May 2008: Me/Morella, Sarah/Ruth


May 2009: Sarah/Ruth/Twinkle and me/Morella/Crouton

Looking forward to next years picture!

This photo was actually taken a couple weeks ago...May was a really busy month for us. I have the pictures all ready to go -- I did that photo editing on Thursday night. I was going to upload them on Friday but things got away from me. I did end up uploading the Crouton 3D ultrasound photos which you can see in their (chosen by me) entirety here.

Then Saturday, our desktop took it's final breath, completely unexpected. Well, we had been having problems with the video card, but now it won't even boot...it' gets stuck in the start up cycle. That much we know when can see the monitor because of the video card. Than god that Tim got us started on backing up our files a month or two ago because otherwise all those pictures....gone. Anyway. He was able to transfer the web may 09 photos over to this laptop, which I can upload tomorrow. I'll try to do that because you know the longer it takes, the longer it's gonna take.

Sigh. Sucky. So now we are unsure of what we are going to do. Get another desktop ?-- maybe a Dell, we never had a problem with them. Tim is going to try and get another video card and see if he can fix it himself. I guess we'll wait and see. Until then we are one computer household and a laptop at that.

Right now I am in the middle of baking my 3rd or 4th rhubarb pie of the season. This time we aren't sharing it. I have only had 2 pieces of rhubarb pie total! That is totally not enough to get a complete rhubarb pie fix. You need to be able to eat at least 1/2 the pie over the course of a few days to become immune for the season. ;) I have vanilla ice cream too....I'm looking forward to that puppy being done. It smells delicious though. Tim made dinner tonight, curry with parsnips, potatoes, ramps, celery and tofu over basmati rice. It was pretty good -- though I am hungry right now. Must save appetite for pie!

We put Morella to bed early tonight because she was really tired. A 1/2 hour early isn't TOO much. Before bed though I had turned on the TV as a special sunday night thing -- and we found ALF. She was mesmerized. She got upset when commercials came on and wanted more ALF. I couldn't believe how much she was loving it! I guess I know what I could netflix later on if she really needs something to help distract her. I wonder if that is on instant netflix...probably not. ALF....that's just too funny. Nothing else has captured her attention like this.

I am working on another rag rug project. I am going to do that right after I finish this post and watch and episode of Earth (Freshwater is tonight's one I think). Tim has already started it. Having the main computer konk out on us has made him much more .. productive around the house.

Yesterday we helped a friend move. Today was yard work -- lots of it. Mowed the lawn, cleaned the gutters, got our ladder back, planted the rest of the plants, planted a hanging planter, swept the patio, got sand for Morella's new sand box that I scored at a garage sale for only $10 -- it's one of those classy "natural" sandboxes that is a plastic faux brick and a sun design on top. I got playgrade sand today -- plopped Morella into the box and we have an instant fan. :D WOO! I never had a sand box growing up. Morella is such a lucky girl, and so is Crouton.

I was trying to imagine what it would be like next year at this time. I'll have a 10 month old, and a 2 1/2 year old playing out in the yard -- wow. Crouton will be crawling by then, and Morella will be yapping up a storm.

Also on Friday I decided I had enough. I was going to join you ranks of people with dishwashers. I had actually brought it up with Tim the night before about how much time we waste just washing the stupid dishes and wouldn't it be nice to just treat it like when we do laundry. Just get it started and walk away to do something else for awhile then put the finished product away. He did some comparison shopping and in the end we decided on a rolling, full sized model that could be convered to a built in dishwasher later. yeah, so Friday I went to Brother's Main and bought us our very first dishwasher. I can't tell you how much I am going to love it or not because I only ever used a dishwasher once for a summer job when I was 16. I was washing dusty dishes, so I can't even say if it really worked or not. Tim said I need to get some kind of dishwasher soap...geez, I didn't even think of that. What do you guys get? I have no idea. Do I really need Jetdry too? Is there a dishwasher 101 class out there? ;)

Morella has a new word - "baby." Seems like it might come in handy soon, eh?

Okay. Enough talk. I guess those are the main things going on. I'll try to catch up more this week. I hate getting so behind that I don't know where to start. I'd hate to look back in a few years to see what I was doing at this time and not have anything there. You know?

My pie is done!

It rained all day and was gloomy. Morella wanted to go outside and I didn't want to get wet. We stayed inside and I tried to make it fun. I put new batteries in her cat keyboard she hasn't seen for months, and busted out a garage sale find -- backpack full of doll accessories. In addition to that, I got a shower in and a good long bath for her. We cuddled a lot. I chased her around the house, had snacks and read a few books. Her nap was only an 1.25 hours long because she had a super soaker of a diaper. :( When Tim got home and after a dinner of sliced bratwurst cooked with onions, sliced apple and kraut (leftovers from Monday's BBQ) with brown gravy over mashed potatoes (using leftover chip dip made for BBQ) and a salad. It was good! Morella didn't care for most of it though. She did snack on a lot of apple slices beforehand and gobbled her halved grapes up fairly quickly. The grapes at Woodman's were a good batch. Juicy, red and delicious.

I paid mortgage, cell phones, registered my massage pillow, sent in an old housing survey to the tribe and filled out paperwork for the $200 CSA wellness reimbursement. Maybe it's not a bad thing that the mail now comes after 4:00PM. I went through an sorted a bunch of papers on the desk. I am thinking I might want to try and organize/clean that area....hm.

In all, I finished most of my goals for today except mark studs on the bedroom wall that I want to put up shelves. Tomorrow....yes tomorrow.

I asked Tim if it was okay to start feeling big and large, and ... well very pregnant. I mean, there have been plenty of days where I felt like this before but I didn't' want to admit to it for fear of looking like a wuss. But, I tell you -- it's to that stage now where when I have to pee, I have to pee NOW! Not to mention the bathroom and I are on first name basis right now. Sheesh. I swear I didn't pee this much with Morella. I just feel....large, uncomfortable, tired, and just sort of crappy feeling most of the time. I feel bad because days like today --and heck every day these past two weeks have shown me just how active Morella is becoming and I almost feel like I can't keep up with her. :( A part of me is thinking about getting one of those kid leashes because she is so fast and runs at the drop of the hat. She is learning where she can and can't run -- but come on ... she's 1 1/2 ...she just doesn't get the whole car driving fast thing.

I have started to rethink child proofing again in this house. Making sure she can't get to medicines, or poisons, or whatever. Stage three of baby proofing.

Okay. I have to pee again, then go to bed. It's really late and I should have been in hours ago except Tim finally got around to playing Dynasty Warriors with me .... late. :P Oh and by the way, Tim did say "Yes." Yes, I am big enough to warrant those complaints.

Look how long it's been? Summertime really has kicked in -- bratfest, visits, bbq, etc.... For now, I'll do a quick Morella post since she had her 18 month check up today.

She got weighed with her clothes on, but taking that into consideration I would say that her weight of 20lbs and 6 oz (5%, but still off the scale for her height/weight chart) is pretty impressive!!! She broke the 20 pound barrier! Wahoo! She is 32.25 (78%) inches long, and her head is ... I forget, but hey it's 25%. Basically, she is back on her growth curve. It's amazing what a few months without major illness can do for you.

Her ears are fine and she is the picture of health. Ahh, sweet girl, thank goodness. Since we are tracking her weight gain she is going to have an appointment in three months instead of at the 2 year mark. So her next appointment is going to piggyback Crouton's two week check up! Can you believe it? In less than 3 months there is going to be another baby girl here and the doctor is already counting on it. That's nutz.

Morella can:

• say about 8 words that we can understand (but most other people won't): what's that, pluto, da da, no, hop, uh oh, hello, and stop that
• knows signs for: down, all done/no more, bedtime, hungry, more
• she can run
• she can climb up her play thing outside, and now attempts to climb most things
• dislikes baths and will stand for the majority of them (usually lasting between 2-10 min)
• loves cats and dogs
• loves stuffed animals
• loves loves loves playing and being outside
• like broccoli, sausage, bologna, hotdogs, grapes, berries, oranges, peaches and pears, sugar cookies, raisins, laughing cow cheese wedges, pretzels, fruit snacks, 8th continent vanilla soy milk, lo mein, fancy chocolates
• likes to go bed at 7:00pm, will sleep until 7:00am
• takes her afternoon nap from 11:30-1:30 or 2:00
• loves hanging out in her crib or on mattresses
• loves dancing
• hates bees
• eats dirt
• gives hugs and kisses (sometimes) when asked
• has 10 teeth in or 1/2 way in
• doesn't like things in her hair
• hates diaper changes
• loves to push buttons
• likes to cuddle in the morning
• likes books -- looking at them and being read too
• loves playing with water outside
• loves those big plastic toddler cars
• loves her purple doll stroller
• eats chalk and crayons
• doesn't like being scolded (even gently)
• turns around in a circle a few times, or runs to find a soft place to land when tantruming
• can use a fork

That is good enough for now. I'll work on catching up through out the week. Today after her appointment and nap, I felt kind of blah. It was hard to get motivated to do anything, but eventually I was able to finish drying and putting away her diapers, go to target, and brave the skeeters to plant a few plants and the make dinner while Tim took Morella and Pluto for a walk.

Dinner was battered fish, steamed asparagus for us, steamed broccoli with cheese/butter, grapes and orzo pasta for Morella, and orzo pasta salad for us.

I'm still hungry though.

I think I might sneak in a small bowl of cereal before bed to stave off the hunger and not eat crappy junk food.

Gosh it's like a photo-splosion!

Morella's cute outfit today -- I LOVE it. A gift from her Grandma. This one is great because it's smocked and fits her tiny frame while accommodating her height.


Pushing her little friend Ben in the plastic car. When we first got to the Goodman Community Center for the Tot play time, she just sat in this car for a good 20 minutes. She didn't want to leave it. I really don't want to buy her one though ... I think her Grandparent's have one, so she can just visit it up north. ;)

Fast friends

30 Weeks (okay okay so it's actually 29w 6d) but come on, in a year from now I won't care what a difference one day makes and in 10 years from now, I'll wonder why I even bothered with monthly shots...right? Anyway. It's easier to keep up with even numbers. For comparison, here we are at 25 weeks. I think that Crouton is more pronounced and lower, more of a "pregnant belly look" in the 30 week, whereas the 25 is just general pudge all over.

• Over all I am doing okay. I am little concerned about the effect that the heat has been having on me the past two days. I really can't push it. I start to feel nauseated, more braxton hicks, crouton gets all fired up, I get hot and tired and just want to stop and sit down. It goes away after about 30 minutes ... but dude. Not what I what I wanted to happen. I wanted to go outside and enjoy the heat that I waited for so long. I guess I can still enjoy it, I just need to plan any kind of real activities for later in the evening after Morella is in bed and make sure I have lots of cold drinks on hand. I might have to buy a kiddie pool for me and Morellabee to enjoy. ;)
• Swelling is evident daily, but kept to a minimum. I am now convinced that the Keen Sandals I got were the best shoe investment I've ever made. They were the only shoes that really fit and were comfortable with Morella through the long haul, and now they are serving that purpose again. I haven't worn my wedding ring in several weeks.
• I stopped taking the flonase for the rhinitis -- it finally got better. Whew!
• Panty liner season is back. :P
• My hair and nails are growing fast.
• Carpal tunnel is still at bay. I have been making concentrated efforts to not fold my hands at the wrist while sleeping.
• Sleeping is getting more uncomfortable. Aching belly or hips, or needing to pee wake me up several times through the night.
• Aside from the 3 hour GD challenge induced headache, I've been headache free for quite a while.
• No real cravings going on right now -- other than the need for a before bed snack (usually a bowl of cereal). Oh wait, I guess fruit. I have been eating a lot of fruit.
• I am about +22 pounds right now
• Skin is great.
• Stretch marks are reactivating -- no new ones yet though.

Phone Photos: Cute Summer Outfits

Morella just got this breezy little number this past weekend from her Grandma. I think she likes the fact that it's like wearing nothing!

This is the outfit she wore today -- I bought it from Gymboree last month or so because I had a 20% off coupon. She got so many compliments on it today ... and it was just SO cute on her. I don't know if the camera phone really captures the cuteness of it. I might have to take another photo with the real camera another day when the outfit is clean again.

A couple weeks ago we dog sat Zilla -- the deaf bulldog. Morella loved being able to lay next to the dog and on her because Pluto (our dog) is such a old fart dudebag. Anything, here she had put down a monkey, a doll and then herself in a little pile up. This kid cracks me up.

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Today was a great day. We got up, well rested and in good spirits. Since it was going to be warm I was able to dress Morella in that adorable outfit, and then we went to check out a new restaurant called Daisy's Cafe and Cupcakery. It was bright, airy and cozy, the breakfast menu looked good, and I ordered an omelet -- it came with fresh fruit, a wonderful baked bread....uh...brioche...and roasted potatoes. The coffee could have started a rocket and it was free refills (they refilled it for you). I also had a cupcake and that was .... good, just not my kind of cupcake. I expect a little more than fluff to my icing. Morella ate 1/2 of it though without a problem, but for $2.50 a cupcake, I want it to knock my socks off! And it didn't. Still, I would go there again, just not get a cupcake.

After that, I did a quick diaper change in the back of the Scion (from a cloth to a sposie) and we headed downtown to the Capitol to attend the Wednesday Farmer's Market. My plan was to park in the public parking lot next to it, but that backfired when I pulled in and realized it was full. Nutz. I figured out a way to turn around and ended up across the Capitol in the parking lot on top of State St. I parked and loaded up Morella in the stroller and slathered her in sunblock -- I used enough that she looked like she had dried powder on her in parts -- but they say you are supposed to put that much on! After that we stopped at a coffee shop so I could use the bathroom and get a iced tea for the road. The Capitol was crawling with hundreds of school kids there for their end of the year field trips and Morella liked looking at them. Ahhh that will be her one day!

At the Farmer's Market I got lots of plants. Morella was great through it all. Halfway back though she signaled that she was done with the stroller and wanted out. I figured no problem, I would let her play in the Capitol lawn for a while to stretch her legs, except when I got to it there was signs saying it was freshly pesiticided. :P I made it up to her by making a stop at the Children's Museum for 20 minutes to let her play. After that she willing went the extra block to the car, played with her baby laptop on the way home and fell asleep 5 minutes before we came ot our house. I transferred her successfully to her crib and she took a 3 hour nap! Awesome!

I was so in love with life and happy. I even told Tim how happy I was...then the afternoon progressed. I started feeling hot and kind of ill. I am thinking maybe heat and pregnancy aren't such good companions... :( At 5:30ish Morella wanted to take a bath, going so far as to to try and climb into the tub. I said okay and ran a bath for her. She was in it the bath for two minutes before she started to point to the door (meaning she wanted out). I needed to wash all that sunblock off so I started to do that, all the while she begins screaming bloody murder. Ugh.

Once she was out, she wall smiles and went running around the house naked. We let her have at least a good hour of naked time, and she even ate the 4 bites of dinner in the buff (but sitting on a cloth diaper). We think she might be realizing when she needs to potty because she gets a concerned look on her face and grabs towards her crotch. Tim thinks putting her over the big potty is going to get her to go...but I am thinking we might need a kid's potty. Should I buy one and have it now or wait two days to get one at a garage sale....I don't know....so far I haven't really liked the ones I've seen...

Anyway. That crying of her to get out and screaming suddenly made me feel bad. She has been kind of picking at her ear all week. Is she sick? Does she have a raging fever and I just didn't notice? I went through all the signs of sick and started to second guess myself. Then I started to feel really anxious about it all and sort of just stayed in the bathroom and tried to read an article to get my mind off of it. It didn't help. I went to start dinner -- steamed asparagus and tuna salad sandwiches, and wash the dishes. While I was washing I noticed that I wasn't feeling better but in fact feeling worse and worse. Tim came in and started to help with dinner by making the tuna salad and I had to step away and start crying! I couldn't help it. I did say right before I started "I think I am having a mood swing. I can't shake this. I feel bad..." I cried for about a minute feeling completely foolish and disliking every second of it before going back to finish the dishes. It eventually faded and I was able to move on. We went outside to play some more while Tim started to mow the lawn, I put some jammies on her, kept her window open a bit and left the overhead fan on medium and she went to bed, and I came here.

I edited some phone images using GIMP for the first time (hurray!) on the laptop and then just wrote this really big, long post that is really probably more for me than anything.

I guess when pregnant women say they are hormonal I just figured that was the same kind of thing as PMS. You know, you might get a little cranky. You would act the same if you were overtired or really hungry or not feeling well. Sure I haven't been feeling great this afternoon -- it's been off and on, more off if I take it easy and try to cool off (making me think that the heat really is having an effect on me -- total bummer). But to suddenly feel so absolutely crummy, sad and worried all of a sudden? Sigh. Maybe the euphoria about how wonderful my life was just a mood swing too. Well, at the very least, I knew what was happening and braced myself with the mantra of "it's will pass, this isn't real, it will pass, this isn't real." It was kind of like riding over a big wave in a little rowboat.

My lap is getting hot from the laptop, and my hands are feeling swell ... I need to go to Woodman's to get some milk, fruit and what not. I know I should have gone right away when Morella was in bed and Tim was done mowing the lawn, but I got all caught up yapping over here. Maybe I will still go after I have a big drink of water and see what Tim says.

And Laima, they were Black Radishes...they are super hard, and I can't imagine just eating it for the sake of eating it raw. I wonder how else they can be prepared though?

Oh and the creeping charlies were actually wood violets. Ha ha...no wonder they looked so much like violets.

One thing about not feeling well is that I was good to not push it. The house is a bit of a disaster again but I thought that making myself feel worse for the sake of a tidy house is just not worth it. Right? Besides, it was probably the big outing this morning that pushed me over the edge. Out in the sun in the middle of the day, pushing a big stroller up big hills .... yeah.

I am really hungry this evening...heck this whole day. I've been good though -- lots of fruit. Cantaloupe, banana, peanut butter....Morella however was bad. She ate TWO chocolates. Two of my Mother's Day chocolates with her insistent little pointy finger. I ate the other two so that the temptation will be gone. Plus you know, gotta eat them when they are fresh, right?

So. My last snack was a breakfast bar. I am thinking about heading to bed early so I stop eating. Maybe get some sleep -- I haven't done the napping thing during the day in a while. I sort of miss it sometimes -- other times I like having that time back to myself. Today's nap was only an 1.15 hour. Not quite enough to have a happy little girl the whole day, but enough to have a tolerable one where I was able to stave off tantrums. Lots of cuddling on the floor, which was nice. I like cuddling with her, even if she only wants to sit on my head and say "Awwwww."

I talked to the mail man today. He's been MIA for the last couple of weeks and our mail now comes late in the day. He said it was because they made his route longer and so he had to rework the entire thing where our house is last now. He remembered my address and name! He also said that he had a baby this past March .... and he has a 10 year old and an 18 year old! Wow! First he doesn't look old enough to have a 18 year old and second, what spacing huh? He said "built in baby sitters". No kidding.

Overall though, it was a beautiful day. I love Morella so much -- it's hard to believe that she lives with us. I feel like she is a little guest sometimes. Yeah.

Not that much happened today otherwise. I took a shower, did a load of laundry, made dinner (swedish meatballs and egg noodles, boiled radishes and steamed broccoli), picked up foam stickers 8 times (like literally hundreds of them), caught up with some emails, took a walk and popped in on Emily and Leo. Yeah. Okay. I have to go potty -- Crouton is wreaking havoc in there!

So I dropped Morella off at my friend Hilary's and went to the clinic for the 3 hour test. Learning about what constitutes a carb was definitely interesting, and I followed the 150 at least carb rule for three days prior. I guess it's a good thing they say to do that because you know I would have gone overboard and not had ANY carbs for those three days. Ahh.. That said, I am so thankful that I do not have diabetes. I feel kind of bad for my Mom who has it, but then again she doens't bother trying to control it so she might as well not have it -- right? (she uses insulin) :P

Over all it wasn't too bad. I was able to get some cross-stitch time in, write in my journal, and write a few postcards. It kind of sucks that you can't drink coffee though ... that would have been perfect. At the end I called DH for a food suggestion and he said Noodles and Company. I love noodles but never go there. However, I needed to pick up Morella before 1.15 so he called ahead and ordered for us -- I got the Bankock Curry and Pan Noodles both with seared chicken and just let her pick. I would eat both of them, and indeed when we ate I scarfed mine down so fast and was still hungry that I *could* have eaten both of them. I was seriously shaking! I couldn't believe how hard it was to start eating. I got the results of the test later this afternoon after they called to relay the good news. It's interesting to see that the last blood draw has my blood sugar below the normal range -- that would certainly explain the shaking. I always wondered if I had a problem with low blood sugar and so it's kind of cool to see that it does actually happen. OH yeah and I had 1/2 a cookie, rice krispy bar and a small piece of rocky road bar .... then I felt satisfied and tried to take a nap. I think I got a few minutes in there, what with the neighbors working hammering their house and Migo's yowling.

GLUCOSE, FASTING my number was 81 normal range is 65-95 mg/dL
GLUCOSE, 1 HOUR my number 113 normal range is 90-180 mg/dL
GLUCOSE, 2 HOUR my number 92 normal range is 75-155 mg/dL
GLUCOSE, 3 HOUR my number 61 normal range is 70-140 mg/dL

So hurray!

Still, back to one treat a day and eating healthier.

There was supposed to be a maintenance outage for blogger today -- I wonder if it messed things up.... [test one...pass] [test two - photos...pass] [test three: template change...pass] Hurray!

Today was a good day. I kind of wish today had been yesterday for Tim and Morella instead of that rainy, depressing day we had. Morella was an absolute gem. A little wonder. Happy, ate well, drank well, energetic, napped on schedule and was so friendly and outgoing. This morning we went to Lazy Jane's to meet up with someone but they didn't show. Instead I had a glass of iced tea while I watched Morella play with the toys and interact with the older kids there.

Hold on...I have to switch to the desktop while Tim downloads and installs GIMP onto the laptop so I can have some kind of photo editing program. There. Here are the toddlers from this afternoon's playdate at Elmside Circle Park. We like to check out different parks around Madison. We are going to be experts by the time summer is done!

So yeah. The person I was going to meet didn't show up at Lazy Jane's so after an hour of Morella playing, me watching and having the other kids eventually all glom onto me -- or as one of the Mom's said with a strange tone "They seem to be drawn to you" we left and headed over to Woodman's to pick up a few things like milk, fruit and potatoes. I am very proud to say that I didn't buy any sweets at Lazy Jane's (even though they are so delicious) and I didn't buy the usual array of junk food I've been indulging in at Woodman's. Why might you ask?

Because I went and failed the one hour glucose challenge test for gestational diabetes yesterday. I was 7 points over their cutoff and so now need to take the 3 hour challenge, which I plan on doing Monday. Let's be clear, I am 95% certain I do not have GD -- it's really just a matter of bad eating choices the day before (waffles, brownie, cinnamon rolls, chocolates....). At first I was really bummed about it and even shed a few tears about how stupid and far off track I've gotten. I mean, for the longest time, until week 22 to be exact, I felt like I had no appetite and so I was happy to eat anything -- whether or not it was good for me. I didn't care because for 20 weeks I had barely gained anything. Obviously that changed, I started to feel better but instead of slowing my sweets pace, I kept at it. This really was sort of a wake up call, to quit it. Go back to one sweet a day -- no more multiples. Sigh. It was fun while it lasted.

But then Hilary said she would baby sit, and then I got to thinking about how nice it would be to sit in one place for three hours with minimal interruption (to get a blood draw every hour for three hours -- a total of four blood draws that include the fasting one to begin with), and work on a project. I could work on cross-stitch. I could write a letter or two. I could work on finishing some cards I have been trying to finish for months. I could read. I could do puzzles. I could stare into space. I could look at the folks there. I could ... well you see, it's like a mini vacation! The only price is time, blood and hunger pains. I know, I could have asked to have the 1 hour again, but really that is why there is a 3 hour challenge -- to make sure. So, we might as well make sure, right? Besides, I needed to stop the sweet binge otherwise I would have gained a gazillion pounds and that wouldn't have been fun.

Crouton is kicking up a storm lately! I woke up this morning with a foot being jabbed into my rib cage. I don't remember that particularly happening with Morella, probably because her placenta was attached to the front and muffled sharp, pointing movements. But Crouton, this active little bugger is getting to places I don't think we should talk about. ;)

For three days I have to eat at least 150 carbs a day. This is the first time I have ever taken notice of carbs, and luckily a friend of mine gave me a handy little book that I can look at over the weekend to count carbs. I think I hit the 150 mark today as practice...so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. It's been a bit of an education, I'll tell you that.

Well, I should hit the hay. I gotta spend some time paying bills tomorrow and looking at finances and go to the bank to deposit a check. I have mostly moved to paying most of our bills online and saving a stamp -- stamps I'll throw on postcards and send out. Oh speaking of which, I don't think I've sent a single post card out this week! I have been busy working on two packages. Both are boxed, but but still need cards, to be wrapped and addressed and then taken to the post office. Maybe those should make my top 10 goals for tomorrow.

1. Take Pluto to dogsitter.
2. Find and write cards.
3. Wrap Mom package.
4. Wrap Jessie package.
5. Go to post office to mail.
6. Playdate with Hilary and Cullen in the morning.
7. Update spreadsheet for May bills.
8. Pay some bills.
9.
10.

The last two can be filled in later....yeah. Okay. Night!

oh man. This kid. She has gotten into the garbage several times, refused to get off the changing bed, eaten dirt, wanted to come inside, wanted to go outside, wants some kind of magic food, wanted to be in her crib, didn't want to be in her crib, etc. All resulting in huge meltdowns and tantrums. But in between comforting, playing and distracting her ....

I did manage to get dressed, fix the futon complete with an array of stuffed animals, got Morella dressed, changed her diaper (hence the diaper post) and found my easy grip.

Other things accomplished:

• Brought my shelving unit I got a garage sale for $3 bucks outside, found the green paint, painted the edges and one side of three shelves (one super long) twice.
• Made Morella lunch
• Ate some waffles
• Baked some brownies
• Washed a rack of dishes
• Put diapers away, changed the diaper changing bed's sheet, put away all her clothes, vacuumed Morella's room and picked up all her toys. Her room is now clean.
• Put together a photo essay and posted it
• Got together gifts for my friend Jessie and her kids -- even manage to wrap one of them.
• Found a box to send it in
• Texted and talked to Tim a few times
• Went to the bathroom at least 6 times
• Made some crystal light
• Talked to Emily and convinced her that Morella is not good company, nor is my house clean.

Okay. Now for the rest of the afternoon my goals are:

1. Cut down some liliac branches and put them in water so the house smells great.
2. Put dishes away.
3. Figure out what's for dinner. Maybe tofu ... a stir fry perhaps?

Geez...a meltdown in progress AGAIN.

Cloth Diapering Morella

A. Disposable diapers stock for overnight, long day trips and travel trips.

B. Stack of prefolds

C. Basket of diaper creams, disposable/flushable/biodegradeable diaper liners, toliet paper, and prowrap diaper covers

D. Fleece liners

E. Diaper pail

F. Flannel wipes

G. Wipe solutions (witch hazel, water, tea tree oil)

Closer up ....

And your other close up .... the duckie hamper is a ... a ... well hamper.

Set out the wrap.

Fold prefold into thirds.

Cover with fleece liner.

Top with disposable liner.

Spray wipe with solution.

Put down baby, unzip and take off diaper.

Dirty diaper. Remove prefold from wrap. If there is poop, then you remove the disposable liner, put it on a bit of toliet paper while you finish the job and then take it to the bathroom to flush.

Drop dirty diaper in diaper pail.

Drop wipe in diaper pail.

Fight with baby to put new diaper on.

Let her roll of the diaper pad, and look out the window while I figure out what she is going to wear for the day.

All done!

Morella is being a fussy toddler today.

I flipped the futon mattress in the office because I am changing the bedding on it. It was hard. I need a break.

Motivation! I need to get some stuff DONE around here ... and find a dog sitter for Pluto for this weekend. :( All of our usuals are unable to because of prior plans. Sigh.

--25 min later -- okay this is obviously going to be one of those days where I need to poke myself into motivating. I should do another updating, as we go through the day post. Yeah. Morella is in her crib right now. She wanted to go...and is still there now screeching at me intermittedly. I was just in there putting away some clothes from last week. :P I didn't do them all. The box for outgrown stuff is spilling over, and I need to sort through shorts, skirts and pants. The reason I left was to find the easy grip to pick up the socks that fell on the floor so I wouldn't have to bend over (maybe flipping the mattress wasn't a good idea so early in the morning) because I'm feeling like there is a sqiggley baby attached to the lower quandrant of my belly.

Okay ... maybe over all goals in five steps at a time? Yeah right. Well, one can tyr. 1. Find easy grip. 2. Pick up clothes off Morella's floor. 3. Change her diaper and get her dressed. 4. Get myself dressed. 5. Finish making up the futon.

[ending post at 8:47a]

So Morella did end up sleeping the entire night through to 6.40a today. Amazing. That's 13 hours of sleep ... incredible. She also took a good 2 hour nap today after a trip to the park this morning for Monday Playgroup. I did something really stupid though -- Morella had climbed up to the tall swirl slide and was about to go down. Not a problem except she seemed to be forgetting to sit her butt down this morning so I tried to climb up a slide to get to her. My shoes were sticky enough, but it was just a little too high and I just couldn't do it. :( I totally over did it and now have been paying the price all day. Thankfully, another Mom got up there fast enough to spot Morella's daredevil antics. Sorry Crouton ... and sorry Morella ... picking you up after that was hard. Heck bending over is hard right now.

My goal is to finish this lame post, go use my back massage pillow and then go to bed early. This afternoon's nap felt like it was too short -- an hour and half -- and when it was over (Modog was waking up) I just wanted to keep sleeping with an intensity not felt since the early days of this pregnancy.

Aw crap. There is two super sized loads of laundry on the bed waiting to be put away. There is also diapers in the dryer that need to be brought up and sorted.

Sigh.

Dinner needs to be put away too.
The kitchen was bombed and there is stuff lying askew everywhere.

I did have a nice afternoon visiting my friend Lowen. We went over there after the nap so that Morella could explore her back yard while we chatted. We ended up picking what she thought is creeping charlie ... but I don't think so it. It's a vine, with little purple flowers and it smells like mint. I always thought it was cat nip but it's too little for that...[looking online to see what creeping charlie really looks like] ... nutz, it IS creeping charlie. Well then what the heck is in our backyard that acts the same, but has smooth spade like leaves, and resembles violets but *isn't* violets? Hm.

Anyway. We did that for two hours and it was very nice and relaxing. Afterward I came home and made dinner (ring bologna, buttered egg noodles for Morella, and ramps and chives sauteed in olive oil for our noodles with Parmesan) and steamed broccoli. Morella ate a great dinner on top of drinking a ton of milk today.

After that we piled into the car and headed to Erik's bike shop to get a new bike seat for my bike, which is now the bike the kid trailer is attached to so that Tim is all set to go in accumulating Morella to the trailer and rides.

The Best Mother's Day Ever

1. A real card. It was funny and ironic too because last night Tim's snoring was extra loud and vibrating. Combined with a glass of iced tea before bed, I couldn't sleep and so moved to the office to lay on the futon, where I apparently went to sleep right away and slept all night. So the card says "For Mother's Day I got you something you would really enjoy in the bedroom...." and you open it and it has two cotton balls attached inside with text that read "Cotton balls for your ears so you don't have to hear my snoring." AWWWWwwww! Morella opened it for me. She's really good at opening mail these days, that is if I don't care about the envelope.

A side note -- the futon is extremely comfortable to me right now, I think because it provides back support.

2. Flowers.
3. A box of Lindt assorted chocolates.
4. A fancy breakfast that included: a egg/sausage/cheese casserole, french toast, bacon extra crispy and --- "Momosa's" made with sparkling grape juice, orange juice and ice. I told him that is going to be a yearly tradition now. The girls and I will look forward to morning "Momosa's" every Mother's Day and that that they would have their own little champagne flutes for it (probably party plastic ones...).
5. A gift. A REAL, honest to god gift. I wasn't expecting a gift at all -- heck any one of the above mentioned things would have been more than enough. But no, Tim went above and beyond the call of duty and figured out the most perfect gift that you can give a pregnant woman with an aching back and calves....I was stunned. A Massage Pillow.



I have already used it twice today. :D

For dinner, in keeping with my vow to NOT cook today, we had Culver's. They had free small sundae's for Mom. :D I got one and a 1$ root beer float. The sundae is still in the freezer. I couldn't pass up a free one.

Anyway. This has been the best Mother's Day ever. Thank you Darling. I'm really glad that we had that chat, one year ago, on this day, at 6:00PM ish.

Also. Morella went to bed at 5:20 today. She was crabby again all day. She barely ate anything (day two), drank a ton of milk and ... and ... she isn't sick, she has no fever....I thought maybe, maybe there is a glimpse of a top right molar coming in. I would say "Thanks for the early bed time kid," but the night is not over yet.

I am having one of those days where I need to check into the computer every once and while and have something to read or look forward to ... or talk with. You know how those days go? I mean, today definitely feels like I am baby sitting Morella AND zilla. This damn dog won't stop following me, Morella won't stop trying to sit, lean, and stand on her, and it's a rainy kind of day so we are going to be stuck inside most of it ... and blah blah blah.

I let her watch Seasame Street for the first time this morning as sort of a rainy day special, she seemed to like that. It kind of sucks it's on so early though, because she could have used that distraction more like in the afternoon. And no, we don't have TIVO or any other kind of recorder other than our VCR which doesn't want to record stuff.

At one point Morella came running to me and told me something very important with a finger pointing toward the kitchen. I followed her there, stopping every few steps to listen to more VERY important tidbits from Morella. So I said "Show me where it is!" and she ran to the entrance to the kitchen and -- two things happened at once. One, I noticed "Why are there four dog bowls out?" and then "Slip! ... WAHHHHHH" Turns out she found the Zilla dog water bowl hiding under the table, brought it out and tried to pour it in Pluto's raised dish, and .. well water water everywhere. Sigh. I cleaned it up with some kitchen towels pushed around by my feet while holding a wailing baby.

Later on that bulldog wanted to go outside. Fine. Go outside. Except now all of a sudden she decides she can't get up the four concrete steps back into the house and after 20 minutes of her barking getting louder and louder and me opening the door and motioning for her to come it ... I call Tim and ask for advice. He suggests nothing. Thanks dude. Then I come upon the idea of snacks as motivation -- and that did the trick! Thank goodness.

Immediately after that, there is a knock at the door and it's the one of the workman working on the wreck of a house next door asking me if he can use our water + hose for his concrete saw. I misunderstand him at first -- the last time they wanted water they just wanted to fill up a big bucket. So when he comes back in right away I asked him how he was done so fast and did he need help turning it off? (This is in the middle of a diaper change btw) He said no, he needs the constant water on for like an hour or so. Oh god, how much will this cost? I put a grumpy Morella down to nap and shut her doors.

So I call Tim again and run it by him. The workman then specifies that it's hooked to a saw and doens't use much water -- just enough to cool the blade. At that point we both figure it's okay. I show the man how to access the back of the house through the side gate and shut the door.

ALL of this happens with me wearing pajamas, an unflattering pajama t-shirt (thank god I am wearing a bra) and a lousy shirt over the t-shirt because it's a little cool this morning -- my hair is a greasified, unbrushed mess .... sigh. This is my morning so far. SO you can see why I want someone to talk too. But not consistently, but I can't stay at the computer for long stretches of time ... but I can sneak in 2-3 minutes every once in awhile. You know?

Tuesday Photos

This was the best image the technician could get of Crouton (26w5d) after trying for an hour and half. I get to go back at the end of this month for another shot. Gotta remember - NO COKE! I was just worried that Crouton would be asleep for the whole thing like she was at the anatomical ultrasound, but that definitely wasn't the case this time. ;) I think the image is still pretty blurry, but I guess at least Crouton looks human.

Yesterday afternoon, Morella bogarted my Snicker's bar for more than just a bite. She made it all nice and melty for me after she was done. About 25% of the time, she wakes up super crabby from her afternoon nap.

Morella and the big cuppa Joe. We were at the Ironworks Cafe at the Goodman Center having brunch with our friend Chuck who in town working for the week. He and his wife are expecting their first baby -- a girl in August as well!

Morella in the newly bordered garden yesterday afternoon. Thank goodness for washing machines, right?

I am on the last week of the second trimester -- I'm an old fuddy duddy that goes by the later number -- weeks 28-40 (+) . Wow the second trimester feels like it went by quickly. I guess it's easy to say that since I started to feel better after week 22 -- which is like more than 1/2 way through the second trimester. Yikes, starting Saturday it's for sure the last leg ....

So how am I doing:

--wow it's a girl
--Lots and lots of movement. Did I mention how at the 3D ultrasound Crouton was so active that she couldn't get enough decent shots? So I get to go back free of charge at the end of this month for a second shot. She is hoping that Crouton will have less space to wiggle around and be able to get a better image.
--I am starting to feel bigger. Like feel bigger like my belly is getting in the way of things like bending over to give Morella a bath, pick crap off the floor, find a pan, get off the couch, roll over in bed, etc).
--The peeing is back. I have to go pee a lot. Wait a second, I think I have been able to make it through most nights without getting up though ... maybe that is because I am also going to bed a little later than I was before, like at 11 or 11.30. Whoa, living large!
--Eating feels like it's a some kind of eating disorder. I start eating, get so hungry that I scarf it down (even when I make an effort to eat slowly that backfires because --- I keep eating). Anyway. So I eat, and even when my stomach feels full and bursting and I know it was a good enough meal -- I still feel hungry and compelled to eat. Then 70% of the time, after I do eat -- no matter how much -- I feel like shit for an hour and half afterward. Like too full, sick and sort of blah -- and yet a tiny bit of me thinks "Hey if I eat something that will fix it." Then went that feeling finally goes away and I feel better ... guess what? I feel like I could eat some more! Oh well. At least I don't have heartburn right? I can't imagine how sucky that would be. Also I don't feel this weird hunger thing throughout the most of the day, it's the evening that it really kicks in.
--Swelling. It's started. My rings are off, but I can tell my hands are feet are starting to swell up because of the heat. I have started to keep an eye on my sodium intake, to see if that will help.
--Itchy belly.
--Nails and hair growing like a weed, it's awesome to be able to grow nails this fast. The old nail biting Laura would be in heaven.
--The crotch pain has much decreased the past couple of weeks only to be replaced by an aching back. I have been making supreme efforts to better my posture.
--Mild mood swings here and there. Thankfully not for the past week or so.
--I would really like to drink a tall frosty margarita.
--I am going to be the mother of sisters! Gah!

----------------------

In other non news. Today felt like one of those "good day's." You know, where you make it to the end of the day and nod your head in satisfaction. Last night we took on two dogs to dog sit. One of them is a snoring, deaf bulldog who is super sweet and a great vacuum. The other was a boxer, full of energy, a food hound and .... it unfortunately turned out ... to be NOT cat friendly. We didn't even think to test him because he lives with three cats. Granted one of them he never sees, but still ... cats. He started obsessing about our cats about an hour in when they came out of hiding, but they were out of reach. Then Arkham came out and made his stand, and the boxer started drooling buckets, was fixated, and then finally attacked. Tim broke up the fight and the dog was worse for it, but still --- not good. We called our friends and said he couldn't stay. Sigh. This all could have been avoided if we had just tested him! Nutz.

Anyway. So now we have the overweight, deaf bulldog who snores like ... like ... well I don't know. But I hate snoring. It's a pet peeve of mine. It drives me nuts. This dog apparently has attached herself to me, so now whenever I go I get a snoring soundtrack. During this afternoon's nap I risked not hearing Morella as soon as she awoke by putting in ear plugs to get in a nap. I slept for an hour I think before taking them out. I was by the baby monitor too so I am sure I would have woken up if she was hollering. She's isn't a quiet one.

Gah. The dog is snoring right now. It's so ... like nails on a chalk board.

And she farts -- these are nasty, stinky, stay in the air for like 10 minute farts. Good grief, Pluto never farts like this...well not anymore that is. Okay. Okay. I'll stop.

Morella loves her though. She snuffed around the house today, crawled around on the floor (Tim guessed she's pretending to be a dog?), and lolled all over her on the couch, on the floor, in the hallway -- and Zilla (the dog) puts up with it. Morella is in doggy heaven!

Okay. So yeah. Got up, had a little breakfast and then went to a play date group. I walked there and the weather was fantastic! Ahh so nice to have spring here. Morella melted down at the end of play group and we went home. Ate a bit of lunch (smoked salmon, laughing cow baby swiss cheese wedge, pear chunks and cheesecake), and took a THREE HOUR NAP! Hurray! Got up. Was crabby. Calmed down after some Ellen and part of my Snicker's Ice Cream bar and then went outside to play. I busted out my outside chaise lounge chair, leafed through the new Redbook and let her play. Yes, it was a little bit of the "the life." Ahhh....

Had to pee, so I brought Morella back in (an hour later) she threw a 10 minute fit until I made her a cream cheese sandwich and carried her around for a 1/2 an hour while I worked on dinner -- spaghetti with ground turkey, onions and garlic, greens beans and homemade garlic cheesy bread (made with buns leftover from last summer). Tim came home, Morella wanted to lay down in her crib to chill for awhile -- that was cool. Ate dinner -- she ate one little cheesy bread finger and that was it. She threw a fit over wanting a banana -- I gave it to her after she made a visible effort to calm down and communicate to us that she really, really wanted it. I was shocked when she actually ate 1/2 of it, willing!! But that was all she ate. :P

After dinner I ran a bath for her and put her in. She didn't sit down at all, but she did crouch for several stretches. I just poured water over her and thanked my stars she wasn't howling and throwing a fit. Finally, she wanted out so I washed her hair, rinsed it out, and bundled her up in a towel for two minutes while I dried her hair with a washcloth before setting her free for some naked time. She immediately went and peed on the living room floor (quickly cleaned up) and then was good for the next 20 minutes before we lotioned, jammied, sacked, soy milked and read to her before bed. Put her down at 7.33PM -- just in time for How I Met Your Mother and she hadn't made a peep since.

Hurray!

Meanwhile, Tim put away the food, took out the garbage (including the dog poop) started washing diapers, fed the dogs, and put away the Morella bomb that exploded in the back yard. Leaving time for me to just watch TV, putz around on the computer and relax. Ahhh.
--

Morella woke up early again this morning and by 9 was having meltdown after meltdown. Instead of taking her with me to the grocery store, I put her to down to nap. I stopped at a garage sale on the way to Woodman's but didn't see anything I wanted.

At woodmans I got everything but the milk. Nutter butter. I hate it when that happens. Hilary ahd brought over these animal crackers in a box last we..

"Uh oh. Uh oh!"

Crap. She's awake. I guess I'll finish this later. But in brief, Morella almost fell out of a resturant high chair yesterday. Thankfully Tim was there to catch her but she was scared, as was I. Our dinner was comped within seconds.