Long Time, No Blog

Hi Everyone,
Once again I find myself apologizing for the lack of posts on this blog. However, with only 6 weeks to go in this pregnancy, I have had neither the energy or the inclination to post lately. I'm just trying to survive the next month and a half. The baby has "assumed the position" ie. dropped very low, head-down and the resulting pressure is very painful. It's all I can do to walk, it hurts to drive or ride in the car, and sleeping comfortably is next to impossible. Plus, my hands and feet have begun to swell more than they have in my previous pregnancies, and I tend to keep a headache that Tylenol just doesn't faze. All in all, I'm sure I'm not the most pleasant person to live with these days, though I DO try not to take my pain and irribility out on the other members of my family. I wish I could morph into a bear and just hibernate the last six weeks away! LOL I could use some good sleep about now. I guess part of what bugs me too is the feeling that I may go into labor early, and I don't have everything together for myself or the baby. I still have no newborn clothes for her. My other two daughters were born in the middle of the summer and spent their newborn days in onesie's, t-shirts and diapers. This one being born a fall baby will need a few onesie's, and mostly the soft thin cotton, and the soft terrycloth footied sleepers which I don't have since my other girls' didn't need them until they were 6-9 months old. Then there is the fact that I wanted to be completely unpacked and settled and have my new house all clean before the baby makes her appearance. Unfortunatly though, although it's not bad...there are still unpacked boxes sitting in various corners that I just don't have the energy (or range of motion) right now to deal with. Just the little things like that are driving me crazy. On the flip side (in other words..enough of my whining...LOL) we are finally getting adjusted to our new household schedule that ensued with our oldest daughter's starting of kindergarten two weeks ago. She is still loving it despite how much she grouches about it when we are trying to get her out of the bed in the mornings. LOL She (like her daddy) is NOT a morning person.! And that would SO be an understatement. Anyway, we are all up earlier in the morning, taking turns dropping her off at school, dealing with new meal and nap times, going to bed earlier at night, and dreaming of the two weekends a month when Alan is off work and we can ALL sleep in.

Kindergarten Queen

Well, it seems that our little "Princess" has turned into the Kindergarten Queen. LOL I was worried about her having mixed feelings on her first day. I knew that she had been talking about going to school ever since she turned three. Knowing that she could start school at the age of 4, she would always tell people that she was already 4 when asked. Monday was her first actual day of kindergarten. It was also the first time her daddy and I had ever left her anywhere other than a friend or family member's home. Even though she appeared to be excited...I had my reservations. I tried as best as possible to explain that yes, we would be leaving her...but that we would come back to get her at lunch time. I explained her schedule...how she would get there and have free play, then Bible study, reading and writing, get to color, then have a snack and a potty break, go to music or art, and get to play on the playground, and then we would be there to pick her up. I also told her how her class would get to go the the big library down town (which she loves) and the roller skating rink once a month. The will also take field trips to the Pumpkin Patch in the fall, the zoo, and a couple of other places yet to be determined. Most importantly, I made sure she knew where the bathroom was and to tell her teacher if she needed to go other than at the "alotted time." When we entered the building on Orientation Day, her only fear seemed to be the stairs. Her Kindergarten is part of a large local church and it has steep staircases with echoing stairwells. She's fine going up, but is scared to come down. Fortunatly, we found out that her classroom is on the first (ground level) floor, so that isn't an issue. Anyway, we got up (her Daddy, and sister and I) and piled into the car so that we could all walk her in on her first day of school. She was dressed all cute in a little denim skort with a baby blue shirt, white lacy socks and her tennis shoes with laser lights that light up with each step. Her hair was pulled back in a neat little ponytail and she had a brand new lacy navy hairbow at the top. Armed with her "special" PINK Disney Princess backpack, she was ready to go. We were the first ones in her class to arrive after Mrs. S had unlocked the door. (The kids that got there early had to wait in another room). Princess walked right in...said "Hi" to her teacher, took off her backpack...got her daily folder out and put it in the designated basket, and I helped her find her cubby hole to hang her backpack in. Mrs. S asked Princess if she wanted to go with her to get the other boys and girls and obviously she did, because she quickly turned to Alan and me, gave us a quick hug, grabbed Mrs. S's hand and off they went down the hall. "Bye Mommy!" she called. "I'll have fun. Oh, and I'll color you a pretty picture!" and that was it. Alan and I looked at each other in amazement. While we were extremely grateful that she was adjusting so well, we kinda felt forgotten already! LOL It was "Mommy and Daddy who?" Nonetheless, we were very pround. Princess told us the next day that her cousin (who is 7 months older and in the same class) had cried and clung to his mother the first day. Actually what she said...and I quote is: "Andy cried and hugged onto his mommy. But I didn't cry. I'm a big girl...only babies cry!" I laughed until I nearly cried myself!

First Steps Down a LONG Road

My first child will be entering school on Monday. I still can't believe that the time has come already. Seems like just yesterday I was bringing her home all bundled up from the hospital. Now she is 4 years old and starting Kindergarten. Man, time sure does fly! We have enrolled "Princess" (she loves Disney Princesses and the color pink...and I got tired of referring to her as "4".) in a private Kindergarten rather than public school, and today we got to go for Orientation to see her classroom and meet her teacher. "Mrs. S" as she will be called for the purposes of this blog...was very nice. She is actually the daughter of a wonderful lady who taught the 3- year old group at the same Kindergarten when I attended the 4-year old class there 21 years ago. Princess was a little nervous upon entering the building. The school is part of a large church in town and I think she was intimidated by all the doors, stairs, etc. However, that soon changed when we got to her classroom and she spotted the bright red apple on the door with her name on it. We went in and she found "her" chair with her own namecard, tray of crayons, pencil, glue, and scissors...and her daily folder. Mrs. S told her how she would get to take the folder home to Mommy and Daddy each afternoon and bring it back to her each morning. She found her assigned "cubby hole" where she is to keep her new Disney Princess backpack and other belongings during classroom hours, and even more quickly she discovered the toys. There is a large bookcase full of her favourite storytime characters, and a little wooden kitchenette with sink, stove, and cupboards that quickly drew her full attention. There are only 12 other kids in her class, one of whom is one of her first cousins who she is pretty close to. That will help them both adjust more quickly I hope. (Though I think I am probably more nervous about her starting school than she is.) I just keep thinking to myself...this is her first step down a very long road. Thanks to "year 'round" schooling, Monday she starts down a path that will last for the next 14 years, and that's just until high school graduation! My baby will be just fine, but I don't think I'm ready for this!

Dr's Appointments Suck!

Hi All. Sorry it's been a while again. It has become increasingly difficult to remember to post my thoughts as they are scattered in all directions these days. "Princess" survived her check-up and routine vaccinations. No, it wasn't pretty. While she reacted rather well to the actual shot, the preparation for them left much to be desired. First of all they made her lie down and stretch out on this table. No 4 year-old I know likes to be confined. Especially not on a strange table in a strange place with a strange woman holding her legs down. Just not a happy situation. She was scared to death and screaming "no, I don't want a shot" at the top of her lungs. When they were actually given though, she relaxed a little and watched and handled it quite well. My only consulation was the chuckle I got out of thinking of all the other poor kids waiting in line behind us, hearing her scream bloody murder!!!

Yesterday, I went for my Dr's appointment. I had to have the stupide glucose screening done that tests for gestational diabetes. Yes, considering that I'm going on 31 weeks with this pregnancy, they waited a little late to do it, but I guess since I didn't have any problems with my other pregnancies, they weren't very worried about the chances of my not passing it. I'm assuming that I DID pass, since I haven't heard anything. It was still a yucky experience though. I don't mind the drinking the crap that tastes like carbonated snow-cone syrup, or even the drawing of blood an hour later. What I DID mind very much was the not being able to eat anything after midnight the night before. You just don't deprive a pregnant woman of food. We ate dinner about 7:30 the night before then I got the kids ready for bed, tucked them in, got a shower myself, changed the sheets on our bed, and went to sleep. So it was actually nearly 14 hours that I went without food. By the time I finally got to grab a bite to eat, I normally would have eaten twice in that time. SOOoooo...I passed out. Not once...but twice during my doctor's appointment. Fortunatly I felt it coming both times and was able to get to a place where I could lie down, and my nurses (also friends and sometimes Avon customers) brought me a cold wash-cloth and fanned me until I felt better. The first time I didn't go all the way out and was able to complete the first part of my exam and return to my husband in the waiting room while I waited on the required hour to go by before my blood could be drawn. About 20 minutes until that time though, I felt faint again and once again sought out my nurse for a place to lie down. That time I went all the way out and must have been out for quite sometime because when I came to, all my blood-work had been done and I was free to go in search of food! Thank God!