I hate cleaning...

I do... I hate to clean.  This is nothing new; just ask my daddy.

I have no memory of cleaning up as a child, but somewhere along the time middle school rolled around I remember the fights starting.  You couldn't tell which clothes in my room were clean and which were dirty (which became good practice for use of the smell test my freshman year of college...TMI?).
Dad would fuss at me all the time about my room.

I'm not exaggerating, either.  There was usually paths through the clutter in my room - one from the door to the bed, one from the bed to the closet/dresser, and one from the closet to the door.  Sometimes my best friend would come over and talk to me while I cleaned up (usually this occurred after knock-down fight with my dad that ended with me in tears calling her to complain and her volunteering to walk over and talk to me while I cleaned).

I think I clean better with someone to talk to.  Even after Jeff and I got married I had a girl friend who would come over and HELP me clean when I really needed to do it right.  She was an expert cleaner (one of the many things I miss about her now that she is no long in my life).

Today, my house needed cleaning.  I still have a lot to do, but at least my living room is clean (by my own standards... we're not talking clean enough for my grandmother).  Today's cleaning was more than just picking up Ella's junk and running the vacuum.  It involved me moving furniture and laying on the ground to be sure I got everything from under the heavier furniture.  Ella even asked me who was coming to stay... (that reminds me of a story from childhood about mom setting the table and Warren asking who was coming to dinner, ha!)

As I said, I still have a ways to go.  Ella's room needs a thorough cleaning - something impossible to do while she is home.  I did get rid of a lot of stuff while she was in NC (shh....), but I didn't have time to clean-clean her room.  Jeff and my bedroom really needs cleaning - it is always the last place I get to because we are the only people who go in there.

And now I'm pooped and letting Ella watch a Barney while I sit down.  I thought I was tired last night, too.
I was so tired yesterday that I put Ella in her bed (after a major meltdown) and let her yell it out until she fell asleep.  Then, since she'd had a nap she couldn't get to sleep last night so at 9:15 I went and laid down in her bed beside her.  I woke up at midnight.  Hmph...
Then I let myself sleep until she got up at 8:00 this morning.

And now, I'm wondering if I'll make it through dinner without falling asleep at the table.

Cleaning the house is the worst part of being a stay-at-home-mom.  I know, I know - those of you that work also have a house to clean, but you will (hopefully) let your husband help you.  The way my mind works, I stay home so cleaning the house is exclusively my job.  When he does help I get my feelings hurt that I don't do a good enough job so he feels the need to fix what I've done wrong.
PLEASE READ THAT CORRECTLY - this is MY attitude... not Jeff's.

Someone posted on facebook today that if they won the over $600 million lottery, they would hire a maid. I'm right there with them.  Having my house cleaned every week (twice a week?  we do have three cats, a dog, and a 3-year-old) would be my first splurge as a millionaire.

I hate cleaning... so, so much.

Now I'm off to vacuum Ella's room and maybe mine & Jeff's if I don't let myself lay down on the bed instead.

Neglecting the second child already...

Ella was a complete surprise. 

In March 2008, I had "puffed" up a little and Jeff had started jokingly talking to my belly.  BUT I was on birth control, so I wasn't worried about his insinuations.  On Monday, March 17, 2008 we went to California Pizza Kitchen with friends for a not-crowded St. Patty's Day dinner.  I had a couple margaritas (the only drink they serve that is green)... no worries.

On Wednesday, March 19, I knew something was up.  There are things that happen in a normal cycle that weren't happening... I was WAY off so I knew something was shady.  That night we had a mission dinner at our church and I was the person designated to talk about the mission we were supporting.  Everyone was shocked to "see" that I was so nervous... I wasn't socializing, I was visibly sweating, my voice was shaky...
HA!  They had no clue that I would be making a run to CVS following the dinner.

At CVS I picked up a two-test box of the digital tests (I ain't into reading the lines) and a 6-pack of beer for Jeff... I figured that if the answer was what I thought it would be, he'd need at least one of those.

I watched t.v. for a bit and then took a commercial break to pee on the stick.  It said "pregnant".  I slowly went to where Jeff was lifting weights and waited for him to notice that I was there.  When I told him, he had NO REACTION AT ALL...  He just went back to lifting.
I took the phone to the computer and called my mama... here is how that conversation went:
Sandy: "Hello"
Evelyn: "Hi" the sobs start here
Sandy: "Evelyn?  What's wrong?"
Evelyn: between sobs "I don't think anything is wrong"
Sandy: "Then why are you crying?"
Evelyn: "Because I peed on a stick..."
Sandy: bursting out laughing "And it said?"
Evelyn: said in heaving sobs "That I'm pregnant"
Sandy: hysterical laughter

Yep - there you go folks, the most compassionate mother ever...

The next day I called a friend's ob/gyn (I didn't have one) and requested an appointment.  When the nurse told me that their next "new mom" orientation day was in three-four weeks I yelled at her, "BUT I'M PREGNANT NOW!!!"
They scheduled me to see a nurse practitioner the next day.
On March 21, 2008 it was confirmed that I was indeed pregnant...

From the doctors office I immediately went to Barnes & Noble and bought a pregnancy journal.  I wrote in it faithfully - every question I had, every insane thought in my head.  I saw the same nurse practitioner quite often and she informed me that I was the most hilarious mom-to-be she had ever worked with.  Not because I'm really all that funny, but because I KNOW when I'm being ridiculous and I often started my questions with, "I know I'm not supposed to believe everything I read online, but..."

I posted ultrasound photos and belly pictures on my blog and updated everyone I knew every time I spoke to them...  We still have her first ultrasound photo in a frame (thanks, Kris).  I was the ultimate mama - just look at my facebook photos.  I am up to EIGHT albums dedicated just to Ella!!!  I took so many pictures of her in our 10 days in California last year that she started saying, "No pictures, mama" and still shies away from the camera.

Now - THIS BABY?  The speck, as we're calling "it"...
Well, I have some ultrasound photos.  They are tucked into my agenda and have yet to be scanned...
I went to price pregnancy journals last week.  The same one I used for Ella is actually the cheapest, but I deemed the $13 to be "too much" figuring that I'll just find Ella's and write in a different color ink.
Um... I'm almost 17 weeks and have yet to do that.

Back to that wonderfully compassionate mama...
When I was in high school we ran across a bunch of 110 film.  For those of you too young to know what that is:

Hannafords (a grocery store that used to exist in Richmond) was running a special on developing film - $3 a roll!  We took a huge bag in.  You'd be surprised to find out that there were BABY PICTURES OF WARREN in the developed pictures.  Poor second kid...

I'm having a feeling that I become like my wonderful mama every day.

Despite her laughing at my tears and never developing baby pictures of Warren, we knew we were the two most loved kids in the world.  We still know that.

Man, I hope I'm like my mama...

As for the speck... here's the most recent ultrasound photo taken in the emergency room while they were supposed to be checking my kidneys (they did, but then they took pictures of the baby for me...)

January 31, 2012

I really do need to dig out my pregnancy journal from Ella and check somethings... for example, I *think* I felt the baby move yesterday and they were surprised at my 16 week check up that I hadn't... but I can't remember how far along I was when I felt Ella's flutters.  Yesterday wasn't flutters, it was like a tiny elbow or foot (so it very well might have been gas...).

 

Mark your calendars, people, April 2 we find out if Speck is a Joe or an ***** 

(not telling our girl name yet!).  

I am super excited about that!!!! 

All About Me...

So, my dear sister, Kristen, has been nagging lovingly encouraging me to start blogging again.
This got me thinking about why I don't blog consistently.  Interestingly enough, the time of my life where I posted to a blog most often was while pregnant with Ella...(old blog here).

My usual excuse for not blogging is that I don't find myself that interesting.  However, I find my kid interesting and I don't blog about her either.
Really, if you read the last real blog entry on the old blog, you'll see that I say to find me on facebook and that I update my status every couple of days.  Wow - how 3 years changes things.  Facebook became my outlet for keeping in tough with friends, sharing what I found cool, and sharing information about myself.

Ironically, I also spend some time each day reading at least one of 16 blogs that I have bookmarked.  My most visited blog is Kelle Hampton's Enjoying The Small Things with visits to Kristen's blog, Lifestone when she updates it (far more often than I do).  There are 14 more, but those are the two I visit most.

Today, I went to Holly Furtick's blog, The Preacher's Wife which I visit about once a month and catch up on.  On March 1 she made a list of things about herself.  There were ten items ranging from a change in taste after pregnancy to the fact that she only washes her hair twice a week.

It made me think... what do people who follow my blog know about me?  So I decided to make a list too...

1. I'm 15 1/2 weeks pregnant with baby #2 (we find out boy/girl on April 2 so stay tuned!)
2. In my first pregnancy I couldn't see or smell chicken - raw or cooked in any way.  Not so this time, though seafood (which I love) is very hit or miss.
3. In my first pregnancy I craved Chipotle and could eat it daily.  This time, I crave sushi and often pick up a California Roll from Martin's to curb the craving.  (Honey, I could really use another Ichiban date night.)
 4. In my first pregnancy I took belly photos every week starting at week 10.

Here I am this past Saturday at week 15:

I did take a photo at 11 weeks, but it wasn't very flattering so I didn't publish it.

5. I eat Chef Boyardee at least once a week...  This is awful considering how many of my friends are really health conscious and would never let something that processed into their house.
6. I wash my hair about 3 times a week.  If I wash it more, it dries out.  I keep thinking of going with the No Poo movement and eliminating shampoo all together and using vinegar and (what goes with the vinegar, Kris?) instead.
7. I have Medullary Sponge Kidney and it is no fun while pregnant.  While most of my stones are teeny-tiny and pass at home with drugs, they've discovered a super stone with this pregnancy that may end up leading to some type of kidney surgery by the time everything is said and done.  If I can make it to 30 weeks without it moving into my ureter, they'll be more comfortable going in since they could accidentally trigger labor.
I am am not a fan of drinking water, yet I'm supposed to drink 80-100 oz of water every DAY so if you see me and I'm not drinking water, feel free to hand me a bottle and tell me to chug.
8. I am not nearly as creative as I want to be.  I love finding cool craft ideas and buying craft supplies, but every time Ella gets glue (Elmers - it washes!) on the table I find myself freaking out... not AT her, but she can always tell that the mess of glitter and glue stresses me out.  I also have a tendency to "help" her with her art projects... you know, even something up here... space things out over there... not at all the way you are supposed to do art with a pre-schooler.
9.  I am 100% sure that I am married to the world's best father.  The man painted our 3-year-old daughter's bed pink.  Why?  Because she told him that princess beds are pink and that she needed a pink bed.  I spend days trying to sway her to white with pink bedding... he took her shopping at Home Depot to pick out her paint.  That man rocks.
10. I really, really want to be a better blogger.  I just need to find stuff that makes me passionate enough to write about it.  I have too many projects and ideas floating around in my head that I often just feel too overwhelmed to actually put any of it into words.

Anyway... it is a start, right?  Not brilliant by any stretch, but maybe I can get back on track.  Maybe if Ella would keep sleeping past 8:00, I could use that 7:30-8:00 stretch in the morning when Jeff has left for work and I'm able to sit for more than 30 seconds at a time.  See - I may update my facebook frequently, but rarely am I sitting at the computer for any length of time.  You try it with a 3-year-old and see how "alone" you're left.

Oh, and I'm loving that warmer weather is here.  It can stay for as long as it likes.
I keep saying that I could live somewhere that never dips below 70 degrees and be perfectly happy.
I really mean that too...