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Saturday, 18 September 2010

  • Still Alive!

    Yeah.. I'm still here. I just suck at regular updates.

    I am 16 weeks along tomorrow, the morning sickness is long gone, and I'm just starting to feel the first bit of movement. This has to be my favorite part of pregnancy.

    I think my least favorite part of pregnancy (this time around) was a couple weeks ago when I agreed to watch Mark's nephews for a week. Three kids under the age of 4 the first two days, and then just Becca and the almost-two year old the rest of the week. Starting the mornings at 6:30, and they were picked up at 5:30. What was I thinking...

    I realized, during this week of madness, that I am not ready for more than just Becca. I hated every single diaper change. "Nap times" were a joke. The youngest would sleep, the other two (or just Becca, the second half of the week), would do anything within their power to NOT SLEEP. Oh, the fun we had. There was fighting over toys, seats for "nap time", and who got to sit where for lunch. And Dear Lord! The clinginess!!! Becca would not get off my lap. These evil kids were touching her, or talking to her. Or looking at her. Or chasing her. And she would cry, and stick to me like glue. All of these fun things I haven't had to deal with, as the parent of an only child. They kind of terrify me.

    Before anyone calls the bad mom squad, I know that it's different with your own kids. And that, when I have a cute little newborn to cuddle with, it won't seem quite so much like torture. Becca will adjust (please, let her adjust). It wasn't all bad; we all had a lot of fun. I loved that Becca had built-in playmates for the week, even if they did spend most of there time torturing each other. And me.

    I also got a quick lesson in toy politics (sharing won't kill you), and in being the "bad person" who tells kids that if they try to run over their brother One. More. Time. with the bikes, they are all going away (bikes-- not the kids). For a very long time. There were a lot of tears when the bikes finally went away. The oldest boy (going on 4) was sobbing like I killed a puppy. And maybe a couple goldfish. And a kitten.

    We all survived, and I felt very accomplished for getting through the week with minimal bruises on the kids (from each other. And walls, door knobs, and misadventures on the slide), and my sanity intact. I even had a lot of really good moments, when I was standing in the eye of the storm, with a grin on my face, feeling somehow in control. (It was probably a side effect of getting up at 5:30 every morning, though.) I am feeling a little more confident in my mothering abilities, and a little less worried about Becca surviving the trauma of a younger sibling. It was an eye-opening experience, one that I think I needed. And one that I will never, ever do again. (Should have heard me laughing when my sister-in-law asked me to do it again the following week....)



Thursday, 19 August 2010

  • Because Life is Boring...

    I haven't been here much, because there has been absolutely nothing going on. LOL. The heat still has me pretty much trapped inside. I tried to walk down to the Farmers Market a couple weeks ago (it was barely 80) and almost passed out on the way back. Now, I spend my time inside, with the AC. Our DVD player just died, the Wii is also dead, and I am fearing for my computer. It's like the electronical plague has hit our home.

    I had an appointment (my first with my OB) a week and a half ago. We were hoping to hear the heartbeat, but it didn't happen. She tried, but I have a tilted uterus, and it was still a little early. We go back on Tuesday to try again. If we're still getting nothing, I get an ultrasound. I don't think it's going to be a problem, though. LOL. In the past 3-4 days, my uterus has gone from nicely tucked away to "Hey! Hello, there!!". Which means, while I still don't have an obvious pregnancy bump, I also don't have a single pair of undies that fit. Grr.

    We're still struggling our way through toilet training. Becca lost interest for a couple months, but she stayed dry all day yesterday, and even got up once during the night to use her potty. Unfortunately, the only treats in the house at the moment are the Willy Wonka Treasure things, so she was on a sugar high half the day. I think we're buying her some M&Ms today...

    Mark is enjoying his job. His first overnight, I was awake every hour, thinking he was coming home. Him being gone all night (7-7) is just... weird. But I'm getting used to it. I'm getting way too used to having the bed mostly to myself, too. It's so nice to really be able to stretch out, use all the pillows, and do what I want to with the blanket. I've been really hot at night, too, so it's nice to be able to put the fan in the window until the room is freezing, without worrying about him taking it out because he's cold. :)

    We have started Becca on numbers and letters. I was looking for birthday presents for her on Amazon, and found some Brain Quest stuff for younger kids. They had a preview for their Preschool workbook, so I had Becca sit next to me, and we went through it. She was getting almost everything right. So, I think we'll be starting an "unofficial" homeschooling thing once she turns three. She's not really old enough for the local preschools until she reaches 4, so this will give her a chance to get ahead a bit. We're also looking at a dance class for her. A woman I know takes her grandson, and she said that it's crazy to watch, but all the kids really love it. We also want to get her into a swim class. She'll be too old for the Water Babies program at the local Y this year, but I really do want to give her the chance to keep swimming this winter.

    We're purchasing our tickets for the NYS fair today. If you buy early, they're only $6. We'll be going up for the free Lady Antebellum concert. Unfortunately, Mark works the night before, so we won't be getting to the fair until 3:00 at the very latest, and I'll have to claim our seats for the show the moment we get in the gates. Mark and I will be switching off with Becca, so we can each see a bit of the fair. We were originally going to try to get up there two days, just so we could have one day to walk around, and one day to see the concert. I'm not sure if it will still happen, though. The $6 to get in isn't bad, but the food gets a bit expensive. And then Becca needs a souvenir, and then Mark thinks he needs one, too... Last year, he really, really wanted a cowboy hat, until I talked him out of it. I love him, but he just can't pull off the cowboy look.

    If I could get up there, I'd like to go on the first day of the fair. Yeah, it's absolutely insane that day. But the guy from the TWC vs. Verizon commercials (he also plays Kurt's dad on Glee) will be at the Time Warner booth. I would love to meet him. LOL. My sister is going up that day, and promised to get me a picture. Maybe I'll talk her into just taking Becca and I along. I think Mark works that day.

    I think I'm out of pointless, boring things to write about. Finally. At this point, I'm waiting for Mark to get up and make breakfast. He got paid last night, and went out at midnight to pick up breakfast stuff. Bacon? Check. Sausage? Check. He gets home, and realizes we only have one egg. LOL. Can't even make pancakes with that. So, we're evidently having bacon, sausage and maybe toast. Or the last few bagels. Can you tell it's grocery day?

Thursday, 05 August 2010

  • Looking Ahead and Hormonal Ranting

    Mark started his new job on Monday. Loves it. The woman who told him he'd be starting operator school in 2 weeks was wrong--he has to be there 3 months first--but it's still working out to be much better than Gutchess.

    With that taken care of, I can start seriously looking at going back to school next summer, online. I'm going to start slow, just a couple easy courses to start with, but I hope to be full-time starting next fall. I'm thinking of going for my marketing degree, and then (eventually) my MBA. Not that I know what I'm going to do with either one. Maybe add consulting to my offered online services? We'll see. I'm also going to be saving up to get to the SEO (search engine optimization-- very big field right now) training down in NYC within the next couple years. It lasts 3-4 days, at almost $1k a day. Insane, but worth it. Also, it will give Mark a chance to finally visit the city.

    I don't want to push too much for a huge career right now. Trying to get anything done with just Becca is hard enough, adding another child to the mix will make it nearly impossible, at least at first. I have years and years to be super successful, once they (and any other children we plan on adding down the road) are in school.

    The past few weeks, I have been a lump in my recliner. So tired. And eating every hour or two still. I've been doing the bare minimum, and I feel bad about it. Poor Mark.

    However, I think his mom is trying to "baby" him to make up for it. Which is annoying me. I called her, ticked off, a couple weeks ago after he left the house without leaving a note. He said he woke me up to tell me (Becca and I were both sleeping) but I didn't remember it. I feel like he's running off there more and more lately. I don't mind if he sees his family, and he usually does bring Becca along, but I'd prefer it if he spent more time with just Becca and I. You know, his family now? She bought him Chinese food Tuesday for lunch, and a jar of pickles. He was back there again for lunch yesterday (weds) because he forgot to put his ice packs for his lunch in the freezer.

    After this week, it won't be an issue (he'll be working nights), but it still bugs me that he's spending so much time there. And I know when he goes over there (with Becca) on his days off, it's so I can get some rest. Which only kind of makes sense because he gets upset during the week when I get nothing done. Or, like what happened today, I got the living room picked up (and mostly swept) and then Becca got her toys all out again and I didn't have time to pick everything up before he got home. He had to take over the dishes, laundry and anything else requiring soap/chemicals because they've been making me sick. I really appreciate it, but I feel like he's still really resentful of the extra work.

    I'm trying to remind myself that I'm extra sensitive to everything right now, between the hormones and exhaustion, and that he's moody because he's stressed over the new job, but... We have not been connecting at all in the past few weeks.  I can't wait for the first trimester to be over with, so I can try to get back to normal a bit.

    On  a more cheerful note-- My first real OBGYN appointment is Friday afternoon, and, if we're lucky, we'll be able to hear the heartbeat! I'll be almost 10 weeks at that point, so there's about a 50% chance that a doppler will pick it up.



Tuesday, 20 July 2010

  • He Got It!!

    Mark had his interview this morning. He got there, filled out some paperwork, chatted with the woman doing the interview, and then went for a tour of the plant.

    Along the way, he managed to talk his way into starting operator training two weeks after his start date. Usually, the training is reserved for those who have been with the company a while, but.. Yeah. Give the boy some credit.

    From what he said, the woman was showing him something with the operators, and mentioned that they needed a few more. He said that that was something he was interested in, moving up and doing so fairly quickly. She was thrilled. A few minutes later, he became one of 5 trainees (plant-wide) to be going through the next training.

    The pay is better than we hoped, after his 90 day probation. He'll be getting right around 48 hours (possible more, if he wants them) every week, and the benefits are better than where he is currently. He'll also have a week of vacation time available right around the time I'm due, which will be really nice.

    I still maintain that it was my awesome resume' skills that got him in for the interview (okay, that and because my uncle works there, but still..). He did a great job with his end of it, though. He has an appointment with the temp agency he'll be working with for the first 3 months on Thursday, and then he'll be putting in his week-ish notice. We're trying not to get too excited (counting chickens before they hatch, and all that), because we don't want to jinx it, but it looks like this job might give me a chance to focus less on my own work, and more on housework and being a mom. Which would be awesome.

    In other news, waking up starving and nauseous at 2:30 in the morning sucks. That is all.

Sunday, 18 July 2010

  • Seven Weeks

    Seven weeks along today!! *Happy Dancing*

    It has been a fairly miserable week. Morning sickness struck a week ago. No throwing up yet, but I've come close a few times. Mostly it's just laying around feeling miserable. On top of that, Becca had a cold, and then was nice enough to share it with me. I had a slight fever on and off Friday, and I'm still feeling under the weather. Mark declared that, because I couldn't find a thermometer to test, I obviously didn't actually have a fever. WTF?? After 26 years, I'm pretty certain I know what a fever feels like.

    He has been a royal pain in the butt lately. I swear he has had more pregnancy hormone issues than I have had. A few days ago, he stomped off in a fit because I asked him to wait 15 minutes to make eggs. I was in the kitchen, and can't stand even the thought of eggs at the moment. I even asked nicely...  And then, last night he chose to sleep on the couch because he couldn't steal enough of the blankets. Becca had come in to sleep with us, and ended up falling asleep on the blanket, which was positioned at a weird diagonal to begin with. So, he got mad, grabbed his pillows and went out to the other room.

    I am currently counting down the days until he's out of regular coffee and has to switch over to instant. I'm tired of hiding in the bedroom every morning until the smell goes away. It's torture.

    I have my first appointment on Weds. This is the super-long educational appointment. They draw blood, and then quiz me about my current eating habits. And then we'll discuss all of the things I need to do, and not do, for the next couple months. We have one of these every trimester at the practice I go to. I'm pretty certain that I still have all of the pamphlets from my last pregnancy, but I'm still looking forward to it. The perinatal educator is awesome, and I haven't seen her since Becca was born. My first actual visit with my OB is August 6th, at almost 10 weeks. It still seems so far away...

    Mark has an interview for a new job on Monday. He has been saying for months now that he wants to leave Gutchess (his current workplace), but he hasn't actually done anything about it. So, after we learned that Gutchess fired the night crew at their second plant, and was looking at cutting back hours again, I updated Mark's resume, and started sending it in to a few local manufacturers. His interview Monday is with the company my uncle works for. The interview also includes a discussion about benefits, and a tour of the plant (they make fishing line, I believe). Which sounds more like an orientation than an interview, but whatever. They all love my uncle there, and the woman he will be interviewing with mentioned him several times when she called, as I put him down as Mark's referral to the company. I'm hoping that's a really good sign.

    If he gets it, Mark will be working 4-5 12 hour days a week, at an hourly rate that is a little higher than what he makes right now. And that's just for the first 90 days as a temp. worker. They give regular, generous raises, especially once you become an operator. You also have the option of picking up an extra day or two of overtime each week, once you're signed on officially. I'm really hoping this works out.

    Today, I will be spending the day working, trying to get caught up after doing all of nothing the past several days. Our laundry situation is getting very desperate, so I'll probably be tackling that at some point as well. And maybe trying to get in a nap...





bluewingz

  • Visit bluewingz's Momaroo Site
    • Name: Margo
    • Gender: Female
    • Member Since: 10/21/2008

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About Me

  • I am a 26 year old work-at-home mom in NY. My husband is a wonderful man, and the love of my life. My daughter is growing up too fast. She's already going on 3. (How did that happen?) I enjoy papercrafting and wasting time on the internet, while trying to break into the freelance writing industry. I am addicted to chocolate and great books. :)

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  • Kind of, maybe, caught up on posts. They haven't been making it to my inbox lately, and I was way behind... Sorry for being so absent!
  • Finally caught up on posts! Momaroo has decided to not send them to my email account anymore, except maybe 1-2 randomly during the week.
  • Going to be a long day. And Mark might be living on the couch if he keeps it up. Your birthday doesn't give you an excuse to be a jerk.