HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!!
I am going to see the Hobbitses this afternoon with FIL and BIL. It's too long for DD and DH isn't really all that interested so I get to geek out with his dad & brother. Hee.
How's everyone doing? All recovered from the plagues and ILs and parents and whatnot? Any New Year's resolutions you want to share?
No New Year's resolutions for me......I haven't since I got sober, LOL I think because for so many years my New Year's resolution was to cut down or stop drinking. So now I just make sure that I continue grow every year. I would love to hear others though!
I have a question for you Hypnobirthers out there, Do you think the books are good enough or are classes necessary? I am having problems finding classes around where I live. I have found some but they have already started or have won't start until after I have Maddax.
Yay!!
Happy New Year everyone!!!!
We went to see the Hobbit on opening weekend... yea, we're total geeks!! I think that both of my DS's would like it, it is geared to kids.
We decided to take a short little vacation this coming weekend. I think we'll just go wonder away for a few days. We need a few days alone... and we only have around 8 weeks before baby could show up, so we're taking the time now.
I am so glad the holidays are over. I usually embrace this time of year, but being so pregnant, and having so much to accomplish really weighed me down. I went to bed last night thinking "ohhh, thank GOD that is done with!!"
I want to thank everyone for listening to me rant about my pre-teen in the other weekly thread. DP and I ended up sitting down with DS2 and having a very long talk with him. He really seemed to be oblivious to how much stress he was putting on us both, and felt pretty bad about it. I told him I was not putting up with it at all any more, and that if he needed to be spoken to for antagonizing, talking back, or just generally being a jerk, I was going to take away things he treasure's most. It seems to have worked because he has been much easier to deal with over the last day, now I just need to stick with it, and be consistent (consistency is not my strong suit, unfortunately 
).
There's a good New Year resolution... Be consistent with disciplining my kids.
I also saw The Hobbit with DS2 after Christmas and it was awesome!!! He was a little disappointed they left out some important details and added in extra unnecessary things (he just reread the book a few months ago so remembered it well). But I thought it was great.
My DH and I give each other our New Year's resolutions and try to hold each other to them. Last year, it was to craft a vision of my future and not flip flop about it and I DID IT!! I have pretty secure goal and ideas of steps it will take to get there.
This year mine is to write everyday AND to make sure the first interaction I have with the family every morning is pleasant and positive, even if I've had a rough night. Both of those will be tough to be consistent with for me, but I realize how important both are to me and so I will try hard to do them.
Happy New Year!!!!!! I don't have any resolutions (I usually don't, or just: cut down/quit smoking which I finally managed to accomplish) and I figure this year will be the most exciting year of my life to date, so I don't need any resolutions. If anything, I should resolve not to start smoking again once the baby comes... ...
My mom and I decorated the baby's room - looks amazing!!! I'm so happy with it and it makes it much more real that there will be an actual live baby in a couple months.
For Christmas my mom gave me a bunch of newborn cloth diapers - all very cute!!
Overall, I'm getting very excited!! And at my last midwife appointment, my blood pressure was lower than it's ever been recorded at!!!! YAY! Not that she was worried about it before, but we were keeping a close watch on it.
Wow I feel like hobbits stole my afternoon. 
Or Dwarves. One of my facebook friends posted that Thorin Oakenshield is the dwarf version of Fabio and I laughed so hard - she's totally right. The movie was okay, but it feels like it's trying to be not just the Hobbit but also pull in stuff from other books like The Silmarillion (I think that's where the "extra" stuff comes from). Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for it, and maybe we've all been spoiled by amazing movie effects and stuff since the Lord of the Rings came out, but I was way more excited by the Star Trek trailer before the movie than the movie itself. And where was Benedict Cumberbatch??? He was supposed to be in there. He's DEFINITELY in Star Trek.
I don't really have any New Year's Resolutions. I kinda think this year will be challenging enough without them. Normally I do make them, and I'm pretty good at keeping them. I don't have any specific goals this year - beyond "give birth to a baby under 9 lbs and don't have postpartum depression or problems breastfeeding" - which is not so much of a goal as a wish.
Scruffy- Congrats on your BP! I got some cloth diapers for xmas, too. It was my most exciting gift!
And congrats on quitting smoking! I quit with DS, then started back up when he was 3 months old. Many failed attempts to cut down/quit until I got pregnant again (2 years later). I am seriously dedicated to not starting again. Let me know if you need support after baby is born, we can encourage each other!
Happy New Year! Who made it 'til midnight? My 91 year old grandma was awake later than I was last night 
Most of my resolutions are our family resolutions: eat healthier, exercise together, more family time, less tv. Personally, I am really trying to focus on letting things go/focus on the positive side of things. I get way too stressed out about things that don't matter, and I sometimes have a hard time remembering that DS is only 2.
I also want to keep things organized which is a total joke. Once the babies arrive, I know the house is going to go to shit. I'm going to try to be ok with that!
I got my blood sugar monitor and have been tracking my sugars. It is actually fun/interesting. Of course I had to get through 30 minutes of crying about the fact that I'd have to prick my finger. I am SUCH A BABY about needles. Just the thought makes me light headed. But thankfully I have gotten over it in this circumstance.
FIL and step-MIL are throwing us a baby shower, because they weren't on speaking terms with DP when we had DS. We need stuff and money is extremely tight, so I am very grateful. We had planned on having it in February before we found out that we were having twins, and I felt bad asking to change it. So it was going to be when I was 34 weeks. I knew that was seriously pushing it and it was starting to stress me out. Not knowing what we were going to get/worrying that I wouldn't have things that I needed and not having enough time to get it. Thankfully, step-MIL wanted to move it up so I will only be 32 weeks. Gives me a tiny bit more breathing room!
Happy New Year, everyone!
Today was DH's official first day at Buko Enterprises... Not really, because he just worked a week (through yesterday) at his old job, and it felt unfair to expect either of us to do a ton of work today (we couldn't send out packages today anyway). We did have a business planning meeting, though, and it went quite well, if I do say so myself! This could be sooo stressful, and admittedly has at least the potential to blow up in our faces, but I am so relieved every time we meet and work together, that there's only a tiny bit of relatively-easily-worked-through tension. Pretty good for two drama queens with diagnosed ADD who totally failed at a joint business years ago! We have so much more patience with ourselves and each other... it amazes me to think of where this relationship started-- we were 17 and 25 years old and totally clueless. Anyway, feels good-- like we'll be able to weather storms and actually make this all work (the dual WAHP thing). Only took, oh, 17 years of struggle, therapy, general insanity, etc. to get here.
My BFF just sent out the Evite for our totally casual, co-ed baby shower in late January. Bless her-- she's having to do all this with my Jewish grandmother, who is super-excited, but also... a super-Jewish-grandmother, LOL.
Had a bad night/day. Spent the day in L&D throwing up everything including water. 2 bags of fluid and they let me go when I could keep some crackers down. Still have the IV in with some type of lock or something. Will visit the GP to see if I need more fluid in the morning and he'll take it out. It took them a few hours to get the IV in, so we didn't want to risk that, again.
Of to curl back up on the couch and hope for no more vomit. No fair, I got a hangover and didn't get to do the drinking. So unfair.
Melany, I'm so sorry, that sounds awful!
I have also had a LOUSY first day of 2013. I am still battling the Flu. I didn't get ANY sleep at all last night and I was so weak and somewhat delirious all day today. I have a high fever and my head is so congested that I can barely breathe. I am coughing every few minutes. My body aches. I was very fortunate that my husband had off of work today to take care of me, but he will be at work tomorrow and I have no idea how I'll survive the day home alone with the kids while being so sick.
Melany - So sorry, that is awful. I hope you are feeling better.
Withlittlelungs - sorry that must be no fun to have to prick yourself if you don't like it. How did you make through your tattoos?
Scruffy - Congrads on quitting, I so wish my DH and MIL would quit, it is so, so hard.
spughy- so love that that is ice in your hair, how awesome, and I really want to go see the Hobbit.
Melany-- Yuck! I am so sorry you had to go through that. I really hope I don't get something like that for any reason.
Chapsie-- double yuck! That flu is awful too.
I am awake past midnight because I have been getting acid reflux almost every night and this night is particularly bad (I think it might have been because of the homemade lemon custard I ate this evening) and apple cider vinegar is just not working. I am also in bedtime misery. No real sleep last night, only waking every hour at every damn noise or stir in the house. I got a few hours the night before that. Tonight, two hours!!! So far. I plan to try to snooze in the recliner downstairs but it isn't that comfy so I dont' know if it will work.
Hey, guys. I haven’t posted for a couple of weeks, but it being New Year’s day, what better time to do some reflecting? Because I’m a teacher, I’m very lucky to have so much time off during the holidays. This year has probably been more fun than any other. DS is 3 and is very aware of Santa. It’s been fun to talk with him about Santa, and one of the local nurseries had a couple of live reindeer in a pen, so we visited them a couple times too. DH took the rest of his vacation days off and so he has been home with us for the last 10 days! During our time off together we managed to paint our old bedroom (a month or so ago we moved into our T.V. room on the other side of the house that had been converted from a garage) and move DS in. The next big project is the nursery! Yea! Last weekend my mom and I picked out fabric for the nursery. She is really good at sewing and is making a ton of stuff for us. My theme for the nursery is supposed to be Victorian Fairy Painting (after an exhibit at the Royal Academy of the Arts in London), but it’s coming out a little more bird-centric. If you watch Portlandia, you might understand my fear that it might be heading toward “Put a Bird On It!” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XM3vWJmpfo).
I’m a little anxious about going back to work. Several co-workers have not gotten back to me regarding some collaborative projects we are supposed to work on this semester, and I was hoping to do some of that planning over break. But, it’s probably a blessing to have the time to indulge in family right now. So, with that in mind, I am really trying to prioritize the work I do during my time off and keep “work smarter, not harder” as a mantra.
I started acupuncture within the last two weeks and I think it has really helped. I started going a couple times a week and my lower back/ sacrum area is not feeling so tight. I’m hoping to continue with aqua-natal and pre-natal yoga classes beginning this week.
I don’t really have much planned for New Year’s resolutions. I started reading some Yahoo article about people who get a lot done in the mornings and had almost talked myself into setting my alarm for 5:00 A.M., when I remembered “Hey, you’re pregnant and you have to get up 3 times a night just to pee. Pretty soon you’ll only sleep for 2-hour stretches at a time so you can nurse. Don’t get up at 5:00! Get lots of rest so your immune system doesn’t tank and you wind up with a cold that turns into pneumonia!” So, I will say that my New Year’s resolutions are to
1. Continue doing good things for my body: eat nutritious food (notice I am not saying give up sweets. That is impossible. But, I could do better in the fruits and vegetables category.), continue acupuncture and fitness classes both pre-birth and post-partum.
2. Stay in touch with friends in town.
3. Be more patient with DS. DS has entered a hitting phase, and while DH and I are very united in dealing with his hitting episodes, I have to remember that DH is only 3 ½ , and controlling his impulses is extremely difficult. I liked how Writermama12 has resolved to make the first interactions with family positive every day. I think I need to do this too, especially when considering managing DS’s behavior. He can be overly sensitive to criticism, so giving him a redirection in the form of a joke might be more helpful even though it might take more thought and energy.
Sorry to hear about the sick ladies. All of us have had bad viruses during Winter Break and are finally on the mend. Everyone, take care of yourselves, and Happy New Year.
I was already awake at 1:30 am from reflux when I got the call. My step-dad just died. I dont' really know how I feel about it but I feel compelled to go and support my mother like right now! I wish in this one circumstance that I lived closer. She is delerious with grief and confusion and is not thinking straight. I guess I am writing about it here because I cannot sleep and can't figure out how to swing the trip with my 20 mo DS2. I have to bring him. My DH has to keeping working. I don't know how we will pay for the flight either. And do I leave my 11 yo at home? Tomorrow is the first day of school...maybe just fly him out for the funeral? This all would come out to like a thousand dollars!!! Boy oh boy I really some sleep. Sorry for the rant.
DH & I usually do something similar, but we never got around to it yesterday. Maybe tonight or this weekend. We decided that this year we really need to hold each other accountable for our "resolutions". We are pretty bad about bending when the other suggests doing something that we're working on cutting down -- example: buying a bottle of wine on a weeknight when we said we'd only drink on the weekends. So, I think that will be good.
Also, so sorry to hear about you step-father. I hope you find a solution where you can get home to support your mom. ((Hugs)).
Melany & Chapsie - So sorry you are both feeling so bad. Sending healthy vibes your way and hope that you get to feeling better soon!
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I have a question for you Hypnobirthers out there, Do you think the books are good enough or are classes necessary? I am having problems finding classes around where I live. I have found some but they have already started or have won't start until after I have Maddax.
DH & I are finishing up our classes tonight, and honestly I think you'd probably be OK with the book. Although I haven't really read much of the book yet. Just be sure that you get the CD that comes with the book & I would also get the Rainbow CD (looks like they have a package on the site). Most of it is practicing the relaxation techniques and preparing yourself on how to relax in the moment. I know tonight she is cover labor position or so. You might consider looking for a doula who is certified/experienced in Hypnobirthing to have with you at your labor. My guess is that a doula in general would help as, working as a doula, I don't think the positions will be much different than those that I already teach to my mamas. I think the only really benefit of the class is the ability to go over the different breathing techniques with the instructor. Hope that helps!
AFM - Somehow I managed to stay up until midnight, but that was about it. Luckily I've been sleeping better. I've made a giant nest out of my pregnancy pillow & poor DH is back in the guest room. I do feel bad about it, but we're both sleeping again. We did make a pack that he was moving in again once the baby gets here and staying!! We really don't want to be one of those couples who sleep in separate rooms.
Also, it looks like we'll finally get started on our basement soon. I'm so excited to get that going and hoping it will be done before the baby get here.
Nothing else new around here. It's just been a nice, quiet week so I can't complain.
Writermama12 - call the airlines. Often they offer discounts for emergency travel due to bereavement - sometimes the travel may be stand-by but at least it wouldn't cost so much.
Chapsie & Melany I'm so sorry you're sick. That's just not nice. Virtual hugs! (Can't catch anything from those ;-) )
ClumsySugarPlum - I'm glad you decided against getting up at 5 am! LOL you might be doing that involuntarily soon anyway. Some babies are just early risers.
I am trying to decide what kind of gruesome scene the gym would be this morning. There's always a few weeks of stupid-busy after New Year's, but mid-morning on the 2nd might be ok.
Hello! I think I am joining the land of the living. The doctor took the IV out this morning since I'm keeping things down, thank goodness. I hate IVs. I believe the IV isthe #1 reason I don't want to give birth in a hospital. It took them 1.5 hours to get it in, which is normal when I get an IV. Going to sleep on the couch. I am sad to say I am glad the kids are back at school today, even though I was supposed to have a nice day off to sew. I had planned on picking them up after school to do something fun, but I'm going to let them go to their after school program since I am not any fun right now.
Melany and Chapsie, my goodness, get better soon! Sending all sorts of healthy vibes your way.
writermama, I am so sorry to hear about your step-dad. I hope that you manage to figure out a way to get all of your family where they need to be. On the reflux side of things, have you tried papaya enzyme tablets? They've been great for me for both bloating and heartburn. Seems to just soothe things right now, somehow. I haven't had anything really bad, but I did have a pregnant friend who was getting heartburn so badly she didn't want to eat anything, and after a few papaya enzyme tablets she was fine, and now she carries them around with her in case she needs them after anything she eats!
buko, good luck on the business and continuing to work together well!
We went and saw The Hobbit over the holidays! I really enjoyed it. On the other hand, we also went and saw Lincoln last night, and it was AMAZING. I sat through the whole 2 1/2 hours of Lincoln without leaving to pee once, and didn't even notice, it was that good. I was particularly pleased that there wasn't actually that much war/blood/gore involved. It was mostly about the politicking, and Daniel Day-Lewis did a fantastic job as Lincoln. I'd highly recommend it, if you like that sort of movie!
Otherwise, we had some good holiday times. A couple of low-key parties, a *very* quiet Christmas day, then a few days visiting my cousin and her family in Portland. We also saw some friends there, and both my cousin and one of my friends plied us with all sorts of hand-me-down baby stuff. Including an entire paper grocery bag full of diaper covers!!!!! We basically don't have to acquire any diaper covers now, which is pretty incredible. Also, Moby wraps, other slings, things to put baby down on (I don't even know what they're called - the things like the little hammock-like things that might bounce or rock a little bit?), nursing pillow, bathing things, and tons of clothes. I guess this is one benefit of having babies at the tail end of when our friends are having babies, because many of them are ready to purge. 
It was awesome, though now I'm a little overwhelmed at the idea of sorting through it all and making sure of what we want, and figuring out where to put what we want to keep!
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