Saturday, September 20, 2008

Soccer Season for Sean

It has been so long ago since I updated what is going on, but really, nothing is going on. The latest is Sean starting soccer. I don't know how I feel about him playing soccer yet. From the first real practice I wanted to just quit because it was just so horrific. We were late becasue there was no parking and it took 10 long minutes to go around the block to make a u-turn to get to a parking spot. The whole time we were next to the field watching people get started and I felt so horrible that we were late. Then I found what team Sean was on for THAT DAY. We went through the whole practice and Sean had a hard time paying attention because he just likes to horse around with other kids. So I had to be that mom on the sidelines yelling at Sean to pay attention. At the end of practice the coach said he just received a new list, and if your name wasn't called you would be on a new team. The problem was the coach didn't know what team we were going to be on. So just my luck, we were on a different team. The coach didn't know what team we would be on, so he was like oh, we will just add him on. But then the park district called us an told us what team we would be on. So when we went to the game and met our new team and coach, the coach asked why we weren't at practice. We were at practice, but not his practice because no one told us we would be on a different team...So the game was then horrific as well. If Sean doesn't feel comfortable he will start throwing a fit. He didn't know his coach or team mates and so he would not play. Collin was antsy so I took him to the car and fed him and let Drew convince Sean to play. But I hope practice goes a lot better on Monday and get him into the game. It took him a while to get into baseball, and now we have to go through it all with soccer now. I want him in sports to get him out of the house and play with kids and have fun and be athletic. But I just don't know if sports are for him yet. Sean is starting school this Monday, the 22nd. I know, SO LATE. But that is when the Chicago Park District starts their fall programs. So Mondays are always going to be crazy, I don't know when I am going to sleep because I work Sunday night, get off in the morning, drive Drew to work, drive Sean to school, pick up Sean, pick up Drew, and go to soccer practice and then I have work at 9:30. And in between the times maybe take 2 naps hopefully. That is if Collin will take a nap then also.

Speaking of Collin, he is so strong and wants to move around but he is not quite there yet. He can roll around and move his legs, but doesn't move his arms with his legs yet. He is a good baby like Sean was. He sleeps from 9:00 until 7:00 all the way though. He just takes less naps than Sean, since he sleeps for 10 straight hours at night. He started doing that when he was 2.5 months.

I am anxiously waiting to go down to AL in October where Drew's parents live. They have not met Collin yet. We also have a wedding to go in October that we will not bring the kids to, and that will be the first time away from Collin and Sean since Collin was born. So it will be 5 months and it will be our first date night, I can't wait.

So what else are we doing, just busy working, and the weekends are always booked with some kind of function or work. We have plans all the way through the middle of November. Isn't that crazy? I always look forward to the weekends to be with the family and do something. Next Saturday we are going to see my dad, we haven't gotten together since June. I hope it doesn't rain this time because the rain canceled our plans the last time.

That is all for now, just fun sports times ahead. I will keep it updated how the soccer season will go and if Sean will be a soccer player, or wait to put him into football maybe.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Back To The Grind

Three months of being off of work went by fast it seems like now that I am back at work. I went back the 7th and I have survived my first week. My house isn't as clean as it was when I was not working. I had not done any cleaning since Monday besides a little picking up, and boy oh boy, I am going to spend a lot of time on my days off getting things back in order.
There is nothing new really, I have not gone out and done anything besides hanging out with family. We went down to my dad's on Sunday and that was a nice time with the family. Sean, Jason, and Noreen had a blast playing in the kiddie pool and in the big backyard. My dad seems to be doing a lot better after his knee replacement and that is great to see. Last week we went to the zoo, and it would have been better if the storm didn't roll in so fast. Our trip was cut short, but it was free since we gave my mom a zoo membership for mother's day. So we will have many more opportunities to go again to see a lot more.
Collin is getting so big so fast. This morning when I was getting him ready to go out I was thinking to myself that pretty soon he will not be my little baby. Pretty soon he can sit up on his own, and hold his own bottle. Yes, I am looking forward to these milestones, but at the same time I am going to miss these days. I think we are done with having anymore children, so he is may be my last baby to watch him go through all of the developmental milestones.
So this July will be work, sleep when time permits, swim and relax. I can't complain about anyting or than time going by too fast now that there is another complexity added in which is a thing called work to pay the bills.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

What A Great June

Well, here is what has been going on...Collin does not need to see any more special doctors other than his well check ups because everything came back normal from his last head ultra sound. I do not have to see the doctor anymore besides my well check ups also. Sean is doing well also. So it has been a relaxing couple of weeks.

I finally got most of everything organized and clean, I just need to go through my room and Sean's closet and I will feel like I am just about done. I made a toy room that I keep clean and organized with Sean and took all of the toys out of the boys room. And yes, I moved Collin's stuff in with Sean and he was excited. The day I made the toy room he kept saying 'I love you mom,' and kept giving me hugs. Then when I put the crib together is his room he was like 'It is going to be like a sleep over every night.' Sean loves sleep overs with his cousin Jason and his two best friends Nikki and Dylan. And Sean is such an easy going kid.

I bought a pool for the backyard with our neighbor downstairs. I actually bought 2 pools. I first bought Sean a little blow up pool and played in that for a day. When I was in the yard with Sean and Collin that is when our neighbor was out hanging out with us and was like I was at Target and was thinking of getting one of those big metal frame pools. I was like we will go in half for it. So I went out a picked one up from Walmart because they had the right size for a good price. We still plan on going to the park pool that has the fun stuff for the kids as well. Summer is going to be a lot of fun. We are also planning on going to Indiana Beach for a weekend in August to go camping and to the beach to have lots of fun with lots os kiddies.

The sad thing is that I only have 2.5 more weeks off until I go back to work. But I think it will be o.k. until Sean goes back to school and then we will have to be on a schedule and that will be tough. Right now we let Sean stay up late and then he sleeps in for me because Collin still wakes up twice at night. The 4 or 5 a.m. feeding is always tough because it is hard to put him back to bed and I usually stay up for an hour and a half at that time in the morning. So the later Sean sleeps, the better it is for me to get more sleep because Collin doesn't ususally wake up until 9 or 10.

Drew and I started our diet on Tuesday. Right now we are not eating carbs, and only eating 3 meals a day without snacking really. I may have a piece of cheese or a couple pickles, but it is a lot better than having all the junk food I was eating. For now I get my exercise by cleaning a lot or taking walks. I will get more exercise when I go back to work and when I am fully healed. But let me tell you, it has been a tough 3 days of being on a diet. I drink my coffee black with equal and it is so hard not having a doughnut with my coffee, or non the less having anything with sugar in it. I also only drink water besides my morning black coffee. I miss having a variety of drinks, but I am taking the sugar out for now, and then putting it back in with moderation. This was my routine with Sean. Wake up and go down the street for a walk and get our drinks and breakfast. Now I am COOKING myself breakfast and lunch and usually Drew cooks dinner. I have the willpower to lose a lot of weight now because I hate this extra weight and I hate the clothes that I am wearing. I want to wear my cute clothes again and look healthy. I am so excited about losing weight and looking better. My boys are going to benefit from this as well because I will have more energy to do more with them and they will eat better as well. We won't keep junk in our house anymore, or at least I say this now until we fall off the wagon. But I am going to work really hard at losing the weight this time because I miss being thin and going shopping for CUTE clothes.

So that is what is going on, Sean is a big boy now, he rides a big wheel and scooter now, and he plays with big boy toys. Collin is getting big so fast. He is changing every day. I don't know if we will have a red head because his baby hairs are falling out and his hair is getting brownish on the top but not the sides yet. He has such big eyes now and stays awake for longer periods of time. It is so exciting to see your baby grow up, but it is also so sad because you come to the realization that they aren't babies forever.

I am so extremely happy and in love with where my life is right now, and it makes me so comfortable. I hope everyone has a great summer.

Monday, June 2, 2008

It's Been A While

What a crazy three weeks it has been. The storm of events are almost over, and now I am relaxing a bit more. Where to start. I guess with the present.

Collin is perfect. After all that has happened, you would never know it. He is sleeping a lot at night for us already. He wakes up twice to eat and goes back to sleep right away after the night feedings. He is not a fussy baby, he just has his moments but what baby doesn't? We are going for a follow up appt today to see the results from his head ultrasound we had this morning, but the last ultrasound was normal. He was a big baby at birth, and now he is not putting on the ounces like a normal baby so we are going to the doctor to monitor that tomorrow. But Collin doesn't want to be normal. He has kept us on our toes so far. He is a great eater and sleeper.

I go to my doctor tomorrow as well because I am having some bladdr problems, and I don't see an end in sight to this anytime soon. When I recovered from delivering Sean I was back to myself after like 2 weeks. But this time around has not been suck a blessing in regards to recovery time. In all due time though I will get there. I am just so happy to have 2 happy and healthy boys who bring so much happiness to my life. I am pretty much adjusted to the new life change as far as having 2 kids now. I am fine on getting 4-5 hours a sleep and having a catch up day once every 5 days. I just feel like I have to get my home in order some more. We have had company over the weekend and I am just waiting to start rearranging some things when my sister in law goes back to Nashville Tuesday. We have to put the air conditioner in and move around some baby stuff. I want to get this place in a better order.

Sean is still playing t-ball, and he graduates pre-k on Wednesday. It is pretty funny...He plays T Ball and goes to Pre-K at the same park. So his graduation is at 6 in the evening, right after he is done playing his t-ball game that starts at 5:00. I was just talking to Sean about buying a swimming pool sometime this week since it has finally warmed up and it will stay warm. He is excited. I am looking forward to the pool fun too, I am just nevous about accomidating both boys when we need to go outside for pool fun. Sean is back to his normal self. He got over his illnesses and has somewhat adjusted to having a baby brother. He is an easy going kid, so he just goes with the flow of things.

I am relaxed and enjoying the time off I have with my family, and am looking forward to getting together with friends and family over the summer.

Friday, May 2, 2008

A few more days to go

It has been nice being off of work. A lot of stress is gone, and my days are filled with Sean's love, and Drew's of course too. So here has what has happened.
I have been feeling fine now that I am able to take it easy. I still take Sean to school Tues. thru Thursday. Other than that I try to stay in with my feet up. I do take an occasional trip to Dunkin Donuts with Sean to get our donut fix. I have only done this twice walking. Well, this past Thursday the weather was changing to prepare for some rain. My allergies were fine, but I had some asthmatic problems that would not go away that day. I was out of the house for most of the afternoon, taking Sean to school, getting a hair cut and picking up Drew from work. I got home, relaxed and ate dinner and my asthma was getting worse and I was just sitting on the couch watching Survivor and Don't Forget the Lyrics. I was coughing a lot and did not want this asthma to deprive the baby of any oxygen and I was worried it would still get worse. So I told Drew that we may be going for a visit to the hospital after I called the Dr. She told me to go in to get checked out and recieve a breathing treatment. I was so glad that I went in, even though it seemed silly to me because everything was o.k. with the baby, but now they were concerned about my health. They did the normal check-ups and my blood pressure would not go down. I was lying in a bed for 2 hours at the hospital and it was still in the 140's and 150's over something. I just knew it was high and cannot be controlled. By the third hour it was finally 123 over something. So I received a breathing treatment and some lab work to see what is going on with the BP, and they let me go home at 2:00 a.m. I was so happy that they didn't have to induce me then because of my bp, but I do really have to watch it now, because I can just feel my hands swollen and my feet puffing up sometimes, and I am eager for this to stop.

I am going in for a follow up visit on Monday and another check-up on Wednesday. I know baby Collin will be here within the next 10 days. But at least he hald off so I can have my wonderful shower that my sister is throwing me this Sunday. I cannot wait to get together with friends and family. Well, that is all for now, I will update the progress as it happens.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Coming Soon

So here are some updates, it has been almost a month since the last update. I have 5 more weeks until my due date, how exciting. I went to the doctor on Monday and here is what happened. I was worried that Collin was breech, so she did an ultra sound, and to make sure everything looked o.k. He is not breech, he is cooperating. But when I went into the Dr.s offive my blood pressure was 145/95, and that was just from walking from the car to the office. Imagine what it must be like at work. It went down after lying down on my side for a while. So the Dr. doesn't want me to work anymore an I am totally fine with that but I requested that I finish out the week since there is not a replacement for me until next week. So I have only 4 more days of work left if I go in tonight, but that depends on how tired I am. I am absolutely thrilled that I will have time off before I go into labor, but at the same time, I am just like oh my goodness, what am I going to do with all of my time. I am going to rent a lot of movies from netflix though. I wanted to go to the zoo before the baby came, and walk around at a mall, but my bp gets too high and I am concerned about that. So I will follow the dr.'s advice and take it easy.

Sean has been a mama's boy these past few weeks. He cries when I go to work and tells Drew I want my mama at some point in the night after I leave. And when I go into a different room of the house he has to be with me and he tells me he loves me a lot lately. It is so sweet and yesterday he told me he loves me with his heart and it is so big for me. We are going to bond a lot of the next 3 months of being off of work. There are not any summer programs at the park he can be in, but that is o.k. He will have June, July, and August off to do whatever.

I still have to wash some baby clothes and bedding, but other than that, if he came tomorrow it would be o.k., other than needing to staighten up around the house that I can do next week when I am off. For the most part everything is in order, I just have to put away Collin's clothes that I have to get from my sister's stash that were Sean and Jason's.

Sorry no pictures of my growing stomach, I have not taken a one, maybe soon though. But that is what is going on, and I will post pictures of the little one when he arrives. I will keep everyone posted as to what may be going on. Happy Spring.

Monday, March 24, 2008

In the Home Stretch

I am in month 8 now, I can't believe it! It feels like I have a lot of time left, but if I look at it in terms of how many more weekends I have left to work, it is not a lot of time at all. I think I only have 2 more weekends to work because I work every other weekend. When I am off of work, then it will really hit me. Work keeps me extremely busy, I even have so much work to do on my days off, I have to work for a couple of hours today to try to meet a deadline that I probably won't meet.

Drew, Sean, and I have all been sick with a cold that has been a lot of fun, especially when I can only take Sudafed. I have also been experiencing restless leg syndrome a lot lately. For those of you who do not know what it is, I will briefly explain what I've been going through. It is a condition brought on from pregnancy and the cause may be due to low iron. It is a condition that affects a part of the brain that makes my legs very uncomfortable when I am tired and only when I am tired. Which I am tired a lot nowadays. The tiredness is not like first trimester sleepiness, but it is no fun and wish I had more time to sleep. But my legs, I feel like I have to move them constantly when I am tired and sitting. Long car rides have become unbearable. We went to my dad's for Easter and on the way home I much rather would have walked or stayed at a hotel or at his house all day to sleep until my legs felt better. Drew did a great job speeding down the expressway to get us home a little faster because he knows that I cannot sit for long. I had to work Saturday night before Easter, and only had 20 minutes of sleep before going to my dad's. I slept there for 2 hours, and couldn't wait to go to bed. I can't sleep for more than 4 hours at a time because of my bladder, and I am so tired of peeing.

I don't have a lot ready for the baby yet! This weekend we have to get the crib ready and that will make me feel a little more at ease. I don't feel like doing a lot of anything lately beisdes laying around.

As far as a name, I think we have settled on the name Colin. It may change, but we have been stuck on this name for a while now.

Well, I am going to lay back down for a bit, I am tired AGAIN! I will update again soon. I am in the home stretch and can't wait.

Friday, February 29, 2008

It's Been a While

I am into my third trimester already. I am so looking forward to the end of this 9 month process, but will be sad when it is over because this may be my last little baby I grow in my tummy. He is kicking like crazy at night when I have down times at work, and then he starts back up again in the afternoon after I eat lunch. No names picked out yet. We can't decide, but my husband really likes Jake. But we have a Jake on my side and a Jake on his side of the family. So we have been trying to come up with a name still. Hopefully by the end of this weekend, if not, I'm not that concerned yet. It's not like I am going to the hospital next week.

I am going shopping at Gurnee Mills this weekend for maternity clothes and baby clothes. I am looking forward to buying clothes for the baby, not so much for myself. I hope to start getting the room ready this weekend as well. We are just going to put the crib in the back for now until we move. Let's see how much energy I have this weekend though to do all of this.

Work has not been the best, but at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I get to look forward to taking about 11 weeks off. That means that I have 7 more weeks of work, a total of 28 more days. I can handle that, my my body is getting really tired of the work I put it through on a nightly basis. I am on my feet for 10 about 10 out of the 11 hours I work, and my ankles are starting to take a beating, they look hugs by the end of my shift.

Sean is well, he had a double ear infection a couple of weeks ago, but other than that he is great. He keeps me smiling and laughing. Drew is doing well also, he is getting ready for the baby also, I saw he was reading my pregnancy book the other night when I was at work, or at least I tink he was looking at it.

I start going to the doc every 2 weeks now, so I measure time by the daates I have my appointments scheduled for. Time has gone by really fast, and it is going to continue to do so as long as I keep working and keep myself busy.

That is what is going on, can't wait to take my maternity leave and have time to relax before the big day.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

What's in a name?

Been busy with work and sleep lately. However we did manage to get out and go to Navy Pier over the weekend to take the kids out. Kids meaning Sean, Jason, and two of our friend's kids Nikki and Dylan. They hadn't seen each other since Sean's party, so they had a blast. We went to the Children's musuem and buil a bear, and then to Giordanno's Pizza. I am pathetic though, I can't hardly stay up past 8:00. If I force myself to stay awake, I am extremely uncomfortable and miserable. I start getting the feeling that my skin is crawling, my legs feel funny, and I can't be comfortable sitting down. So when I am tired, I just go to bed. I can't wait until I have more energy like I used to to be able to function on 6 hours or less of sleep and stay up late on my days off. But I know all of that will change because the baby will have his own schedule I will have to follow.

We are having trouble picking out the right name. It seemed like it was so easy to pick Sean's name out, why is this one so difficult. I really liked the name Ethan, but Drew does not. That has been my only boy's name I've picked so far. You know how you associate names with people you have known with that name, maybe that is why it is so difficult. I want to be settled on a name soon though, hopefully by my 8th month.

I feel the kicks and tumbles a great deal now, it is amazing. I know he only wieghs 1 pound 3 ounces when we went for the ultra sound. But when he gets going it doesn't feel like he is that small. Target is putting out a lot of new baby stuff this week because they are transitioning to warm weather stuff, and the newness of all of the stuff they are putting out makes me want to go shopping. But I am holding off for a little bit, I have priorities to take care of first such as Dr. bills. Those are always fun to pay.

Sean is going to pre-school 6 hours a week now, and boy what a difference it is. We have homework to do with him everyday too now, which is so difficult to do with him sometimes. We are trying to teach him to write his letters, but things aren't going smoothly. He doesn't want to just sit there and learn. He starts pretending to cough, put his head down and fake yawn, or throw fits, anything to try to get out of sitting at the table practicing his letters. Thank goodness we have another year of preschool to do it all over again, he will need it the rate we are going with him. I know he is only 4, but it is trying sometimes to have him be serious and learn things that involve no games or t.v. or fun times. I mean c'mon, how much fun can you put into writing your letters. But we will get there soon. Practice makes perfect.

Work has been going o.k., I get burned out sometimes, but then I look forward to my days off to catch up on sleep. I work 4 ten plus hour shifts, but on average I work 50 hours a week. I am taking it easy this week though, and I am going to try to do that going forward with the hours, not working so much. I am grateful for a couple people I work with who are mothers as well, they look out for me and help me out a lot. I just wish sometimes I could enjoy being pregnant a little bit more than worry about it. I worry that I inconvenience others because I am not able to do a lot that I used to at my job, but I try to tell myself that they need to get used to me holding back a little, and it is just frustrating when I want to do something, but I can't. It is frustarting because I wish I could please everyone and be a top performer like I used to. People that have not been pregnant or have dealt first hand with someone that has been seem to be forgetful that I can't do a lot of things, and I have to remind them. It is frustarting when people expect me to do something that is so out of my limitations now, and they won't come in to offer a helping hand even though they are fully capable of helping out. I mean c'mon, they don't have another human being that is trying to grow and develop in their belly that they have to protect. But that is just how some people are, and I have to look out for myself.

To end things this blog, I am excited it has snowed, and I am looking forward to taking Sean sledding tomorrow, if this cold of mine gets better. It was so cute and funny on Monday during the day before the snow started accumalating. Sean went to the front window, lifted the blinds and said I wish, I wish, I wish, I wish for it to snow. And by night time we had plenty of snow. Just not enough time to play in it yet, and with me being sick today, I will try to take him out tomorrow.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

IT'S A BOY!!!

It's a boy, and I am so excited for another boy and for Sean to have a brother. I am a little saddened about the fact that I may never be able to dress my child in pinks and purples and dresses and bows. Not unless I want to torture one of the boys, but no I won't do that. I will miss out on buying dollies and barbies and cute girl toys. I am a little bored with the boy toys. Cars and trucks and guys and boyish things. But that is o.k., Sean will be a great big brother and share his toys. I am so happy to know the sex of the baby now and everything is growing normally. He weighs 1 pound 3 ounces right now. That is so amazing that this tiny miracle is kicking and tumbling already.

Now I have to come up with a boy's name. I had a girl's name all picked out because I was all ready for a girl. I am already looking at little outfits while I work and just want to start buying clothes, but I have some time.

Sean wants the baby to come now. When we were at the hospital and we were getiing our jackets on to go he said I thought the baby was coming out today. It was so cute. We explained to him in the car on the way over that we were just looking at the baby on the computer screen, but he is so anxious. When I was laying down on the table having the ultrasound done he came in the room and wasn't too sure of what was going on as any normal 4 year old. So he came up to me, put his hand on my arm, and said it will be o.k. mom. I just wanted to start crying, it was so sweet.

I am more than half-way through this pregnancy, and I some days wish I could speed up time so the baby comes sooner, but most days I am happy to wait those couple of more months because with a new baby comes more responsibilities. I cannot wait but at the same time I just tell my sister when I see her going through things with Jason "oh I remember those days and I don't miss them." And then we always say those days are coming again soon.

Well, that is all for now.