So long, Farewell Louisville

What can you do to really mess with a pregnant woman's mind and emotions? I mean, by the 9th month, this pregnant woman's brain is filled with thoughts of sleepless nights, colic, sore nipples, learning to juggle 2 children, finishing the nursery, cleaning weird things around the house, etc etc etc. How about taking a new job hundreds of miles away so now that pregnant woman has to think about leaving her entire support system just weeks after the birth of her child. Yup...fun times.

So Jeff is taking a new job! Yea Jeff! He has been offered a technical manager position...which means he will be the manager of all engineers in the plant. They are upgrading this plant, so he will be in charge of all sorts of new computer systems, new products, etc etc. This job is tailor made for him. Truly, I have no doubt that he will enjoy his work. Oh, and the plant is in Philadelphia.

Poor Jeff. He was OVER THE MOON yesterday after taking the call. And his lovely supportive wife was so overcome with tears I had to hang up the phone when talking with him. This makes Jeff nervous, since he hasn't seen me cry since we lived in California (when it was a weekly if not daily occurrence). But I know this job is a good thing for him career wise...and since I don't have to work...this is what we do. So I explained to him that the tears are mostly pregnancy-induced-hysteria. He will have to get used to tears, because those hormones are going to be raging and fluxing for the next several months.

So let's review:

Philadelphia good-- Jeff gets a job I know will be good for him = Happy Husband
~We stay within driving distance of family...okay 9 hours of driving, but at least if there is an emergency we CAN drive it
~Jeff's company has their international headquarters, research division, and 4 plants in Philadelphia, so there is potential that we could live in one place until our kids graduate high school or later = stability = no more moving = YEA
~Philadelphia is a pretty cool place, so people will be more likely to visit us

Philadelphia bad-- Do we have to do this right when Crunchy is born???
~We won't see family nearly as much
~Do we have to do this right when Crunchy is born???
~High cost of living
~Do we have to do this right when Crunchy is born???

Anyway, that is the newest stress in our lives. We don't exactly know when we'll need to be in Philly...probably not until the beginning of November. Jeff apparently wasn't challenged enough by me when we moved to California, got married, and I started teaching all in the same month. He's unfortunately going to get another dose of "Giselle doesn't handle change well". Poor man. It's a good thing he loves me!

Belly shot- Crunchy at 34 weeks

Here's the much requested belly shot, taken last week. Sorry there's no skin...I just can't go that far :)

In a funk

I feel like writing more whiny posts...so I'm going to refrain from posting. I just feel...I don't know...not quite right. Everything is bothering me, I'm not sleeping well because I can't stop thinking, and just generally seem to be in a funk.

Here's an example: I just celebrated my birthday. Very nice. I got some money from generous family members. I don't know what to spend the money on. I don't have any hobbies, I don't have any collections, I've got nothing fun to spend the money on, I haven't seen a movie or listened to the radio in so long I don't even have any electronic entertainment to buy. Blah. I need new tupperware. Wow! That just shows me what an exciting person I am, that the only thing I can think of to spend my money on is leftover dishes. Yeah me.

So I'll try to cheer up and write more later. Blah.

34 weeks!

Just a little preggo update...

I had my doctor's appointment...he was on time and I was in and out in 30 minutes!!!! Yippee!

I gained 2 more pounds...for a grand total so far of 13 pounds. My BP was good. Apparently I peed well in the cup...no one mentioned anything there. When I got into the examining room my doctor announced that baby's lungs are now developing so if anything were to happen, she'd most likely be just fine if delivered..."good job". Yeah, thanks, I've been working so hard to keep this baby inside me for this long. That's like being congratulated on having blue eyes or small feet...not really something you have control over.

Then I asked him why Crunchy is hurting me (okay, I didn't call her Crunchy in front of him...I didn't want to be admitted to the psych ward today). He checked her heartbeat (sounded good) measured my girth (I'm measuring SMALL??? 32 1/2 weeks), and then felt to see what part was most likely causing my discomfort. Turns out she is head down...so she must just have a bony little butt. And STRONG feet. As I left, the doctor said "I'm afraid I can't tell you the discomfort is going to get better" which made both he and I chuckle. No kidding. I have six weeks left. She's just going to get bigger.

Anyway, all is good. 2 more weeks until I see him again...and that's the appointment that the lovely pelvic exams begin. Those were always depressing with Andrew (on my due date I was not effaced at all and not dilated at all...sad news for a 10 month preggo).

Is this really August?

The weather has been so pleasant! I can't remember an August like this. But there has to be a down side (or else all the millions of people in So Cal would move here). And that would be mosquitos. I just want to spend the whole evening in our glider, but the "kee-kee-toes" as Andrew calls them, are so fricking annoying. Andrew hates his little itchy bites. But he thought it was pretty cool when we smooshed one we saw on his hand. Jeff and I were swinging while Andrew played with his Little People on his picnic table. We saw one land on his hand, and...SMOOSH. Andrew picked it up and wanted to put it in his bug house. Hmmmmm...

Speaking of bug house...this has become the latest cool thing at our house (thank you Grandma). About a week ago, we caught a cicada (Ki-kay-da) that had been blown down from a storm. I picked it up (not with my hands, crazy people) and we put it in the bug house. It even chirped for us in there...which thrilled Andrew beyond words. We let it out after a while, but Andrew couldn't stop talking about it. While eating dinner that night, he wanted to catch another ki-kay-da. Jeff and I wouldn't go out with him until we finished eating, so he went outside on his own and we watched him pick up a teeny little stick and stand under our big tree with the stick held up high...just waiting for one of the giant scary looking things to fly down. So stinking cute.

We've also caught a moth, a black wormy thing that Jeff said was a caterpillar (I am doubtful) and a dead beetle in the last week. We are very good at catching dead things...and although I explain to Andrew that they are dead, he has no idea what that means. So we always release them so they can "go back to their families" as he says.

Ah, life with a 2 year old is so much fun. Or can be so much fun. :)

I have HOW long left?

48 days. Yes, 48 days until my due date.

That may sound short to some of you reading this. You are obviously not pregnant and due in 48 days. That sounds very very far away indeed.

I know, I know, it will "fly by". But how many baths do I have to give to Andrew until then? You know, a simple bath, where me sitting and kneeling creates excruciating pain in my hip/pelvis/whatever the hell it is that feels like a hot poker in my bones. Where just reaching his back is nearly impossible because I no longer bend in the middle. How many times do I have to sweep and wash the kitchen floor until then? How many times in 48 days will I have to pick up Matchbox cars off the floor? How many times will I have to pee in 48 days?

I whine. I just think I feel so much bigger this time because I am not working. Working while pregnant in the 3rd trimester was CAKE. Maybe that's because I was a librarian and had volunteers to do the bending for me. My 2 year old is very understanding and all, but he refuses to do housework for me. Selfish little thing. ;) I got all motivated to clean my house this week...you know, nesting and all. Monday I scrubbed our bathroom and I'm STILL recovering. My back pain has flared up again, I can't catch my breath because Crunchy is pushing up on my diaphragm, and I feel so worn out. From cleaning the bathroom. I can't hire a cleaning lady, because that would require cleaning up the clutter in my house...and bending over just makes my back flare up more.

I whine. I'm just going to take comfort in the fact that this new baby will drink immunities to all the nastiness in my house. That colostrum is supposed to be magical stuff...it better be with the state of my house. :) How in the world do mothers with multiple children do it? I mean keep the house clean. It takes all my energy to play with Andrew during the day. And he likes board games...not even a high energy activity.

I whine. I really am just a lazy person...which is why teaching didn't quite work out for me. What do pregnant teachers do? Dear God, who am I to complain. I could have 4 other kids running around, or a class of 25 to keep up with, or I could be a construction worker, or foraging for water in the desert. Yea, I should just shut my trap. Whoa is me. I am a healthy pregnant woman carrying a healthy and CRAZY busy little girl taking care of a handsome CRAZY busy little man while my handsome big man makes the money at a job he doesn't even like. My life really is tough. :)

Okay, I've ranted and raved enough. 48 days. I can do this. But I can't type anymore. Crunchy doesn't like it when I sit at the computer because it takes up some of her space. She's knocking around like a monkey right now. Gotta love those healthy babies. Perhaps I'll go kick around some dust bunnies while I wait for Andrew to wake up.

If you've made it this far, I think I'll share something I heard on a Discovery Channel show. It was about a baby's development before birth. They said that a pregnant woman produces as much progesterone and estrogen in 9 months as a non-pregnant woman will produce in 150 years. HOLY CRAP! No wonder I'm complaining...I'm completely out of my mind with hormones!!!

My sweet boy

Okay, so having two kids may be okay. At least in fleeting moments between pinching, whining, and hair pulling.

Andrew and I were playing this puzzle game today on my bed (I can't sit on the floor without pain, so we play EVERYTHING on my bed). Anyway, Andrew was putting the pieces together and I was watching...that is how we play, because I can't do anything right.

After he did the amazingly easy puzzle 2 times, he pulled it over to my belly and said, "Now I'll teach you how". I asked if he meant Mommy, and he said, "No, I'm teaching my baby sister". And he proceeded to show my belly how to pop the pieces out and sort them by color and put them back in. At the end of the presentation, he said "Now you can do it by yourself, baby". I told him she couldn't get her arms out to do it yet. He responded, "Okay, then you do it for her, Mommy". When we were all done, he gave my belly a big kiss and pat.

Can I hear an "Awwwwwwww"?

***By the way, the whole time Andrew is lying on my belly, Crunchy was kicking the crap out of me...she is all ready to start the sibling fights, apparently***

Conversations with a 2 year old

Scene: Mommy and Andrew are driving to the pool for a refreshing dip. Andrew must fill the silence in the car with talking...what a surprise.

Andrew: I am a good boy, Mommy.

Giselle: Yes you are.

A: I am a good boy, but sometimes I timeout.

G: Yes, sometimes you make a bad choice and have to have a timeout. But it's okay, everybody makes mistakes. Mommy makes mistakes all the time.

A: But Mommy doesn't have to timeout.


Hmmmmm, is this kid getting smarter or what?

No more books!

Andrew loves to read. And all the "experts" say that reading to a child is so good for their vocabulary, future reading skills, blah blah blah. So yea me...Andrew loves to read and I read to him a lot. And we go to the library a lot.

But that is all over.

No more books at our house. They are a bad influence.

A few weeks ago, Andrew and I checked out "DW the Picky Eater" or something like that. Arthur is a beloved child's literary character, and DW is his younger sister. Andrew is a picky eater...therefore I thought this would be a great book for us to read.

Now, we get 10 library books out a week for Andrew. We probably read each one twice a day. That is 20 repetitions of each and every book. (and that is why we go to the library every week...no sane person could read a child's book more than that).

Our DW book had one sentence that seemed to resonate with each repetition...DW says "I hate spinach". Guess what Andrew started saying? It started with Andrew saying spinach over and over (he says "binage"). We were driving to the grocery one day and Andrew said "buh buh binage. Binage starts with B". I tried my hardest to tell him that it is actually an "S" word, but he would hear none of it. Then it evolved into "I hate spinach" which evolved into "I hate spaghetti" which evolved into "I hate Mommy". Lovely. After a few weeks of telling him that it's not nice to hate a person because it hurts their feelings, we now have "I hate anybody" which means I hate nobody. I hope that's what it means.

This week's batch of books has a seemingly innocent picture book called "No More Cookies". A little girl eats too many cookies, so Mommy says no more cookies, and the girl and her stuffed monkey try lots of cute antics to get a cookie. Cute. Andrew loves it. But after the Mommy foils each attempt, the little girl exclaims that it isn't fair! She just wants one more cookie!

So guess what Andrew has been saying the last couple of days? "It's not fair". Lovely.

No more books! I should have at least until pre-school starts until he starts picking up phrases like "I hate..." and "It's not fair". This is NOT the vocabulary I wanted him to learn!


***readers should note that we are going to the library Tuesday...so don't be alarmed that Andrew will be deprived of more quality children's literature like those mentioned above. Although I am distressed at the prospect of what new phrases will come from next week's books, it is more distressing to think of a week without new books where I have to read our own books for the 1,000th time.***

Free entertainment at McDonalds

Did you know that if you time your visits to McDonald's (or Old MacDonald's as Andrew calls it) just right, you may get to see their free entertainment.

Today, after my doctor's appointment, Andrew and I went to lunch at Old McDonald's with our friends and there was free entertainment. People were putting down their burgers, pointing, and trying to hold back chuckles.

There was an 8 month pregnant woman in the play equipment! Trying to get to a hysterically sobbing 2 1/2 year old at the very top. Just imagine the sight!

Ah yes, just another fun day out and about in my 3rd trimester.

Shopping laugh

So I just have to share this story...even if it is just for me to chuckle at later on.

I was shopping for groceries and etc for our trip to SC last week. I think the date was July 27th. I couldn't find any swim diapers in Andrew's size...in fact, I only found one package. Usually when this happens it means there is a special display somewhere that I just can't find. So I went to customer service and asked where they would have the swim diapers.

And the man responded, WITH A STRAIGHT FACE, "I'm sorry, we only carry swim diapers in the summer."

July 27th. No longer summer. I could probably get Andrew a Halloween costume though. Maybe the pool will allow him to swim in that?

7 years ago today...

Jeff and I got married! It still remains one of the all time best decisions I've ever made in my life...and one of the easiest as well.

We have such good memories of our wedding day...and I was the one who didn't want a big wedding! But it started off so well...I found a sweet, romantic card from my future husband hidden in my wedding dress (planted there by my mom) first thing in the morning. Although my mother got stung by a bee during the photo sessions (in between her breasts no less!), we got some great shots in the morning sunlight that I still like looking at. And I think the Benedryl helped her enjoy the wedding more ;) I had fallen down a flight of steps 2 days before our wedding day, but somehow my hip didn't hurt at all the morning of...adreneline is a wonderful thing. And I don't remember feeling AT ALL nervous. I knew that no matter what happened, I would be joined with Jeff at the end of the day...and that's all that I really cared about.

The only thing I would change about the whole day is how it ended. We rushed back to my parent's house after the reception and got changed and tore through our gifts...deciding what would fit in our suitcases. Not much fun. And then we had to rush out to drive to the airport...for our move to California. I think I cried for half the trip. Poor Jeff. I'm sure he was wondering how soon that marriage license became legal.

But now 7 years later, it is just a story we tell. And anniversaries aren't even that big of a deal. I guess when you fully expect to be together forever, 7 years doesn't seem that long. :)

***this blog entry represents only Giselle's opinions. Jeff may not agree. He probably feels like 7 years has been a very long time. :) ***

Cay-Cation

Oh, did we have fun on vacation (or Cay-cation as Andrew referred to it). In a nutshell: We saw lots of naked ladies, petted an alligator, caught hermit crabs, went to an aquarium, rode a boat and saw dolphins and my future home (25,000 square feet!), ate lots of junk food, rode bikes, had sand fights, bobbed in the waves (and the 88 degree water!), spent lots of time with Memere, Pepere, Uncle Chuck, and Uncle Chuck's lady, and just generally had a good time. Andrew was a GEM in the car...I couldn't imagine a 2 year old doing so well...although I have to take some credit because I packed so many toys and activites for the car ride. :)

It's late and I don't have time to tell you all the stories...although I promise I'll clarify some of the topics above in a later post. I just wanted to share some pictures before I head off to bed. I have to get to bed early, so I can fit in my 6,000 nightly trips to the bathroom. I MAY be exaggerating a tad, but if you've ever been pregnant, you know the feeling.

Oh, and all my beach shots are on the waterproof camera. But you're not missing much. It's generally just Andrew crying because he got salt water in his eyes. Or running from the camera because he didn't want his picture taken. Or having a fit because he got sand on his feet. I promise he had a good time, but the beach can be overwhelming for a timid child.

Let me know what you need more details on and I'll give them. :)