I have an attack Ninja, do you?

Okay, so my ninja is 2 and a half. Pedro was picking on me today and I said a phrase that I say a lot (and probably shouldn't). "Lily punch daddy in the face". Well, she did. Oops. So then we're at home and I have a teeny square of cheesecake in my mouth and Pedro's picking on me again. This time I punched one fist into the other palm lightly twice and then pointed at Pedro. Lily went and gave him a vicious attack poke. This is kind of awesome. I know she's too young to be an assassin. Just give us time.

I used my new coupon training today. Yes, I know that sounds weird. I took a workshop on how to save money on groceries. Sue me. We spend probably $800 to a $1000 a month on food. We eat out, order in, etc. So anyway, I checked fliers online, gathered my coupons and made my list. I saved $50 on one bill. I thought that was pretty good for a first time out. Paid for the ice cream maker that Pedro got at Sam's club. :) I learned a lot of tricks. If you have a savings card for a store, a lot of times you can register it online for more savings. Today I was buying things on sale and using a coupon so I really cleaned up. And the store I went to was tripling coupons. I know, you're thinking what the heck does that mean? It means that I had a 30 cent coupon for sugar, times three, so I saved 90 cents on that bag of sugar. Hey, it all added up to $50! Go ME!

Yes, I'm a nerd. A nerd with an attack ninja.

What??!

Okay, Lily and I made it to playgroup this morning. There were 4 of us moms, two of whom are pregnant. I had never heard that the pushing part is more painful than the contraction part. WHAT! They said it burned. Oh no. Uh uh. The epidural is sounding better again. I'm kidding. (sort of) I mean, I think I can take a half day's worth of pain over a lifetime (possibly) of issues. I still have a scar on my back from the last one. Not a big deal but the point is, I can't remember. :P

Also, Facebook won't let me in. Okay, it's been a long time since I've signed on but I'm not getting my password reset emails and the password I'm sure is right isn't working. :P So I signed up again to Facebook. I so far have one friend in common with myself. Isn't that fun? Stupid facebook.

Boy, can I relate...

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Pedro, shut yer face.

hmpf

Well, I'm still only a cm dilated. :P But then I still have 20 days to go. Sigh. 20 long uncomfortable days. I tested negative for strep B so I won't have to have an IV. I told the doctor that was awesome because I wanted to let things happen on their own. She agreed. Induction may be handy, and or necessary, sometimes but it's really REALLY hard on a woman's body. The contractions can be more frequent and stronger. I feel like I lucked out with the last epidural. I've heard of women who have nerve issues and pain for years from them. I feel like I got lucky with the one I had, and I'd like to leave it at that.

Maybe Pedro doesn't remember, but I clearly do, the moment I wanted everyone to leave the delivery room so that I could crawl to the corner (I had one picked out) and just wait out the storm. I wasn't interested in having a baby that day. Thanks. I don't want to go through that again. And although this time the uncertainty is frustrating, I'd rather that #2 come on her own time. But that time had better not be after the due date. :)

Besides, #2 is no where near as large as Lily was. I could have her in my sleep. Actually, that would be pretty awesome. Could we make that happen?

The Potty Wars

Lily seems just as determined to not pee on the potty as we are to try to get her to do it. I can tell that Pedro's getting frustrated. I know that I don't have the energy to keep up with her and catch her every time she pees, so to my mind, I will encourage her but let it go until I'm ready too. You know? These dark pics are from last night. Pedro had Lily help him with the recycling. :)

I know that my little girl is smart but exceedingly stubborn and that she will do things when she's ready. I also know that giving her ultimatums doesn't work. I feel like the best I can do is reward her with chocolate when she tries. And I'm very grateful for the child I have. She was mad last night about something but whenever I groan or cry out (something ALWAYS hurts now) she stops and asks me if I'm okay. I don't want to say she's empathic (cuz that reminds me of Deanna Troi) but she's very sweet and I'd rather that sweetness not be bullied out of her.

But if anyone knows a cool trick to get kids to pee on the potty....

The Name Game

We still can't decide on a name for #2. Sometimes my brain frantically cycles through names to find a fit. It's so weird because Lily's name was so easy. I almost feel like just putting it all in Pedro's hands just so I don't have to think about it anymore. Almost.

I'm sure I had lots of other things to write about but I'm just too tired. I had insomnia last night and I was in a lot of pain. I know once #2 comes out that life will be tough, but at least we'll be moving on with things. If that made sense. Anyway, let me go and do my hip exercises and see if they help. SIGH

Forsooth!

First things first: Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.





Then that person was mad that her daddy was going out without her. I think they had a good time at the picnic. I was asleep when Pedro got home and decided I would best be served by relaxing.


Yay, I made it to the VA Renaissance Fair and back. I did pretty well. I held my own for 3 hours. Now my feet are a little swollen but I didn't get a sunburn or heat exhaustion (it was hot). Lily sort of enjoyed it. They're very... friendly isn't the word. I almost felt accosted by people as I was going through the fair. "GOOD DAY MY LADY. FARE YE WELL?" Shut up and get out of my way, I'm hot and I need to pee. Lily made a few friends, but she wasn't having much of the overly friendly folks either. I think it's the perfect place for people who take their renaissance seriously. The dressed up people far outnumbered us regular folks. I didn't know what to say though. I just smiled a lot and tried to hide under my visor. (not easy)

Everyone talked in the "olde English" way. Well, except for the face painting lady. She was pretty cool. Lily watched Stacy have her face painted first. Then she was all up for it. She sat very still and did a really good job of behaving herself. Lily, I mean. :) Lily was pretty good today. She didn't want to leave the alpacas or the dogs, but once I pulled her away she got over it. Just before we left, she plunked down on the ground like she had had enough. She walked around with us for over 2 hours so she did a good job.

I just got a shock. Lily was being a little too quiet in my room, so I went to see what she was doing. When she heard me coming she hid a bunch of wipes under the bed. I pulled them out and they were all blue. She removed her face paint! I'm not mad, I'm just always amazed at the way she decides things for herself. She enjoyed having the face paint put on, and now she wants it gone and knew how to take care of herself. Come on people, she's two, that's pretty good. :)

I'd like to go back next year and now I know what to expect. I saw a woman wearing a very loose white blouse under a beautiful red dress, almost like a tunic. She looked a lot more comfy than the ones in bodices. I might dress up next year. :) Now I'm sitting here, kind of hungry, wondering when Pedro's going to make it home from the mountain. I half suspect they're actually all having a LAN party.....

Hips Don't Lie

... but they hurt like the end of time right now. Holy smokes. I know, I know. It's the beginning of the end. Let's see. My hospital bag is mostly packed. I've been reading up on all the disgusting things that happen during labour. I still don't really know how I'm supposed to time contractions. I guess I should practice with the practice ones I have.

Pedro's work is having a picnic today. I thought we might be able to go swimming but "they" say the water is still too cold. I think dipping my oven in the water would feel great, so we'll see. I guess I should bring everything just in case. :P

Unintended Consequences

I'll bet when Pedro married me and then became a father, he didn't know that he was going to become the barf master of the house. He always gets us the towels or the buckets in time.

Thanks, daddy. :)




PS (It was Lily that threw up this time, dern tortilla chip)

1cm

And I'll take it, thank you. Although, I think with Lily I was dilated 2 or 3 cm for a few weeks. Sigh. It's so funny how afraid I was of giving birth, just a little while ago. Now I want this sucker out! #2 has been kicking and punching and punching and kicking. The combination of a contraction with a baby butt being pushed out is rather excruciating.

No, we still haven't come up with a name. Every day (almost) I ask Pedro about certain names and he shuts me down. So, I kind of don't feel like trying anymore. Maybe I should do what my doctor suggested and call her Deuce. Or go with back up plan #1 - Beulah May Moo Thompson. That way Lily's had a part to play in naming the baby. :)

And no, I still don't like Hope Thompson. Too consonant heavy. I keep asking for some divine inspiration (I do like Angel*) but so far nothing that Pedro likes. SIGH




* The Angel I knew at UVA was the sweetest girl but something wicked with the boys.

Me: Didn't you wear that yesterday?
Angel: hee hee heehee hee *big grin*
Me: Oh boy.

Too close for comfort

This could've been me.


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Seriously. I drove for a mile with my wallet on top of my car. I'm one very lucky and very out of it chick.

Movie Review

I don't know why I feel like anyone would be interested in my opinion but I wanted to write a little about some movies I've seen lately.

- Ma Vie En Rose- A french film about a young boy who's sure he was born the wrong gender. I thought it was a very sweet and sad film that showed the difficulties overwhelming the whole family as a result of the bigotry faced by Ludo.

- Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion- I really didn't know much about the Chinese occupation of Tibet. I didn't know there was/is widespread torture and execution of Buddhist monks and nuns. The Tibetans are shut out of the economy and live in squalor outside of the Chinese occupied cities. It's another heart rending film. Loved the Chinese propaganda reels.

- When the Levees Broke- I was a little unsure about watching this documentary on New Orleans. Spike Lee seems to (I can't think of the word, pregnancy block) have a social agenda. And I'm not knocking him for that, but I didn't want to have 5 hours worth of lecturing. You know? I was so wrong. I felt he put together diverse views, touching stories of survival and the basic facts of what happened or didn't happen. It was amazing. Amazing. Lily got more crushing hugs in one night than I think she'd ever had in her life. It explained why some people couldn't leave, why some people didn't leave. The politics of the area. It was amazing. The story that really made me cry (and they ALL made me cry) was the mother who kept on telling her daughter (the better swimmer) to go on ahead to the next tree and she'd catch her up. And the daughter saying, no mom, I'm not leaving you behind. Darn it! Made myself cry again. argh It's not for the faint of heart though, it showed dogs chewing on dead bodies and floating swollen corpses. But that's what happened.

And no, I don't like watching "normal" movies.

Anyway, I'll try to get some more pictures of Lily up. I have lots of videos of her, but they take so long to load on here. I hope everyone's enjoying their Wednesday. :)

Making plans for

the Virginia Renaissance Fair. I didn't even know that VA had one. I'm hoping the weather will be nice - no rain and not too warm. It seems pretty kid friendly too. I wonder if Lily would let someone paint her face? She'd probably say "I do it myself. Myself." That's how she rolls.

I've been pretty preoccupied with life in general. I know I need to pack my hospital bag but I just can't think of all that NEEDS to go in it. Anyway, let me go and find my little terrifying two year old.

The Naked Chef

Late this afternoon, Lily was watching Clifford (the big red dog). I took the opportunity to prep the veggies for dinner. I figured since she was still watching the show, I'd be able to run to the bathroom. Well, I did but when I got back she had pulled off all of her clothes and was stirring squash in a frying pan, butt naked. (the stove was off) I took some wonderful pictures but Pedro won't let me post them. Even the ones where there's hardly any butt crack showing.

A cashier at the grocery store told me that she just found out that she's 4 and a half weeks pregnant. I'm pregnant for all the world to see. Why do strangers think they can walk up to me and demand to know my due date and/or the sex of my child? I'm going to ask for their bank account information in return. Luckily I'm super tall and scary so no one tries to touch my belly.

Anyway, I'm sure I had a point. Oh well. Lily and I were watching Waterhorse something something something something, and there was a cool big sister in it. So I was trying to talk her up to Lily. Hey, it beats being stabbed. Plus I was showing her all the baby pictures on the samples I got. I can already tell it's hard for Lily putting up with all the "baby" talk. I want to make her feel included and see if I can get her excited about being a sister and helping mommy with the baby. Of course, tonight she was banging her baby doll's head repeatedly against the wall.....

Freaking Out

I had my 35 week check up today. #2's heart beat sounds good, my belly is growing, "right on target". Whatever that means. I also got an armful of samples to bring home. On the back of one of the little booklets is a mom's bag checklist. I'm like, 5 pairs of underwear? What do they expect me to be doing? First of all, the hospital gives you disposable underwear, which are the bomb. Cuz if you feel like it, you can go all hulk on them and rip them off. Not that I did that, or anything. Half of the things on this list, I got at the hospital. I did wish that I had brought an extra pillow though. And man those beds suck to sleep on.

Same thing with the baby's bag list. They'll give the baby clothes to use, while you're there. Make sure you have the going home outfit though. I brought lots of receiving blankets for Lily and we used those to prop her up in her crib to make her more comfy. :) I remember all the things I brought for myself that I never used. I was so tired and got so little sleep. The days seemed to go by so fast. Sigh.

Anyway, part of my brain is freaking out and I don't want to pack a bag as big as the car. I know what I used last time and I can always get something that I don't have. I remember this Murphy Brown episode where she didn't have a bag, so she asked one of her coworkers to pack one for her and he panicked and brought her 20 bras. :) Don't bring 20 bras.

Oh really

I don't know why this cracked me up.

How to Time Contractions What you will need to time contractions: A watch or clock with a second hand A pregnant woman having contractions

It still makes me laugh. Every time I read it. :) And yes, I've been reading up on what the heck I'm supposed to be doing. I want to try and let things happen naturally this time as getting induced was extremely... rough? painful? I remember wanting everyone to go away so I could go and curl up in the corner. I decided I didn't want to have a baby that day. :) Pitocin can make contractions stronger and more frequent (and it did). I'd LOVE to avoid that if I can. The epidural was awesome but there are complications with those too.

ummm

Okay, so that outage is for Wednesday at 5. Whatever. Have I mentioned that I'm pregnant and a little out of it??? Anyway, I'm having trouble keeping Lily out of the crib. I've told her that it's for her baby sister and that seems to drive her insane. Yesterday, she stabbed me in the belly with a ball point pen. * Does sibling rivalry start before birth?

I think the most fun I had at the beach was watching Lily have fun. Everything was a joy to her. Swimming in the pool, getting chased by the waves and finding dead fish. I enjoyed the pool too. I felt slightly less ungraceful in the water. And I liked my bathing suit. It felt like "hello baby belly!". If I had found a bikini to fit me, I would have been wearing that. And woe to all those who would look upon my inverted belly button and shudder.

Anyway, what was I talking about? So Lily had a great time. I enjoyed myself as much as I could. I know I want to go back for another family vacation but now I face the dilemma: hotel or beach house? I think the hotel would be more expensive but how nice is it to have someone else make the bed and fold the towels? It never seemed like a big deal before. :) That was the view out of the hotel door. It was awesome. The one drawback was the sidewalk right outside. No one kept us up at night but anyone who knows me well, knows how I break into dance without any provocation so some people may have seen me bust some moves. I'm sure dancing pregnant women are not frightening at all.

We also went to the North Carolina aquarium. Lily was all over that. It's pretty in the Outer Banks. I'm not really into beach "stuff", ie. I'm as pale as a fish's belly so tanning is out. I like making a cup of coffee, sitting in a chair (out of direct sunlight) listening to the waves crash and feeling the timelessness of the moment. It's a zen thing. I think.

This is my favorite picture. Of course, I haven't seen g-ma and g-pa's pictures yet. Speaking of which, I'd like to give them a big thumbs up for coming with us and watching Lily. I know it's a joy for grandparents to spend time with their grandkids, but I really appreciated the time to relax. So thank you. :)

* Not making that up. She was in time out for a long time.

Gah!

Well, I was going to write about our trip but blogger has a scheduled outage in 14 minutes and I don't do well under pressure. I really enjoyed the Outer Banks. Granted we were there a little before tourist season but it was much more relaxed than VA Beach. Loved our room - opened up the door and were right at the beach and the pool. All of the staff at the Hilton were really friendly and helpful. :) Also, North Carolina is apparently the best place to get hushpuppies. For real.

Me, Friday night at a high-end restaurant with lobster and steak in front of me: "This is the best hushpuppy I have EVER eaten!".

The ball of fried dough impressed me more than the other stuff. I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry. Considering how I ralfed up everything later anyway, maybe cry.

Note to pregnant self: Do not eat rich food or seafood, or rich seafood while pregnant.

I'll put pictures up after the outage.

My lungs still work

Oh, I just had the worst time. I walked out to find BG playing with a blue tailed skink. Now, I can handle roaches, ants, spiders, devil bugs (I don't know what they are, but they look evil). Lizards are okay, when they're outside. Now, I like the skinks that live around my house. I'm pretty sure that they eat the ants (some of them) and I like the flash of metallic blue when they run and hide.

I thought BG had killed it, but when I swept it up in the dustpan it was moving. I put it outside but I'm not sure how long it's going to live with one eyeball hanging out. I'm sorry. I couldn't give it the gift of mercy.

The worst part? It's tail was missing and I know they are the type of lizard to give up the last part of their tail to escape. Oh, I found it. Still wriggling on my door mat.

Poor #2 is probably trying to figure out what to do with all the stress hormones that she just got hit with. I'm surprised that the neighbours didn't call the police, cuz the doors and windows WERE open. I screamed so loud I made my own ears rings. I try to set a good example for Lily. I really do, but that was too much. Do I need to mention that I was jumping up and down like a hyperventilatin gorrilla, while I was screaming at the top of my lungs? Poor Lily. She's been telling me it's okay and telling off BG. *big sigh*

I was going to write about how I finally got the notice that I can get my esthetician's license. Kind of seems like small potatoes now.

Mouth meet Money

Yay I have my veggies! I'm not sure what one of the items is, but it looks like some sort of greens. I'm leaning towards mustard greens. I got a lot of asparagus and three types of lettuce. Oh and fresh honey comb (heee!). Lily didn't want to leave the farm.

Then we went to the local SPCA. I know I've said that last couple of weeks that I wanted to donate money after all I've spent on Riley. I know that doesn't really make sense but his barfing butt (not quite) will always be taken care of but other family pets have found themselves at the pound and our shelter has a huge budget deficit so.... It felt kind of good to write that check. Then we went to look at the dogs up for adoption. First of all, do they ALL have to bark? Second, it got depressing really quickly. I stopped to look at a few dogs and boy, when they know they have your attention, they really turn on the charm. Sigh. There was this larger dog that was the epitome of mutt, longer hair, floppy ears, big sad eyes. I had to leave after that. Sigh.

Hello Gorgeous

How gorgeous is this cat?? I don't know when I've ever seen one with eyes that color. I think she's in Portugal. Who's up for a catnapping?? :)

In other news, Lily and I are going to get our first farm share. I'm so excited! The produce was picked this morning. I've never had fresh, FRESH, veggies before (unless you count stealing apples from Carter's Mountain). We did some errands this morning and now we're all set with snacks for the road trip down to the Outer Banks this weekend. It's not going to be really warm, which suits me FINE. I want to have the windows open and listen to the sounds of the waves crashing on the beach. sigh...

Sigh

I'm not really sad or stressed. I'm feeling wistful. Lily and I had a really good day together shopping. It was good for me because there were a lot of sales and Lily was cooperative even though she didn't get much sleep. I got a lot of new baby clothes because I only had a few smaller sizes. I knew Lily was huge so when I bought for her it was usually 6mths even though she was a newborn. Since #2 is likely to be much smaller, I needed more onesies. And I know Miss Lily will not share her blankets, which is fine, so I had to pick something out for Mavis.

Just kidding. Trying out different names. Not that Mavis is even on the list. Anyway, now we're equipped with blankets and burp cloths and onesies, oh my. We even got Lily a booster seat. That's why I'm wistful. She's been walking around with her baby backpack on while wearing Chanel lipstick. Preschool seems like it's just around the corner. Sigh.

Awake

Lily woke up Pedro around 4:30 in the morning. He was then kind enough to come in and wake me. Isn't it funny how that works? Lily was in some pain. Considering that I feel like I can see how much she grows in one day, it's not surprising. So I went back to bed, after dosing the kid and tried to sleep. I heard "things" and my tummy was growling. Pedro gave in and made Lily some breakfast. He was kind enough (and smart enough) to save some ham steak for me. So there we were at 5:30am. Good grief.

I went back to bed but was awoken from time to time by Lily checking up on me. Finally, my alarm went off and I chuckled to hear the snores down the hall. I got to take THIS picture:




That's some hard core sleeping. Now I get to go and wake them up. If you never hear from me again, well, you may count yourself lucky. :P

This just in

I passed my practical exam.

Party time.

Excellent.