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.

What's New?

Chuck & Nancy came into town on Tuesday. I thought they were coming on Wednesday - based on earlier conversations, but Butch & they were on the same page. They are back again so soon for a visit because of all the missed time from work that Butch & I had due to Lacey's illness....and the fact that daycare is closed 3/14 through 3/19 for Lisa to take a mini-vacation. While I have the vacation time, I couldn't imagine missing more work and getting further behind. Thankfully, they were happy to come help and visit the munchkin.

I called the doctor's office yesterday about the constipation issues that L is having. My favorite nurse was there and she agreed we are fine to continue with Milk of Mag. for another few days and then start to wean her off of it. She's much happier since she's taking that and she's drinking more fluids, which will help the issues.

The weather here has been fabulous for days. Yesterday was 81*! Today should be around 70*......and tomorrow.....in the 30's. BLAH! Maybe even a wintry mix. Oh well, spring will be here soon.

I have yoga tonight. Hope I can do it okay. My back is still hurting. A visit to the massage therapist and chiropractor didn't help much. The stretches that I think would help the most, I can't do because of my growing belly.

Butch & I are hoping to go to St. Michael's sometime in May and leaving Lacey with ....????....Dee? Kristina? Kristin? ;-) I know it will be much harder to have an overnight trip away once we have 2. Anyone been to St. Michael's? I'm trying to decide on where to stay.

Can't think of much else. We're still trying to catch up on things with Lacey having been under the weather for so long. Life is getting back to normal.

Lacey's 2nd Birthday

At long last.....a post about her birthday celebrations.

The weekend before her birthday was President's Day w/e. I took her to the pottery painting place on Monday.....our mommy/daughter "tradition". She painted a plate in the same colors as our dinnerware. It looks a little "camaflauge-ish", but still cute. She also painted a tile to hang in her room that has her handprint on it. I think she had fun with it.

Her actual birthday was on a Friday and they had a little party at daycare that morning - complete with chocolate cupcakes baked by me. (Man, I love licking that batter.) I was going to go, but was afraid she'd just want to leave with me, so I decided against that.

We had her party on Saturday. No kids. Just family. I thought about inviting Mary Kate (from daycare), but since she is a "taker", I didn't think that would help Lacey enjoy her day. Chuck & Nancy had arrived on Friday. Dad, Frankie, Dee, Buck, Kristin, Rick, Kristina, Jess & Justin were all there. Kyle was the only one missing since he is away at college and couldn't make it home that weekend.

We had salad, spaghetti (complete with a homeade crockpot sauce) and bread for dinner. Mmmmm. Lacey had no interest in that, so she went with yogurt & a spinach pocket. It was her birthday - she can have what she wants. ;-)

We'd kept all the gifts hidden since I knew she'd want to open them immediately after seeing them. After dinner, we brought them into the family room and she didn't even notice until they were all piled on the table. Complete and total joy all over her face when she realized they were all for her. Squeals of delight. She did pretty good with opening them for herself, until she decided it was just time to play and she was done opening new things. I think Aunt Dee's gift was her favorite - a set of things for her baby dolls. It has a highchair/swing, baby bed, stroller, etc. She loves to put her doll in the chair and feed her.

After gifts, we had cake and ice cream. Elmo was the theme and she really liked it. She was still talking about "birthday cake" long after the party and wanted some when she was sick the following week. (Which, of course, I said "no" to.)

A very good 2nd birthday, I think. I just wish she'd stayed healthy afterwards!

Yea for Improvement! And more..

After my post yesterday, Lacey took another nap from 3:00 to 5:30. Butch had to wake her up. (I was at yoga.) When I called after yoga, Butch said she'd been pretty good, but had ups and downs. But, when I got home, I never saw and "downs". ;-) She ate and ate and ate. And, had apple juice and water. Took a fun bath. We didn't want to force her to go to bed since she'd had 2 naps totaling 5 hours and the last one ended so late. So, finally, at 9:45, she got into her crib. Butch was planning to let her sleep in and just head to work a little late, but she woke on her own at 6:20 (normal time). Back to her normal self this morning. Horray!

Yoga last night was good. It's a prenatal yoga class at one of the local hospitals. I missed last week b/c of Lacey being sick, so this was my first class. It was good and very much needed. I needed to be out of the house and doing something for me. The stretches felt great.

Unfortunately, my back hurts today. I'm guessing that lugging 26-28 pounds around for over a week caught up with me. And, doing some exercises after NONE for so long. But, I have heat on it and am hoping it improves soon.

We don't have anything big planned for the weekend. Butch has to work on Saturday (SATs). Other than that, I'm hoping we can catch up around here....on sleep, rest, laundry, cleaning, etc.

Ugh...when does it end?

Lacey stayed home AGAIN today. Lisa had to hold her all day yesterday. She went to bed at 8:00 last night, but cried in her sleep from 10:45 to 12:45. Then, woke up screaming at 5:30....completely inconsolable. After dealing with diarrhea, now we are dealing with constipation. She won't drink anything except for milk....and dairy is constipating. She wanted to go bye-bye at around 9:50 and I was hoping to take her to Lisa's. But, she fell asleep in the car after 5 min. and knowing how tired she is, I decided to just drive. And drive. And drive. All over. For more than 2 hours. 1/2 tank of gas.

After we'd been home for a bit, I decided to give her Milk of Magnesia and it worked after a couple of hours. She's still constipated, but is a little happier. We played outside in puddles and goofed off in here. And, I even managed to get her to drink a little bit of apple juice.

Needing Prayers for a Friend

One of the girls that I know from my online mommies group just had her 2nd baby. She's known for weeks now that Aubrey (baby) had a heart defect. Aubrey was born this week and is in the NICU currently and surgery will be on Friday. Please keep Erinn, JJ, Bayne & Aubrey in your prayers.

Here is a link to her website/journal.
http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/inputSiteName.do?method=search&siteName=aubreyjackson

The long road to recovery

Lacey is doing a LOT better. But, she is still home from daycare. She can't go back until the diarrhea is completely gone. Butch stayed home Monday & today. I'll do my best to work from home with her tomorrow and then hope she can go back on Thursday.

Yesterday was a pretty good day for her. No real diarrhea until the end of the day. She ate and drank fairly well. She really wanted her bath at 6:00, too. She doesn't normally get one so early, but I think she wants her routine back. ;-) She (and I) went to bed around 7:45, but she woke up after about 30 min. with a very full diaper and bad rash. Screamed through the whole diaper change. Back to bed at 8:45 and not a peep until 4:45. Thank God. I really needed that....as did she.

We think she is really getting cabin fever. She wants to go "bye-bye" all the time. Butch took her to the library this morning just to get out of the house and have a doc appt. tomorrow morning that she'll come to.

On top of all this time off, Miss Lisa is taking 4 days vacation time starting late next week. That wouldn't have been an issue if we hadn't missed all of this time from work already. Ugh. Chuck & Nancy may be coming down to help out so that Butch & I don't fall further behind at work. (Thank you Grandma and Poppy.) It's strange that I have so much family in the area, but in this situation, really no help. Everyone works full-time or is in college. Oh well.

Back to work. Just thought I'd catch you up really quick. I promise to do a post on Lacey's birthday soon....maybe this weekend.

A very nasty stomach virus

Wow, what a week it has been. On Wednesday at 9:50 a.m., Miss Lisa called me at work to tell me Lacey had thrown up twice. I left work to go get her. She had thrown up again before I got there. And, again in the car on the way home. Once we got home, she actually seemed okay for a few minutes and played, but throughout the day continued to vomit until there was nothing left.

On Thursday, the fever started. Butch stayed home with us to help out (thankfully). We went to the docs that morning and her temp was 102.9* at that point. They said it was going around and to focus on keeping her hydrated as much as we could. Butch went on to work around 1:00....he had something that evening, so he had to go.

Well, through the day, the fever got worse. The highest was about 104.3*. For kids her age, I think 105* is the really awful number, so we weren't far off. They had told us to avoid Motrin b/c of her upset stomach, but Tylenol wasn't cutting it. So, the nurse gave the okay to alternate Motrin & Tylenol. With that, I could get her fever down to about 102.7*....no lower. I had been putting cold rags on her head, but started on her neck, too. I called the doc via her beeper around 6:00 and she said we were getting close to an ER visit and it might be better to go then rather than wait until midnight. Her concern was mainly that the fever wasn't budging. I called Butch in tears and he came home early. We kept hoping to get the fever down, but at 9:30 decided to head to the ER.

When we signed in, there were 7 people ahead of us. While we were there, we dealt with annoying loud people - very frustrating when you have a sick and exhausted toddler. About 2.5 hours after we got there, her fever started coming down. And, the diarrhea started. Lovely. All over her pants. All over my pants. All over my shirt. Since she hadn't had vomiting in a while and no diarrhea, we hadn't brought a change of clothes. Oh well. Since her fever broke, I called Dr. Jill again and she said we could go home since the fever had broke. (When we checked out - 3 hours after arrival - there were still 5 people ahead of us.)

She slept for 5 hours straight that night, but Friday brought more issues. She didn't want to drink anything. She & I rested a lot. And, I walked her a lot. Up & down the stairs. Around the house.

Friday night, we called Dr. Jill again. She said we really need to push pedialyte since L wasn't drinking voluntarily. (Dad & Rick even brought a slurpie that day, which she had no interest in.) So, we gave a dropper of it every 10 minutes or so for about an hour. Then, we let her sleep. She slept for 2.5 hours, then when she woke was thirsty & had some water and a couple of crackers. Slept again for a couple of hours, and we were back to pacing around the house.

Saturday morning, she was crying out in pain - I guess abdominal cramping and gas. We called the docs' office again. They sent us to the ER b/c she just wasn't getting enough fluid (still refusing to drink). We tried Calvert Hospital this time. Much nicer waiting room - with comfy couches. And, they weren't as busy. We still waited 2.5 hours to be called back. During the time in the waiting room, Lacey really picked up quite a bit. She was talking and smiling some. Still not drinking, though.

Once we were called back, the doc came in to check her out. We were in that room for about 3 hours. He didn't want to rush into an IV since it can be so traumatic with a child. She still refused to drink...no apple juice, no popscicle, no water, no ginger ale. Nothing. But, in the end, we decided against an IV. The doc thought she was starting the road to recovery and she was still making tears and fighting back, so not dehydrated yet. If we didn't push her too much, she might drink on her own. So, we left the ER around 4:00 and headed home. She had some water in the car. Last night, she & I fell asleep in the chair at 7:00 and at 7:30, I put her in her crib. She (and I) slept until 2:00. Then, she woke up wanting water & to watch Lazytown (her newest TV obsession). We watched a couple of episodes, drank water, and talked until 3:00. Then, back to bed until 6:30.

She's been off & on today. Throughout the day, we've had about 2-3 good hours with her playing happily. Her bad spells aren't as bad as they were. She's been drinking some milk. (Dairy is a no-no with diarrhea, but the ER doc said to try skim since it's less fatty, if that is what she was really wanting. And, Butch bought Lactaid at the grocery store today, too.)

Butch is staying home with her tomorrow and probably on Tuesday. She can't go back to daycare until the diarrhea has finished. Maybe she'll go back by Wednesday.

I can't believe that Butch & I have stayed healthy, but I'm thinking she must have rotavirus, which is something that almost all kids will get before age 5 and then your immunity is pretty high for it. Nasty stuff. They now have a vaccine, so baby girl will absolutely be getting that.

She has just been so sad. It breaks your heart to see her this way. I can't wait to have my happy, healthy toddler back.

A Tough Weekend

Lacey had a cold for nearly 2 weeks and she had been on Benadryl at night the entire time. We only gave a full dose 1 or 2 nights. Most of the other nights, we only gave a 1/2 dose. I hate giving her that stuff, but we all need sleep. She has a hard time coming off of it since she's used to having drugs to help her sleep. On Saturday night, we agreed that no matter what we would not give her Benadryl. We got her to bed around her normal time (8:15ish) and she cried. And she cried. And cried some more. We decided just to play and read with her until she was ready to crash. So, finally at 10:20, she fell asleep in my arms and slept through the night. Of course, this didn't mean that she slept later than normal. She was still up at 6:00ish. Ugh.

On Sunday she took a very early nap, but no longer than usual. She slept well on Sunday night. On Monday, she was driving me insane. I was trying to clean and do things aroung the house, but she would scream when I left the room. I finally had a breakdown. I don't think I've done that since she was a newborn. Then, I felt bad because she kept saying "mama cry...why mama cry". BECAUSE YOU ARE DRIVING ME NUTS! Thankfully I have a husband that doesn't mind cleaning, so he took over everything I was doing and I just hung out with her. She ended up going down for a nap around 9:30.......it's normally not until 1:30. She was just exhausted still. So, then I felt bad about not realizing that.

Anyway, she was a different kid when she woke up. She & I went to the pottery painting place that afternoon (our tradition for her birthday) and she painted a dinner plate and a tile to hang on her wall. It's amazing what a little sleep can do for a kid.

Annoying Cold, L's birthday, visit from a friend

On Sunday, I started feeling a cold coming on. You know the feeling....sore throat....just not quite "right". But, I was hopeful that it would go away. That's happened to me twice this season. Maybe because of the prenatal vitamins. Or maybe because I am a huge fan of acidophilus now. (For those of you that don't know, it's the good stuff that is in yogurt. The good bacteria. Lots of health benefits. And, I take a capsule everyday.)

Unfortunately, this cold has decided to stick. My luck has run out. I've had a sore throat since Sunday and it's really swollen. Tylenol seems to be helping, though. The other problem is that I feel really tired/groggy. Usually I blame that on cold meds, but I'm not taking any. I'm debating on taking some sick time tomorrow (if I still feel this way) to just rest. We'll see how I feel. I may at least work at home tomorrow so I don't have to get dressed nice & drive in.

Chuck & Nancy are arriving on Friday afternoon to spend a long weekend with us. Lacey's birthday is on Friday and her party is on Saturday. Just sticking to family again this year. We really only know 1 other family that has a kid Lacey's age and that's the one that Lacey isn't crazy about (code name: The Taker). I don't think it would be smart to invite her to the party. ;-)

Aunt Annie's gifts arrived yesterday and Lacey saw me unpack them from the box. She wanted them. Now. I didn't have the heart to say "no" b/c I would have wanted them now, too. Hehe. I let her open 1 (a book) and she immediately said "more!". So, she opened the others, too.

A good friend is coming to town this weekend for some conference on breast cancer. She was diagnosed at a very young age (in her 30's) and has battled not only that, but the side effects of chemo (heart issues), etc. She is a fighter and she inspires me. We used to work together, but she & her family moved to FL several years ago. Anyway, I'm not sure about the conference, but she has apparently gotten very involved in the fight against breast cancer. A few of us are meeting her for dinner in Old Town Alexandria tomorrow night. It will be so good to see her.

Can't think of much else!

A busy weekend

The main accomplishment was getting Lacey's new bedroom painted. I asked Butch if he wanted to do it or if I should and his response was "you are better at it". Which is true. But, I really didn't feel like doing all that work. ;-) I started on Saturday during Lacey's nap, but only got 1 coat on 1 wall because my darling husband bought 1 quart. Only 1 quart. To do a whole bedroom. Good thing I love him. Anyway, he was also able to get most of the trim work done (1 coat) with that 1 quart. So, early Sunday, he headed back to Lowe's to get more paint. And, I got started around 9:30. At around noon, I took a break for lunch. Then when Lacey napped, I was able to finish the 2nd coat on the walls and be done. Of course, my back ached like crazy last night, so I had the heating pad out. And, I'm sore all over today. But, we love the color (scotch butter) and it's DONE. Lacey even seemed to like the color. It was quite cute - when she saw it all painted, she just kept smiling and looking at the walls.

Dee & Buck brought the twin bed back. (They had borrowed it since Kyle always had so many kids staying the night.) They picked up Dad on the way, so it was a nice visit and Lacey was happy to see everyone. It's sad to say, but Dee & Buck hadn't seen Lacey since our Christmas celebration (a week before Christmas). How we live so close, but don't get together more often is beyond me.

While they were there, Lacey made sure to show Aunt Dee her new bedspread. I'm hoping her excitement at all of this stuff will mean a decent transition for her when the time comes. We should be able to have her room completly set up by next weekend. We still need to clean the carpet before doing anything else.

Hmmm....what else has been going on?

On Thursday, I had to attend a gala for a client. It's actually a nice event honoring teachers. It's just LONG. It starts around 6:30 with a reception and isn't done until around 10:45. It's in DC, so then I have over an hour drive home. And, it was COLD. I didn't wear a coat (stupid) because I didn't think about standing outside waiting for my car from valet. Stupid. It was probably single digits and I was in a sleeveless dress with a wrap. A wonderfully nice man gave me his coat while we waited. Bless him.

I had a doc appt. last week and Dr. Aron (whom I adore) said as I was leaving "you're looking great - keep up the good work". Now you know why I adore him. Not a peep about gaining too much weight or anything. Love him. I think I've gained about what I had with Lacey at this point - about 16 pounds or so.

Three colleagues from our Des Moines office are coming in this afternoon. One of them is actually my very good friend (that lived with me for a while before moving back to Des Moines), so I'm going out to dinner with them. We are supposed to have a meeting tomorrow from 9:00 to 1:00 and it should be interesting to see what happens.....because they are calling for a winter storm. Starting as snow sometime after midnight....turning to sleet.....turning to freezing rain. I hope the freezing rain holds off until well after the meeting.

Ultrasound

Okay, so most of you readers already know that we had an ultrasound on February 1. We went back to the specialists in Annapolis -- where we went for other testing in December. (You, know...since I'm "old".) Baby looks perfectly healthy. I'm sure most of you also already know that we are expecting another girl! Thought I'd post one of the pictures for you here. The first one is of her face with her hand in front (Lacey always did this during ultrasounds, too) and the next one is the bottom of her 2 feet.

My dad is being a pain again about the gender and doesn't want to know. So, if any of you talk to him, please make sure not to mention it! ;-)

Daycare for Baby

Normally Butch drops off and picks up Lacey since he doesn't have a LONG commute and since the daycare is on the way for him. But, I'm trying to pick her up once a week so Lisa & I can chat.

One day last week, I picked up Lacey and Lisa let me know that she is going to have an opening in a few weeks. Alex's mom has decided to stay home. Lisa ALWAYS has a waiting list. If we want to hold that spot, she charges 1/2 price ($75/week) until we start to use it. It's frustrating and a lot of people have commented on how ridiculous that is. But, think about it from a business standpoint. Of course, she wants some money. She could have someone else paying $150 a week for that spot through all of these weeks.

I have said all along that if this happens, we are not paying, but we'll take a chance. However. There is no guarantee that there will be a spot for Baby in September if we don't pay her.

Zachery is starting all day kindergarten next school year. With his 2 older siblings, his parents pulled them out of Lisa's when they started all day. But, Lisa asked the other day and they aren't sure. They are leaning toward taking him out. Lisa's gut feeling is that they will take him out. But no guarantees. So, then we'd end up either having to move Lacey (which I will not do) or having to go to 2 different daycares for an undetermined amount of time. There aren't a lot of infant spots available in daycares......I know from our past searches. I don't want to have to deal with that stress. And, we love and trust Lisa.

So......I've just emailed Lisa to say "yes, we will hold that spot". Yes, we will pay you approximately $2100 over 28 weeks for peace of mind. (And, Zach will be taken out and we will be irritated b/c we could have just had that spot.)

Dee had a good thought, though and I did ask Lisa about it. As soon as she knows that Zach is being taken out, she could let us know. Then, assuming she can fill a spot (she always has a waiting list....did I mention that), then we could stop paying and take Zach's spot. Maybe we'll only have to pay $1950 instead of $2100. (Hehe)

Snow

Normally, I am the person defending our area about school closings to people that grew up or live in areas like MN, IA, PA....where they get snow all the time. My argument is typically two-fold. 1) We don't get enough snow to invest in the equipment necessary to clean the roads quickly. 2) We close schools by county. But in many states that get lots of snow, they close by district. If you close by county, perhaps it doesn't look so bad outside your window, but the counties are BIG and there can be a big difference 30 miles away.

We had a VERY SMALL snow fall last night. Schools were closed. I can't defend it. From what we heard, everyone had a dusting to 2 inches. Open 2 hours late and get things cleaned up. Give me a break.

On the other hand, Butch got the day off and is cleaning the house and doing some painting. And, I had an easy drive to work since traffic volume was light. I guess I can't complain!

Snow, Church, Tea

I'm sitting at the computer, but have trouble staring at it because snow is falling outside. It's our first snow of the season. They are estimating 1-2 inches, I think. Depends on what radio or TV station you believe/listen to. There may be sleet or freezing rain mixed in later tonight - but hopefully not. So, depending on how things turn out, Lacey may be able to use her snowsuit that I bought her in November. I had to have one b/c she needed to be prepared for snow if it happened on a daycare day. (I can't believe Miss Lisa bundles all those kids up, but she does.)

After many months of missing church, we got our butts motivated this morning and went. First off, we weren't skipping b/c we were lazy. We skipped b/c Lacey couldn't sit still and she hated the nursery. Happily, she's grown up enough that she seems to like the nursery now. We started off with her in the service with us so she could go up for the children's sermon. She liked that, but didn't want to get out of my arms. When we sat back down, she was wanting Rev. Phil's puppet that he used in the children's sermon. So, it was time to try the nursery. She was the only kid to start out. The lady held out her arms and Lacey went right to her. Ahhhh. When we went back in to get her, the lady said she didn't fuss once. Maybe we can get on a roll now. I really do like our church and enjoy Phil's sermons - so does Butch since Phil often uses references to sports during his sermons. Today's big message was about being an "arm waving" person-- to always cheer people on even when they have lost a game or things aren't going well.

I think we're heading over to Dee's for a visit and some yummy soup later today. Buck is making veggie soup and potato soup. Dad is going over there, too (Amazing....he's leaving his house 2 weekends in a row to visit one of his kids?).

Yesterday, I went to a tea at Casey Jones in LaPlata with Dee, Kristin and Susan (a friend of Dee's). It was "interesting". ;-) The tea was good and the dessert was good, but I wasn't very thrilled with the lunch. I am a picky eater (although much better than I was even 10 years ago). I was prepared, though -- I'd eaten lunch before going since the tea wasn't until 1:30.

Last night was a nice hot bath with candles and an early bedtime. I had a head-ache (migraine?) again yesterday, so I was in need of both. I feel MUCH better today.

Lacey is talking non-stop these days. It started right around the 1st of the year. She says most everything we say and she is so much better about saying what she wants rather than whining. I love it.

I've been feeling pretty good through the pregnancy, other than the head-aches and sometimes back aches. (I haven't had back pain since starting back with the chiro, though.) I'm 17 weeks today. Kristin was asking me to convert that to months, so if someone else out there needs me to do that, I'm almost 4 months. I signed up for a pregnancy yoga class that starts March 1. Can't wait. I need some motivation to do some exercise. It's only 5 weeks, but I'm hoping it gets me going.

Quiet Weekends, a visit from PaPa

We've had a few very quiet weekends and for that, I am so grateful. December just flew by and it's been nice not to have many commitments.

Yesterday, Dad came over for a visit. We had invited him for dinner, but he decided just to come over earlier. It had been 4 weeks since we'd seen any of my family. Crazy, since we all live so close. Anyway, Lacey was totally excited for PaPa to be coming over. She always does better with people when there isn't a huge crowd. She was having fun showing him all of her toys and insisted that he read some books to her while she sat on his lap. I know he was enjoying it since she doesn't get like that with him often. But - she usually sees him around big crowds.

I found these cool "tights" for Lacey a few weeks ago. They are really something like leg warmers, but go all the way up the legs. The idea is that it's easier to change diapers than with regular tights. I do really like them. Lacey is a bit obsessed about them. If she sees them, she wants them on.

We're still working on organizing things since clearing so much out of Lacey's future room. I think that's going to take a while. I don't want to put anything in the basement unless/until it's organized b/c I know if we do it will be "lost" forever.

Can't tell you how excited I was to have 24 start back up last night! I love that show! We'll get to see it for 2 more hours tonight and then have to wait an entire week. Blah! Of course, this TV addict will have plenty of other shows recording, so it's not like I'll be in total withdrawal.

The Fight of Brushing Teeth

We usually have to fight Lacey every night to brush her teeth. Normally, I just do it real quick while she cries/screams/whines (whatever she is in the mood for that night). However, we tried a new toothbrush this week. It's one of the ones that uses a battery. She LOVES it. No more fights. In fact, it's more of a fight to get it back from her. I honestly thought she'd be afraid of it, but am thrilled to be wrong.

Lacey's "New" Room

So, with a new baby brother or sister on the way for Lacey, we've (I've) been mentally preparing to decorate Lacey's new bedroom. I'm not planning to move her in immediately, but thought it might be good to get it set up so she gets used to the idea and can play in the room and maybe take a nap in there before we do an official "move" for her.

The first big chore was to clean her "new" room out. You see, it was our office. The plan was initially to put the office in the basement when we finished it, but since we've decided not to finish the basement yet ($$$$), we moved onto Plan B. We moved the computer from that room into the guest bedroom. It's a little snug, but works fine. And I've slowly been clearing other things out. It's amazing how much "stuff" we have. Anyway, I'm hoping to make more progress on cleaning it out this weekend so we can soon start to paint and decorate.

I am pretty sure that I've decided on a bedspread from Pottery Barn Kids. It's yellow with pretty pink flowers. I can even "buy" a gift card for PBK by using my American Express points.

I've gone back & forth on toddler bed versus twin bed, but I think we're going for twin. (Dee, this means we'll need the mattress & box spring back that you guys borrowed.) I'm not even planning to put it on a frame or anything yet so that if she falls, it will be closer to the ground. Yes, we are going to use side rails, but the girl is the most restless sleeper I've ever seen. I'm not sure the rail will keep her in!!!

When we moved into this house, it seemed perfect because the previous owners had a 3 year old daughter and a nursery was already decorated with Winnie the Pooh -- one of my 2 ideas for Lacey's nursery. So, being 4.5 months pregnant or so, it was nice to not have to worry about another thing to do. But, now I feel like I was gipped a little. I'm excited about decorating this room for her!

Welcome 2007!

We had a very boring NYE here. All day I had a head-ache that was wiping me out. The neighbor's were having a NYE party, but it was adults only. They had gotten a babysitter to watch the kids at another house and someone was going to go check every hour or so. But, I thought Lacey was too young for that. Plus, she doesn't really know the other kids well. So, we decided to make Cream of Crab Soup and rent DaVinci Code on Directv. I also made a dessert - the Almond Pound Cake from Tastefully Simple.

Well....the Cream of Crab Soup didn't turn out great. It was okay, but needed a little spice or something. And, it didn't thicken as much as I would have liked. I'm going to do some research on other recipes and see if I can improve upon it. The pound cake was AWESOME. It even smells heavenly, thanks to the almond. The movie started at 8:00 (after L was in bed) and I made it until about 8:40. With the head-ache (migraine?) I thought I needed to just sleep.

So, throughout the night when I woke up (this happens often when you are pregnant), I realized that I still had the head-ache. At around 5:00 a.m., I decided it might be a sinus head-ache, so I found the Tylenol Sinus and took that. It helped a little. Throughout New Year's Day, I still had the freakin' head-ache. By late afternoon, I had decided it must be a migraine. I always thought they were on one side of your head, but maybe not. A head-ache that persists for 36 hours and makes me that miserable must be a migraine.

I started having some migraine symptoms before I got pregnant. A few occasions with "halo" vision and a few occasions with sharp pains on one side. But, they never progressed beyond that. I mentioned it to my OB at my last appt. and he warned me that if I was already have issues before pregnancy, I could expect them to be worse during the 2nd trimester. Lovely. The 1 trimester where you are supposed to feel great and have energy.

Anyway, by the early evening, the head-ache was going away. I was able to finish the movie last night.

Lacey was a dream all weekend. She slept through 2 of the 3 nights, had a 3 hour nap on Sunday and a 2.5 hour nap on Monday. Just what a mommy with a migraine needs. ;-) She was all too excited to go see Miss Lisa this morning. Quite cute.

Today, it's back to work.....at home at least. ;-) Sitting at my table in the sunroom looking out into the woods. Very nice.

Dishwasher Drama

I can't believe I forgot to post about the dishwasher drama in my last post!!! On our last morning in Atlanta, the dishwasher needed to be run. Butch got it started. A while later, Butch, Lacey & I were downstairs in the basement and Nancy yelled down for help. The dishwasher was leaking bubbly water all over. First thought was that Butch put too much dish soap in. Wrong. He used the regular dish soap - that you use in the SINK for dishes. So, Nancy ran the rinse cycle a few times to get the soap rinsed out. My poor hubby. (And this is the man that the government thinks needs to be on the Watch List.)

Christmas

We left for Atlanta on Christmas Eve. Everything went so smoothly at the airport. Well, not everything. We tried to check in at curbside, but for some reason, couldn't. So, we went inside to a kiosk and had the same problem. The computer said "see an agent". So, we waited for several minutes until one of the people behind the kiosks decided to help us. It turns out....that my husband is on the watch list. Weird. He has to just wait it out until they decide that he doesn't need to be on the watch list. Ugh.

Anyway, we got boarding passes and headed for the security line...or lack of line...and breezed right through. Lacey decided at that point that she had to be a real traveler and pull her Dora suitcase behind her. Too cute. Wish I had taken a picture, but Butch had taken the batteries out of the camera!!! (Why?) Thankfully, the airport was pretty empty and she wasn't in anyone's way. She was an angel while we waited for the flight to board. I really thought we'd be chasing her around, but she stayed close. She fell asleep as soon as we sat down on the plane and woke up about 45 minutes later crying. I think her ears were hurting.

We got to Steve & Marilee's house around 3:00ish, I think. We had a fabulous lasagna that night. After the girls went to bed, we opened gifts and had cheesecake for Butch's birthday. Marilee also had these great chocolate covered strawberries that she had received from a client or someone at work. Yum-o. Waayyyy too much to eat, but so good.

Steve & Mar got Nancy a cool gift. It's a framed print of the record of arrival for Nancy's ancestors. It's a copy of the actual page -- so cool. We'll have to look into this site for my side of the family, too.

Christmas morning, Lacey woke up around 6:50. And, Sam slept until 9:00! ;-) (Samantha is sick and sleeping well/a lot. I don't know how she does it since I can never sleep well when I'm sick.) So, once everyone was up, we had a breakfast bake, then helped the girls open all of their (too many) gifts. (All the gifts you see under the tree were for the girls.)

Later that day, we had ham, stuffed ham, green bean casserole, potatoes, bread, etc. Followed, of course, by dessert.

The day after Christmas Nancy, Marilee & I snuck out for lunch while all the men stayed home with the little ones. It was nice to get out and be able to talk without wondering what they were doing. We went to a cute little shop while we were out, too.

Lacey & Samantha's interaction was "interesting" and a little stressful for me. Toddlers normally like "parrellel play" at this age and that is what Lacey preferred, but Samantha wanted to play with her a little more. Even though I had read that toddlers don't "get" sharing until they are older, it was still embarrassing! After I got home, I had to do some reading on sharing again....to make sure that I wasn't raising an out of control kid. Luckily for me, she's not. It's not until age 3-4 that they really get it. It's best just to practice sharing with them and not to expect too much when they are around other toddlers. I also checked with Miss Lisa (daycare) about how Lacey is there and she said she is very good for her age. She especially plays well with the older kids. Mary Kate (who is 4 months younger than Lacey) and Lacey don't play well together b/c they both want the same toys. And, apparently, Mary Kate is a "taker". Miss Lisa thinks Lacey has just learned to be very defensive and fight for what she wants to avoid losing things.

Anyway....we left for the airport on Wednesday morning and arrived about 2 hours before the flight. It's a good thing that we did. By the time we made it through all the lines and went to the bathroom, we only had time to grab something for lunch (to eat on the plane) and board. Insane. I can't believe it took so much time. Lacey was cranky, but after she ate a piece of pizza and had a cup of milk, she was happy. And delerious. The girl stayed awake the entire flight. Decided she'd fall asleep after we'd landed, so she slept for about 10 minutes. She even stayed awake for the drive home.

It was great to see everyone in Atlanta, but it was good to be in our own bed again (with Lacey in a separate room so she could be restless and noisy by herself).

We've already taken the Christmas decorations down. They are so pretty, but it is always good to get the clutter away.

Today, Butch is taking lots of cardboard and our tree to the recycling spot. And, we are planning on a lot of NOTHING for the weekend. The neighbors are having a New Year's Eve party, but it's "no kids" this year, which is unusual for them. I think we'll just have a nice dinner and enjoy a movie.

Daycare Christmas Party

Last Thursday was the daycare Christmas party. All parents were invited at 5:00. Lisa provided dinner, had arranged for Santa to stop by and the kids had all participated in a gift exchange. Lacey had Kyle for a gift and Kyle had Lacey...hehe. Anyway, he got her some cute things that she loves.

Lisa also spoiled them by getting gifts. Lacey got a doll that has a binky & bottle and some peg puzzles.

And, the parents were given a goodie bag of things that the kids had made over the past week or 2. The first is actually a card that Lisa did, but I had to post it to show that Lacey will sit still (and smile) for a picture in the right circumstance. (I am not around and Amanda, Lisa's daughter, is there to make her smile.)

And, finally....cake. Who can resist?

Merry Christmas!

Southern MD Stuffed Ham

If you haven't had it, you really don't know what you are missing. Dad is the pro at making it and does so every Christmas. For several years now, I've wanted to send some to Annie & Steve (in Houston) because I remember her commenting about how much she loved it at our wedding. (Yes, it was a main course at the wedding reception.) I just couldn't figure out how to handle shipping it.

This year, Butch, Lacey & I are flying to Atlanta for Christmas. It would be my first Christmas without stuffed ham. That was enough to get me moving on how to ship it. (Yes, Annie, my own personal issues are what finally got my butt moving.)

Dad did the ham on Wednesday. The plan was to let it cool and to ship 2 boxes on Thursday via UPS. Well....due to the size of the ham and the weight of the ice packs, the cost was $117 to Houston and $101 to Atlanta. Um, no. We regrouped and repacked. I tried to send it through the post office via Express Mail (a.k.a., "sometimes overnight"). However, because both zip codes were too far from the airports, they couldn't guarantee an overnight delivery. So, I drove back to the UPS store and shipped a smaller package of it to Aunt Annie. It wasn't as much as we wanted to send, but it is a nice taste of it and didn't cost $117!!!

We'll be taking a cooler on the plane to Atlanta. We'll have to take the ice packs out and leave them in the car. Then, go through security. Then, get ice at a restaurant/fast food joint once inside security. Delta has assured me this will work fine. (Hopefully security doesn't hassle me.)

The package to Houston arrived safely today and (thankfully) was cold upon arrival, so it should be FINE. Whew.

An Early Christmas at Home

Things have been so busy lately. It feels like we have a huge list of things every week and it just keeps growing. 3 weekends ago was filled with decorating, 2 weekends ago was our party and last weekend was Christmas with my family on Sunday. We also had 2 parties on Saturday, but had to bail because I was feeling to stressed about it all. On top of all of this, I've had to have all Christmas shopping completed b/c of needing to ship things to Atlanta and be ready for my family yesterday. Whew.

So, Santa came last Saturday night and left Lacey some of her big things that he didn't want us to bring back from Atlanta. She got a table & chair set, a doll & stroller, a Dora sit & spin and a Dora suitcase. She adored the doll & stroller from the start and spent a good part fo the day coloring at her table. Since then, she's insisting on having her meals there. (It's sitting in the sunroom, next to our table, so it works.) Everyone arrived at the house for brunch by around 10:45 or so (except the "kids".....Kristin, Kyle, Jessica....who were late b/c of celebrating Kyle's 21st birthday). We had a WONDERFUL brunch. I love breakfast food. We had an egg & sausage casserole, an egg & ham roll-up, Grand Manier french toast, home fries and fruit. Mmmmm. And, for every one not pregnant (everyone but me) there were Mimosa's!

Lacey was tired and cranky for the gift exchange, but that's okay. She enjoyed everything later, after a nearly 3 hour nap.

Leaving a toddler unattended

Lacey was happily playing in my room the other day. I went to check some things on the computer, then came back after a few to check on her. This is what I found.

Any thoughts on what it is?

Lipstick! She'd gotten into my purse. It was all over her face and hands, but luckily, not on the carpet or bedspread. When I talked about her being a mess, she kept looking at her hands - no clue it was on her face. So, I had to take her to the mirror, where she just grinned.

Christmas Party

We had our "annual" Christmas party on Saturday. Just after Thanksgiving, I started putting up decorations. The weekend before the party we got the tree. We scaled back on the number of people invited because it was a bit overwhelming last year (probably about 50 people). We weren't really able to talk to everyone. There were probably about 30 adults and a few kids this year. Just right.

There was TONS of food...too much despite trying to cut back from last year. Meatballs, hanky panks, veggies, crab dip, fiesta dip, cucumber sandwiches (pampered chef), buffalo chicken dip, etc., etc. Yum-o. And, of course, lots of sweets. (I had a migraine on Sunday from eating too many of the leftover sweets.)

The drink of the evening was Frostini's. I must admit that I had a taste. I had to. With Bailey's and Godiva Liquor?! Dee & Kristin already had a glass of wine when I started making them, but that didn't stop them.

Lacey was an angel the whole time. It amazed me how easily she handled all those people being in her house. To start the night, she played with Britney (neighbor who is about 7) and they drug every last toy out of the toy box. Even with Britney leaving, Lacey went on playing. She lasted until 9:00 and probably would have stayed up if we'd let her.

Now that the party is done, we can focus on all of the other Christmas projects. I've got to finish up shopping this week. Anything for Butch's family (and Lacey) needs to be shipped to Atlanta since we'll be there for Christmas. And, everything for my family needs to be done because we are having brunch on Sunday to celebrate since we leave the following weekend.

I managed to get Christmas cards done for my work peeps yesterday, so I can mark that off my list. I still need to address all of our personal ones. Another thing to be done this week. Ugh. So much to do.

On top of all of the holiday preparations, our office is moving on Friday. Same building, same floor, just a new spot. So, I spent the entire day yesterday packing my office. (I have cuts on my hand to prove it.) I still have a few boxes left to do tomorrow. (I'm working at home today.) Thursday is our dept. holiday lunch and Friday is the floor holiday lunch. Whew.

Today, I have a doctor's appt. and have to do the Gestational Diabetes test. Hate that. The stuff I have to drink is yucky. (Speaking of, I need to get that in the fridge so it tastes a little better.) And, last time I failed it and had to go for the 3 hour test....drinking that stuff several times and sitting in the waiting area of a lab for 3 hours.

And, despite that test this afternoon, I'm having a hard time staying away from all of those sweets today. I have to wait until after the test!!!

Here's a funny story: Butch took leftovers for lunch to work yesterday. Put the meatballs into the microwave and couldn't figure out what the smell was. He had taken peanut butter balls instead of meatballs! So, they were melted all over the place.

Okay...better get some work done.

A visit to Santa

On Thursday, daycare was closed. (In my opinion, one of the only downfalls of in-home daycare -- it's only 1 caregiver and she DOES deserve some time off.) Anyway, Lacey stayed home with me and I had the day off. So, after a nap, we headed for the mall....and a visit to Santa. Normally, Lacey is not a fan of the stoller, but she got in without a fight. She was an angel for me - not complaining once as we stood in line at NY & Company. After we finished, we went to find Santa. In line, she stayed in her stroller and was just checking everyone out. She would point to Santa and say "Santy!" with delight. When we were next in line, he waved at her. The nerve. She just just turned her back. I let her out of the stroller and she walked through the entrance with me, but walked in the other direction....away from that scary man with a beard and hat. What was momma thinking, walking toward him? So, as any good mother would do, I picked her up & plopped her on his lap (after trying to calmly get her on his lap). She screamed. I told them just to take the pic. They took 4. There were 2 where she screamed so much her eyes were closed. Anyway, she recovered a few seconds after I picked her up and we have this wonderful picture to share. ;-)

Thanksgiving

Chuck & Nancy arrived on the Tues. before Thanksgiving. Lacey stayed home from daycare on Wednesday so they could spend more time with her. Butch & I took advantage of having them here & we went Christmas shopping for Lacey. It was good to get some things done!

We had a fabulous crab quiche (if I do say so myself) on Thanksgiving morning and then got to work preparing our contributions for Thanksgiving dinner. Nancy made sweet potato casserole and a reuben dip; and I made a crab dip and corn pudding (Kyle's fav). Yum-o. We headed over to Dee & Buck's around 1:00ish to spend the day.

There was a pretty good crowd at Dee's house....Dee, Buck, Kristin, Kyle, Rick, Kristina, Jess, Justin, Dad, Linda (Buck's mom), Ed (her husband), Wally (Buck's bro), Chuck, Nancy, Butch, Lacey & me.


I had gotten Lacey the most adorable outfit to try to get some good pictures, but she wouldn't cooperate, which is the norm these days. She is just way to busy to sit still for a picture.














Our big news for the day was announced.....that I'm pregnant! We hadn't told anyone in the family yet, so it was a good time to do it with almost everyone there.


We didn't do much else during the weekend, but it was good to have some time around the house. I can't tell you how hard it was to get up on Monday morning. Lacey may not let us sleep in, but at least I didn't have to shower & get going right away.

PS3

I was listening to my favorite morning radio show this morning.....Elliott in the Morning. I absolutely love this show. He's goofy and childish at times, but such a nice way to pass the time when I'm sitting in traffic.

Anyway, when I started listening, they were talking about some special things that ebay is doing with all the sales of Playstation 3. I didn't really catch all of that part of the story. However, Elliott is one of the obsessed fans of Playstation & is so giddy with excitement about it coming out. He is not one of the crazily obsessed fans that is camping out in front of Circuit City for 2 days, though. Thank God. Or I would really think less of him. It is insane. I can't imagine literally camping out for something like that. It's raining. And windy. And, their is a tornado watch. I don't get it.

When I talked to Dee, she said I would get it when Lacey is older & wants something that is in high demand. Perhaps so. However -- and maybe I'm wrong -- but I think a lot of the people that are trying to get this thing are buying it for themselves. As adults. To me that is extremely sad. They don't have anything better to do with their time?

I also believe that many of them are buying them to sell on ebay. The "buy now" price on ebay for many of these is $3000-6000. I'll say it again...insane. I just don't get it.

"To each his own" is true, but that won't keep me from calling these people morons. Maybe the ones that are selling them online for a huge profit are laughing at me all the way to the bank.

I just remembered that a friend of mine bought some of the TMX Elmos this year. She sold 2 on ebay for $600. I sure hope Lacey doesn't think I'll go that far for something she wants!!!

While I'm still on this tangent, shame on Sony for this, too. They know what the demand is. How could they not make more in time for Christmas???

Halloween and other updates

Lacey was a sock-hop girl for Halloween. Very, very cute. However, she was NOT in a good mood for trick or treating. As it turns out, she had a diaper rash and a wet diaper was irritating it. And, I just kept thinking she was teething and being grumpy from that. Poor girl. Bad mommy. Can you believe we took NO pictures Halloween night? Butch was in charge of the camera since I had Miss Grumpy hanging off of me. He swears he took some. But there are nowhere.

Anyway, we went to 3 houses in our 'hood. Then hopped in the car and went to Dad's and Rick's. Even with feeling bad, Lacey was polite and said "thank you" to everyone that gave her treats. Too cute.

The Sat. before Halloween, we went to a party at the library. She had NO interest in storytime or the party, but had fun wandering around the library.

Butch & I celebrated our 3 year anniversary on 10/23. Hard to believe. We went to The Melting Pot on Saturday night and ate way too much, but YUM-O! I love that place. Dee & Buck babysat for us. In Dee's words "she was a perfect angel". She'd been a turd off & on all day for us....but for Aunt Dee, "an angel". Ha! Typical, though, huh? At least she had fun. We didn't get back until about 8:40 -- late for Lacey. But, it was the night that time changed, and I wanted to keep her up later anyway. It worked, too. She's done great with the time change.

Butch has SATs last Saturday, until about 2:00. But he came home & planted lots of tulips. Can't wait to see them in the Spring.

On Sunday, we went to Dee's to watch the Redskins...wow what a game! I never counted on them winning. What a great surprise.

Bird Feeders & Squirrels

We have a bird feeding station in our front yard and I love to see all the birds that come to eat. We have a baffel on it to keep the pesky (a.k.a. piggy) squirrels away. This worked from the time we moved in (Sept. 2004) until a few months ago when some smart squirrel figured out a way to get to the feeders. I had been wanting to catch them in the act for a while now. I have even started to think about setting up our video camera. Well....a couple of weeks ago, I got lucky. After seeing one helping himself to some feed, I knocked on the window and he jumped off. But, he came back. And, I was there to watch. They have been climbing up the pole, then jumping from the pole over the the finch feeder (the bottom of it was only an inch or 2 above the baffle). Caught in the act! So, we lowered the baffle about an inch or so and it seems to have been just enough to keep them from jumping to the finch feeder.

Cold & Flu Season is Back!

Lacey got her first cold in August - as soon as she went back to daycare. She's already had and recovered from a 2nd. And, has had her 3rd for nearly 2 weeks. Blah! On Monday night, she woke up crying around 9:15 and when I went in, I found a feverish toddler. 100.9. Of course, I immediately thought, "here we go again with ear infections". I took Tuesday off & got her to the doctor as early as we could (even though she didn't have a fever at this point) and was very happily surprised to hear that her ears looked good. I can't tell you how happy that made me. But, since she'd had a cold for 10 days and a fever the night before, she got some antibiotics to help her fight it off.

Now, of course, I understand why she needed her binky back. (Did I post about that? She slept horribly on Sat. night and was starting the same way Sun. night, so we gave it back. All for good sleep.) Now, even with those binks she isn't sleeping well. Which means Mommy isn't either. Ugh.

Pumpkin Farm

We went to a local pumpkin farm yesterday & had lots of fun playing outdoors. The weather was perfect (low 60's and sunny). We did walk out with several pumpkins and some huge apples, but only after letting Lacey run around (while we ran after her).



Lacey was obsessed with climbing the stairs to be the face of a scarecrow. And, once she got over her fear, she loved the "tunnels", too.

Update on LJ's Bink

Wow. We took the binkies out of the crib last night just to see what would happen when we put her in there. She whimpered a tiny bit and that was it!!! Wow. She slept from 7:30 to 5:15. Unfortunately, she decided it was time to get up then. Hopefully that was a fluke.

Rude People

I just don't get how some people can be so rude. There is this woman who works in my building and she is always walking so fast that you'd think there was a freakin' fire. If you are behind her, don't think for a second she's going to hold the door for you. I get behind her frequently from the garage and it's the same thing every time. Ugh. Today, she got on the elevator I was on -- going down to the lobby -- and rushed off as soon as the door opened. Forget that I was standing closer to the doors. Then, she rushed off ahead and let the door going outside slam in my face. What is with people?! Then, when I came back into the lobby, I got on an elevator that decided to ignore the buttons I was pushing. I pushed my floor 3 times and had to push "close door" to get it moving. Right at that time, Miss Rude (or insert any descriptive word you'd like to here) walked up to get on. I, being a *nice* person, actually pushed "open door" to let her on (why, I don't know...she doesn't deserve it). I mentioned that the doors were being a pain & she hopped off. I guess b/c she couldn't be bothered? It wasn't going to be fast enough? So, I held up the freakin' door for her and she didn't even take the elevator.

At lunch today, walking back from High Noon (my fav salad place in the world), I had to step out of the way for a group of 4 women that thought they really needed to walk side by side. Across the whole sidewalk. So that those of us going the opposite direction had to move. I say it again...what is with people???

Scrapbooking

Aunt Marilyn gave me a scrapbook and lots of supplies for my baby shower nearly 21 months ago. I laughed and said "I don't know how to do this!". She had the outside decorated beautifully - the crafty, creative person that she is.

So, I've been wanting to get moving on that project for a while. I got some scrapbooking magazines about a year ago. Dee got me a book for Christmas last year. And, it all just seemed too overwhelming. I finally found a "class" in Prince Frederick - about 20 min. from our house. It's a 1 night beginners class. I've been watching it for about 6 months. I finally went last night!!!

It wasn't much of a "class", but she did go over the different tools and helped some with ideas. I managed to get 2 pages done - Lacey's 1st 2 days of life. I'm excited b/c I bought a couple of tools that will help me continue with this. And, I feel like I know a little better what I'm doing.

There is a follow up class next Monday and I'm going to work on a page for my pregnancy.

No, I won't have the time to turn into a scrapbook queen. But, it was GREAT to have a night out "on my own". I'm hoping to at least do scrapbooks for Lacey and her sibling (whenever that time comes) and maybe other "special" ones.

The Pacifier

Lacey loves her binky. Now, she only uses it to sleep, so it's not like she always has it in her mouth or anything. But, she loves it to sleep. She usually has several in her crib so she can always find one in the middle of the night. And, she likes to have one in her hand to fidget with.

Today is the 2nd day that she has napped (at daycare) without it. Wow. I've asked Lisa to let me know what she is doing that is special!!! Mind you, I haven't tried it, but would like to know if there is something that helps. (Other than it's daycare and not her parents.) I'm hoping we can go without it for naps this w/e and maybe try to go without it at night soon after. In all honesty, I don't care if she sleeps with it until she's 3. But, she has shown she doesn't need it. And, it would be nice to not have to keep them clean!

Travel, GA, pictures, jury duty.....

Well, Butch left this morning for Pittsburgh, so it's just Lacey & me this week. The only real difficulty with that is managing getting her to daycare. Butch usually takes her since he has such a short commute. Daycare doesn't open until 7:00 and I am supposed to be in the office at 7:30. Not gonna happen. But, I am hoping my schedule will work out that I only drive in 1 of the 3 days left in the week. Oh, and I have to leave a little early to make it there before they close at 5:30. Well, I could work until my normal time, but then I'd pick her up right at 5:30 and since she normally eats dinner earlier than that, I'd have one cranky monster to deal with. Since work is flexible, I'll leave early.

The only other thing is that she sometimes wakes up crying early in the morning - when we are getting ready for work. If I go in, she expects to be rocked. (She doesn't do that to Butch.) So, hopefully she'll sleep well in the mornings so I can shower without listening to her cry.

Butch & I watched Season 2 of Grey's Anatomy - sort of as a marathon. Man, that show is good! Season 1 was only about 10 episodes -- Season 2 was 27 or so. I've been staying up to late trying to get through it so I can watch Season 3 (which is currently on TV).

We took Lacey to Picture People to have pics done on Sunday. I'd been postponing it b/c she always had an issue (skinned knees, runny nose, scratch on her face, etc.). And, I knew it would not be fun. She does NOT like situations that are "new". She wouldn't get out of my arms, so we only did "mommy & me" pics. Only 1 turned out decent. We are going to hire my coworker that does photography on the side to come to our house and do pics. A lot more $$$. But, we know we'll get lots to pick from and that Lacey will be more at ease (hopefully).

Next week, I have jury duty. It officially starts on Tuesday since Monday is a Federal holiday. I have to call in after 5:00 on Friday to see if I have to show on Tuesday. And, then do that every evening through the week. I'm hoping I don't have to go. Too much is going on a work to have to miss it for something like jury duty.

Daycare is closed on Monday for the holiday, so I have to take 1/2 day off. I'll work during Lacey's nap, I guess, and check in as much as she'll let me. I'm glad that we don't have jury duty to worry about that day! Daycare is also closed on Friday for Lisa to attend a conference. Butch may be taking that day off.

Can't think of much else that's really going on. Seems pretty boring, but thought I'd post anyway!

Charles County Fair

We went to the fair 2 weeks ago and I am finally taking the time to post pics! Lacey had a cold and was clingy while we were there (in other words, didn't get out of my arms the entire time). Butch didn't want to bring in the stroller b/c he was convinced she'd be running around with excitement.

She loved the animals! She just about jumped in with the sheep. One of the ladies let us in a pin with 2 ducks and geese. That was cool, except she wouldn't get out of my arms to really enjoy it! ;-)

Lacey & I road on the carousel, but she wouldn't sit on the horse! She was just taking it all in. When Butch got on one of the rides, she was afraid for him. She kept fussing until he got off.

It was a fun day and we were lucky with weather. It had rained off & on for several days before. You can imagine the mud. Blah!

We got home & kicked back to relax!






I thought about going to the St. Mary's or Calvert County fairs since they were last & this weekend, but never got organized enough to do it. So, we'll make plans for next year & hope she is more into the rides then!

Toonces 1990-Sept. 25, 2006

It's been a very sad several days. Over the last week, we've found big areas of pee in the sunroom and assumed that Toonces was having a hard time getting all the way to the litter box. On Saturday, I realized it was worse than that. He was just peeing wherever he was laying....and then barely moving out of the way. He did it twice on Saturday. I know it must not have been nice to be so sick and weak that you can't even move away from it.

So, on Monday morning, I called the vet. And, waited for a call back for about 5 hours. At that point, I think I had already decided that it was time. Every time that day I started to change my mind, I'd find Toonces in his own urine. I talked to him several times throughout the day to say good-bye and tell him how much I would miss him.

Anyway, the vet & a vet tech/nurse came out within about an hour from the call. If you have never watched a pet be euthanized, it is very quick. Thankfully, Dee had warned me of that & I had read it, too. Within seconds, my baby was gone.

Butch buried him back in our woods in a spot that we can see from our window.

Even with Frisbee & Kramer, the house seems weird. Toonces always wanted to be in the same room with me, so he was always there. Kramer is more of a loner. (Although for the last 2 nights he has been around a bit more.) And, Frisbee wants to be in the same room, but wants to be pet and played with constantly. Toonces was just hanging out.

I know he had a very good, long life. But, that doesn't really help me to be less sad.

The Annual Family Party

Yesterday was the annual Lacey Family Party.....always lots of fun! Dad has hosted it for more years than I remember. This is the first year we've had it in September and I think it worked really well! The weather was BEAUTIFUL. By avoiding August, we were able to avoid the humidity, too. And, while the pool water was cool, the kids didn't care at all.


The party usually starts around 1:00 and goes into the evening. Of course, Butch & I left around 7:00 so Lacey could go to bed. When we left, there were 3-4 poker games going. From what I hear, the last people didn't leave until 12:30. Of course, those last people were Dee, Buck, there friends (Chip, Lynn, Dana, Gordon, etc.) and Kristin/Kyle and their friends.

Aunt Alice (Dad's sister) and Don came, along with my cousins, Lacey & Lee. (Yes, there is another Lacey in the family.) They live in FL and we don't get to see them very often, so it made the day extra special.

Even with all the family that lives close by, we don't see most them much more than once a year. It's crazy. We really need to be better about that.

Lacey thoroughly enjoyed herself. The past few weeks, she seems to have come out of her shell a little more. She is easing into situations much better and is more sociable.

She adored Andrew -- my 2nd cousin. I told KarenAnn (his mom) that I was going to hire him to entertain!

Butch & I spent most of the day chasing her around and we were truly worn out from it. I wanted to go to bed at 8:30, but refused to do that on a Saturday night!!! We agreed that we had more fun this year (compared to last), but that it was just more exhausting! Funny how a toddler can do that to you.

Ultimate Fighter

Every once in a while Lacey gets so banged up that Butch calls her the Ultimate Fighter Champion. On Saturday, she fell and bit her lip (her bottom left), resulting in blood and a little swelling. Yesterday, she refused to hold my hand and fell down the steps to the garage. Luckily, she didn't hit the concrete. However, she did get scraped up (her right forhead, cheek and nose). Then, after her nap, I found a clump of melted candy in her hair (her left side). I guess she had it in her hands when she fell asleep in the car. Luckily, this washed out pretty easily. But, I had to take a picture!

Lacey's 18 Month Check Up

Lacey had her well baby visit last week. She weighed 23 pounds....25-50th percentile, so still a little petite thing. Dr. Jill is still very happy with that. They said her height was 35 1/4 inches, which is like 95th percentile. I think they must have gotten it wrong. It's pretty easy to, since toddlers don't like to lay there and be measured. I think I'll try to do it myself with a mark on the wall.

She had to get her chicken pox vaccine, but did really well. Screamed (of course), but quit with 30 seconds. No side effects from it, thankfully. They also did a finger prick to test for iron since she is such a picky eater. I'm guessing that will be fine, because although she's picky, many of the few things she eats are high in iron (eggs, spinach, oatmeal breakfast cookies).

So....now she isn't due back officially until she's 2. But, we'll go back in October for a flu shot. Hopefully we won't be back for anything else until then!!!!


*****
I'm back....I did check her height again on my own (with a mark on the wall the way my mom used to do). She is only 32.25". I don't know how they got that so wrong!

Not much

So the summer is coming to a close! Butch went back to work yesterday. Lacey starts daycare next Tuesday. I've been home with her for a couple of days, and Chuck/Nancy are coming into town tonight to help out for the rest of the week. We took L to daycare one afternoon last week - just for an hour or so - and she was loving it. Of course, Butch was there the whole time, but she wasn't paying any attention to him. And, when I came, she waved to me and went about her business. She didn't want to leave when we did. I'm taking her again on Thursday morning for a little bit and am hoping she'll be the same way.

She & I both have colds. Blah. I've been drugging us both with Benadryl at night so that we can sleep well. Hoping that she avoids an ear infection this time. She has her well baby appt. tomorrow, so we'll see how her ears are doing then. She's due for her chicken pox vaccine - ouch. The # of vaccines have gone up 50% in the past 10 years. I read that a few days ago.

Toonces is hanging in there. Since I've been dilligent about giving him his fluids every single day, he's been eating better and has gained a little weight. I'm hoping he'll get some more muscle in his back leg so that he can walk a little better. He was having trouble getting in and out of the litter box...and decided just to go outside of it. So, I bought smaller, kitten sized boxes and he's doing okay with that.

We got directv hooked up in our basement, in front of the treadmill and I love it! We have DVR (Tivo) there, too, so I can watch my soap while I'm walking. (Yes, it's my guilty pleasure....I still watch Days of Our Lives.) I can walk for 30-40 min. while watching it and the time flies. Hopefully I'll get back into a shape! Oh - the best part is that we aren't paying any more per month for this. We canceled the DTV in our bedroom since we never watched it.

Toonces Update

When we got back from OBX, I realized that Toonces was looking very thin again, so I weighed him. He was back down to 5.5 pounds again. I called the vet and had to wait about 2 weeks for an appointment. He was looking even smaller on Sunday, and not eating hardly at all. So, back on the scale again - this time about 4 pounds. I was able to move the vet appt. from Wednesday (today) to Monday, thankfully. My poor boy's kidneys are failing. The vet thinks they are probably about 70% shut down. He doesn't eat b/c his kidneys aren't flushing out all the bad things and it makes him feel sick.

So, the vet sent us home with some fluids, which I give him each day. It's like an IV bag. I put a needle under his skin and let the fluids run in for a few minutes. He seems to be doing a little bit better already. He won't be cured, but at least he feels better. The vet had given me a recipe for a homeade diet that's low protein -- and it is rather gross. Plus, Toonces is smart enough to eat all the meat and leave the rice - not good since it's supposed to be low protein. So, my friend (a vet tech) is sending me some special canned food to give him instead. She said she's known cats that lived for months with the fluids, so as long as it isn't stressful to Toonces or to us, just to keep that up. There is a part of me that thinks it is just his time, but until things get worse, I can't make that decision.

This week

We are dogsitting Woody - Rick & Kristina's Maltese. He's a cutie. But, he has issues. I think he needs a therapist. Major separation anxiety. Luckily, since Butch is home for the summer, he's not left alone. When he is, he will mess on the floor b/c he is so stressed out. So, Butch thinks Woody has more of a problem than that. He, for some reason, thinks Woody will just pee whenever. So, he's been putting the water dish up at bedtime. This was a problem on Sunday night. Woody woke me up 2x to drink. The first time, I thought he just wanted outside, so I let him out. But, realized that he was thirsty. Then, 2 hours later, he woke me up again. My guess is that after being outside (at my dad's) in the heat all day, he was just needing more water. He had water available at Dad's, but must not have had much.

Then, on Monday night, Lacey woke up 3-4 times throughout the night. So, I was exhausted yesterday. I should have gone to bed early. But....Butch had a late volleyball match and I usually stay up to keep the dog(s) from barking when he gets home and waking Lacey. I didn't go to bed until 11:00. Stupid me. I'm beat.

We had some a/c problems again. It wasn't cooling off well upstairs before we went on vacation. But, we couldn't get someone in before we left, so I called this guy after we got back who said he could do it and to call when we were back in town.. I called him 3 times over a week or so. He never called me back. Then, I remembered someone else that we know that does HVAC work and called him. He was there within 3 hours. ;-) He refilled the coolant for us, so it's working for now. But, yes, we have a leak. It was filled last in early June.

Now that we've dealt with sleeping in much warmer temperatures, we're leaving the thermostat turned up a bit. Lacey had been sleeping so well while the a/c was broken, that I wondered if she had been cold previously. The night that she woke 3-4 times, was the first night that she'd woken in the middle of the night in over a week. So, last night, we turned the thermostat up a couple of degrees and she slept through. Hmmmm.

It is so freakin' hot here. Yesterday, I checked weather.com for Hughesville and it was 100*....and the heat index was 116*. Yikes. We are supposed to see some cooling off on Friday....thankfully. I think today it is supposed to hit 101*.

We're going to Pittsburgh this weekend for Chuck & Nancy's 45th anniversary (and Chuck's 75th birthday) party. Steve, Marilee and Samantha are coming in, too. I'm excited for Lacey & Sam to see each other again. They were only about 5 months old when they met.

I'm not looking forward to 5 hours (or more) in the car with a 17 month old, though. It's about a 5 hour trip normally - with 1 or 2 quick stops. I know it will be longer with Lacey. She gets so frustrated being confined for long periods. I bought a couple of new DVDs for the trip and a new toy. We can use those when things are getting rough.