I'm beat!

So I think I must have overdone it yesterday (I did some gardening, on top of actually getting some other things accomplished) and today I've been suffering the consequences. So, I'll likely be off to bed soon. Big day tomorrow. Al has eye surgery so we'll be off to Jacksonville for the day/night. Wish us luck! With any luck the hospital will have internet service!

What's that I feel?

Wait, I think I know what it is. Hunger. Yep, that's it, true hunger. Not the kind of hunger where you sorta feel like you need to eat but sorta feel like your gonna puke, but true hunger! Better yet, it's hunger that I can actually act on. I had almost forgotten what it felt like. Look out world, here comes the weight gain!

Picture highlights from NJ....

First full day in NJ. Tyler says "NJ is chilly" (I beg to differ)

Collecting clam shells at the lake.
Lunch with Uncle Jimmy at the lake

"Beach One" after our walk to the ice cream shop.

Some outdoor playtime at Mom-mom and Pop-Pop's

Yet another trip to the lake, this time for some "muck walking"

Atlantic City! Tyler's favorite ride on the pier!

Another good ride!

Having fun on the beach in A.C.

My high school friends and I at Christina's suprise 30th birthday bash

Enjoying some sights at the Philadelphia Zoo

Tyler and Scarlett spending some quality time together

Pop-pop and Tyler in my brother's back yard. I'm sooooo jealous!

Tyler enjoying his scooter

Deer on my brother's property

Tyler at "bring your child to work day" at Shawnee. This was art class.
Gym class at Shawnee.

Just fooling around in the football field

Tyler and his Mom-mom

We're back!!!

Well, Tyler DID nap (thank goodness) and we made it to the airport without any stops for head injuries. Yipee. Tyler was awesome on the flight, and I'm happy to report (aka: brag) that my child was praised repeatedly for his good behavior. It was a packed flight and there were many other screaming children, and yesterday, mine was not one of them! LOL. Gotta love when that happens!

We are now back in Florida, and I will say, IT'S HOT! It's not really much warmer (as of yet) than it was some days in New Jersey, but the humidity is just yucky. It's gonna be a LONG summer!

We are already back in the swing of things. Tyler had preschool, I did some grocery shopping, and now he's napping while I'm trying to get some cleaning done and my pictures uploaded (finally).

Back to Florida

So in about 3 hours we'll be leaving for the airport to head back to Florida. With any luck we can avoid a trip to the emergency room on the way this time. LOL. Tyler has decided that he does not want to go back to Florida, so I could be in for a fun flight. With any luck he'll nap here in a few minutes. If not, please shoot me.

29 going on 10

So tonight I spent the evening doing completely childlike things. After spending a Saturday evening perusing the mall with my parents (complete with a stop in the food court and in the Disney Store) we came home for family movie night. Tonight's viewing pleasure: Enchanted. And, yes, I will admit, I still have one of the songs running through my head.

What????

Does anyone else watch LOST? Ever get that feeling that you are more LOST at the end of each episode than you were the previous week? I suppose the title of the show says it all, huh? I can't even begin to imagine how all of this will eventually be explained, and as much as I'd sometimes like to pretend I don't care and give up on the show forever, I have a feeling I'll be hooked until the end.

Good news!

For one, I am NOT driving to Florida tomorrow!!! In case I never explained, Al is currently interviewing in North Carlina (he drove there on Saturday). My dad was gonna drive Tyler and I to North Carolina tomorrow afternoon to meet up with Al. I would then spend this weekend with the three us driving back back to Florida. I must have been temporarily insane when I concocted this plan. I have been DREADING the drive back, but because I waited so long to decide this, it was gonna cost me close to $500 to fly home instead, which obviously I can't justify. It must have been divine intervention because I decided to check Southwest last night and I could get a flight for Sunday for $49!!!! I booked that as quick as possible! Yipee, so I get a couple extra days here AND I don't have to drive. Thank god!

And for even bigger news, Al got the position! He's hired! I don't know the complete details, but he's over the moon. So, sometime before the new year we will be moving to North Carolina. Or at least he will. As I said, no details have been decided. But I'm very proud of him!

Pictures. We've got pictures!

Okay, I don't have pictures, but my friend has some! Yesterday my friend Melinda and I took our kids to Philadephia Zoo. She has a special pass that allows guests in for free, including the rides! VERY cool! Tyler had a ball with his friend "Garlett" (Scarlett). In reality it was too much walking and activity for me, but I did have a very nice time. I was so happy today to check my e-mail and see that she had sent me pictures!

Not enough time

I've decided that 8 days in New Jersey is just NOT enough time. There is still so much I want to do, people I want to see, and weather I want to enjoy! I'm just NOT ready to go back. Maybe I'll throw a little temper tantrum and refuse to get in the car. Did I mention yet how little I am looking forward to this drive back to Florida? Not only is it a LONG drive, but it will no doubt be filled with endless questions coming from the backseat. Yipee!

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by my friend, Kandee.

The Rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share seven facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Fact 1: I've been engaged twice. Once I was 21. We were engaged for about a year until exactly 6 months before the wedding. The second time was obviously my engagement to Al.

Fact 2: I had fairly significant anxiety when I was younger (and into college) to the point where it was an achievement when I finally started to be able to call and order a pizza myself (college helped with this..and the pizza helped me gain the infamous "freshman 15")

Fact 3:I won't eat mayonnaise or most any condiments except ketchup and mustard.

Fact 4: I spent my spring break during my junior year in college (or maybe it was sophomore year...hmm) on an "alternative spring break". We drove a large passenger van from Boston to the Miami area and helped to rebuild/improve areas that were affected by Hurricane Andrew.

Fact 5: My feet and hands sweat excessively. Gross, I know.

Fact 6:My family often jokes about having a family compound in the middle of nowhere, but part of me honestly wants to do it. Now if we just had the money.....

Fact 7:My husband and I wear the same size wedding ring. I have VERY fat fingers.

Soooooo, TAG, if you haven't done this already, you're IT:

Asking for some good luck vibes...

I'm not sure if I ever explained this, but part of why I'm in New Jersey NOW is that Al is in North Carolina NOW, interviewing for a position (within the military). I figured there was no sense in us being apart twice in a month, so I decided to leave while he was gone anyway. So, my point is, Al starts this interview process tomorrow. I'm not 100% sure what the ideal outcome is anyway, but at this point I just hope that "whatever is meant to be" will happen...if that makes sense. So, please send us some vibes for life to intervene in whatever way that will be best for our family. He should know on Friday whether he gets the position or not, so I'll be sure to update you whenever I can!

As for me, I'm still dying from not being able to download my pictures. I can't bring myself to explain our daily happenings without providing some pictures. It's just not the same. I was immensely looking forward to sharing some picutres of the place I grew up, my friends, my family, etc. Look out, you'll be bombarded when I get back!

I will share one brief tidbit of information though. I got kicked. And yes, I'm happy about it. Baby bean has made his/her presence known. For a week or two now I thought I had some suspicious movements in my tummy, but nothing certain. I was waiting for that climatic moment where I just "knew". Well, that hasnt' really happened, but I think it's cause I'm being overly cautious. I'm 95% sure I felt two kicks on Friday (as well as a few since then), so for now I'm telling myself that it's happening. Yea for baby movement!

what to do?

I don't have access to my pictures, and I'm soooo disappointed! My parents regular computer is broken, so they are just using their laptop. For some reason their computer doesn't have the program necessary to access the pictures from my camera, and when we try to download the program it gives us some sort of error message. I have so many pictures to share. Waaaaaaahhhh.

travel conversations

As I mentioned, Tyler NEVER slept on the flight, despite the fact that it was PAST his bedtime and he had had a traumatic day. I personally could have fallen asleep at 8:00pm right there in the terminal, but that was not in the little man's plans. Instead he wanted to ask questions, and more questions, and questions galore.

A brief sampling of the comments/questions from Tyler:
1) "Where do people poop if they have to go potty on the airplane?"
2) "Mommy, why does that lady (flight attendant) have a lifevest on?"
3) "I think this potty is yucky. I think I'll just wait and poop in New Jersey."
4) "Can you sing Leaving on a Jet Plane, pleeeeeaaaaaaaaaaasssse?"
5) "Where are those airplanes going? Ummm, maybe Texas. That's pretty far."
6) "Look, if we drove all the way to Texas that would take a really long time. Like maybe a hundref days."
7) "Uh oh Mommy, I don't fink this airplane is flying. Nope, it doesn't feel like it's flying." (as we were in mid-air)
8) (while staring at the emergency exit plan in the leaflet in the plane). "Mommy, I think those people in the picture are being rude. Airplanes are not toys. They are not playgrounds. They should not slide out the airplane into the water."
9) "Why does salida mean exit in spanish?"
10) "There are no air masks in the ceiling. That's just silly."

Seriously, I never got a break. It was non-stop. He was really good, so I figured questions really are MUCH better than crying/whining, but come on now. A break would have been nice. Finally I told him that I needed to rest and I wanted to see just how long he could practice being quiet. Well, his best attempt was 14 seconds. I'm not joking, I counted. I did get a nice break while he watched 20 minutes of the Teletubbies on my iPod until they announced that it was time to turn off electronic devices. On the descent he decided he was sleepy. So, he almost fell asleep in the last 5 minutes of the flight. How convenient. LOL!

My fun evening...

So last night we were finishing packing up (I'm great at procrastinating) and we were hanging out in our bedroom as Al got changed out of his work clothes. Al is in the process of fixing/rebuilding my parent's computer and had the casing open on the floor of our bedroom (yes, I realize this wasn't brilliant). Tyler was getting off the bed, got his foot caught up in the blanket or something, tripped, and cut his forehead open on the metal edge casing of this stupid computer. He was bleeding a lot, or at least it seemed to me. Al FREAKED (he doesn't' handle emergencies well) and wanted to take him to the ER. Meanwhile the bleeding had already stopped and he wasn't crying anymore. I brought him next door to my neighbor's (she has 4 kids) for her opinion and she said he probably just needed a butterfly bandage, so i sent Al out for that. Meanwhile I realized the cut was deeper than I thought and it was gaping. I called my mom and asked her opinion and she reminded me (duh) about urgent care. In my defense I guess I wasn't thinking, and considering I've never been to one of them in my life (we don't have urgent care in NJ) I never even considered it. At this point it's 5:40 and we were supposed to leave at 6:00 at the latest for the airport. I throw Tyler in the car and rush to urgent care. I bring him in, sign him in, and then ask how long it's supposed to be. She looks at me like I had 12 heads (understandable...I just sounded like some mom who couldn't be bothered to deal with her son if it inconvenienced her). She answers, "at least 45 minutes before you see anyone. You have at least 4 people in front of you". I immediately start uncontrollably crying as I'm filling out the paperwork (not sure what came over me) and she looks kinda annoyed and says "uh, is everything okay" and I just start blabbering how we have a flight in just about 2 hours and we need to be on the road but I didn't know if it was safe to fly with him but I wasn't sure if I should just go ahead and call and cancel my flight. She tells me to take a seat and she'll see what she can do. Meanwhile Al goes back home, throws all my luggage in his car, drives (and somehow gets lost) on the way to Urgent Care, and switches all the crap into my car (since I have the only installed car seat now). A nurse comes out, takes a look at Tyler, smiles and winks. A few minutes later they call the names of the other people in the waiting room. They wait a minute or 2 and call me back. They explained that they got the other people into waiting rooms with nurses, but that I would be seeing the doctor first and get us on our way, which was so incredibly nice of them. Tyler was an angel while they cared for him and washed his wound. They said it was a very clean cut and was the perfect candidate for a liquid stitch-type product, so we were able to avoid standard stitches! My poor baby was so brave and I was so thankful that I brought him! I would have second-guessed myself all night had I not done so, but I never would have stood a chance of getting to the airport had we gone to ER. So yeah for Urgent Care! We got on the road at 6:35 and somehow made it to the airport by 7:20 in plenty of time for my flight (at 8:25)! anyway, I'm beat. Not only did I not got my rest time yesterday (I normally lay down or take some downtime while Tyler naps) but instead I packed. He NEVER slept on the plane, instead asked 14.2 million questions (that's another post in itself), and we arrived at 10:50. We were back "home" by 12:15am, and Tyler didn't fall asleep until we got some Tylenol in him around 1:15. Me, I didn't sleep until after 2:00. And, yeah, he was up by 6:25. Can you sense the sarcasm, lol! But we're here and fine!

"We're leaving on a jet plane"...

Tyler keeps telling me this. We leave for NJ tonight, and Tyler is sooooo excited (I am too of course, but for now I'm trying to focus on packing...procrastinating again, as usual).

I am happy that I will be leaving just as the warmed weather is scheduled to come back in. At least I'll get a break from it for 1.5 weeks. It's supposed to be in the 60s and 70s the whole time I'm there. Yipee!

First Field Trip!

Today Tyler's class met up at the new bowling alley in the area for their "field trip". Tyler was VERY excited to go bowling.

First he tried bowling with his teacher's help.

By the 2nd time up there, he apparently needed no help at all.

He waited and watched intently EVERY time for the ball to make it all the way down the alley....which can take a long time considering how sssssllllooooowwww it was going. LOL.

He ended up with the worst score in the entire class, but he had a ball! In his poor little defense, many of the other kids had help from their parents and/or the teachers. He would have none of that. He was VERY proud of his gutter balls, which by the way, IS possible even when they have those bumpers in place.

I'm back in the kitchen!

Well, at least for today. I shouldn't even bother posting this, 'cause that means I'll be cursed with 30 more days of vomiting.

Anyway, I felt good enough today to cook. No, I haven't been starving my family for the past almost 3 months, but I haven't been truly cooking much either. Most of my "cooking" had been those frozen bagged skillet meals, frozen pizzas, or stuff from a box. I won't even begin to count the amount of take out we have eaten as well. Anyway, I'm happy to report that tonight's dinner did not come frozen or out of a box at all (this is unless you count the pasta..I guarantee that I'll probably NEVER make pasta from scratch).

Here's the cooking process:

And here's the completed meal. Note the fresh Parke HydroFarm veggies. Disregard the fact that I forgot to take another picture after I sprinkled it with parmesan.

80s flashback for ya!

Remember the movie "Big"? Remember the secret song that only the two boys knew? Oh, come on, I can't be the ONLY one to remember that, can I? Anyway, I guess I was singing that one day and Tyler thought this was hysterical. He kept asking me to repeat it over and over. He picked it up (almost perfectly) within a very short time period and now LOVES to sing it. Sounds especially nice when he does his rendition in Walmart.

I must say, I'm glad he's working on the line that says "I stole my mama's credit". Tyler WAS singing it in this way: "I took my mama's credit CARD". LOL! I must say, it is nice to have a 3-year old talking about stealing credit and "sock 'em in the stomach". A top notch boy I'm raising, huh?

My little rabbit

My child has become obsessed with carrots the past few days. Normally I don't encourage "grazing" in this house because I'd rather him not eat ALL day long. But I can't really complain when it's carrots. Today he has had 4 of them! FOUR!

BTW, is anyone else enjoying the "cold front". Me? I'm loving it!

Panpakes wif Wiffed Cream and other assorted nonsense

Today, around 10:45AM, we decided to go out for brunch. Tyler wasn't too anxious to go, but after I showed him the menu online he gladly agreed to go to Denny's for "Panpakes wif Wiffed Cream". It never ceases to amaze me regarding the complex words he can say and then how he butchers other simpler words. The child STILL can't say "music" (it's more like "musnic") but he'll tell me things like "actually", "peninsula", "eruption", "frustrated", etc. Anyway, I'm rambling.

My big ultrasound is scheduled for May 19th. I have to go to a perinatologist for my ultrasound since they want to check the baby's heart extra closely (due to my heart condition) so I had to wait a bit longer than I'd really like, but I know it will be worth it in the end. Apparently we should have a pretty detailed ultrasound.

And in other news, my hibernation period should be beginning soon. I'm quite certain that I might die this summer if I have to hang out outside. Right now it's 86 degrees at 5:33pm. NOT COOL for April 12th. I shudder to think what it will be like in just a month, let alone 3 months from now when I'm even more pregnant and it's even more unbearable outside.

tax night, wahoo!

In the midst of tax fun. We never wait this late to file, but due to me being lazy, tonight is finally the night! Will check in tomorrow, and I promise to attempt to top this fascinating news.

15 week appointment update

So they did some sorta blood test to pre-screen for Down's, etc. I forget what it was.

I'm down 9lbs. They want me eating every 2 hours.

They weren't overly concerned about the dizziness or anything. They said it's likely just low blood sugar. Again, eat every 2 hours. Luckily my blood pressure was up, like 110/70, so that wasn't a concern at all.

They are putting me on iron supplements. Likely anemic.

They have the referral in for the perinatologist to do my big ultrasound. I should hear, hopefully soon, when they get that scheduled. Keep your fingers crossed that they don't make me wait too long!

Next appointment, May 8th.

Oh, and they found bean's heartbeat right away, at 152bpm. Ah, I will never get enough of that sound!

More salt please!

So last night I had a BAD night. I couldn't sleep. I had a headache and horrible heartburn. I finally got sick about 5 times between 1 and 2am. Sometime around 2:30 I finally fell asleep. I woke up and felt okay. Well, okay for me at this point in my pregnancy. I played a little bingo with Tyler, got him breakfast, and around 8:30 or so I started to get heart palpitations and was getting dizzy. I would lean down and when I got up I would get these spots in front of my eyes. It was kinda scary. I went and laid down shortly thereafter, where I remained the rest of the morning. My poor child entertained himself and watched TV from about 9:00 until I put him down for his nap around 1:00. I only got up a few times to get him food, wipe him, change the channel, etc. Each time I would get the spots in front of my eyes, etc. I considered calling the OB/GYN, but I already have an appointment set for tomorrow AM and I did not think it would be safe to drive to the doctor's anyway. Al is on duty and won't be home until tomorrow.

Anyway, while Tyler was napping (aka: pretending to sleep) I did manage to drink some apple juice and ate some pretzel bites. The dizziness mostly subsided and the heart palpitations seem to have gone. My hands are still a little trembly, but not too bad.

So, it occurred to me, my blood pressure must be low and/or my blood sugar is low. Or a combo of both. At a doctor's appointment less than a week ago my blood pressure was 90 over 60-something. They found it surprisingly low. I did not. I always have low blood pressure. I had this same problem when I was pregnant with Tyler and ended up having to be followed by a cardiologist who eventually took me out of work, put me on modified bedrest, and essentially told me to lie around, eat what I want, and up the salt. I remember her specifically saying that she was prescribing me McDonald's french fries. LOL.

Tonight Tyler and I had a little date at McDonald's (the one in Walmart). I managed to eat a few chicken nugget and a few fries. It didn't go over too well, but I got some food in me and definitely some salt. We then went shopping and (amongst some other needed stuff) I got some gatorade (I think I may have been becoming dehydrated), ramen noodles (salt in a chunk o' pasta), and cheese and crackers. So, hopefully I can get that blood pressure up a little bit. I do NOT want to be doing the cardiology appointments again. Obviously I will if my doctor recommends it, but I would LOVE to avoid that. Yes, I will be honest and tell my OB/GYN tomorrow about my symptoms, but hopefully they can all be dismissed as normal pregnancy crap.

Now, if I could just eat some of those things I bought....

Somewhere over the rainbow

Did anyone catch Jason Castro singing this tonight on American Idol? I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it! I have always been a fan of his, and even though he's not necessarily my exclusive top pick, he is right up there amongst them.

It's time to let Kristy Lee Cook go home. Lets face it, she's not gonna win, so why not let her go now? In the beginning weeks they talked about how she had to sell her favorite barrel horse (is barrel horse a real thing? Excuse me if I've got this wrong) to pay to come to the audition. Well, she's made enough money by now I'm sure to go on home and buy that horse back!

aaaah, craving relieved

Well, after Tyler woke up 4 times (yes, FOUR) between when I fell asleep at midnight and 4:00am, I was beat this morning! Not to mention, Tyler had said (around 3:30am) that his tummy hurt and he felt somewhat warm. I thought I couldn't possibly bring a sick child to the mall. But by mid-morning it was clear that he was NOT sick, so I made plans with the little man to go to the mall after his nap. It ended up being good for me because I literally ate NOTHING until I got to the mall at around 4:00. I had tried to drink some orange soda (yes, I realize this isn't the healthiest of choices) but that didn't stay in my stomach for too long so my stomach was literally completely empty until I ate part of a subway sandwich in the mall (Tyler's request). Afterwards we stopped by Motherhood and Payless before letting Tyler play in the way-overcrowded play area. On the way out we grabbed our pretzels, and I happily found room in my tummy to eat mine about an hour ago. Oh, and I even bought an extra so I can enjoy another one tomorrow. Yeah!

Would it be selfish

or even just irresponsible, to drag Tyler to the mall tomorrow for the exclusive purpose of getting myself an Auntie Anne's cinnamon sugar pretzel? I'm really trying to justify this, that maybe it would be nice anyway since we could do lunch together and he could blow off some steam at the indoor play area without me having to sit out in the heat. But I am fully aware that I'd just be blowing money (not to mention, gas) so that I can satisfy a craving. But baby has to eat, right?

Did I mention that on Saturday Tyler had his first sitter ever? Well, not really, since he did have a babysitter regularly while I worked part-time when he was an infant. Since then (at about 9 months old) he's never had a sitter, other than my family. My friend Trisha did watch him once or twice when I had some important doctor's appointments last year, but that was really more of a play date. Anyway, back to my point, he hasn't really had a paid sitter, or at least to the best of HIS knowledge. I was VERY anxious about this, not necessarily about the sitter per say, but about how HE'D react. I'm sure some of you may remember the first few evil weeks of preschool, which was met with many a tear. He doesn't handle change well. So I was scared, to say the least!

Anyway, my little middle-school-aged neighbor was the lucky victim. Even though she's young, she has younger siblings (obvious experience) and she's great with Tyler. In fact, Tyler thinks of her as a friend (I even think he has a little crush on her), which I thought might be beneficial because he's not viewing his sitter as someone to be intimidated by. Well, my fears were unfounded. As soon she arrived he carelessly said goodbye to me, as if it were nothing. I was gone for almost 4 hours and when I got home he happily told me all the fun things he did. So, keep your fingers crossed that things continue to go well.

The fact of the matter is, I really didn't have anywhere I needed to go on Saturday night, but we had originally hired her so that we could attend a wedding. That was cancelled while Al was in Oregon, but I decided it would be good to let her get the experience with him before we really NEEDED her help. We decided that maybe we'll try to do a few dates from now on, just so that Tyler gets used to the routine of having a sitter. And, hey, having a night to ourselves isn't too bad either.

Anyway, so you might ask WHY I'm talking about this. Well, on Saturday I needed something local to do while Tyler hung out with the babysitter. Well, what better to do than shop? So, to the mall I went. It was glorious to go into the dressing room without commentary. But the thing I most looked forward to, from the moment I walked into the mall, was getting that Auntie Anne's pretzel. When I was heading out of the mall, bags in tow, I stopped for my pretzel. "Cinnamon sugar pretzel please". "Umm, that's gonna be about 10 minutes". UGH! At that point I was feeling a little nauseous so I decided not to wait for my pretzel. I have been kicking myself ever since.!!!

So, the question exists, do I drag Tyler to the mall tomorrow for a cinnamon sugar pretzel? I should be thrilled that these are the major dilemmas in my life at the moment! LOL!

Eruption!!!

This morning Al came home from Oregon. He apparently had a boring layover at some point and was perusing a gift shop and decided to buy Tyler a volcano kit. Tyler was very excited for his "project". Luckily it ended up being the perfect day for a project such as this, as it was pretty miserable outside! Plus, it gave me a bit of a break!

First they read the directions.

Then mixed together the plaster.

After the plaster was in the mold, they had to wait for it to dry. Tyler spent that time looking up pictures of volcanoes on the internet (at his request). He particularly likes some volcano in "Costa Rica". We had to look at that picture repeatedly.

Then it was painting time.

After a mandatory drying period it was time to watch it erupt!

Tyler had a ball. Unfortunately later that evening his attitude erupted as well when he was told they couldn't let the volcano erupt again tonight. Lovely.

Conversations from a dressing room

So I recently had to take Tyler with me to buy clothes for myself. Usually I avoid this at all costs, and if I MUST do it, I try to just buy what I might need and then take it home to try it on (and later return 75% of my purchases, lol). Unfortunately I thought I needed a dress for a wedding this weekend and I wasn't about to buy 10 dresses just in case one happened to fit. So, I prepped myself for a shopping trip.

Anyway, back to my point. As we ALL know all too well, a 3-year-old in a dressing room tends to evoke some sort of emotion, whether that be laughter or the intense desire to live in sweatpants for the rest of your life so that you NEVER have to shop with a 3-year-old again.

Me: "Tyler, look, a perfect little stool for you to sit on in the dressing room."
Tyler: "Oooh, it's sorta like a drum. I can hit it. (insert loud drumming noises).
Me: "That's great, Tyler, but how about you SIT on the drum instead?"
Tyler: "No fanks, I think I'll play the drum instead." (insert loud drumming noises).
Me (in an attempt to distract him): "Oops, I dropped a hanger on the floor. Can you pick it up please?"
Tyler: "Sure. Oh, can I play with it?"
Me (rolling eyes): "Umm, I guess so."
Tyler: "Nevermind, I think I'll play the drums." (insert loud drumming noises)
Me (again, with my best attempt at distraction): "Tyler, look at the dress Mommy tried on. What do you think?"
Tyler (uninterested): "Ummm, I fink I like it. Yes, I DO like. You look beautiful."
Me (slightly amused, as I start to undress, knowing perfectly well the dress looks hideous): "Thanks Tyler."
Tyler (in fascination): "Oooh, Mommy, look at your big belly."
Me (in embarrassment, while giggling): "Yes, it is getting bigger."
Tyler (laughing hysterically): "Mommy, it jiggles when you laugh. Aaaah, it's doing it again."
Me (laughing, but completely ignoring all comments and secretly hoping no one else is in the dressing room)
Tyler: "Can I sing the baby a song?"
Me: "Sure, I guess so."
Tyler (standing 2 inches from my stomach): "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. How I wonder what you are. BYE BABY."
(Insert other mother in dressing room laughing at us/him, and then followed by other child in dressing room singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"...my hopes of being unheard were squashed)
Me: "Tyler that was beautiful."
Tyler: "Mommy, I like your underwear. It's very soft. Can I try on your shorts?".
Me: "Okay, time for lunch."

I'm secretly very thankful that Al had to go away to Oregon (hence, missing the wedding) so my need to search for a dress had to continue no longer!

strawberry fields forever

Okay, so they aren't even in "fields", but we did pick strawberries! We went over to a place called Parke Family HydroFarms, where they grow strawberries. They aren't grown in the typical fashion, on plants that were grown in the dirt with chemicals, but instead are grown off the ground in a way that does not require as much land. They also do not use insecticides, which sometimes means it's a little buggy, but at least you know you aren't eating all those chemicals. Anyway, Tyler loves to go fruit/veggie picking always, but he especially likes how they let you use a little pair of "special scissors" to cut your fruit off the plant. Tyler thinks this is very cool.

Not only do they grow strawberries, but tons of other vegetables. We recently got a membership which entitles us to buy baskets of their produce (all locally grown, without chemicals). We got a beautiful basket yesterday. It's educational for me as well, because, well, I'll be honest, I didn't even know what kale looked like, and now tonight I'll be cooking with it!

In completely unrelated news, Al left yesterday for Oregon. He has to attend some sort of conference. He found out Wednesday afternoon and he left yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately that means that we can't go to the wedding we had planned on attending on Saturday, which apparently is somewhat fortunate for me since I couldn't find a dress that fit to save my life!

found the heartbeat!

Me and my doppler, we have a love/hate relationship. I LOVED the thing when I was pregnant with Tyler, because it was always reassuring. I found his heartbeat from the day I got the machine in the mail. This time though, ugh, it caused me more trouble! I tried not to use it often (maybe 3-4 times in total) when I finally told my mom to hide it when she was here visiting. I took it out of hiding, maybe 4 days ago, and tried again, with no success in finding the heartbeat. Tonight, against my better judgement, I tried again. After a few minutes I was about to give up, when there was the most beautiful fast heartbeat! Yipee! In fact I think I may not have been looking in the right spot, or at least not focusing my energy in the right spot. I had been told (and read) that the heartbeat would still be really low, when in fact I found it about 2 inches below my belly button. But regardless, it's there, and I will rest happy tonight. That is, unless I find myself endlessly perusing babiesrus.com. LOL!

Doing a happy dance!!!!!

pregnancy update

Well, 14 weeks today, which by ALL standards means I'm definitely in that 2nd trimester! Wahoo! Now if I could just be smart enough to hide my doppler so I can stop worrying over the lack of heartbeat I find, I could probably relax a bit.

I'm getting bigger every day, and luckily gaining a bit of energy as well. Sickness has subsided some, which is definitely nice. I still don't have much of an appetite, but at least I've graduated to slightly healthier foods (for the most part) when I do eat. I did re-lose that pound I had gained back while my parents were here, so I'm still technically down 8lbs. I had some extra weight though, so I don't look unhealthy at all (in fact I don't think my body looks any skinnier, and of course my belly is bigger).

I'm quite certain that I'm showing a TON more than I did with Tyler. In fact a stranger asked me if I was expecting yesterday, which is kinda crazy considering I wasn't even 14 weeks along. Granted it was an older woman, and not to make insane generalizations, we all know that some of those older people have the guts to say stuff that NONE of us would say to someone we don't know. With Tyler I was 20 weeks or so before anyone in public noticed, and it was a child at that (whose mother was clearly mortified). Meanwhile I was just happy that someone was FINALLY noticing, but this time around, geez, I'm gonna be a house!

Speaking of the difference in my size, here is a photo (can't find the original digital image) of the scrapbook page from when I was 14/15 weeks along with Tyler.

And here are 2 photos from today (and, yes, those are maternity shorts...yikes):
What a difference!

Trying something new

A video post. Not sure if it will work. If so it should feature Tyler singing "leaving on a jet plane". I guess myself or Al must have been singing it around the house and he picked up on it. He LOVES it! I found a youtube video with the song set to a video from Dumbo, so he's obsessed with watching that. BTW, he now things he wants Santa to bring him a stuffed Dumbo for Christmas.

Ah, I almost forgot

Today is resolution rewind day. I must have missed the first day of March, but let's face it, I was barely getting out of bed those days, so I'm hoping you can forgive me. Luckily for me, my friend Melodie posted about her resolutions, which gave me the reminder I needed! Pregnancy and memory do not go hand in hand, so clearly this post was not my idea at all. I couldn't even REMEMBER my resolutions. Ooops!

In case you need a reminder of my initial resolution post, click here.

1). Be a better blogger. Well, still kicking ass in that department. I'm not winning any contests or anything, but I must give myself a pat on the back for my daily blogging. Some of you might want to kick me in the back instead, due to my daily blogging, but that's not the point now, is it? LOL!

2). Better organization. Ummm, for the past month and a half I've barely been conquering laundry and dishes. In fact, it's debatable whether I even conquered those. My house had become disastrous, but I'm happy to report that I'm gaining some energy back and even cleaned out the fridge today (thanks to Karen for the inspiration) AND the master bath/shower. I know, I rock!

3). Better health. Yep, this one ain't happening right now. Water makes me sick (yes, it's true) and I eat what I can tolerate. Today I had OJ, 3 graham crackers, and 1/4 of a Hershey's bar. I do have plans to go to Parke Hydrofarm tomorrow to stock up on some organic veggies and strawberries though. Baby steps.

4). Catch up on my scrapbook. Scrapbook? What scrapbook?