Okay, so it wasn't really an "oops", we planned it, but we ARE still having another baby. Hooray, baby number 2, Baby E, will be arriving sometime in late March or early April of 2012. And this begins what I hope will be a continuing blog of my pregnancy with Baby E, as well as motherhood with a toddler, a new job for my husband, a move across town, and finishing up my masters program. Yep, I'm a busy girl! Although, many have just said I'm flat out crazy.
So, let's play a little catch-up to my scattered life as I haven't posted in a while. Since I left off my husband had lost his job with one school district and after applying to many other jobs (some in his degree field and some not) he has landed another theatre teaching position in the same town, but farther East and farther North. HOORAY JOB!!! This, however, necessitated a move across town in the middle of the summer. We are now renting a 3 bedroom house with a backyard (HOORAH!!!) and a garage. We have been enjoying living in a bit more space and allowing our daughter (who is now 2, what a scary scary thought) out into the backyard. We're hoping that next year we might actually have grass in the yard, but she seems to be enjoying the mud all the same.
Our daughter, now two, is making us wish quite often that we had t-shirts that said "she's two. get off my back" so that when she starts throwing a tantrum in public we wouldn't have to endure the glares, condescending glances, and unwanted advice. Oh, you didn't think the unwanted advice ended when the baby was born did you?? Oh no! Definitely not! Potty training is moving right along, but it still isn't fast enough for me. Still, she runs over to the potty when she has to go....the problem is sometimes she 'goes' just so she can play in the bathroom. Binky removal is also in the works....we should have gotten rid of it at 9 months, now it is a HUGE comfort item and although she has been sleeping at night without it, we can't get her to calm down for naps without it. Very frustrating.
So, the move happened right about the time we were planning our next little bundle of joy and, just like last time, we got lucky on the first try. This time, however, I am actually having pregnancy symptoms; unlike last time when I felt great, but tired, the whole way through the pregnancy. Nope. This time food is NOT my friend and I have been having a much more 'gaggy' feeling first trimester. My "favorite" moment (so far) was when my daughter came up with her hands covered in Pirate Booty, a yummy cheeto alternative, grabbed my glass of juice and took a sip. When I later took a sip all I could smell was booty and well....the rest follows. So, food isn't my friend this time around. Maybe that means I won't gain so much weight??? We'll see.
So far I am 7-8 weeks in and I haven't gained any weight. I can still wear all of my pre-pregnancy clothes, although some of the 'tighter' ones make my stomach feel a little queasy. My WONDERFUL friend sent me all of her maternity clothes (plus all of mine that I had sent her) and so I do not feel as if I need to do much, if any, maternity wear shopping. Yeah! My daughter has kind of gotten the idea that mommy is having a baby, but she hasn't quite gotten the idea that she needs to stop jumping on me. Anyone have an older brother she can borrow for a while to jump on and tackle??
I think I might post my 10 moving tips for moving (in general) and moving with children. I think we have now moved 6 times in 5 years. Yeah. And I no longer wonder why people think I'm military.
Showing posts with label moving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moving. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Monday, July 5, 2010
Month of Milestones
It's been a very busy couple of weeks in our household. First off, we moved out of New Mexico and into our temporary location in Colorado. Thank goodness for "Hoodwinked," if not for that movie we would NEVER have gotten everything packed in time. Of course, I'm still an anal retentive cleaning person and was cleaning until nearly 2 am the night before we left and still was cleaning the next morning, courtesy of our cats puking on the carpets, the freshly shampooed carpets, during the night....have I mentioned they are for sale? Needless to say, I was a rampaging wacko and decided to drive one car by myself so as not to piss everyone around me off. It was a good decision and 3 hours down the road I was finally not annoyed with everyone around me. Three hours, a thunderstorm, and torrential downpour later and there was a lovely glass of wine in my hand and Grandma was entertaining the baby.
My daughter has been "cruising" on the furniture for months now. She started pulling herself up to furniture the moment she started walking and we were actually expecting her to walk much sooner. However, my daughter seems to be a perfectionist and started walking 3 days after Father's Day and 1 day before my birthday. It was a very nice present to see her zooming around on her chubby little legs. She is very proud of herself, but it has made traveling more difficult. She wants to walk everywhere and she no longer wants to hold your hand. Independent little thing wants to do it all by herself.
We are visiting my family in Alaska this week and the airplane ride was...interesting. We took a red eye because we thought she would pass out on the way up and stay asleep the whole trip. Which might have happened if the little girl sitting next to us would have let her sleep when I said, (Repeatedly)"I think we're going to try to let her sleep now..." and variations. She finally switched seats with her mother; who then turned on the seat light and proceeded to knit for an hour. I was a little pissy. It was past midnight and here she is knitting away all the while a child next to her is whimpering with exhaustion. To give her credit she didn't care that my daughter was making noises or occasionally kicking her...but she didn't turn out the light for a long time. So, a brief note to travelers...I have the right to be on this plane with a child. I also have a right to politely ask your older child to stop playing with my baby, and I have a right to politely ask you to turn off your light. Sigh...
I have a few friends who are pregnant or just had a baby and many of them are breastfeeding (YEAH!!), and they are all figuring out what is going to work best for them in terms of pumping, how long to nurse, when to introduce the bottle...etc. I said I would nurse my daughter until she was ready to stop or until she was about two. I nursed for a long time so I was very surprised when my daughter decided to just stop. She had been decreasing her demands for nursing gradually, but one day she just didn't request it at all. She would sign "milk" and I'd show her her milk cup, which she would snatch out of my hands and start drinking out of. That was that.
She's learning new signs too, which I love. She just started really picking them up when she turned a year. We had been signing with her for months, but she just kind of looked at us like we were crazy, then while in Toronto for a wedding she signed, "more milk, more milk" and then "all done/finished" when she had had enough. We were all a little bug-eyed at that one. She now signs: milk, all done/finished, food, please (still working on it a bit, she says it on someone else), change (new and learning it now), again, more, want, thank you (new and still learning)
She says: Puppy, baby, momma, dadda, and (sometimes) thank you
It's been a crazy month and it's only going to get more crazy as she starts to color with crayons, learns more signs, wants us to read her stories, and listens to music and dances.
My daughter has been "cruising" on the furniture for months now. She started pulling herself up to furniture the moment she started walking and we were actually expecting her to walk much sooner. However, my daughter seems to be a perfectionist and started walking 3 days after Father's Day and 1 day before my birthday. It was a very nice present to see her zooming around on her chubby little legs. She is very proud of herself, but it has made traveling more difficult. She wants to walk everywhere and she no longer wants to hold your hand. Independent little thing wants to do it all by herself.
We are visiting my family in Alaska this week and the airplane ride was...interesting. We took a red eye because we thought she would pass out on the way up and stay asleep the whole trip. Which might have happened if the little girl sitting next to us would have let her sleep when I said, (Repeatedly)"I think we're going to try to let her sleep now..." and variations. She finally switched seats with her mother; who then turned on the seat light and proceeded to knit for an hour. I was a little pissy. It was past midnight and here she is knitting away all the while a child next to her is whimpering with exhaustion. To give her credit she didn't care that my daughter was making noises or occasionally kicking her...but she didn't turn out the light for a long time. So, a brief note to travelers...I have the right to be on this plane with a child. I also have a right to politely ask your older child to stop playing with my baby, and I have a right to politely ask you to turn off your light. Sigh...
I have a few friends who are pregnant or just had a baby and many of them are breastfeeding (YEAH!!), and they are all figuring out what is going to work best for them in terms of pumping, how long to nurse, when to introduce the bottle...etc. I said I would nurse my daughter until she was ready to stop or until she was about two. I nursed for a long time so I was very surprised when my daughter decided to just stop. She had been decreasing her demands for nursing gradually, but one day she just didn't request it at all. She would sign "milk" and I'd show her her milk cup, which she would snatch out of my hands and start drinking out of. That was that.
She's learning new signs too, which I love. She just started really picking them up when she turned a year. We had been signing with her for months, but she just kind of looked at us like we were crazy, then while in Toronto for a wedding she signed, "more milk, more milk" and then "all done/finished" when she had had enough. We were all a little bug-eyed at that one. She now signs: milk, all done/finished, food, please (still working on it a bit, she says it on someone else), change (new and learning it now), again, more, want, thank you (new and still learning)
She says: Puppy, baby, momma, dadda, and (sometimes) thank you
It's been a crazy month and it's only going to get more crazy as she starts to color with crayons, learns more signs, wants us to read her stories, and listens to music and dances.
Friday, April 9, 2010
The Vast Methods of Moving
Yes, that's right! We are moving! Out of New Mexico and up the road into Colorado. We are very excited and, truth be told, a little daunted. I don't think I realized how much easier it was to pack things 1) without a child in tow, and 2) when you've moved every year. I know it may sound crazy, but when you've gotten used to moving every summer the packing just happens automatically. The boxes get packed up and stacked away, the floors get cleaned, the apartment gets cleaned and inspected for last minute items, the trucks get there... everything starts to move like clockwork. We haven't moved in two years...so boxes have gotten thrown away, things aren't nearly as organized to begin with; and we have a kid. Oh yeah, our daughter DEFINITELY throws a wrench into packing sometimes. She likes to 'help', as in she takes items out of a box after I've put them in the box. She does the same thing with laundry. I fold it and put it on the stack, she takes the whole stack and throws/drags them on the floor. Great fun. At least she is amused and entertained, and really, in the grand scheme of life folding clothes two or three times really doesn't harm you. (Although at the time it really makes you want to pull your hair out) I've started giving her her own basket and her own box to put things into and take things out of. It doesn't distract her forever from my pile, but it does help.
Speaking of my daughter she is, FINALLY, sleeping in her crib most of the night and during nap times. We still have to fight her occasionally. For all the advice of "Gentle Sleep Solution" my daughter just didn't want to go to sleep. She spent 2 to 3 weeks not even wanting to sleep with us, she just didn't want to go to sleep at all. So, we figured if she's fighting it regardless we might as well make it into the crib and some independent sleeping. Thank goodness for my husband's infinite patience with her. Perhaps it's because I have her all day and I play and entertain her most of the day, but by the time night comes my patience for screaming is about 20 minutes max. Then I give in and pick her up for a while. My husband is much much better at the getting to sleep, by herself, in the crib part. His pioneering efforts with her have paid off; it still has a ways to go, but it's getting much better.
To segue into 'getting better' my mother has finished radiation treatments and is done with her first round of chemotherapy; and has at least 3 more to go. She was really not happy with the nausea/vomiting side effects; can't blame her. I'd rather be in pain than N/V(nausea/vomiting).
I think this might be my first post for April. It might, as far as time constraints go, be my only post for April. We'll see. There's a play next week, I have costumes to make still (yes I know I'm insane), we need to get some moving plans finalized...May is around the corner with a 1st Birthday Party (Jungle Theme), a year checkup with lots of shots (ew), and a trip to Toronto for a wedding. Next it will be June....OMG it's going to be upon us much much too fast! ACK!
Speaking of my daughter she is, FINALLY, sleeping in her crib most of the night and during nap times. We still have to fight her occasionally. For all the advice of "Gentle Sleep Solution" my daughter just didn't want to go to sleep. She spent 2 to 3 weeks not even wanting to sleep with us, she just didn't want to go to sleep at all. So, we figured if she's fighting it regardless we might as well make it into the crib and some independent sleeping. Thank goodness for my husband's infinite patience with her. Perhaps it's because I have her all day and I play and entertain her most of the day, but by the time night comes my patience for screaming is about 20 minutes max. Then I give in and pick her up for a while. My husband is much much better at the getting to sleep, by herself, in the crib part. His pioneering efforts with her have paid off; it still has a ways to go, but it's getting much better.
To segue into 'getting better' my mother has finished radiation treatments and is done with her first round of chemotherapy; and has at least 3 more to go. She was really not happy with the nausea/vomiting side effects; can't blame her. I'd rather be in pain than N/V(nausea/vomiting).
I think this might be my first post for April. It might, as far as time constraints go, be my only post for April. We'll see. There's a play next week, I have costumes to make still (yes I know I'm insane), we need to get some moving plans finalized...May is around the corner with a 1st Birthday Party (Jungle Theme), a year checkup with lots of shots (ew), and a trip to Toronto for a wedding. Next it will be June....OMG it's going to be upon us much much too fast! ACK!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
A Musical Interlude
Tuesday my daughter and I had the most enjoyable afternoon listening to a jazz quartet practice in a garage across the street. The gentleman that owns the house has played jazz piano in the garage with it open, or partially open, before, but this time he added drums, a bass, and a sax. It was so nice to listen to them jam in the early afternoon sunshine. Very very relaxing. So much nicer than hearing the schmuck with the car. Oh yes! I'm not sure I've mentioned before but he sold his house *HAPPY DANCE* and has completely MOVED OUT!!! I'm thrilled. Just jumping for joy thrilled. Especially, since the new neighbors look to be really nice people; with a motorcycle, but we can deal with that when it comes.
I haven't written in a while; it's been a busy couple weeks. First off, my husband is job hunting again (as usual), so we've been off to job fairs and job interviews this last weekend. Hopefully, something will come of them and we can move to be closer to family. If not, at least we'll be moving across town to be closer to friends. That's the best I can say about staying here. My husband's not going to grow in the same ways as a teacher here than he would if we were to move. The populations are just very different. Here it's more about how to continuously motivate the kids to even turn in their work. Where we hope to move he would be pushed academically to grow and expand that way. It would be nice for him to be able to really 'open his teaching box' so to speak.
I asked my mother if the laundry pile ever went away. She said, "No." That wasn't very encouraging. Every time I get all caught up on laundry: folded, put away, all washed...we go on another little trip and I have to start over as soon as I get home. I hate it. I don't mind washing and folding and putting away; I hate spending my ENTIRE day doing it (or two). Oh well...I guess if I want clean clothes by Saturday I had better start some wash now. Grrr.
I haven't written in a while; it's been a busy couple weeks. First off, my husband is job hunting again (as usual), so we've been off to job fairs and job interviews this last weekend. Hopefully, something will come of them and we can move to be closer to family. If not, at least we'll be moving across town to be closer to friends. That's the best I can say about staying here. My husband's not going to grow in the same ways as a teacher here than he would if we were to move. The populations are just very different. Here it's more about how to continuously motivate the kids to even turn in their work. Where we hope to move he would be pushed academically to grow and expand that way. It would be nice for him to be able to really 'open his teaching box' so to speak.
I asked my mother if the laundry pile ever went away. She said, "No." That wasn't very encouraging. Every time I get all caught up on laundry: folded, put away, all washed...we go on another little trip and I have to start over as soon as I get home. I hate it. I don't mind washing and folding and putting away; I hate spending my ENTIRE day doing it (or two). Oh well...I guess if I want clean clothes by Saturday I had better start some wash now. Grrr.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Projects
I'm a project hoarder. I truly am. I have so many projects in my 'to be finished' stash I can't even count them all. At least 10!! My goal is to get at least half of them done before we move again; despite what my inner voice is saying to the contrary. That's the goal. I want to lesson my project load by half by the time we move again in July. We're moving regardless of whether or not my husband finds a new job. If he finds a new one then, "YEAH! We're moving out of state!" If he doesn't then, "YEAH! We're moving out of this frigging apartment...to another frigging apartment." Either way though, we're moving. So of course this means that I've started packing already.
No, you didn't read that last part wrong. I've started packing already. I think I have 10 or 11 boxes packed and stacked in the second bedroom. I'm really anal retentive this way. As soon as winter is over I'll probably pack all of our winter gear in a box too. When we search for new jobs if we find one the first thing I do is to go on Rent.com and search out prices on apartments. Then I go and find out about the city, where the best places to live are, where the apartments are in comparison to the high school, what the mean income of the state is, if there's a state income tax and how much it is...etc. I have checklists. I have checklists of places to search for jobs once a week. I am totally nuts; but my husband just says I'm "driven." Isn't he such a good guy?
Back to the topic: projects! I think, for my own curiosity I will try to list what I have to do in categories...
Cross Stitch - 3 stockings (one is in the finishing stages), 3 wall art ones, 1 from my great grandmother that she never finished. Total: 7 (YIKES)
Sewing - 2 jackets that need sleeves, 1 skirt, 1 pair of pants, 1 jacket to put together entirely, 3 Halloween costumes for next year (not sure how much that counts since I just got patterns today), 2 quilts that need quilting, 2 quilts that need to have more blocks put together, 1 angel wall hanging, 4 pants that need hemming or buttons or pockets fixed. Total: 17 (Oh. My. Goodness. What was I thinking?!!?)
Craft - 1 beaded necklace, 1 set of letters to string up for my daughter, 2 picture frames to paint. Total: 4 (Much better than the last two!)
Grand Total: 28 So, I need to bring that number closer to 14 by the time we move. Okay, so that's...5 months so if I do 2 to 3 a month I might achieve my goal of finishing half. We'll see. Maybe. Is this possible with an 8 month old?!?
No, you didn't read that last part wrong. I've started packing already. I think I have 10 or 11 boxes packed and stacked in the second bedroom. I'm really anal retentive this way. As soon as winter is over I'll probably pack all of our winter gear in a box too. When we search for new jobs if we find one the first thing I do is to go on Rent.com and search out prices on apartments. Then I go and find out about the city, where the best places to live are, where the apartments are in comparison to the high school, what the mean income of the state is, if there's a state income tax and how much it is...etc. I have checklists. I have checklists of places to search for jobs once a week. I am totally nuts; but my husband just says I'm "driven." Isn't he such a good guy?
Back to the topic: projects! I think, for my own curiosity I will try to list what I have to do in categories...
Cross Stitch - 3 stockings (one is in the finishing stages), 3 wall art ones, 1 from my great grandmother that she never finished. Total: 7 (YIKES)
Sewing - 2 jackets that need sleeves, 1 skirt, 1 pair of pants, 1 jacket to put together entirely, 3 Halloween costumes for next year (not sure how much that counts since I just got patterns today), 2 quilts that need quilting, 2 quilts that need to have more blocks put together, 1 angel wall hanging, 4 pants that need hemming or buttons or pockets fixed. Total: 17 (Oh. My. Goodness. What was I thinking?!!?)
Craft - 1 beaded necklace, 1 set of letters to string up for my daughter, 2 picture frames to paint. Total: 4 (Much better than the last two!)
Grand Total: 28 So, I need to bring that number closer to 14 by the time we move. Okay, so that's...5 months so if I do 2 to 3 a month I might achieve my goal of finishing half. We'll see. Maybe. Is this possible with an 8 month old?!?
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