Work, Easter, Travel, Visits, etc., etc.

Wow, I can't believe it's been about 3 weeks since I posted. I guess it's been busier than I realized.

Work has been pretty busy. I took on another client, so I've had more work with that. And, knowing that I have less than 10 weeks until my due date, I'm feeling a bit stressed about getting lots done with work anyway.

I was so disappointed about the weather on Easter weekend! I didn't even bother putting Lacey in a dress b/c it was so cold. And, we missed church. We normally go to 8:30 service, but didn't have our act together. Lacey really doesn't like (to say the least) the lady that does nursery at 9:45. We thought we'd make the 11:00, but Lacey fell asleep before 10:00 and snoozed for 3 hours. Oh well. We went to Dee & Buck's for dinner. Other than Dee's family, it was just us, Dad and Calvin (Buck's dad). So, a quiet day.

Butch went to Atlanta for a conference April 14-16. He was supposed to stay until the 17th, but Ryken (his school) wanted him back for a meeting on the 17th. Then, I left on the 18th for Boston for a conference and was there until Friday night (20th). I was supposed to stay until Saturday morning, but was sleeping horribly due to a bed that was way too soft. And, traveling when pregnant isn't "fun" anyway. If I'm not pregnant, I like to go out and explore the city, but at the end of 10 hour days, I just wanted to hang out. That was boring in a hotel room. I thought it would be nice to have the time to myself, but I was just bored. Anyway, I was able to get a flight out after my meetings on Friday and get home at 10:45. Nice.

Tonya (best friend that lives in Charlotte, NC) came into town on Saturday. She works for my company again and had some meetings scheduled on Monday in my office. So, we picked her up at the airport, went to lunch and then did a whole lot of nothing all weekend. That's what's so nice about her visits. She doesn't need to be entertained. ;-) On Tuesday, we both took vacation time and went to lunch, shopped and got mani/pedi's.

Lacey absolutely adored Tonya. It was so cute. She calls her "tona". Anything that Lacey wouldn't do for us (get her face washed, for example), she'd do happily for "Tona". I think she had a crush on her. Hehe.

I had a doc appt. yesterday. All is fine. I've gained the same amount as I did with Lacey at this same point (30 weeks). But, I feel HUGE. Dr. Aron said that is very common. He thinks I look a little more swollen than with Lacey (just what a girl likes to hear), but is contributing that to the weather.

I've been feeling good other than the back/butt issues. My chiro pretty much confirmed I'll just deal with it to some extent through the pregnancy. And, even just doing yoga seems to aggrivate it a little. Blah.

Lacey is doing really well. She was still dealing with constipation a few weeks ago, so I called Dr. Jill. She suggested giving her Milk of Magnesia every day for 6-8 weeks. Yikes. She needs to be cleaned out and also have a chance to forget that it can hurt to poop. Dr. Jill said that many times, they think it's going to hurt so much that they hold it and that just makes it worse. So, it's been about 2.5 weeks and she's doing well. We're changing a lot of dirty diapers, but that's okay. She is SO MUCH happier. And, she's sleeping better. And....she's not fighting baths.

Miss Lisa filled Leah's daycare spot temporarily, so we don't have to pay the holding fee for about 8 weeks. It will be nice to have that savings for a while.

Oh - Miss Lisa also let me know about the tantrums Lacey was having at daycare. (Welcome terrible 2's.) Mainly, they seem to be associated with food. If she doesn't get one of her favorite things at lunch, she screams. But, Lisa said she ignores it and Lacey ends up eating. Lisa was really sweet about it when she told me -- made sure that I knew she wasn't complaining -- just that she likes to keep parents informed.

We have NOTHING planned this weekend.....very nice. Time for yard work and things like that. Then, next weekend (May 4-6), Butch & I are heading to St. Michael's. Lacey will be stayin with Dee & Buck.

Better run.....lots to do.

Cherry Blossoms...a love/hate sort of thing

A couple of weeks ago, the cherry blossoms were at peak in DC. They are absolutely beautiful. Yes, you can see them elsewhere, but when there are so many together in one spot and they have the backdrop of national monuments.....you can't beat it. I took my camera with me to work one day so I could take some pictures on my drive home. I drive right by the tidal basin...where there are so many.

However....the downside is that tourists invade the city. Tour buses block (stop in) lanes they aren't supposed to be in. Traffic backs up way worse than normal. So, on the 2 days that I was in the office that week (that were wonderful, warm days.....bringing out more people), it took me FORever to get home. Normally, my drive home is 75-90 minutes. (It's a 45 mile drive.) On those 2 days, it took me that long just to go the first 10 miles & get out of the city. No exaggeration at all.

Weekend, Pregnancy, Misc.

Not sure where to start since it's been a while since I've done a "normal" post.

We had a good weekend last weekend. We went to dinner on Friday night at Bert's (local diner). Lacey loved it. Of course, she didn't stay in her seat. There were way too many other things to take her interest away.

Saturday, we did a lot of house and yard work, which was good. The tulips are blooming.....azaleas are close.....very nice.

Sunday we attempted church again. The week before, we didn't get out of the house early enough for 8:30 service, so we went to 9:45. I completely forgot that Lacey doesn't like (to say the least) the nursery person for that service. So, she wouldn't stay. I ended up sitting in the car with her. Anyway....this week we made it to 8:30 and she went to the nursery. She wasn't happy about it and was held the whole time by someone, but she went. Not sure how we'll handle Easter service. I'd like us all to go, but will be irritated if she doesn't handle the nursery well again.

Sunday afternoon, I met some girlfriends from college for lunch, shopping and ice cream. It's always good to do that - I just wish we could more often. They are all about an hour or more from where we live.

Lacey was truly back to her fun self, too. She was so much fun. (Of course, the terrible 2's are here and there are tantrums here & there.) I'm so glad she's 100% now.

What else?

I'm almost 28 weeks pregnant now. Strange. Only 12 (or so) weeks until we have another sweet baby. I'm now going to the doc every other week. Last week was my 2nd Gestational Diabetes test and I was worried about it, but heard today that all is good. Whew. No 3 hour test to deal with now. And, sweets are fine. ;-)

I've felt good for the most part, except for my low back issues. I haven't been happy with the chiropractor that I have been seeing nearby. Whether I'm pregnant or not; and no matter what pain I'm complaining of, it seems like he always does the same adjustments. So, I got a recommendation for a new one from my massage therapists office. I am SO GLAD that I changed. I went to see the new guy yesterday and he spent more time with me and listened to what I was saying.

What I have is piriformis syndrome. The piriformis is the muscle that is around the sciatic nerve. Because of the weight I'm carrying up front (and probably from lugging Lacey around when she was sick), the bone near that muscle had to adjust to compensate.....and the muscle got inflamed. So, I'm going back tomorrow for another adjustment and he's going to show me some stretches that will help, too. When the massage therapist and the old chiro couldn't help before, I found the pigeon pose in my Yoga for Pregnancy book and it has been the only thing that's helped.

Butch starts spring break on Thursday. Lucky duck. He's off through all of next week. He has a long list of things to do around the house and for his business.

My wireless card on my laptop (work) is broken and because it's under warranty, we had to send the whole freakin' thing to IBM in Atlanta for repair. Blah. So, as of today, I have no access to work email or anything else. It should be back by Fri. or Mon. For now, I'm using my personal email account and also working like in the olden days.....you know, with the phone. ;-) I much prefer email.

Our office closes on Friday at noon for Good Friday. That will be nice. Oh - speaking of benefits from my company, they announced a couple of weeks ago that they are adding 2 weeks of "paid parental leave" to our benefits. That means for maternity leave, I get 6 weeks disability, plus 2 weeks paid leave....before I even have to touch my vacation. Nice extra. Quite happy about that.