Knowing the path and walking the path

As I sit here with a sleeping baby on me, this seems especially true is a couple different ways.

We've finally mostly put toddler-boy to sleep in the crib at night. Except when we're both exhausted between 4-6am and sleep is more important than discipline. We *are* still nursing, just at night, though I'm trying to cut down on this, too. At least when he's in his crib, I feel like I'm slowly getting myself back.

With that, I'm taking baby steps toward losing weight, trying a combo of the old Weight Watchers core program, which worked amazingly for me losing baby weight the first time, and also Somersizing. Sure, you can laugh, but at least that'll give me the jump start I need. Apps wil also include Lose It!, a calorie-counter & food logger. Journaling helps. Wish me luck!

o hai blog

It has been a crazy time with moving, house renovating, and now settling in that my poor blog has been sorely neglected. It doesn't help that co-sleeping and laptops don't mix, either. Blogging on an iPhone isn't fun, so I may only post sporadically until one of those items are remedied.

I've noticed that my traffic is up, and I'm wondering if that's a result of being linked to SAM's blog? If it is, then, hi to fans of Mr. SAM. It's fun being a character and co-pilot, and thanks for the support!

Happy birthday! We bought you a house.

Well, we didn't really. But we did move out of our condo (sniff), moved in with my parents (!), and closed on a house a week later. In that week Rory turned one, and on his birthday he stayed up way too late and mushed his cupcake. Which I then had to stuff some in his mouth. We also had lobster & corn, and he liked petting the lobsters and carrying around the corn--very tactile!

Two-plus months later, we are still at my parents' house while we renovate. From doing a redo of the bathroom to a total gut of the bathroom, kitchen, and replacing the window in the dining room with a sliding door and covering up the back door. Sounds easy, right? This is in combination with redoing the septic system (taking a few trees out in the process) and replacing the roof, which revealed some rotted siding that also needed replacing. Covering up the back door revealed--surprise!--more rot and a badly flashed porch attachments, so that came down too. (To our inspector's credit, he did say that we'd want to reinforce the deck, and there's no way he could have known about the siding.) Why not replace the bathroom and kitchen windows while we're at it? It's hard not to spiral into replacing A LOT of stuff.  I keep telling myself it'll be worth the wait, and soon it will be over.

6 weeks of daily dilemmas

Eat, sleep, bathe, pump, or go on the computer to check email or shop online? Never mind trying to clean, do laundry, switch the seasonal clothes, write thank you notes, blog/yelp, or knit. The best days are sitting on the couch, nursing, having the baby sleep on my chest, and reading on my iPhone Kindle and/or watching all-day marathons of Dr. Who or Torchwood on BBC America, with the only interruptions being diaper changes, bathing the baby, and picking-up #1 son from school. (Yes, I went with the iPhone. Yes, I love it.)

The first 6 weeks have flown by, and I'm sure the same will be true of the next 6 weeks.

catching up with...

It's been a pretty exciting week here:
-Mr. Man got his driver's license! He's had his permit for over two years, taking driving lessons, and passed the driving exam on his first try! Woo-hoo!
-The boy has really taken to his bunk bed. It's really high, and he sometimes misses being read to at night on his bed, but overall: success!
-I had my 20th high school reunion last week. How did that happen? It was amazing because almost everyone looked pretty much the same.
-Tonight I am missing a reunion for the summer theater I did in HS. Just wasn't up for two nights of being on my feet for long stretches of time.

Tomorrow marks me being at 32 weeks, going into the 8th month. It went by pretty quickly. I haven't complained about the weather, because I've been pretty comfortable until the last couple weeks. It's just now that my feet and hands are really, really swollen. My belly button still hasn't popped out completely, it's just a little bulge. My lower back has been achey, but I've been trying to not stand up so much. In the back of my head I keep thinking, "In two weeks, I would have already given birth to Owen." It puts this pregnancy in a strange perspective. I'm hoping that I'll get at least another 4 weeks, thanks to the progesterone, so mind-late September seems more likely than being going all the way to October. We'll see.

We still have a lot to do around the house: finding and washing onesies and blankets, getting the crib here and set up, airing out the carseat and putting it in the car. We didn't get around to redoing the kitchen, which is really starting to irk me now that I'm having trouble reaching the shelves!

oh, and, by the way...

Part of why I've been horrible at blogging lately is because I wasn't sure how to break this news. You'd think it'd be the first place I'd tell the world we were adding to our family, but for whatever reason, it's the last. I was thinking that maybe I'd sneak it into a post about finding the right sandals or the best foot soak, but I haven't had the energy to write those up yet.

So, yeah. I'm pregnant! 24, almost 25 weeks along (6 months, just into the last trimester) to be as exact as a pregnancy can go. It's another boy.

Um, sorry? For falling asleep at 9pm on the couch, and being completely drained? Then, when I finally have energy, planning trips and keeping track of work and family? Dahyum, it's tough! I don't know how some women do it. Now I'm on a daily progesterone supplement (to try and prevent another pre-term birth), I'm back to being exhausted all over again. Luckily, I avoided being nauseous, but I did crave salty foods at first (Ceasar salads, Onion Soup).

We were trying? Yes, but we've been "trying" off and on for the last two years. This was just a slightly more concentrated effort once I got settled in my new job, before I got too old, and there was too much of a age difference between the kids. Maybe it was the lacy red bra from Intimacy or maybe it was the pink highlights that finally did it.

It's just funny how this second pregnancy I've been on the down-low. My first was just insane--I was working like a crazy person, we were in the midst of buying a place, and just being in the moment not knowing what the future would be like. Not that I have adopted a "been there, done that" kind of 'tude, but more like, "Oh yeah, I forgot how much my boobs hurt." It still amazes me to feel this new little guy rolling around in mah belly. It's magic.

stuffed

literally and figuratively...
We had a great, mellow Thanksgiving, with a lot for which to be grateful. My mom had dinner sort-of catered: all pre-cooked, just needed heating up, and everything but the pies were excellent. Tonight I'm using the cranberry-orange relish on pork tenderloins, which should be yummy.

If there's a lot of typos, it's due to stress & lack of sleep. I've been knitting and doing a couple new paintings for an art/fashion show for Yelp Elites: F.A.M.E. at Via Matta tomorrow night. photos TK, but so far I've done 2 new paintings, knitted 1 clutch, a "necklace," and cranking to finish 2 more bags to felt (or not). These are going to go on canvases (1 down, 1 that still needs to be stretched & gesso-ed) to complement the new paintings, but we'll see how it all looks once it's on the wall; could be really odd looking & need another solution.

For work-work, I still have to finish a chapter to report on at a meeting tomorrow, plus two other meetings. And I won't get to finish the second Octavian Nothing book, since it's due back at the library...also tomorrow!

What else? oh yeah, the cat is going to the vet (Thursday); Owen's school winter fest is Saturday & we're going to a housewarming party, and both need baked goods. Whee!

yard sales will never be the same

For the last few years, my mother has been saying, "When we have our yard sale..." My sister finally called her on it and we made the date. Over weekend we finally all pitched in and had a it at my parents' house. It was a total dud. Not that many people came, ad while we did sell a few things, the most productive part about it was taking several truckloads to Salvation Army. The biggest thing about it is that my mother didn't even protest us donating so much of the junk; she is a major packrat. Maybe it was just bad timing, but now we all know that we can't hold out for another one to be a success.

One of the biggest successes of the day is that I found the dress I wore to my senior formal in 1993--just in time for someone to wear to a big '80s/'90s prom.

Fat Tuesday

Usually I don't like to talk about weight, because it gets kind of boring really fast. But after months of stress-induced eating & holiday feasts, I've managed to gain back half of the weight I lost while doing Weight Watchers--15 pounds/30 lost total. Part of it I'd like to blame on hormonal eating binges; back in April I had my IUD taken out in a so-far unsuccessful not-quite-whole-hearted attempt for baby #2. (Sorry if that's a little TMI.)

So, tomorrow we diet. To celebrate Fat Tuesday, I had an apple fritter from Starbucks. Damn, those things are eeeevil.

I haven't given anything up for Lent in ages, but to get kick started, I'm giving up coffee-shop pastries: fritters, donuts, muffins, breads, etc., baked by our friends at Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, Borders Cafe, et al. I'll keep the home-made goodies to a minimum.

Part of the whole Weight Watchers thing is tracking what you eat, and that really makes a difference. And meetings. Somehow being held responsible to a group of people and paying for someone to weigh you is a motivating incentive.

Heck, maybe I'll even to a yoga class on a regular basis. I may even go to church!

Oh yeah, and I aim to finish knitting a sweater.

Wish me luck.