not making her pick up her toys so much these days just because I don't have the energy for it. We pick them up once every couple of days or I just get overwhelmed with too many toys. Most days she doesn't make a HUGE mess, but when I let that go for 3 days it looks like a disaster area!
Maddie hasn't had any food aversions with me :) Unfortunately I still have to prepare meals for her. She had spaghettio's for the first time today and LOVED them! She still likes the fish sticks and tartar sauce and mac & cheese (another one I had to cross off my list yesterday). She has been asking for scrambled eggs and waffles so sometimes she'll have that for lunch or dinner. It's easy for me to make and doesn't require a lot of clean up! For breakfast we've been sticking with a banana and cereal because I can't get into meal preparation that early :)
Well, I guess that's it for now. It's time for me to get Maddie up to bed now. Wish us luck :)
The results of the appointment were good. The baby has a perfect little heartbeat inside it's little .6 inch body. Isn't that just amazing that something the size of a raspberry can have its own little beating heart?!?! It was so cool to see. Other than that they didn't do much at the appointment. I'm measuring right at 8 weeks, 5 days and baby is measuring at 7 weeks, 6 days. I thought that was interesting :)
In other pregnancy news...the aversions have been getting stronger and stronger by the day. Yesterday I crossed chicken patties off of my list of foods I could eat. Then fish sticks (although I think maybe it was more the tartar sauce than the fish itself). Today I crossed off spaghettio's and scrambled eggs. That leaves me with blueberries, almonds and CRACKERS. BLAH. I'm drinking some ginger ale but that's not even settling well. I mostly have to stick with water or fruit juice. I've discovered a love for Ocean Spray's cranberry and concord grape juice. YUMMY! It settles my stomach pretty well but I have to be careful I don't drink the whole bottle in a day! It seems my "morning" sickness is more "afternoon/evening" sickness. Yesterday it hit me while I was watching the Biggest Loser. Today it hit me right after lunch. I'm feeling ok right now so hopefully I'll be able to get the house straightened up before bed...oh yeah :) Because I have a cleaning lady coming tomorrow!!! I can't wait for her to come but I just hope I can stay out of the house for 6 hours without getting sick and needing to come home...
In Maddie news...this little snot is really pushing the limits. She's testing me to see if I'll follow through on my "threats". As hard as it is to get up off the couch sometimes I still make sure I'm consistent with her. She had two time outs yesterday and three today. I'm not making her pick up her toys so much these days just because I don't have the energy for it. We pick them up once every couple of days or I just get overwhelmed with too many toys. Most days she doesn't make a HUGE mess, but when I let that go for 3 days it looks like a disaster area!
Maddie hasn't had any food aversions with me :) Unfortunately I still have to prepare meals for her. She had spaghettio's for the first time today and LOVED them! She still likes the fish sticks and tartar sauce and mac & cheese (another one I had to cross off my list yesterday). She has been asking for scrambled eggs and waffles so sometimes she'll have that for lunch or dinner. It's easy for me to make and doesn't require a lot of clean up! For breakfast we've been sticking with a banana and cereal because I can't get into meal preparation that early :)
Well, I guess that's it for now. It's time for me to get Maddie up to bed now. Wish us luck :)
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Quick Takes
Once again, I have random thoughts floating around in my head to share with you all.
1. My first appt with the OB/GYN is one week from tomorrow! I'm so anxious to make sure everything's ok. I know I'm pregnant as I have several symptoms that are letting me know there's a new life growing inside me but it's just going to be nice to have confirmation and maybe see a little heartbeat on the ultrasound!
2. I called two women to get estimates on cleaning my house. Yes, I'm caving. Yes, it makes me feel like I'm not capable of doing my "job". To be honest, most days I don't even have the energy to just clean up the playroom after Maddie goes to bed. I just want to crawl into bed as soon as she's down. Unfortunately that can't happen. And since I don't have much energy, it takes me a good 2 hours to do the straightening up/cleaning that should only take about 30-45 minutes.
3. Maddie is getting cuter and cuter every day. I took her to the chiropractor with me again this morning and didn't even put her in her stroller. She's comfortable there now. She smiles at people istead of screaming. She plays very nicely with her toys and crayons and I actually get to close my eyes and relax while I'm getting my heat therapy.
4. Maddie has started singing! Her favorite songs to sing include: ABC's, E-I-E-I-O, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, 3 Little Monkeys, and several from Yo Gabba Gabba. I can tell what song she's singing when she's singing any of these. There are some other tunes she's been trying but I haven't figured them out yet :)
5. Maddie has started "reading". She has several favorite books that we've read over and over and OVER AND OVER again. She now has parts of them memorized so it's cute to hear her reciting parts of the book as she looks through it. Those books include The Foot Book, Daddy's Girl, Who is Coming to our House, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Polar Bear, Polar Bear and Crunch Munch.
6. Maddie's bed time issues are fading....ahhh, sweet relief. She still stands up when I leave the room but she's not screaming anymore, just cries for about 30 seconds. I guess that perseverance is paying off! I had a nice chat with my sister-in-law the other day (thanks Jennifer!!) that helped me make some decisions on what to try. I started giving Maddie her lunch earlier so she goes down for her nap by noon (most days) and she gets up by 3. Then I've pushed her bedtime back by an hour :( It's working for her, but it's making me more tired (see #2). I also think one of Maddie's issues was hearing a train go by. We were up in her room this evening and she kept hearing the train (it's several miles away but she still points out the "choo choo" sound when she hears it). She has a fear of things she can hear but not see. I need to start paying attention to see if a train goes by around 7, the time I used to put her to bed. We'll see if that was one of her problems...
7. I think that's it! My brain is empty now... :)
1. My first appt with the OB/GYN is one week from tomorrow! I'm so anxious to make sure everything's ok. I know I'm pregnant as I have several symptoms that are letting me know there's a new life growing inside me but it's just going to be nice to have confirmation and maybe see a little heartbeat on the ultrasound!
2. I called two women to get estimates on cleaning my house. Yes, I'm caving. Yes, it makes me feel like I'm not capable of doing my "job". To be honest, most days I don't even have the energy to just clean up the playroom after Maddie goes to bed. I just want to crawl into bed as soon as she's down. Unfortunately that can't happen. And since I don't have much energy, it takes me a good 2 hours to do the straightening up/cleaning that should only take about 30-45 minutes.
3. Maddie is getting cuter and cuter every day. I took her to the chiropractor with me again this morning and didn't even put her in her stroller. She's comfortable there now. She smiles at people istead of screaming. She plays very nicely with her toys and crayons and I actually get to close my eyes and relax while I'm getting my heat therapy.
4. Maddie has started singing! Her favorite songs to sing include: ABC's, E-I-E-I-O, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, 3 Little Monkeys, and several from Yo Gabba Gabba. I can tell what song she's singing when she's singing any of these. There are some other tunes she's been trying but I haven't figured them out yet :)
5. Maddie has started "reading". She has several favorite books that we've read over and over and OVER AND OVER again. She now has parts of them memorized so it's cute to hear her reciting parts of the book as she looks through it. Those books include The Foot Book, Daddy's Girl, Who is Coming to our House, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Polar Bear, Polar Bear and Crunch Munch.
6. Maddie's bed time issues are fading....ahhh, sweet relief. She still stands up when I leave the room but she's not screaming anymore, just cries for about 30 seconds. I guess that perseverance is paying off! I had a nice chat with my sister-in-law the other day (thanks Jennifer!!) that helped me make some decisions on what to try. I started giving Maddie her lunch earlier so she goes down for her nap by noon (most days) and she gets up by 3. Then I've pushed her bedtime back by an hour :( It's working for her, but it's making me more tired (see #2). I also think one of Maddie's issues was hearing a train go by. We were up in her room this evening and she kept hearing the train (it's several miles away but she still points out the "choo choo" sound when she hears it). She has a fear of things she can hear but not see. I need to start paying attention to see if a train goes by around 7, the time I used to put her to bed. We'll see if that was one of her problems...
7. I think that's it! My brain is empty now... :)
Friday, January 22, 2010
Any Advice?
Let me start this blog off with a few super cute things Maddie has done lately...
First, I'll tell you the story of "condensation". One morning (I think last Thursday) Maddie looked out the window and saw that the patio was wet. She said "raining?" I told her, "No, sweetie, it's not raining, that's just condensation". As soon as it came out, I realized that that was much too big of a word for a 19 month old...I should've just agreed that it was raining :) Well, she repeated "condensation". I was amazed! I had her repeat it 2 or 3 more times to see if it was just a fluke or if she could really say it...she could really say it!
The next couple of days it was raining so Maddie got to wear her super cute little rain coat. She loves her rain coat and wants to wear it everywhere now :) It rained for 2 days, then the third day I told her to come get her jacket it on. She said "rain coat?" I told her, "No, you don't need your rain coat, it's not raining". She replied with "condensation", very matter-of-fact like. It was so cute, I just picked her up and snuggled her and laughed! What a smarty pants...
Within the past two days Maddie has decided it would be a good idea to carry the cat. The cat doesn't think that's such a good idea, nor do I. So when I tell Maddie not to pick Audrey up, she replies with "I sorry Audrey". Then she pats her on the head and says "good girl". Maddie also likes to point out when Audrey is purring (which is almost always) then she puts her hand on Audrey's neck so she can feel the vibration. She laughs and thinks it's the coolest thing!
The newest, coolest big girl thing is that she's trying to walk on her tippy toes. I caught her doing it a few days ago but she was saying "knees, knees, knees" and I told her, "you're walking on your tippy toes". She was not happy that I saw her doing it and had a fit...I left it alone. Today she was walking on her toes again but she wanted me to notice. I made a big deal out of what a big, strong girl she is and she was extremely happy :)
Now...what I need advice on. For the past week or so Maddie has been SCREAMING at the top of her lungs when I put her to bed. Our routine hasn't changed; well, it changed when she was teething a few weeks ago, I went in to comfort her and to give her motrin or orajel. Since then I haven't done anything differently. We go up, have a bath, brush teeth, get a diaper, lotion, pjs, clean ears, read a book, talk about our day and what to expect tomorrow, rock in the chair and sing a few songs, then we say goodnight to the world, close the blinds, say goodnight to the sandcastle, the seashell and the crab and we turn off the light. We give hugs and kisses and I put her to bed. I cover her up with her blanket and tell her "have sweet dreams, love bug, I love you, Mommy will see you in the morning". Then I walk out and close the door (we've always closed the door since she was an infant since we have a cat). Lately as soon as I put her blanket on her she starts to get up from her pillow to stand up. I tell her to lay down on her pillow to go night nights but she just screams. I tell her I love her again and blow her a kiss from the door. When I close the door she starts screaming "mommy, mommy, hold you, hold you". When I get to the bottom of the stairs I turn the light off which makes her scream harder. It only lasts for about 5 minutes, usually less, but I hate that she's screaming like that. Seriously, I'm afraid someone will walk by and think I'm abusing her! I've taken out the trash after putting her to bed and you can hear her outside...
Here are my concerns: Is it possible that she's suddenly developed a fear? Is she afraid she won't see me again? Is she afraid of the dark? I don't want to just ignore her when there's obviously something wrong, but I don't want to become a "hostage" to her, rocking her every night or sleeping with her. Has anyone had this happen with their child? If so, what did you do? Please don't tell me you slept with your child...I can't do that one :) I just feel terrible that she's going through this and I don't know what to do. I know she feels safe in her crib because she reads in there and plays in there. She doesn't wake up acting afraid in the mornings or after naps, it's just when I put her down. At naptime she cries a little, but it's nothing like she does at bedtime. Could it just be her age and a stage she's going through? Is she having too much fun to go to bed? AAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhh....it's driving me crazy!
First, I'll tell you the story of "condensation". One morning (I think last Thursday) Maddie looked out the window and saw that the patio was wet. She said "raining?" I told her, "No, sweetie, it's not raining, that's just condensation". As soon as it came out, I realized that that was much too big of a word for a 19 month old...I should've just agreed that it was raining :) Well, she repeated "condensation". I was amazed! I had her repeat it 2 or 3 more times to see if it was just a fluke or if she could really say it...she could really say it!
The next couple of days it was raining so Maddie got to wear her super cute little rain coat. She loves her rain coat and wants to wear it everywhere now :) It rained for 2 days, then the third day I told her to come get her jacket it on. She said "rain coat?" I told her, "No, you don't need your rain coat, it's not raining". She replied with "condensation", very matter-of-fact like. It was so cute, I just picked her up and snuggled her and laughed! What a smarty pants...
Within the past two days Maddie has decided it would be a good idea to carry the cat. The cat doesn't think that's such a good idea, nor do I. So when I tell Maddie not to pick Audrey up, she replies with "I sorry Audrey". Then she pats her on the head and says "good girl". Maddie also likes to point out when Audrey is purring (which is almost always) then she puts her hand on Audrey's neck so she can feel the vibration. She laughs and thinks it's the coolest thing!
The newest, coolest big girl thing is that she's trying to walk on her tippy toes. I caught her doing it a few days ago but she was saying "knees, knees, knees" and I told her, "you're walking on your tippy toes". She was not happy that I saw her doing it and had a fit...I left it alone. Today she was walking on her toes again but she wanted me to notice. I made a big deal out of what a big, strong girl she is and she was extremely happy :)
Now...what I need advice on. For the past week or so Maddie has been SCREAMING at the top of her lungs when I put her to bed. Our routine hasn't changed; well, it changed when she was teething a few weeks ago, I went in to comfort her and to give her motrin or orajel. Since then I haven't done anything differently. We go up, have a bath, brush teeth, get a diaper, lotion, pjs, clean ears, read a book, talk about our day and what to expect tomorrow, rock in the chair and sing a few songs, then we say goodnight to the world, close the blinds, say goodnight to the sandcastle, the seashell and the crab and we turn off the light. We give hugs and kisses and I put her to bed. I cover her up with her blanket and tell her "have sweet dreams, love bug, I love you, Mommy will see you in the morning". Then I walk out and close the door (we've always closed the door since she was an infant since we have a cat). Lately as soon as I put her blanket on her she starts to get up from her pillow to stand up. I tell her to lay down on her pillow to go night nights but she just screams. I tell her I love her again and blow her a kiss from the door. When I close the door she starts screaming "mommy, mommy, hold you, hold you". When I get to the bottom of the stairs I turn the light off which makes her scream harder. It only lasts for about 5 minutes, usually less, but I hate that she's screaming like that. Seriously, I'm afraid someone will walk by and think I'm abusing her! I've taken out the trash after putting her to bed and you can hear her outside...
Here are my concerns: Is it possible that she's suddenly developed a fear? Is she afraid she won't see me again? Is she afraid of the dark? I don't want to just ignore her when there's obviously something wrong, but I don't want to become a "hostage" to her, rocking her every night or sleeping with her. Has anyone had this happen with their child? If so, what did you do? Please don't tell me you slept with your child...I can't do that one :) I just feel terrible that she's going through this and I don't know what to do. I know she feels safe in her crib because she reads in there and plays in there. She doesn't wake up acting afraid in the mornings or after naps, it's just when I put her down. At naptime she cries a little, but it's nothing like she does at bedtime. Could it just be her age and a stage she's going through? Is she having too much fun to go to bed? AAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhh....it's driving me crazy!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Week 7
Today begins week 7 of pregnancy #2. I've been amazed that I've mostly escaped morning sickness so far. Yesterday I had one of those "nothing sounds appetizing" days. I didn't know what to eat and anything I thought of kind of gave me a gag reflex. I managed to force down a banana for breakfast. For lunch I just wanted a burger so we stopped at Jack in the Box. It was pretty yummy but I should've avoided the curly fries! For dinner I had a hot dog and some sour cream and onion chips (my only craving so far). I drank lots of water and then decided to make some homemade chicken broth. I had thawed out some chicken thighs and legs but hadn't gotten around to cooking them yet and I didn't want them to go bad. Well, I put the chicken, some veggies, water and seasonings in the crockpot and turned it on. I went to bed early (even missing the news at night which I normally like to stay up for). When I woke up through the night to use the bathroom (thanks again to pregnancy...I used to NEVER wake up through the night!) the chicken broth was smelling good and I couldn't wait to taste it in the morning to see how it turned out. Then I woke up around 7...the smell of the chicken broth was not so good at that point. I ate a few crackers so my stomach wouldn't be empty then I just stayed in bed for a while. When I got up I had to go running to find some gum. I found some good pepperminty gum that is strong enough to block out the chicken smell :) So now I'm just waiting for the crockpot to cool down a little so I can stick it in the fridge (that'll smell nice...). I still want to freeze the broth to use in recipes but I don't think I'll manage to eat the chicken. I guess I can go ahead and shred it off the bones (if my stomach will allow) and put it in the freezer too. Hopefully I'll be able to eat chicken later in pregnancy, but I think it's off limits now. I even had an aversion to chicken when I was pregnant with Maddie. I wonder what that's all about...
In happier news...did you know by the beginning of week 7 that baby already has its own distinct blood type?!?! All the major muscles are already developed, arm and leg buds are developing but you can't differentiate fingers and toes yet and facial features are becoming visible. The baby is about the size of a raspberry this week :) Aww...what a little sweetie!
We're still going through all the emotions of a second pregnancy...happy to be giving Maddie a baby brother or sister, scared of taking care of a toddler and an infant at the same time, worried financially and just generally afraid of the unknown. I know everything will work out, God won't give me more than I can handle...but I guess it's normal to worry about all these things right now. We've started talking baby names already and I'm pretty excited about that. I'm not sure if we're going to share the name as early this time as we did last time...we've got to keep you guessing! :) We welcome your suggestions, though!
In happier news...did you know by the beginning of week 7 that baby already has its own distinct blood type?!?! All the major muscles are already developed, arm and leg buds are developing but you can't differentiate fingers and toes yet and facial features are becoming visible. The baby is about the size of a raspberry this week :) Aww...what a little sweetie!
We're still going through all the emotions of a second pregnancy...happy to be giving Maddie a baby brother or sister, scared of taking care of a toddler and an infant at the same time, worried financially and just generally afraid of the unknown. I know everything will work out, God won't give me more than I can handle...but I guess it's normal to worry about all these things right now. We've started talking baby names already and I'm pretty excited about that. I'm not sure if we're going to share the name as early this time as we did last time...we've got to keep you guessing! :) We welcome your suggestions, though!
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