One Shiny Star

My mind has been in a bit of a fog lately. Between spur of the moment trips to Florida and the closing on our house quickly approaching… my brain often feels like a puddle of mush.

We have started packing. I’ve got maybe… 15 boxes packed, and another 40 sitting in the hallway waiting for me. Ive packed all of the easy things. Like…. books. That was easy. A lot of the baby’s things were easy to pack. Next will either be the kitchen or my closet. Part of me just wants to start in one corner of my apartment and pack everything from there. And…that might be what it takes.

Also – for those interested in knowing… I am a full blown co-sleeper. About half of the nights Ginny goes down in her own crib then moves into our bed. The other half of the time she just goes to bed with us. I’m sure it would probably bother some people, but I really like having her around. In the evenings she usually plays by herself in the living room while B-man and I catch up on chores and Tv shows.  Currently I am typing this on my kindle while she sleeps right next to me. Sure… it would be nice if she were in a crib so I couldn’t do something other than watch her sleep… but part of me enjoys that too. Just the last few nights she has started sleeping a little further away from me, which gives me more room to get comfy. Yah for the king size bed!

Also – Ginnys favorite food is cottage cheese… which I think is weird because I really can’t stand the stuff. She doesn’t seem to want to branch out. She likes chewing on meats, dried fruits, and cheese. Everything else is kind of hit or miss. Feeding a baby is a bigger challenge than I expected…. mostly because I cant stand to see food go to waste. Its not like she’s trying to be wasteful, but babies are messy, which comes with an inherently wasteful component. When she feeds herself…. she likes to share with the dog.

We close on our house in a few days, and then I will be suuuper busy. And then slowly life will return to a new normal. But before then I need to paint. I’m a terrible decision maker and you have no idea how many different shades of white there are!

Also – Gretel is getting old. Her hips have severe arthritis and she seems to be very stiff after an injury she sustained while acting like a puppy. I’m hoping she will like our new house, since there are less stairs and a fenced yard. I feel bad for her, and I know that sooner or later she will probably need to be put down, but I don’t want to do it while shes still such a happy dog. Though… 14 is pretty old for such a big dog. Meh.

And… that’s all I can think of right now. I’m itching to put boxes together, but I’m sure the tape would wake up le babe, so instead ill just chill with my kindle for another 20 minutes.

It feels good to blog again. I should do it more often!

I’ve been AWOL for a little while, for several reasons. B-man went to Kansas for work, which means I was home alone with Ginny for an entire week. That was chanllenging enough on its own, but on top of that I was planning a surprise birthday party for B-man, so  I was busy baking and buying decorations and what not.

The party was a huge success. I managed to keep a secret for an ENTIRE month! I can’t wait to share the pictures of the food I made. It was awesome!

We have kind of started on the house buying process… we’re about… ankle deep. lol. We’ve drivena round the neighborhoods we are interested in, but we have yet to find a realtor. All in due time I guess.

What have people been up to? I have so missed my blog a lot, and it’s only been a week. lol.

It’s been two weeks, and I’m still trying to finish up my “day in the life” post, but like I mentioned… I’ve been kind of busy. lol.

This week I will be trying to catch up on several blog posts that I have been thinking about, grocery shopping, and cleaning my apartment which fell apart this week while I was out and about. Funny how that happens.

I changed out of my dirty, frumpy pajamas… into newer, nicer, clean pajamas. I hope B-man is impressed when he get’s home.

My house is getting cold, but I am holding out on turning the heat on.

This morning when Ginny spit up on me I knew I was covered in it, but I took some pleasure in knowing she got some on herself too. Sad? Maybe a little.

Have any of you done potty training? Ginny has started pottying in her diaper every time I say “potty”. Which means when I ask “Do you need to potty?” She does so… B-man made the mistake of saying “potty” after he had taken the diaper off, but before she was on the potty. I don’t know if this is something that people struggle with during potty training… but it’s kind of complicated. I guess I should just start saying “potty” more often, so that it isn’t only associated using the potty.

I’m working on that Day In The Life post…. it’s getting a little out of hand and I’m trying to not let it overwhelm me. Reliving my life is more stressful than my life. lol.

I am trying out a new deoderant:

I typically use that one in the blue bottle with a black dress on the front. Brand? I dunno. But ya see… recently Ginny has been next to my armpits… a lot… like every time she eats, and I worry about her face being against skin that has deodorant on it, so I thought I would try something a little more natural. Here’s hoping it works!

Ginny has been awake since 7 (two hours earlier than usual), and she won’t fall asleep. She just keep talking… and talking… then whining… then crying at which point I pick her up. I don’t want falling to sleep to become a stressful thing for her. She just seems so… awake. When I pick her up after an hour of her laying in her crib awake… she is all smiles and giggles. I know a lot of people like the BabyWise cry-it-out method… but it really is not for us. We do the sleep, eat, play, sleep process… and I put her down when she yawns or shows any sign on being tired… but she just doesn’t want to sleep.

enough about baby sleep. it’s really a big mystery some times.

I also think we’re experiencing some sleep regression… she was doing really good on a schedule and getting two long stretches of sleep at night… but the last two days have been off track.

ok. really done now.

B-man was late getting off to work this morning. Which means he’ll be getting home later. Which sucks. Adjusting to this real-job at a real-office is really difficult. It’s screwing with our relationship and driving me crazy. Boo.

So yah. Really all I’m saying is that it’s gonna be a long day and I didn’t bother putting real clothes on… just clean (albeit cute) pajamas. ya know… the kind with fleece pants and a coodinated long sleeve shirt, and the slipper B-man gave me for my birthday several years ago… because it’s cold here.

meh.

ETA: Ginny rolled over from her back to her stomach while she was swaddled… which means it is time to stop swaddling her when she sleeps in her crib… which might be why she is having such a hard time falling asleep.

B-man’s going to the midwest next week. We knew this job required traveling, but didn’t realize how short notice things would be. It sucks. We all know how well I handle his travelling.

I don’t want to think about it.

I have a hard time falling asleep at night. I’m constantly worried that Ginny will stop breathing in the middle of the night. It’s all I can do to leave her sleeping in her crib as I climb into bed. I really just want to scoop her up in my arms and keep her there all the time.

Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day.

Everytime B-man get’s ready to go somewhere I have the urge to buy him life insurance. We really do need to get this done, especially now with Ginny.

The Jeep is giving us trouble again… and costing us $750.

I’m feeling tired, kind of depressed, and moody.

I have structured posts, exciting news to share too, but I don’t have the time to put things together so those will have to wait.

• I think Ginny is sick. She has a bit of a fever (nothing serious enough to go to the doctor) and has been kind of a crazy baby. Yesterday she was awake… all day. She didn’t sleep longer than 30 minutes. Then she slept almost all day today, with only a few hours here or there to play and eat.
• As I’ve said before – maybe she’s just growing?
• I have two IKEA catalogs that I am about to chop up. When magazines and catalogs have run their course as my bathroom entertainment I cut out the pictures I find most inspiring (for home decor), and paste them into a notebook. Then I write down why I like that picture.
• B-man and I are talking about buying a house. It looks like we will be living in this area for at least five more years, and in the long run it would be better to be investing our money into a mortage, instead of giving the apartment complex 40% of our earnings each month.
• I’m freaking out about this house concept.
• I learned to knit. It is fabulous and magical. I’m still kind of bad at it, but I’m slowly getting better. I have been trying to learn for so long! Sadly… my baby girl needs me more often than usual, so I haven’t gotten to work on my knitting very much, but hopefully that will get better asap!
• I made a friend. I know that sounds weird. But I mean, a real life friend who I hang out with. I’ve known her for a long time, but we recently started hanging out and it makes me so happy!
• I’ve also started attending a Mom & Baby group, which is kind of silly but I’m trying to meet people.
• … of course, now that I am meeting people and making friends we decide to buy a house…. which will probably not be in this area since we won’t be paying a bazillion dollars for an itty bitty townhouse or something.
• I’ve been cooking dinner every night for three weeks now! I’ve been menu planning and grocery shopping and all that jazz. Be wowed and amazed at my awesome power!

I have lots of things I want to blog about. Lots. TONS… really. But my productivity is like the weather, completely unpredictable.

B-man and I have been finishing up the house. Naturally, we have furniture, but I have been trying to decorate, and make things a bit more homey, and prettier. I have a few more things to do for the nursery, a lot of pictures to hang up on the hall way, and some cleaning.

Last Sunday I had a surprise baby shower! Brandan’s family went over to my parents’ home, and surprised us with delicious food and wonderful gifts. I have pictures and will share those soon.

Saturday we had another baby shower, one that we invited all of my friends and church friends too. My Mom hosted the party, but I did most of the planning – which was perfect. It was a great because it gave me something to obsess over, after I finished working. Of course, my camera died after getting only one picture of all of my hard work, so I took some with my sister’s camera… I just need to get the pictures from her!

I asked B-man if he thought I should be packing some kind of hospital-bag… and he looked at me like I was crazy. I am past 37 weeks now, and really hoping this baby decides she wants to come before the talk of induction starts. Send happy thoughts my way please!

So I haven’t packed a bag yet. BUT… but, but, but! I have washed all of the baby clothes we were gifted over the past week! All of it is washed and ready for my precious baby girl to… sleep… in. lol.

We have a crib, diaper changing area, rocker, car seat, and stroller. But we don’t have a pack-n-play, or a swing, or bouncer, or highchair. I know these things are not required, and we aren’t going to run out and buy them just because, but it is hard to know what we want asap, and which things can wait. I guess I am thinking specifically about having a swing or bouncer. Thankfully we live about 5 minutes from Target, so if it turns out we really need something like that, I could send the B-man.

Okay, enough of the baby talk.

Despite having gestational diabetes, I have worked a little magic. My most favorite thing to eat right now is… water melon. Still has a ton of sugar in it, but oh so deliciou!

The second thing is chocolate chip cookies. I really wanted to just eat the dough – but B-man doesn’t think that is a good idea right now. So instead I put two or three cookies on the baking pan, and then bake them for 9 minutes. The package calls for 10-12 minutes… but 9 minutes is just perfect. It leaves a nice chewey edge, but a soft, warm, gooey center.

Hmm… food.

Okay. That’s all I’ve got kiddos. Any one do anything fun lately?

I have plans to write about GD. I really do. But I want to take some pictures first… and I am currently in a love-hate relationship with my new camera, so the pictures will have to wait.

Yesterday was my last day working an interpreting job that I’ve been on for several months. I really feel like I grew a lot and gained some much needed self-confidence during the process. I also realized that I really enjoy working in the college setting. I always thought my calling would be in high school or middle school, but after my internship and working this year, I definitely enjoyed all of the college level assignments a lot more than the HS ones.

On Monday I start my job at a local High School filling in for the ASL teacher. Can I admit that I’m scared? Because I’m a little scared. Even if I’m not showing on the outside… my brain knows I’m scared because I had a nightmare last night about being late and then being fired. lol.

Me… a worrier? How silly!

Last night we finished unpacking our house. You can pretend like you don’t know that we moved in at the end of December. The last room to be finished was our bedroom. I don’t know why it took so long, but it did. Thankfully we got rid of the last three boxes yesterday and I can now comfortably say we are moved in. Except for the boxes of stuff we are taking to Goodwill. Those boxes are still in my apartment, but they are not waiting to be unpacked. lol.

I need to take Zuko to get his nails trimmed. It costs like $15, but I am such a wimp. I worry about hurting him and his nails really are getting too long, so it is time. Some things are better left to the professionals… or at least to the people who do those things every day.

Happy Friday!

I would not call myself “easily impressed.” Just so you know. Because what I’m about to say may not seem as mind blowing to you, as it is to me.

I think that the human body is completely incredible. If I were better at chemistry… and had lots of money… and time… and enough motivation… I would totally go back to school and study to be a doctor.

But parts of the human body intrigue me more so than others.

I think skin is possibly the most amazing organ in the entire human body, and every time I touch something I am constantly reminded of this. I am amazed that I can reach into a laundry basket in the dark and pull out the pants I am searching for, just because I know what it feels like. If I stuck my foot in there, despite the fact that it has skin… I doubt I would be able to find it. But my fingers can tell the difference between my hubby’s t-shirts, which are only a few years old, and mine, which are a little more worn-in.

That amazes me. Something so simple as the versatility of skin.

I’m also amazed by how babies know how to make themselves. Like, once they start going… they just keep growing. I keep thinking it’s a good thing I’m not an active participant in the baby building, because I would surely screw something up.

And hormones. Oh how those little devils influence our emotions and lives so much more than any of us truly realize.

It’s incredible!

So tell me, what amazes you?