What the ...!?

I've been pretty busy the last couple of days. My eye is slowly getting better. #2 is growing well and Lily is driving me up the wall. Who knew that two year olds could get into so much trouble? I mean, really. Her ambition and skills equal each other now and there's really nothing she can't get into. She drags her potty around to use as a step stool to get into high drawers. I feel like I need a safe.

Anyway, this afternoon I started to get the crib ready. I think the baby things I stored, moved around on their own because it took me an hour to find the crib sheets. Now I'm faced with the question of where I'm going to put everything. I'm going to have to get tough again and get rid of things that I'm not using so that I can clear out a drawer for #2. Sigh. This could get interesting.

Also? I've lost my husband. He started watching Heroes and can't stop. I have to ask him things 5 or 6 times and when he finally hears me, he jumps like he's just coming back into this dimension. Ask me how impressed about this I am....

Made it -sort of

I'm finished with my tests for licensing. The practical I'm just not sure about. I dominated the theory test though and got 99%. woot! That felt nice. I didn't feel quite so out of control of things. Anyway, my eye is still wonky. It might be 50% better, maybe. I've been using the steroid drops but... I see the eye doctor on Wednesday. :P

It does feel nice to be done with the tests. Even if I failed the one, I'm not doing anything about retesting until the fall. Now my attention has to turn to getting the house ready for #2. And really, getting myself ready. One day last week Lily was driving me crazy by constantly stealing water out of my glasses to put in her toys. I finally stuck her in the bathtub and let her play to her heart's content. Now she bugs me every day for a bath. In the middle of the day. I guess we need to get her an outside pool or sandbox or something. Sigh.

We had a productive weekend as we did yard work and cleaned up the cars. Of course, they were covered in pollen again this morning. Pedro *finally* has a little helper. She's also good at backrubs. Uh, not that I would know.

And for your viewing pleasure...

News

I made it to the eye doctor this morning and it turns out that I have inflammation in my cornea. It's not "in" my eye so that's good news (?). I have some eye drops which will hopefully clear things up and I'll go back in a week. phew

However, it's still very hard for me to do things on the computer so it will be a few more days before I resume posts of Lily. I do have another test this Saturday morning, so think happy thoughts for me!

Ciao

Well, you may have noticed that my posts have been a lot shorter lately. The eye with shingles in it is not doing so well and my vision has really deteriorated the last couple of days. So I'm probably not going to do any posting as doing anything on the computer is really difficult for me. I do have my big test on Monday, so I hope I can see well enough to get there and get through it. After that, I'll see the ophthalmologist early Tuesday morning and find out what's going on.

And if you're wondering if it's stressful being pregnant and worrying about losing the sight in one eye - yes it is.

Sunshine

It's finally sunny in central Va. Also, Lily is napping so I got a chance to go outside and clean up the flower bed a bit. Once the flower bed was ready, I dumped some dirt from old flower pots into it and threw out the ones I didn't like. Now we're ready for some new flowers. :)

Yeah, I'm not sure how Lily did this. She kept on leaning over and leaning over and next thing I knew, she was laying on my desk.

Really

Lily tried to belly flop on me today and I told her no, don't squish the baby.

So this afternoon I caught her laying on her back, sticking out her stomach and yelling "my baby, my baby".

Sigh.

Update

I had my (hopefully) last ultrasound today. Baby #2 is doing really well. She's up to the 50th percentile now and everyone says she's doing great. :) Gosh, how nice it would be to have a 7 lb baby.... Sigh. I've been going over the stuff I'll need for my tests. I have to grab some things from school tomorrow. AND I found my CosmoProf card so Lily and I are going shopping!!! No more crappy store bought shampoo for THIS chick.

Wow, I get excited about shampoo. (Stacy - let me know what kind of shampoo you use. wink wink)

Anyhoo, I guess that's it. It's another cold night in VA. It was 35F last night. 35! That's a few degrees about freezing (for my Canadian peeps). Usually, by this time in April, we can turn the heater off for the next two seasons. boo hiss. I didn't buy any maternity clothes for cold weather because I figured I'd be in shorts by now. Gah!

Anyway, I don't have a lot to talk about today. Only 9 and a half weeks to go until my due date. woohoooo! Since this baby isn't the size that Lily was, I wonder if I'd get away with trying to schedule an induction? It's just nice going to the hospital and knowing that a baby's coming out that day. You know?

Birthday Easter

Well, almost. I was born on Easter Sunday, you know. I'm not really sure what that says about me. Especially, since I had two friends in school with the exact same birthday as me. I'm sure there might be a few more of you out there too. Anyway, my birthday was the day before Easter this year. And I think we all had fun. Well, not so much Lily, since she threw up at the restaurant but I think she tried to fit too much into her belly.

Lily helped grandma make us a birthday cake. She did a pretty good job too until it came time to frost the cake. Then it turned into more of a how much frosting can Lily fit into her mouth at one time, scenario. I'm just so blown away at how grown up she seems now. Really. Not that she can make a cake on her own but what she wants to do and what she can do. I think of the little (huge) infant that I lugged around for a year and I'm just amazed that she seems so... grown.

This evening we went grocery shopping at Whole Foods. For the first time ever, Miss Lily was allowed out of the grocery cart AND no one carried her. I usually do the shopping alone and I don't have the physical or mental abilities to watch her and remember what to buy. Anyway, daddy was along for the ride so he put her to work. They'd disappear down a different aisle and he'd give her something to bring back to the cart so I (and the rest of the store) would hear, MA-MA, until she found me. But she loved it. As a reward for being such a good shopper, she got to pick her own dessert. Being a two year old, she tried to pick them all.

Let's see. Grandma also gave her a baby doll which talks and opens and closes its mouth and eyes. It weirds me out a little but I'm probably showing my age. Anyway, Lily loves this baby. She "feeds" it and pushes it around in its stroller. It's brought something out in her. I caught her practicing saying hello in the mirror today. Do you know what I mean? I guess she's figuring out her effect on the world.

I do have a couple of easter pictures but they can wait until tomorrow. :)

Friday Facts

I haven't done this in a while. I also may repeat myself on this list because it has been so long but I'm sure no one really pays attention so it's all good.

1. I hate seeing abandoned houses with curtains them. It depresses me.

2. Playing Wii Mario Cart does not seem to help me with my stress.

3. I just bought three purses. I only have two arms so I'm still trying to figure out the math. Side note to Pedro: don't look at the credit card bill.

4. I love it when the Redbuds bloom.

5. I have accomplished all of the goals that I set for myself today. This makes me feel better when I think about how gross giving birth is going to be.

6. Lily helped me purse shopping and was a very good girl for about an hour.

7. I am freaked out about giving birth again. Pedro says that I've already been through it once and that I should know what to expect. I say, that's the problem.

8. I think that I'm finally de-stressing from school. I have time to email people and well, actually think about other people.

9. It's my birthday tomorrow! And most of me couldn't care less.

10. I'd like to take a page from someone else's book and write an open letter:

Dear Buttface in the old Taurus with the PA plates:

I'm not sure why you couldn't wait 30 seconds for the light to turn green so that I could pull ahead and you could make your right turn. Honking at me every 3 seconds didn't really accomplish much did it? I'm sure that driving up onto the curb to pull around me satisfied some Type A control issues you may have. Also, I'm not from Pennsylvania but I'm pretty sure that they don't encourage driving on the sidewalk. I didn't see any emergency vehicles behind you, nor did you look like emergency personnel yourself, seeing as how you are as wide as you are tall. If you are a firefighter then I'd hazard a guess that the last pole-like thing you had your hands around was a chili dog. Good luck with that.

Smooches!

Me

Argh!

I've been stepping up the potty training. For all the good it's doing. I made a chart, to encourage Lily. Every time she sits on the potty, she can put a sticker on the chart. I even bought new and more exciting stickers. This does work to some degree. She did sit on the potty this morning and did a little bit of pee. But I caught her squatting over her diaper and then ultimately, the carpet took the hit.

I don't know how to encourage her to really empty her bladder into the potty. Any ideas?

She will use a pull up, do her thing and then take it off. So she knows that she's going, she knows she's not clean and wants to be clean. All great signs. So again, how do I get her to include the potty in her mindset?

Sigh.

In other news, I have all of my tests scheduled, I have most of my products ready for the practical. It's just a matter of reviewing. And potty training. Sigh.

Peace out, wonderdogs.

Queen Bee

Or Lily. This may sound like I'm complaining but I'm really not. Lily loves to do everything herself. This is wonderful is many ways and frustrating in just about as many ways. Sometimes I need to get out the door and I don't have time for Lily to take 10 minutes to get on her socks. Of course, I've learned to get her ready earlier but that doesn't always work either. If she gets her pull up pants on backwards (or her socks) they have to stay that way because fire will rain down from the sky if I try to fix any of it.

In other news, I am feeling better. I still have a little residual pain. I think the medication may be causing most of my malaise now. I still can't believe how big she's getting. It seems like she went from helpless babe to bossy toddler overnight. It's a good thing I have another baby coming down the pike. :) Not that any parts of me are in anyway pike-like.

Park!

It was a gorgeous day today in VA. Do I get points for rhyming? We spent an hour at the park with Lily. I was slathered in sunscreen and wearing a hat and sunglasses. I wasn't the only one.

My "sores" all so itchy now. Good sign, right? The only real lingering (malingering) problem is my eye. It just hurts. Specifically, my eyeball. Now, I know the doctor said that it looks good so I figure it's the nerve still freaking out from the virus. Sigh. I just hope that I don't get that post herpetic neuralgia thing. Excruciating pain that can last for years.... gah!

I really, really need to get studying for my tests. All of that was put on hold while I was in so much pain. I'm all about just getting through. Usually, I'm all uptight about getting the best score I can but in the circumstances.... Anyway, this is my favorite picture of the day and I hope that Pedro doesn't get mad. It's so rare to see him having fun. Bear in mind that we were at a packed park. :)

Free Toaster!

Sort of. We bought it with the Lowe's gift card we got for Christmas. I knew my toaster was dying, but the other day my waffles were burnt on one side and raw on the other. Not a terribly great sign.

Yes, I was out and about in public. Some people stared at my wounds and my eye was working well enough that I could give them a what-are-you-looking-at stare. But most people were cool. More likely terrified of the plague that I look like I'm carrying.

Lily is deep into her twos. She can be the sweetest most helpful kid ever and then turnaround and spit in your face. Literally. Now I know where I got the Shingles from.....

Skittles!

I have to keep on reminding myself that I have Shingles, not Skittles because that's usually the word my mouth wants to say. I hope there's nothing Freudian about that.

Anyway, I went to the eye doctor and he said that everything looks good. He gave me some free eye drops that might help with the pain. wooo!

I am feeling marginally better. I think the Valtrex is doing it's thing. But I look like crap. Really. Oozing pussy sores on the end of my nose. mmmmm Skittles!

At least I make myself laugh. There was a low cut out to the counter at the office that Lily thought was just for her. She decided that the receptionist was her new best friend and spent most of her time there, showing the lady the scratches that Riley gave her and talking about how bad Riley is. It was funny, and I didn't have the energy to stop her.

Lily has been pretty good. It's been hard to deal with everything going on and so when I have a little breakdown and cry, she comes up to me and says "don't worry mama" and pats me on the back. She also managed to tell people today that she was two. That's new. She also changes her pull ups all on her own when they're dirty. She takes the old one off and gets a new one on. Now if only I could get her to use the potty. I think I'm going to have to make a chart with some poster board and get some stickers. Sigh.

Anyway, I hope everyone else is doing okay. I'll try to take new pictures of Lily once my eyes feel better.

The Untouchable

Well, that's how it feels. I hate going out in public because people give me looks of pity and disgust. blah My rash is getting worse. I hope that means this means that things are moving along? I just told Pedro that shingles can last 3 to 5 weeks. Sigh. I have two tests this month. I'm unable to study or prepare for either because I'm in a fair bit of pain and misery. I'm thinking of calling up the testing center and putting the one test off until fall. My practical is on the 20th and there's no guarantee I'll be feeling up to it.

I'll wait and see how I feel on Monday. Maybe the drugs will have worked some magic over the weekend. ?

Pedro stayed home today and watched Lily so I could get some rest. And rest I did. I didn't care how much yelling or crashing sounds that I heard, I stayed in bed. He's going to work tomorrow so this was my one chance to try and heal. I'm glad I got a pain prescription because it makes the pain tolerable. And it was NOT an easy decision but I have a two year old to watch and I can't stand light or noise. Lily makes a lot of noise.

Anyhoo, I know I had other points to make. I see the eye doctor tomorrow and maybe I'll get some eye drops *claps with glee* It hurts to move my eye so when Pedro picks on me (which he does a lot) I have to close my eyes, line my face up with him and then open and glare. He has figured this out so while I'm trying to line up the shot, as it were, he moves and I get to glare at open space.

Also, I wanted to mention that I know other people have worse problems than I do, at the moment. I keep that in mind as I cry on the toilet. But I have a lot on my plate. Seven months pregnant, trying to prepare for licensing and caring for a two year old. It's been a lot to try and cope with. But that's life, right? We do the best we can.

I love the internet

Alright

Let's steer this blog out of pity party land. Hopefully Pedro won't make me take this down. He and Lily were snuggling on the bed and she decided to bring the kungfu. I took the picture at the right time.

Here's Lily dancing to her own "song".

Sweet Honey Iced Tea *

So this train wreck continues to get better. I do not have allergies, at least my main concerns are not caused by allergies. I have.... Shingles. Yeah, yay. I wondered why all the pain was on one side of my face and seemed to follow a path. The path is also growing little red rashy clusters. Seriously, I'm miserable.

The best part? It's in my eye. So I have to go and see an eye doctor on Friday. My doctor was quick to say that she's never seen anyone have real problems with their eyes but she was also quick to say that shingles is very painful. She kept on saying that. Until I pointed out to her how much she was repeating herself. It's one thing to feel pain and be miserable and another to sit there and have someone else point it out. Repeatedly.

The next best part? Well, it's a toss up really. The prescription was $246. Yeah, ouch. Also, the crusty rashy bits can leave scars. Did I mention this is all happening on the tip of my nose? And up into my right eye? Sigh. Trust me, I'm all about lasering this crap off if I get scars. I do have three little holes in the skin on my nose. Hey, I didn't know what it was and I thought it was going to be a huge zit! Sigh.

I know, I know, some of you are wondering about Lily. The doctor said she's fine because she's had her chicken pox vaccine. And #2 should be fine because we have time to treat the disease. I hope the Valtrex gives me relief quickly. It's safe for use while pregnant and my doctor called the Ob/gyn to double check. So, you know. We've covered all the bases.

Anyhoo, let me try and get Lily to nap. I have been stressed out and I haven't been getting sleep so that nasty old chicken pox virus decided to come out of retirement and pay a visit. Lucky, lucky me.


* I'll let you figure out what the capital letters stand for, on your own

UPDATE: I couldn't figure out why Valtrex sounded so familiar. It's a treatment for Herpes. I get to feel even more special now.

argh, part 2

I feel much, much worse this morning. I'm not sure if I had allergies as a kid. My father believed that there was no such thing allergies - just lazy people. So I'm a little behind the curve on understanding how to treat hay fever, or avoid it.

Anyway, my eye is a beautiful red shade this morning. It leaks fluid every 10 seconds. I'm so grateful to have a doctor's appointment today. Is it a bad year for pollen?

Maybe it's not allergies? I hope I'll find out in a few hours. Luckily my nose is calming down. I just wish the wound crusts would go away. Sigh.

I'm so watching the clock to see when I can take the next Claritin. :P